The Power of RuneQuest: Shaking the Pillars of Heaven

Back in the day, I dipped my toe into RuneQuest 2 a few times before I went whole hog into RuneQuest 3, the Avalon Hill Edition.

I was introduced to RuneQuest by a gaming acquaintance ca. 1982 or 1983; we played a few times, and I thought it was neat, but it did not dislodge Dungeons & Dragons from being my go-to game. Nor did the Avalon Hill edition do that, though it was close for a brief time in 1984 to 1986, and the reason RQ3 did not take over my gaming time was mostly that I could not get enough friends to play it. 

I think the main reason was that it was very lethal for the kind of gameplay that we were all used to, being the hack and slash dungeon delvers that we were. Of course, everyone loaded up on weapon-enhancing spells and disruption and eschewed wasting magic points on healing. And so, everyone would die quickly, even moreso than in our D&D games. Thus, we would return to D&D…

These days I’m getting into replacing my old game collection that has been lost, bit by bit, over the years. Some items I’m just going to have to get in PDF, as the collector’s prices on many of them are just ridiculous. One game that I never really collected, however, was RuneQuest 2nd Edition. A situation I’ve chosen to rectify, so I can do some deep dives into the origin of the game. And as far as official Chaosium publications, I have more or less finished that collection in PDF format.

And what a fascinating lot the corpus of the official publications makes. RuneQuest 2nd Edition, the game that challenged the primacy of D&D in many places at the time, the game that further inspired new levels of “realism” in game play across the nation, consisted, in its entirety, of:

• 1 Rulebook (available in hardcover, softcover, and a boxed set)
• 3 Scenario Pamphlets (Balastor’s Barracks, Apple Lane, and Snake Pipe Hollow)
• 3 Source Pamphlets (Trolls and Trollkin, Creatures of Chaos, and Militia & Mercenaries)
• 6 Sourcebooks (Cults of Prax, Foes, Gateway Bestiary, Plunder, Runemasters, and Cults of Terror)
• 1 Hexcrawl Adventure Book (Griffin Mountain)
• 4 Adventure/Source Boxed Sets (Borderlands, Troll Pak, Pavis, and Big Rubble)
• 3 Solo Adventures (SoloQuest, Scorpion Hall, and Snow King’s Bride)
• 1 Companion Sourcebook (RuneQuest Companion)
• 14 issues of Wyrms Footnotes (the official RuneQuest magazine)

22 products, plus 14 issues of Wyrms Footnotes.

Twenty-two official products were published between 1978 and 1983. That’s it.

By that time TSR had released more than 40 adventure modules alone, not including the various editions of Dungeons & Dragons and a slew of Dragon Magazine issues and a cartoon series and… and everything else. 

Now, some of these are considered among the greatest adventures ever written – Griffin Mountain and Pavis/Big Rubble especially come to mind. And too, RuneQuest was also compatible with Stormbringer, Call of Cthulhu, Questworld, Superworld, and the other various products published by Chaosium.

And then in 1984 Avalon Hill, at the time one of the largest and most influential boardgame companies in the game industry (not including the big consumer publishers), decided to break into the RPG business and felt that licensing RuneQuest was the way to go. That publishing RuneQuest would give them the leg up they needed to give TSR and Dungeons & Dragons a run for their money.

I know in the end it didn’t work for them. There were many problems with the launch. They eschewed Glorantha for a generic Fantasy Europe, which upset a lot of the existing fan base. They changed the system in ways that upset a lot of the existing fan base. They also launched three completely different RPGS at about the same time – RuneQuest, Tom Moldvay’s Lords of Creation, and Richard Snider’s Powers & Perils.

Now that was a fascinating trifecta right there. Perrin, Moldvay, and Snider. The combination of stars being in the right place to bring together so much talent all at the same time, to release three amazing games from three amazing talents at the same time, and to essentially fail with all three games at the same time… that was something.

But sadly, fail they did. But RQ3 still brought out some memorable products. Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars is still the definitive, easy-to access source for running a Glorantha campaign in Genertela. Dorastor: Land of Doom provides a proper realm of evil campaign setting in a way no one has really yet matched. And RuneQuest Cities is the ultimate edition of the classic Midkemia Press Cities sourcebook, a must-have for anyone running city-based campaigns.

Altogether, from 1984 to 1994, Avalon Hill released 29 books and boxed sets for RuneQuest (I really, really miss boxed set RPGs). They also had Heroes Magazine, a 10-issue run supporting all three RPGs plus their various board games.

From 1979 to 1994 there were, as official products, 51 booklets, books, or boxed sets, plus 24 magazines, dedicated (or partially dedicated to) RuneQuest.

I can’t even conjecture how many products TSR published in that time frame.

And yet, RuneQuest somehow managed to shake those pillars of D&D heaven.

One factor that I have not touched on yet is the fanzine factor.

RuneQuest fans apparently had a very strong fanzine tradition. Foremost among those was none other than Gregg Stafford, the creator of Glorantha. Whereas TSR sought to crush such works like they were playing corporate whack-a-mole, Chaosium apparently allowed them to flourish.

