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...

[Now Available] Expanded Races: Thanians - A Shadowdark Supplement

Expanded Races: Thanians

Designed for use with the Shadowdark RPG

By James Mishler and Jodi Moran-Mishler

Expanded Races: Thanians includes 41 new races for use with the Shadowdark Role-playing Game.

Thanians, also known as Beastfolk, are anthropomorphic animals, including insect, amphibian, reptile, avian, and mammals, and including the following races:

Antfolk

Apefolk

Badgerfolk

Batfolk

Bearfolk

Beefolk

Birdfolk

Boarfolk

Butterflyfolk

Catfolk

Cattlefolk

Corvidfolk

Crabfolk

Cricketfolk

Deerfolk

Dogfolk

Duckfolk

Fishfolk

Foxfolk

Frogfolk

Gatorfolk

Goatfolk

Horsefolk

Lionfolk

Lizardfolk

Locustfolk

Mantisfolk

Monkeyfolk

Mousefolk

Otterfolk

Pigfolk

Rabbitfolk

Raccoonfolk

Raptorfolk

Ratfolk

Roachfolk

Serpentfolk

Sheepfolk

Skunkfolk

Tigerfolk

Wolffolk

Each has a brief description of common physical characteristics and typical societal systems, along with one or more special abilities.

16 pages (13 pages of content). 

$1.99 -- A steal!

Buy it now at DriveThruRPG!

 

General Blog Update

It has been quiet here recently.

After a series of fast releases – 13 products in four months, from April through July, followed by the release of Magical Beast Adventures in August, I decided to take some time off to collect my thoughts. Almost two months later I’m still trying; collecting thoughts is kind of like herding cats.

In that time, several things have happened that will impact my writing going forward.

First, Dan Proctor of Goblinoid Games has announced that he is going to release Labyrinth Lord 2nd Edition. That will be sometime in early 2023, so I am likely going to wait until then to start writing new LL products. The differences will be minor, I am sure, but most folks prefer new products to be for the most recent edition. In this, discretion is the better part of valor.

Second, I got a full-time job. This will cut significantly into my writing time going forward.

Third, shortly after I got the job, I tore my left meniscus, and have been hobbling around on crutches ever since. Fortunately, my job is such that I can work from home, so that’s good. Unfortunately, for various reasons, I cannot get the surgery to fix it for a couple of months. So that sucks. But things could be worse, and we are taking it day by day.

So, no Labyrinth Lord products for maybe six months, and limited production going forward.

What’s on the schedule, then, such as I’ve ever had a schedule?

Well, I had some ideas for further materials, including a full campaign setting, for Magical Beast Adventures. But the sales on that have been underwhelming, so that’s been shelved.

Work on the Castles & Crusades project has also been shelved. The response to that made the sales of Magical Beast Adventures seem spectacular by comparison.

I was working on a new module when I got the job, but between the job, my leg, and the new upcoming edition of Labyrinth Lord, that too went on the back burner.

Isle of Eldisor: The Northlands is still on the list, somewhere. While sales for Eldisor were better than anything else in years, it just has not yet made enough sales to carry a full-sized expansion. But that is a possibility in the future.

I have some vague ideas for a city product. I LOVE city adventures. But for various reasons, it is difficult to get started on those now.

That’s about it. 

I think for the next while I’ll be focusing on actual gaming, rather than writing for publishing. 

I am currently in two online games, my Old School Buddies Monday Night Game and my Merlin’s Keep Crew Friday Night Game. So far between the two groups we’ve played Blades in the Dark, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition, Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Advanced Labyrinth Lord, and Shadowdark. They are great groups.

I’ve had a lot more chances to actually play rather than run with these groups. I’m getting the hankering to run again.

I’m thinking of running the Monday Night Group through some Dungeons & Dragons, using the classic Cyclopedia Edition and setting the campaign in Mystara. We’re also talking about playing some Twilight 2000. 

I’m still debating what to run for the Friday Night Group. I’m thinking I might try to fill my desire for city adventures and develop a city for them to play in using Shadowdark. If you haven’t checked out Shadowdark, you really should. That link takes you to the Arcane Library page where you can download a free Quick Start PDF set.

I’m sure I’ll be posting about their adventures here.

Oh, and the release of the Skull and Bones: Savage Storm comic book has been moved back to March 2023, to track with the release of the game. Keep an eye out for that, too.

That’s about it for now.

Good gaming!

[Coming Soon] Skull and Bones: Savage Storm Comic Book Miniseries

Dark Horse Comics has announced the release of SKULL AND BONES: SAVAGE STORM, the first comic book based on Ubisoft's forthcoming pirate game, SKULL AND BONES... and my first comic book writing credit, alongside John Jackson Miller.

I worked with John on Scrye and Comics & Games Retailer magazines back in the day, but this is the first time I have ever collaborated with him on writing a comic book. It was an amazing experience learning under a Master of the craft, and this not-at-all-young Padawan discovered that writing for games and writing for comic books are two very different things.

I was brought in as a "world-wrangler," to bring together a story out of the amazing possibilities and huge world that Ubisoft has built for SKULL AND BONES. Founded upon historical themes, birthed in the myths and legends of the pirate era, the world of SKULL AND BONES is something all its own, fresh and new -- and yet hauntingly familiar.

The SKULL AND BONES game releases on November 8, with the comic book following on November 21. SAVAGE STORM is a three-issue miniseries that gives readers a glimpse into this world, its beauty, its horrors, and its possibilities. You can preorder the first issue from your local comic book shop using Diamond order code SEP220465.

Oh, and I can't forget the art. THE ART! Jodi can attest I shouted with joy at seeing the initial art for the first issue. Christian Rosada's work is AMAZING, and I cannot wait to see the finished product with colors by Roshan Kurichiyanil. And that cover by Pius Bak is just so classic!

A Tale of Three Worlds: Mystara, Mystoerth, and Mystaerth

Over the years I've used campaign material from the Known World and Mystara in various ways, adapting and adopting material here and there.

Twice I've made major adaptations, dropping the Known World and other elements of Mystara into other worlds wholesale, and vice-versa.

One of these efforts was Mystoerth, which combines Mystara and Greyhawk by dropping the Flanaess into the world of Mystara. Here is my Mystoerth map:

It is really great to see that others took and ran with the idea of Mystoerth, such as Tim Brannan on The Other Side Blog and his development of Mystoerth. Chatdemon's version of the map, which you can find at Tim's site, re-centered the map and added the parchment effect.

Another such effort was Mystaerth, which combined Mystara with the world of Aerth, the campaign setting from Gary Gygax's Dangerous Journeys: Mythus setting. Here is the map from that effort:

I really feel the need to return to Mystara soon. Just which Mystara, I'm not quite sure yet...

This post was inspired by Trey's posts on From the Sorcerer's Scroll about placing Karameikos and the other locations from Mystara in the Real World.

I should also note, inspired by Trey's post, I went and finally dug up a huge treasure trove of old Mystara files, some of them dating to 1994! Now to go through everything and see what passes the sniff test...