Nick Brooke

If anyone out there sees anything else that “needs” fixing, please get the details to me by this weekend or else it’ll won’t be corrected in the paperback edition.

I honestly thought Nochet was a bit further south. In my defence, I put that white box there more than 3.5 years ago, and never thought about it again.

Like this, you mean? Thanks for the feedback, I can get that correction in before we go to print.

This is why they call us exceptional GMs, Rodney.

Sure: and nobody has said it can't. But the competent, experienced GMs here are saying that an Elemental Rune can't ONLY augment skills within its skills category: if a player can make a reasonable (non-minimaxing, non-pettifogging) case, see above for examples, then a GM can be reasonable too. The thing is, RQ has a load of situation-specific skills, and can kinda break down if an adventurer is missing one, so we patch this with reasonable workarounds (characteristic rolls, augments, substitutes, etc.). No sensible GM would say "under no circumstances would I allow an Elemental Rune to augment a skill that isn't within its skills category." You can see the difference, I hope? We are trying to be helpful, here. This isn't a game of "gotcha."

I was describing two notional player character archetypes, not poring over the statblocks in the printed Sandheart books. But I thank you for your concern, and for what I am sure was a generous and well-intentioned offer. We have no plans to "update" any of our books, and encourage you to scribble "corrections" in the margins, ideally using green and purple ink.

Treat the rules as fractal: when action isn't important, you can easily speed through it. You do not have to apply all of the rules, all of the time, especially to unimportant situations. The Football Fight scene in Black Spear is a good example. I would hate to try running that scene with strike ranks and hit locations and all that jazz, so instead I give you shortcuts and explain how to keep the session moving along briskly. If you would prefer to set up a tactical battle-map with 250 friendly and 250 hostile NPCs, I can't really help you, but you have to recognise that this is your choice. Similarly, if you read a scenario and immediately think "this monster is too weak for my players," just increase its hit points, armour points and/or damage output. "The monster is too strong for my players?" Halve its hit points, armour points and/or damage output. Your oblivious players will not notice, but if they did, they would thank you. You're the game master, you're meant to quietly balance this stuff so that your group has a good time. It's not a wargame, you're not trying to "beat" them or enforce "realistic" outcomes if that results in unsatisfying sessions. ("Another TPK? Let's generate new characters and try again.")

That's the essence of being a Game Master, right there. These games take place in a social context. You will know, sitting at the table, if your friends are making reasonable bids or are cheekily "trying it on" (and coincidentally using their highest rating, every time). I can't teach you that. It's not about "interpreting and adjudicating rules": it's about the flow of the session. Rulebooks can't defend you against pettifogging rules-lawyers: only GMs can do that. It's their job.

It’s from “Black Spear,” Simon.

Thanks, I’ll fix that.

The updated Jonstown Compendium Catalogue (2023 edition) is now available at DriveThruRPG! This book details every supplement published in the first four years of Chaosium's community content programme for RuneQuest and Glorantha. As before, the book merges the 2022 JC Catalogue with the 2023 JC Index to present every release up to the end of December 2023, divided into categories. Titles in most categories are ranked by sales. The nine categories used are RuneQuest (scenarios), Glorantha (sourcebooks), QuestWorlds, Monsters of the Month, Virtual Tabletop Tokens, Cartography & Battle-Maps, Artpacks & Stock Art, Shorter Works, and Play Aids & Random Stuff. Detailed listings analyse content (pages split between scenario, stats, maps, etc.), calculate the price per page of content (excluding front matter, blank pages, etc.), and summarise key details about each title. Three Where in the World? maps show product locations (where they can be pinned down). There are notes on when each scenario and campaign is set, by year and season, including all Chaosium RQG scenarios. Appendices include notes for creators and best-seller charts (all time and 2023 by quarter), and a selection of fascinating bar-charts showing the growth of the programme. 205 pages (6x9 inch) for $3.50 digital (PDF) or $11.95 (standard colour paperback).

King Pharandros the Tarshite By the Red Moon he swore That the great house of Hon-eel Should suffer wrong no more. By the Red Moon he swore it, And named a trysting day, And bade his messengers ride forth, East and west and south and north, To summon his array...

I know some people have created and are working on Balazar supplements for the Jonstown Compendium. Hopefully they’ll have some neat new art and cartography.

Updated again on 27 December: The Good, the Bad & the Rowdy, by Ian Thomson & Friends: the fourth Pavis & Big Rubble Companion returns to the Big Rubble and presents game masters with a mix of Old City strongholds (with floorplans and descriptions), supporting characters in various categories (many of them with full RuneQuest statblocks, including Garrath Sharpsword, Sor-eel the Short and Gim-Gim the Grim), a campaign framework that pulls the first four volumes together (A Fistful of Lunars) and several detailed scenarios, many involving iconic locations in the Big Rubble. Of particular interest is an eclectic range of material co-created by Greg Stafford covering Mani’s Clan, the history of Zebra Fort and the Black Fang cult, and various notes on Griselda and friends in collaboration with Oliver Dickinson. If you’ve been following the series, you’ll know what to expect: extrapolations from the previously published material, always with a focus on playability. (274 pages for $20.75)

Here is some feedback I provided on the draft scenario, I don’t think it was actioned but you might find it useful:

There’s just one week left to share your perfectly-worded reviews of Jonstown Compendium books on DriveThruRPG and maybe see them printed in the 2023 Jonstown Compendium Catalogue. So get writing! (Ratings are also welcome!)

