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I know I've been pushing hard against the text of the new book. I know I've been asking a lot of questions. I know sometimes my own frustration has made me phrase things in ways that don't make me happy -- and those phrasings can't be sugar whispers to the ears of everyone who worked on this new book and this new line of an RPG classic. So I wanted to make something clear: I know how hard you guys have worked on this game. I know how hard you worked on this book. I know how hard it is to write RPG text. (Like, really, I know.) You have produced a new version of a game that has existed since the start of the hobby. And has gone through a half-dozen variations over those four decades. You've obviously put a lot of work and love into the book and the plans for the line. If there is frustration in my posts on occasion (and I suspect this might be true for others as well) it is because I sense there is a lot lot joy and wonder in these pages and there is a lot of work on my part to pull it out. I want to make sure to get what everyone else is talking about, and has been talking about for years. I want to get all the terrific details and magic and culture resting in the book and waiting for me to bring them to my friends. And if I have desire to do this it is only because the game system is rich, the setting is rich, and you have built a book that brings both of these things closer together than they ever have in any previous edition of RuneQuest. So, I want you to know I appreciate all the work. I appreciate all the effort you are making now to get the game released in print, to answer our question, to ponder our questions, and work diligently to make the best game and game line you can. Wanted to say that. Thanks.

Chaosium is pleased to announce award-winning RPG designer Chris Spivey will be developing a new BRP-based science fiction line to add to the company's suite of roleplaying game brands. Last year Spivey's Darker Hue Studios produced the licensed Call of Cthulhu/Trail of Cthulhu supplement Harlem Unboundwhich has received critical acclaim for its groundbreaking treatment of issues of race and the Lovecraft Mythos, and is a nominee for the 2018 Diana Jones Award. "I am excited and honored to be brought on by Chaosium. I grew up playing Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, Nephilim and more. Now the chance to fully manage a science fiction line that only previously existed in my own mind has left me speechless, but let's hope not wordless.”—Diana Jones Award nominee Chris Spivey https://www.chaosium.com/blogchris-spivey-to-develop-scifi-rpg-game-setting-for-chaosium

I always find a great way to create an immersive world when GM'ing is to mention things by origin. To say it is a Lorthensket built ship is better than just a ship, or to know the difference between a Loskalm Destrier from a Jillaroan Race Horse is far more evocative than a big horse or a fast horse, Fortunately the Guide provides a rich resource but as it is not easily referenced for this sort of data I created a table of Gloranthan Trade Goods and Places of Interest. Hardly complete but serves as a ready reckoner for adding a touch of the exotic or realism to you games. For the most part if the Guide said xyz Is famous for abc I added it to the list. Here is a PDF arranged by item with locale, region and Guide page number for reference, and my original exel sheet for those who want to edit etc. I've also uploaded them to the Downloads. Enjoy Gloranthan_Trade_Goods.pdf Gloranthan_Trade_Goods.xlsx

The Bestiary is almost through layout (as in it's completely laid out and there are some things that need fixing). I'm going through now and correcting the many small errors and issues that we've identified in the manuscript since the book went into layout. Once those are complete, it'll be made available for .pdf sale, just as with the core rule book. Right after that, the GM Pack & Screen will go on sale. The Bestiary will not be in print for Gen Con, as that takes months, but both it and the GM Pack & Screen will be available for sale via .pdf at that time.

Thank you for this sentiment! I'll admit that sometimes it's difficult to even visit this forum at times, versus spending the time working on the books. This is still a part-time job for me and I need to prioritize my time carefully, so forums and other social media sometimes don't get the attention they deserve. It's good to be reminded that complaints about errors, demands for clarification, etc. stem from passionate enthusiasm, not negativity. Thanks for your support!

We're delighted to announce that The Design Mechanism has agreed a license for a Spanish edition of Mythras with 77mundos. The company will start with the core rules, and swiftly follow with Monster Island. Both books will hopefully be available by Christmas, and 77mundos intends to produce more translations from the Mythras catalogue, as well as look to produce original content in Spanish. Please join with us in congratulating 77mundos - we look forward to working with them, and are excited to see this new edition for our wonderful Spanish-speaking fans! Lawrence

