Pendragon

Roleplaying Holy Grail?
Continuing to think on the Arthurian legends and roleplaying in that mystical setting, I feel I would be remiss not to mention the game Pendragon by Greg Stafford. Pendragon is probably the best known roleplaying adaptation of the Arthurian legends. It uses a highly modified version of Chaosium's Basic Role Playing system, one that replaces d100 rolls with d20. The game has been passed from publisher to publisher, but remains available in print-on-demand form from Nocternal. The different printings mostly just change the cover art and the game has remained essentially the same over its 30 year history.
In most printings, players are limited to playing knights as characters. PC knights have a number of traits which mechanically influence behavior. If a knight has a high score in "Lazy" he may need to make a roll to succeed at staying on task rather than taking a nap at an in opportune time. Such mechanics which can influence how a PC is role-played is somewhat uncommon in the hobby and is therefore one of the features of Pendragon which sets it apart.
My own experience with playing and refereeing Pendragon, some three decades ago when it was first released, failed to convert me. I soon returned to RQ and The World's Most Popular RPG. I think Pendragon does a pretty good job of facilitating a multi-generational knightly story set during King Arthur's time, however the setting demands all the players buy-into knightly behavior, and that's the dilemma. Leaving flashy magic and roguish escapades aside and devoting table-time to attaining knightly glory can start to feel a bit constraining. Adding in the core feature of rolling against one's personality traits in order to determine PC reaction in some key situations and I find myself wishing for the relaxed freedom of my old favorite game.
I have never enjoyed playing Alignment as a behavior straight-jacket and a game mechanic that limits a player's choices for how their PC reacts is not the best fit for me. As a player and as a referee I like story and PC personality to develop at the table during play. If the PC is played consistently then consistency is a trait of that PC. If the player is pretty random with PC reactions, then that also becomes part of that PC's "personality". It's just a preference thing really.
I don't personally know anyone playing Pendragon, but I hear folks say they would like to play the game, often qualified by a remark such as "if I ever find the right group". Many hold Pendragon in high esteem along with The Pendragon Campaign, a play aid which takes players through the entire Arthurian era, from pre-Arthur Britain, to boy-king, Camelot, Grail Quest and finally unto the death of Arthur.