Pendragon is a role-playing game set in a fictionalized time of Arthur Pendragon in Briton in the early 6th Century.  Players play the part of knights.  There are some important concepts in Pendragon that should guide your character's actions.

Chivalry

Chivalry is very important.  You do not have to be chivalrous.  However, the consequences for acting against the principles of chivalry can be harsh.  Note that chivalry is a concept espoused by Arthur, who is your foe.

From the Song of Roland:

To fear God and maintain His Church
To serve the liege lord in valour and faith
To protect the weak and defenceless
To give succour to widows and orphans
To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
To live by honour and for glory
To despise pecuniary reward
To fight for the welfare of all
To obey those placed in authority
To guard the honour of fellow knights
To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
To keep faith
At all times to speak the truth
To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
To respect the honour of women
Never to refuse a challenge from an equal
Never to turn the back upon a foe

Honor

Honor is also important.  If your Honor drops enough, you will lose your knighthood.  Be very careful about insulting other knights or Ladies or fighting in a dishonorable fashion.  Any insult can result in a duel, either to first blood or to death.  Knights take their honor VERY seriously.

Combat

Combat in Pendragon can be deadly, especially when faced with monsters that can do a lot of damage in one blow.  It will be rare that you will die if your side wins the battle but it can happen.  In this campaign, it is very likely that you will be on the losing side of battles, which can mean being captured if badly wounded.  This means paying a ransom to be released or losing armors, weapons, or horses.  Additionally, there is very little healing in Pendragon.  While you might get a d6 or so from a successful healing skill roll, most of your healing will be at ~3 hp per week during total bedrest.  Meaning that if you lose half of your hp in a battle you might be lying on your back for the next 4-5 weeks.

Personality Traits define the basic manner in which your character behaves.  Periodically, you will have to roll against a Personality Trait to see what you do in a given situation.  Meet an attractive young maid at the feast?  You can roll against Chaste to see if you resist her charms or against Lustful to try to hook up.  Rolling under your score is a success.  Rolling your score exactly is a critical.  Rolling above your score is a failure.  Rolling 20 (unless your score is 20+) is a fumble.  If your score in something is above 20, you cannot fail and you add +1 to the die for each value above 20.  So a 25 gives you a plus 5 making 15 or better a critical.  Personality traits are not skills.  Having a high Indulgence does not make you better at eating and drinking it just makes it more likely that you will do so.

When you use a Personality Trait as part of the story, the GM may announce that you have gotten a "check" in that trait.  Put an "X" in place of the "_" next to that trait on your character sheet.  During the Winter Phase, you will roll against your checked traits to see if any of them increase.  In this manner, your Personality Traits will tend toward the way you play your character.  Always drinking too much at the feasts?  Your Indulgent will tend to rise.

Passions are things and people your character feels strongly about.  In certain circumstances you can roll against your passions to determine your attitude or actions.  In addition, in certain circumstances you can invoke a passion.  Doing so can have dramatic effects.  Defending you Lady Fair's honor in a duel against another knight?  You can invoke your Amor or Love for her and if successful you will earn pluses for that combat.  If you fail, you will earn minuses and could lose points in your Amor/Love.  It is generally unwise to invoke Passions that are not at least 15 or to invoke them frivolously.

Statistics are the basic measurements of your character, how large (SIZ), how quick (DEX), how powerful (STR), how much endurance (CON), and how attractive (APP).  Other than SIZ, you can raise them using advancement points at the end of each year.  They affect how much damage you deal, how fast you heal, how quickly you move, and how much damage you can take.

Skills are a measurement of your facility in various disciplines.  Skills can be grouped to some extent into Knightly skills (Combat skills, Heraldry, and Tourney), Social skills (Falconry, Gaming, Orate, and Hunting), Romance skills (Compose, Dancing, Flirting, Play, and Romance), Courtly skills (Courtesy, Heraldry, Intrigue, and Recognize), Survival skills (Awareness, Boating, Chirurgery, First Aid, and Swimming), and Knowledges (Faerie Lore, Folk Lore, Industry, Read, Religion, and Stewardship).

Knightly skills are important for gaining Glory as they are commonly used on quests and in tournaments.  Social skills are useful for impressing other knights and Nobles.  Survival skills can make a real difference during adventures.  Knowledges, especially Stewardship, can help your character figure things out.

In the early period of Arthur's reign, Romance skills are useful for getting a woman's attention but are unlikely by themselves to lead to marriage as a Father's (or other man's) approval is almost always necessary.  Glory and Wealth are what make an attractive suitor.

There are two types of dice rolls, opposed and unopposed.

Opposed resolution occurs when you are competing with someone else.  Combat is an example of opposed resolution.  A second example is gaming, where the two contestants roll their gaming skill against one another.  Another example is trying to bed that serving wench at the feast, she rolls her Chaste versus your Lustful.

In opposed resolution, the highest success wins.  Knight A and Knight B are playing chess.  Knight A has a skill of 8 and rolls a 2 while Knight B has a skill of 4 and rolls a 3.  Knight B wins.  A critical is always considered the highest possible success and beats any non-critical.

In combat, the highest successful roll does damage to the opponent.  If both combatants are successful, the loser's shield blocks part of the damage.  If both succeed with the same number, neither does damage and any non-sword weapon breaks.  A critical in combat does double damage.