I'm assuming this is some sort of attempt at cleverness? Snark? A pointed rejoinder to an honest question about how competently RQG was executed in both design and writing? The basic package of RQG (printed) is going to be about, what, $175? So far, from what I've seen in how the text handled parrying (a fairly mundane and common activity in RQ play) the text of the game is already loaded with problems for anyone new to the game trying to sort out exactly how one is supposed to use the mechanics at hand. It also seems clear (from the example above, which was only an example, which broadened out to a larger issue of how magic and other issues in general) the game does not in fact offer a comprehensive set of rules for play for a newcomer, but depends instead either on an institutional memory or other text published decades ago for a proper understanding and application of the rules. Now, I'll be blunt: Your response makes you an ass. I asked an honest question that I think is worth asking, because either RQG delivers the goods on offering a solid rules set that one can read and play the game... or it does't. The example of the Peace spell above certainly seems to be a slip-up where a previous text put a limiter on a very powerful spell... and that limiter is missing from the text. If you think I'm a fool for asking the question, fine. If you think I'm a fool for wondering whether to begin investing in the new RQG line, fine. But if so, just come out and say it. Don't hide behind cloudy snark. And by the way, if anyone, from Chaosium or not, comes out and says, "Hey, its your game, these are only guidelines, do what you want!" Forget it. For a $55 book I'm expecting some thought and clarity to have been put into the game. For a game that needs about $175 or so for the four main components to get the game going, I'm expecting more than, "Good luck!" Seriously, you can either offer help, or answer a question plainly, or say, "Really, Glorantha and RuneQuest are a little club, and we really don't want anyone new to show up. You really wouldn't understand." But the asinine post above? Shove it.

Checkboxes are big to make them easy to see. Edits/comments/suggestions - styopa1@gmail RQG Character Sheet 1.2.pdf

An ENnie nomination for the RQ Quickstart and two noms for Khan of Khans - waha! http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?5378-Congratulations-To-The-2018-ENnies-Nominees!

Greg Stafford said in conversation with me that in his Glorantha, Morokanth are vegetarian (Sandy Petersen believes they are omnivores). Overall this changes nothing, but does give us richer background to play with so the Praxian tribes aren't so monolithic in their behaviour and culture. Add to this that Herd Men are omniverorrus and the stage is set. Morokanth and can only safely eat meat during magical rituals. Eiritha has Clayday every week set aside for rituals, and scattered in are also seasonal holy and high holy days of Eiritha and Waha. As a result Morokanth eat meat at least one day a week. depending on the nature of the ritual. dairy products may also be consumed. All Praxian herd beasts produce milk and a small milk herds are kept by each clan. Milk is turned into different products depending on the herd beast. Herd-men follow the same pattern as other herd-beasts in that after calves are weaned, udders shrink back to near nothing making it difficult to distinguish cows and bulls sitting in a herd. Morokanth practice raiding and hunt just as the other great tribes. The meat is ritually prepared, cooked and fed to their herd-men. Being omnivores they don't thrive so well on the chaparral as other herd beasts, meat is needed to supplement their diet. If a herd-man is captured by another tribe they're put in the pot before all other animals, this is because the other tribes won't feed them meat and they don't thrive so well. Herd-men in other tribes often looked dishevelled and unkempt, whilst those amongst the Morokanth always look well happy and have long black well groomed hair. Herd-men are trained to gather food for the Morokanth, they dig for tubers, crop grasses with simple stone hand knives, gather seed pods and other any seasonal plants. They are very efficient at this. As a result of this herd-men have a much lower bride (dowery) value than other herd beasts. Much more work is spent maintaining them, however you need at least one to claim your bride from her mother or grandmother. Within Praxian culture everybody eats herd-men, all Praxians do this. Foreigners don't know this and it's generally kept from them. Dishevelled looking herd-men in other tribes are often passed off as slaves. As a result Morokanth are often portrayed as man eaters - you wouldn't want the truth to get out would you. At Pimpers Block, the main slave market for Prax / Sartar border, Morokanth aren't permitted. This this prohibition doesn't come from the Praxians it comes from the other traders. It is supported fully by the other tribes. However when it actually comes to ransom and hostages amongst Praxians Morokanth are often the intermediaries as they are much more likely to look after human captives well and not kill them. However it's not unknown for them to change hostages or captives into beasts who are good breeding stock. Morokanth often go after outlaws of other tribes as they are fair game.

Coming soon from our friends at Q Workshop! #RuneQuest #RQ #Glorantha #RQG #dice

Updated the first post with some new links to some recent (and not so recent) nonsense.

We have just announced the Relaunch of the Chaosium Fiction Program, under the capable direction of publishing and gaming industry veteran James Lowder. We're starting back with Mythos and weird fiction, but Glorantha and other fantasy fiction is definitely on the table. More details at the link.

Happy Birthday, United States of America! Thank God for the freedom to (among other things) create and play games about elves and storm warriors and tentacle monsters.

SIX AGES is out on iOS: mythic story-driven strategy in the game that is the spiritual successor to KING OF DRAGON PASS! Congratulations to David Dunham, Robin Laws and all the team at A Sharp for this new Gloranthan masterpiece!

I'm working on a quick character generation system for the Gamemaster's Sourcebook.