It is this aspect of RuneQuest I need to start looking into next… after delving into all the official works, of course...

[Advanced Labyrinth Lord] Ransoming Player Characters

One factor in adventuring that has long been forgotten in Dungeons & Dragons, even through to Labyrinth Lord, is the possibility of ransoming captured characters. While the idea of ransoming captives is an old one in gaming, likely originated in and used to this day in RuneQuest, it was apparently only mentioned briefly by Gary Gygax in D&D in the module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands. There, he mentioned that, “Organized  tribes can optionally be allowed to take player characters prisoner, freeing one to return to the KEEP to bring a ransom back to free the captives. Set the sums low – 10 to 100 gold pieces (or a magic item which the ransoming monsters would find useful) per prisoner.”

Ransoms are actually part of the original DNA of the game. In OD&D, brigands, bandits, nomads, pirates, and buccaneers all kept prisoners for ransom (or to sell as slaves). Historically, ransoms were actually the way many such groups – as well as nobles – got cold, hard cash to add to their treasuries. And so, ransoms – or at least, the potential for them – are going to be added back into campaign. This enables player characters to have a third “out,” so that combat does not always end in death or retreat.
 

Of course, not all creatures are willing or even able to take on prisoners with the hope of gaining a ransom. Most humanoids have long come to the understanding that in exchange for taking a pass at a fine dinner of man-flesh they may earn themselves a significant treasure – but not all have learned this, nor do all care. Under no circumstances will a humanoid or monster take prisoners for ransom if the player characters have slaughtered their young or elderly, defaced their places of worship, or otherwise caused such pain and consternation that the treasure gained would never outweigh the desire for revenge. Also, humanoids never take their ancient racial enemies prisoner for anything less than torture and sacrifice – goblins never give quarter to dwarves, nor orcs to elves, nor kobolds to gnomes, except as  ruse to capture them for torment and worse.

Human scum – bandits brigands, nomads, pirates, and buccaneers especially – are always interested in taking prisoners for ransom. They have no desire to battle to the death, and they find it a very lucrative trade. Nobles usually only take other nobles or wealthy merchants for ransom; others are enslaved or killed out of hand. Slavers are more likely to take prisoners to sell, unless the captive is very wealthy, while berserkers and cavemen take captives only to torture and/or eat. Pilgrims generally turn dangerous adventurers over to local authorities (if Lawful) or keep them to sacrifice at their unholy shrines (if Chaotic). Druids keep interlopers prisoner until it is time to light the Wicker Man; dervishes release their enemies back into the desert, though without equipment or even clothing, to let the wastelands be judge, jury, and if needful, executioner.

Other monsters and monstrous races may take prisoners to keep for ransom if they are intelligent, capable and willing to work with two-leg creatures, and greedy for treasure. Vampires, medusae, manticores, dragons, lycanthropes, satyrs, and centaurs are all likely to take prisoners for ransom. Most other monsters are either too inimical to humans and demi-humans, too hungry, too disorganized, or just too stupid to recognize the possibilities to taking prisoners for ransom (these others are more likely to take prisoners for their larder or for torment).

Creatures of lesser intelligence and non-discerning temperament such as humanoids will usually ransom anyone for 10 to 100 gp, regardless of social class or station (they will keep all equipment and treasure found on the character, of course). But be sure that the messenger they send back to civilization hurries – they are not known for their patience, and sometimes their lust for entertainment or hunger will get the better of them!
 

Humans and intelligent monsters are more likely to try to suss out their prisoners and find out just how much they are worth – a noble is obviously worth more than a mere peasant, a 5th level son of a duke is worth far more than a 5th level mercenary, and magic-users and clerics are often worth as much as a noble to their guild or temple! In such cases they will usually set the ransom at 100 gp per level of the character, more if of noble family or wealthy connections, less if of poor or modest means.

Failure to pay the ransom in the demanded amount of time ensures the wrath of the captor. Humanoids and monsters either eat or enslave the offenders, while humans are more likely to kill or sell their captives into slavery. And of course, in the case of captors of thoroughly Chaotic sort, there is no guarantee they will honor the deal even if they are paid the ransom!

On the player character’s part, in order to even take advantage of the opportunity for ransom, they must set up a ransom with someone back in civilization – someone close and readily accessible, someone that they can trust to pay the ransom when demanded. Player characters with families can usually count on them to pay a ransom if it is within their means, or even if they have to borrow heavily to do so – provided the character is on good terms with their family. Black sheep need not apply.

Characters who belong to guilds or similar organizations – temples, mercenary guilds, wizard guilds, thieves’ guilds, and the like – can count on these organizations to come to their aid, again, provided their fees are up to date and they are in good standing. Ion any case, the character, unless he has the fund on deposit, will be required to pay back the ransom paid, with interest, and is beholden to the family or organization even moreso until it is paid.

So, as players, please remember this third option! Not all battles need to be to the death. You now have the option of living to fight another day – and seeking revenge on those who captured you and ransomed you!