Unopposed resolution is used when a character is attempting to succeed at something that does not involve competing with others.  Using awareness to spot a trap or Intrigue to find out some court gossip are examples of unopposed resolution.  I may modify the necessary roll in some cases to account for factors specific to the attempt.  For instance, a Saxon knight trying to use Intrigue in Earl Robert of Salisbury's halls may get a -5 to the attempt because Hate Saxons is directed trait for people from Salisbury.  Likewise, a knight might get a plus to flirting after a successful courtesy roll.

In general, the GM will roll dice during the year to keep things flowing.  Players can roll their end-of-year advancement, etc.

Battles

In a battle, the commander of each army rolls an opposed Battle roll every round.  The highest successful roll gets bonuses for the round for everyone on their side.  In large enough battles, commanders of sections of the army may get their own battle rolls, or a unit commander may get a battle roll to inspire his troops in a particularly crucial scene.

Melee combat

Your combat rolls are opposed resolution rolls.  The highest successful roll wins the round and does damage.  If both rolls are successful, the loser's shield blocks its defense value in damage.  If both rolls are equal, non-swords break.  If both rolls are unsuccessful, neither side hits.  If someone fumbles, they drop their weapon, which requires a round to recover.  Dropping your lance on horseback means it is gone unless you decide to spend a couple of rounds dismounting, getting it, and remounting.  A critical is counted as the highest successful roll and does double damage.  If both sides critical, it is treated as both sides rolling the same success except that weapons do not break.

The amount of damage that exceeds an opponent's armor defense and, if applicable, shield defense and bonuses is taken as a wound and results in a reduction of current hit points.  If the number of current hit points drops below their Unconscious value, they go unconscious.  If the amount of total damage taken in a single blow (including damage absorbed by armor, shield, etc.) is equal to or greater than their Knockdown statistic, they are subject to a Knockdown (see below). If the amount of damage taken through armor in a single blow is higher than their Major Wound value, they take a Major Wound (see below).

Mounted combat

Mounted knights get +5 to combat rolls against unmounted opponents, who get a -5 modifier against a mounted foe, unless their oppnents have a weapon with a similar reach (great spear, Halberd), in which case neither get a modifier.  Mounted knights charging with a lance get a +5 bonus against those not equipped with a great spear or lance.

Knockdown

If you receive a knockdown, you must roll DEX or lower (if standing) or Horsemanship or lower (if mounted) or get knocked to the ground.  Falling off your horse causes d6 damage.  If you receive a blow equal to or greater than twice your Knockdown value, you do not get a roll but are automatically knocked to the ground.

You are at a -5 and your opponent(s) is at +5 if you are attacked while getting back up.

Major Wound

If you take a Major Wound, you immediately go Unconscious unless you roll your current hit points or less on a d20.  If you remain conscious, you must make a Valorous roll to continue to fight.  You must roll immediately on the Statistics Loss table and apply any loss immediately.  Chirurgery is required.  Continued activity can result in Aggravation and Deterioration.

Unconscious

If your current hit points drop to or below your Unconscious value, you go unconscious.  If on a wall or horse, you take fall damage (d6) unless a successful DEX roll is made.  You remain unconscious until healed.  You require Chirurgery.

Death

If your current hit points drop to zero or less and are not restored to at least one by midnight, you die.

Healing

First Aid
First Aid can be performed ONCE on each wound received as long as it is done within one day.  First Aid requires several minutes to perform (3d6 melee rounds).  A critical success restores d3+3 or the amount of the wound, whichever is lower.  Success restores d3 or the amount of the wound, whichever is lower.  Failure results in no change.  A fumble results in a loss of d3 hit points and Chirurgery needed but no new wound is created.

Natural Healing
You gain your healing rate back at noon on Sunday each week.  This can be enhanced by successful Chirurgery.  This is independent of Aggravation and Deterioration.

Chirurgery
If Chirurgery is needed, an attendant must make a successful Chirurgery roll each week.  Failure to do so can result in additional hit point loss.  A critical success results in double the normal rate of healing.  A success has no effect.  A failure results in a d6 of deterioration on Sunday at noon.  A fumble results in an immediate loss of d3 hit points and a d6 of deterioration on Sunday at noon but no new wound.  Chirurgery is needed until an individual has healed sufficiently to begin moderate activity again in the eyes of the GM.

Deterioration
Deterioration results in a loss of d6 hit points at noon on Sunday if a successful Chirurgery roll was not made during the week.

Aggravation
Aggravation occurs if a wounded individual does not rest or perform no more than light activity during the week.  Aggravation occurs PER INCIDENT and is independent of other factors like Chirurgery, heal rate, first aid, etc.  An unhealthy (Chirurgery needed) individual who performs Moderate or Strenuous activity during the week will take additional damage each time they perform such actions but no new wounds will occur.  An injured individual who does not require Chirurgery and performs Strenuous activity during the week will take additional damage each time they perform such actions.

Activity levels
- No Activity: Resting, eating, or sleeping.  No aggravation. The best way to recover.
- Light Activity: Walking short distances slowly, eating heavily, talking,
writing short letters. No aggravation, even for unhealthy characters, unless the activity is performed to excess.
- Moderate Activity: walking longer distances, riding a horse (even for a few minutes), celebrating, dancing, engaging in romance, engaging in an angry argument. Aggravation is possible for unhealthy characters, at gamemaster option.
- Strenuous Activity: fighting, running,climbing, traveling a significant distance on horse or on foot (or even in a litter, if the gamemaster so rules).  Aggravation is certain for unhealthy characters, and possible for healthy characters who are injured.