I've dug into the rules several times now. As far as I can tell: If you are using one weapon it can attack and parry in a given round (p. 197) If you are using a weapon and a shield you can a) attack with the weapon and parry with the weapon, as well as parry with the shield; b) attack with the weapon and parry with the weapon, as well as attack with the shield but not parry with the shield (p. 219); c) parry with both weapons but not attack (though there is no penalty for attacking with the weapon and then parrying, so this would by a choice in special circumstances) (again, p. 197) If you are using two weapons you can use them to a) have one attack while the other can parry throughout the round; b) both be used to attack ; c) both be used to parry throughout the round (p. 224) Each parry with a weapon or a shield after the first time incurs a stacking -20% penalty for each particular weapon or shield (not a cumulative penalty for each parry) Dodge can be used in a round instead of parrying ("Dodge may be used to avoid an attack instead of attempting to parry." p. 201) Each Dodge in a round after the first incurs a stacking -20% penalty Dodge penalties do not stack with other parry penalties. Thus, a character in a given round could parry twice and then dodge, all at no penalty to the skills. If the character were to then parry with each weapon and dodge again later in the round, each attempt would suffer a -20% penalty. These rules explain why a 2H is not the default. (To answer another question in another thread). The character with a weapon and shield or two weapons has more flexibly in a combat situation. While these rules might not be what people want, they do seem seem clear to me. I'm not seeing anything that needs to be corrected.

Without surprise, last night, Jason confirmed that GM Pack and GM book were two different books: https://gmshoe.wordpress.com/2018/06/27/qa-jason-durall-runequest-glorantha/ And, not to be ignored :-) :

RPG gamer Ellie A. Akers is a Glorantha fan from playing the King of Dragon Pass video game, but up til now RuneQuest was never really on her radar. Here Ellie breaks down how playing the new RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha brought the setting to life for her. https://www.chaosium.com/blogellie-a-akers-diving-into-a-bold-colourful-world

Wotcher, warblers! I've been posting these to the Glorantha Google+ page so far, but while that format is brilliant for quickly displaying visual things like these, it isn't that great for keeping stuff collated. As I'm working on a few more at the moment, I thought I'd start a thread here, with all the links 'n' stuff. Attached at the bottom of this post (at least, I bloody hope so) are the first four in the series. Below is a list of all current entries, with links to high-quality PDFs. ***** Famous Ducks of the Hero Wars 1. Runk Squallheart, Basmoli Duck Gladiator 2. Rudepebble the Streamlord, Rune Lord of the River Gods 3. Buy-one-get-one-free Bronzebill, Rune Priest of Issaries/Etyries 4. Sir Montgomery Quackholy, Duck of (Not Quite) All 5. Mildred Keenwarble, Vingan Adventurer 6. Sungobble, Ptyrant of the Sorns 7. Esmerelda Wildwarble, Torch Singer 8. Snipbeak, Duck Bandit Bonus Deviance a. In the Duck Corners of the Earth b. Elf-finger c. An Illustrated Duckopedia of Durulz Helmets d. The Sord Sage e. Holiday Glorantha: Stormwalk Mountain f. The Parade of the Bloomers

Latterly, my conceit has been that just as humans use animal hair and feathers to decorate their helmets, clothes and armour, ducks—and other Beastfolk—use... Human hair. Particularly beards. I have a piece on this I've been meaning to finish (and might do so now). Also, a word on feathers: I draw a lot of them. I guess some might think it's weird for feathered creatures to adorn themselves with yet more feathers. I do it because I think ducks are showy little things and like to display not only their own plumage, but also that of others. In the nicest sense, they will keep and display the feathers of ancestors as sacred mementos that frequently act as spell and spirit matrices, charms, fetishes, etc. In the nastiest sense, they like to ritually pluck and humiliate their enemies and rivals, and display such feathers as a sign of victory and dominance. 'Pluck' is the rudest swearword in the duck dialect. "(I'll) Pluck you!" "Go pluck yourself/your mother!" "Get plucked!" "I'll be plucked if I'm doing that!" I did start writing this up a few years ago, as well as rules for duck duels, where participants would sacrifice POW (?) into feathers, which would then be plucked by the victor. But I lost it somewhere... As to the last point... no! I really should have a think. That could be quite fun! Sadly, I'm quite slow and have so many things to finish...

There is a tremendous amount of discussion about "potential" abuse of a rule by players without actually trying it out in play. Extension is an EXPENSIVE spell - it requires quite a few Rune points. Rune Points that aren't available for whatever other situations the players might need them in. In playing out a campaign game, my players are very cautious about expending Rune points - they like the option of using their cult speciality spells for special circumstances, summoning and controlling elementals, and making sure they can Heal Wound. And that's not even raising the social implications of those actions. Rules minimaxing in the abstract tends to be very misleading as to how rules play out in practice.

So happened.

The GM pack includes the Colymar lands (including Clearwine and Apple Lane) as a sandbox area with three loosely linked scenarios, play aids, a calendar of holy days, and the GM Screen with all sorts of key tables.

Two colours. And still looking fairly reasonable in terms of legibility. (I'd probably struggle a bit with the "tens" die if I used "tens" dice.)