Quick synopsis for Gloranthan Classics?

[Chromatism]

Hi everyone.

I'm a new devotee to the wonderful world of Runequest, Heroquest and Glorantha. Right now I'm diving head long into the world and slamming into the enormity of the prospect! So time to start smaller. I'm very interested in the Gloranthan Classics, however I can't seem to find a good synopsis about the flavour that the big three offer. Can anyone kindly oblige? I'm aware that Pavis and the Big Rubble is likely good old dungeon delving, but I'm guessing there's a city intrigue component? And I don't know what to make of Griffin Mountain and Borderlands just atm.

Thanks very much.

[Dissolv]

Borderlands is a great intro campaign.  Beyond a doubt something that will help you and your players get acclimated to the weird stuff by introducing them element by element.  

Griffin Mountain is a huge sandbox, and also considered one of the greats, from any game system.  

Pavis and Big Rubble is much, much more than dungeon delving!  In addition to the interplay between the many factions, you have various urban adventures for those so inclined (robbery, politics, social standing type interactions), gang rivalry, ventures out to the surrounding areas (many of which are covered in Borderlands, but also the Sun County stuff).  The Big Rubble itself is a great "dungeon",  but is really a post apocalyptic setting when you get down to it.  The PC's may start out arrogantly to steal the resources of the massive fallen city, but the Pavis survivors had to live in here, hunted by trolls, hounded by chaos, with their backs against the wall for the entirety of the closing.  It also is a nice microcosm of the Gloranthan elder races, as Trolls, Aldrymai, and Dwarves (via Flintnail) are present.  Plus a strong connection with giants, nomads, some unique locations to explore and NPCs to meet.   Basically it is a great adventure locale because you can do so much with the setting.   Limiting it to a dungeon delve would not be doing it justice.

I'm pretty sure this is why people keep coming back to it, despite the clear need for other regions being detailed.   There is just always something new and interesting to get involved in.  

[Joerg]

45 minutes ago, Chromatism said:

Hi everyone.

I'm a new devotee to the wonderful world of Runequest, Heroquest and Glorantha. Right now I'm diving head long into the world and slamming into the enormity of the prospect! So time to start smaller. I'm very interested in the Gloranthan Classics, however I can't seem to find a good synopsis about the flavour that the big three offer. Can anyone kindly oblige? I'm aware that Pavis and the Big Rubble is likely good old dungeon delving, but I'm guessing there's a city intrigue component? And I don't know what to make of Griffin Mountain and Borderlands just atm.

Thanks very much.

Welcome to the tribe!

Yes, each of the three classics you mentioned offers a limited scope entryway into Glorantha. Each of the books deals with an out-of-the-way region of the setting.

And each of the Classics is set eight to ten years in the past of the "current" setting for RQG and 13G, or four to six years before the cut-away date for the Guide to Glorantha. (HQG moves somewhere between the Guide and RQG.)

Pavis and the Big Rubble are set in the border city of Pavis, conquered about five years ago. The Big Rubble is the mostly ruined remains of the centuries old city of Pavis, a huge enclosed area about halfway filled with former urban areas and half of it grazing or unkempt park land. The city was a place renowned for exotic magic - some inherited from the (now extinct) Empire of the Wyrms Friends, some brought by the God Learners, some stolen from giant cradles which used to flow down the Zola Fel River until the giants learned about all of them being robbed here. The ruins still contain smaller and bigger remains of these old magics, as items, texts, or denizens -ghosts, but also descendants of the survivors of the troll occupation which finally spelled the end of the human city. The trolls sealed in the ancient fortress, and it was less than 80 years ago that a huge dragonewt ritual witnessed over wide areas of the northern continent broke that magical seal. 70 years ago a scion of the Sartar dynasty founded New Pavis, a more modern city on the flank of the old city, to create a base for systematic exploration of the Rubble.

A little under half the scenarios deal with adventures in the city, half deal with adventures in the rubble, some of a more dungeon style, others dealing with human-occupied parts of the city. And then there is the Cradle scenario, the most epic scenario in all of the Classics, allowing the player characters to participate in one of the pivotal events that set off the Hero Wars.

 

Borderlands is about roving adventurers getting semi-sedentary as trouble-shooters for a minor Lunar noble exiled into newly developed lands south of Pavis. It offers a consecutive set of seven scenarios in the service of Duke Raus. About as much material is offered for two dozen encounters and their Gloranthan background as you would have in the valley of the River of Cradles, offering ready to use encounters with plot hooks or just game data. A third part is a collection of powerful NPCs statted ouf as per the rules of RQ Classic, offering some additional insight into the cults described in Cults of Prax.

