Hi Folks -

I am looking for a good Medieval Knight RPG for my nephew for Christmas. He's pretty experienced with roleplaying and likes old school games somewhat. I've done some basic searching online, but my Google Fu isn't what it used to be. Now before Pundit jumps in here with Lion & Dragon, I wanted to get people's feedback on some of the classics:

Pendragon
Chivalry & Sorcery
Harn
GURPS - Camelot, etc.

What other good options are out there for a classic medieval chivalric knight type rpg out there? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Pendragon and C&C get mentioned alot as really good for that style.

And oddly enough, consider checking out two 2e D&D books from their Historical conversion line.
The first is HR2 - Charlemagne's Paladins. Set in the Dark Ages. Human only. This one is iffy as to being the right style. But still a well thought out approach.
The second and more likely what you are looking for is HR7 - Crusades. Also human only and set of course during the Crusades. Also well thought out.

Also if can find a copy, there is Grail Quest for TFT. Playable solo, 2 player or multi with a DM.

If Pendragon might be of interest, there's also Paladin, which is a recent book in very much the same style but set in France in the late 8th century: Runequest-type mechanics, all players are Christian knights, male by default, looking for multi-generational success. It takes a lot of cues from the French legends rather than the British ones, and like Pendragon starts in the Dark Ages but compresses several hundred years of technological & social change into about a century so that if you run a full campaign it feels late medieval by the end.

Female player-characters are GM optional, and it's also GM decision whether they're generated using the rules for men or for women: different stat ranges, different starting skills, including significantly less skill with weapons.

One thing I like about Chivalry and Sorcery is that knights are objectively the best fighters.  If you want a game to focus on knights that's a good way to get there.

The Palladium Fantasy Roleplaying game gives knights their own Hand To Hand Combat skill that is better than the Mercenary Fighter or Soldier get.

GURPS does knights fairly well and has a decent sourcebook on medieval England but you've always got a big points sink in the form of status, wealth, and legal enforcement powers (at 15 points for the ability to beat up peasants with impunity)  so non-noble fighters will generally dominate combat.

There was an rpg called Lion Heart that was about the middle ages, I think it was by Columbia Games, like Harn, but medieval.

My The Arcane Confabulation rules have a knight career but don't really get too into medieval culture and such.  http://www.uncouthsavage.com/uploads/1/3/3/2/133279619/thearccon.pdf

But what do you really expect? I get what's theme you desire... but something more maybe?
I personally don't think any edition of D&D was really Medieval Knight RPG neither historical nor legendary. But that's also another question - do you want authentic medieval simulation or Knights of Round Table? Real or mythical?

Quote from: Naburimannu on December 03, 2021, 03:27:09 AM
If Pendragon might be of interest, there's also Paladin, which is a recent book in very much the same style but set in France in the late 8th century

I'll second Paladin.

Superb game, superb presentation. Not only makes for excellent gameplay but also a beautiful present, seeing as how gorgeous the book is.

Dragon Warriors is a more feudal & knightly D&D-style British fantasy game. The 21st century version leans heavily into 'dark fantasy' presentation. Very rules light by modern standards.

Sounds like i need to check out paladin lol.

Ill join the chorus saying Pendragon though

The Deryni Adventure Game is based on Katherine Kurtz' novels, and set in their "totally-not-10th-through-12th-century-England" kingdom of Gwynedd. Knights are not the sole focus, but they are a available to play, and TDAG has the benefit of putting them into the context of other types and social classes.

No one plays DragonQuest?

If you can find a copy, there's the sadly out-of-print Prince Valiant game, based on the Hal Foster comic strip and written Greg Stafford who also wrote Pendragon. It's a very simple system involving flipping coins that was deliberately meant as an introduction rpg.

The Dark Eye has some regions that work great for knightly adventures.

Quote from: Shawn Driscoll on December 04, 2021, 12:20:07 PM
No one plays DragonQuest?

Not much specific knightly stuff there.  I do find myself thinking about ways to make my game appeal to Dragon Quest fans

Check out Lion & Dragon

This is going to strongly depend on what you want out of it. So far from what i've discovered here

Within the OSR:

• Lion and Dragon/Dark Albion seems good if you're looking for an osr fix based in medieval history, i'm only a little familiar with it so i cant actually speak much on it.
  
  
• Castles and Crusades is a fantastic game, feels like AD&D 1e, took  the best parts from 3e and streamlined it. PDF for the players handbook is actually free so there is no reason why you shouldn't at least look at it. https://www.trolllord.com/tlgstore/#!/Players-Handbook-7th-Printing-Digital/p/89198194


• Dragon Warriors: Heard good things about this, never played it. The core rulebook is pwyw on dtrpg. When we were playing D&D britain was playing dragon warriors. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/90926/Dragon-Warriors

Non OSR but still old school

• GURPS this game is amazing, you can do anything with it but is high crunch. http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/lite/
• Savage Worlds: This game can do most things, low crunch fast play
• Genesys: Narrative Dice system but low crunch and fast play.
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: You have knights, men at arms, wizards, in a world very similar to 15th-16th century holy roman empire. d100 system

Stuff I've run across recently worth mentioning here

• Black Death https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/177268/Black-Death
• Maelstrom Domesday https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/134783/Maelstrom-Domesday-Quickstart?term=Maelstrom+domes