Further to that: as soon as the art is complete, I will prepare the print edition to the high standard you have rightly come to expect. But I can’t finish the art myself, and there’s no point starting work until everything is in the bag.

Award-winning author Jane Routley’s second Miskatonic Repository scenario is out now: it’s a rustic Edwardian Suffragettes vs. Cthulhu romp called A Midsummer Night’s Darkness. Cover art is by the phenomenally talented Alex Guillotte, and layout and design are by me (and you’ll see that I had way too much fun!).

Out now in print-on-demand from the Miskatonic Repository on DriveThruRPG: the expanded and revised edition of The Pastores - a malevolent cult for Cthulhu Dark Ages.

Updated again on 23 December: Sacred Earth, Sacred Water by Diana Probst, Kristi Herbert & Erin McGuire: this book collects four linked Praxian scenarios from Beer With Teeth and adds new background detailing the Straw Weaver Clan of the Bison Tribe, their way of life and their leaders. It forms a Praxian starter campaign in a single book: you can play either as members of the tribe or else as their outlander friends and associates. Of the scenarios, Stone and Bone is a battle against deadly scorpion foes, The Gifts of Prax is a shamanic trek across Prax, The Lifethief takes you to the worst place in the world, and The Temple of Twins is one of those scenario ideas that’s so good you wish you’d thought of it yourself. Three of the scenarios are connected, but they can be played in any order. The book is rounded off with several dozen colourful fully-statted Praxian Encounters which could be used for any group crossing the Plaines of Prax, be they Straw Weavers, Sandheart Militia or something else entirely. The book is beautifully illustrated throughout: Kristi Herbert’s artwork is particularly fine, and many new character illustrations bring the Praxian cast vividly to life.

Hey, @Scornado, are you trying to generalise based on the incident described in “A Fire in the Darkness”? It seems to me that would be a bad idea, for what I’d have thought were fairly obvious reasons.

Regarding your last concerns, I recently shared this “generic RuneQuest scenario” outline on Facebook, and think you should recognise this is a universal issue. It’s [Element] Season, so our heroes have gone to [holy place] to take part in [ritual], like we do every year… But something’s gone wrong, and this year it’s all started going sideways. Unreflective jerks assume traditional enemies have screwed with our myths, but (whisper it) maybe our leaders or ancestors screwed up as well? So now we’re all trying to complete a botched ritual and deal with political complications, while learning secrets about our traditional enemies and respected leaders/ancestors, while dealing with the fallout from the first botched attempt, which is probably huge and dangerous… And then the players come up with their own solution (usually: “let’s marry or worship the huge dangerous monster, cover up our leaders’ and ancestors’ crimes, and lead a pogrom against our completely innocent traditional enemies.”) Voila! That’s RuneQuest. The thing is, some RuneQuest players will always prefer to blame the people they think are baddies (even if it means they have to frame them while teaming up with the real baddies), rather than accept what’s actually happening. It can be frustrating! But once you accept that it’s what always happens, you can get more relaxed about it, and maybe even start poking fun at those knuckle-draggers who can’t move past their entry-level preconceptions. That’s what Greg always did.

Oh, and here’s a photo of the Chaosium Community Content store at Dragonmeet.

Updated again on 21 December: Korkos Keep, by Dario Corallo & Peter Hart: a straightforward scenario about an incursion into a Zorak Zoran stronghold in the Upland Marsh, beautifully illustrated throughout by Dario Corallo. The introduction presents a variety of adventure hooks (starting with the Humakti classic, “Kill the Undead”), the varied denizens are characterful in the best RuneQuest tradition, and the afterword suggests yet more stories that could revolve around this location. Other useful resources for games set in the Upland Marsh are referenced in the advertisements at the back. The VTT pack includes 22 tokens (ghouls, skeletons, zombies and worse) and a high-resolution map (17.5k x 31.5 k pixels). (30 pages plus a map and 22 VTT tokens for $10.95) Plus three shorter works: Balazar & Elder Wilds Codex by Anders Tönnberg: a gazetteer detailing all the places on the map of Balazar and the Elder Wilds: it should be back on sale shortly. (12 pages for $2.74) 100 Hooks and Rumours for Griffin Mountain by Adrian Kennelly: snippets from Griffin Mountain in 100 paragraphs, alphabetically ordered, with a rumour appended to the end of each entry. (10 pages for $1.99) The Bandit Den by Smol Snek: a ruined house is the hideout for a group of bandits. (2 pages for $0.50) And lots more maps by Mikael Mansen, of course.