 

Griffin Mountain is possibly the epitome of a sandbox setting. While it has a few scenarios at the end of the book, it lives from its location descriptions and encounters, more so than those in Borderlands. Three citadels planted in a primitive land some 500 years ago with quite disparate rulers - one citadel was conquered by Lunars, one has the ancient Yelmalio cult, and one was taken over by a native hunter dynasty friendly to the Storm worshipers from Sartar who have made it their base for exploration. The land is dotted with ruins and graves from an earlier period (when the EWF had extended here, too) and has plenty Elder Races influences.

Unlike the other two Classics, this supplement is not set in Prax but in Balazar and the Elder Wilds, to the north and beyond the almost impassable mountains (and behind the troll lands of Dagori Inkarth and the Redwood elf forest which are dsscribed in Troll Pak, the fourth Classic which only was reprinted recently as the RQ Classic reprise of RuneQuest 2.

 

Troll Pak offers the eploration of Glorantha from the perspective of the trolls, and gives the most universal introduction to Glorantha, as there are few places which have no trolls. It has its measure of scenarios, playable with both troll or human characters, it has an in-depth exploration of the trolls aka Uz, and it covers places closer to the core action of the Hero Wars.

 

You need the least lore for Borderlands or Griffin Mountain. Pavis is somewhere in between, but worth the while. Troll Pak still is the product that non-human supplements are measured against in any fantasy system.

 

[Chromatism]

38 minutes ago, Dissolv said:

Borderlands is a great intro campaign.  Beyond a doubt something that will help you and your players get acclimated to the weird stuff by introducing them element by element.  

 

37 minutes ago, Joerg said:

Welcome to the tribe!

Thank you both very much for taking the time to write all of that. I wasn't aware of the Troll Pack, so I'll definitely put that on the list. Brilliantly informative on both counts, and I think it sets me leaning towards Borderlands and Beyond to begin with... though Pavis and the Big Rubble absolutely sounds like something to absorb and dive into sometime soon.

For now I shall also indulge in play throughs of King of Dragon Pass and Six Ages and dream of a good old tribal campaign. Many thanks!

[Puckohue]

30 minutes ago, Chromatism said:

leaning towards Borderlands and Beyond

I recently started a Borderlands-campaign. My notes are here: 

 

[Chromatism]

1 hour ago, Puckohue said:

I recently started a Borderlands-campaign. My notes are here: 

Very kind of you! Thanks very much for sharing them.

[Bill the barbarian]

4 hours ago, Chromatism said:

I'm a new devotee to the wonderful world of Runequest, Heroquest and Glorantha. Right now I'm diving head long into the world and slamming into the enormity of the prospect! So time to start smaller. I'm very interested in the Gloranthan Classics, however I can't seem to find a good synopsis about the flavour that the big three offer. Can anyone kindly oblige? I'm aware that Pavis and the Big Rubble is likely good old dungeon delving, but I'm guessing there's a city intrigue component? And I don't know what to make of Griffin Mountain and Borderlands just atm.

 

I have run and played in two, and while I had a feeling that the sandbox of Griffin Mountain would be the coolest, I have only dipped toes in water there as a GM... briefly, alas. The structure of The Borderlands,  oddly enough, allowed or caused (not sure which) possibly evoked the creativity required for the most ad-libbing. I had run 8 scenarios by the time I had got half way through the 7 included scenarios. Nice to meet you, welcome and I hope the forums are kind to you.

cheers

[jajagappa]

2 hours ago, Chromatism said:

Brilliantly informative on both counts, and I think it sets me leaning towards Borderlands and Beyond to begin with... though Pavis and the Big Rubble absolutely sounds like something to absorb and dive into sometime soon.

Btw, from a buying perspective, you can either choose the original RQ2 Classics line (fairly recently re-released and includes other books such as Trollpak noted above) or the Glorantha Classics line (which paired up some of the former content and included some odds-and-ends, e.g. Borderlands and Beyond includes the RQ2 Borderlands book plus the RQ2 Plunder book).

The former are here: https://www.chaosium.com/runequest-classic-pdfs/ 

The latter are here: https://www.chaosium.com/glorantha-classics/ 

[Bill the barbarian]

4 hours ago, jajagappa said:

Btw, from a buying perspective, you can either choose the original RQ2 Classics line (fairly recently re-released and includes other books such as Trollpak noted above) or the Glorantha Classics line (which paired up some of the former content and included some odds-and-ends, e.g. Borderlands and Beyond includes the RQ2 Borderlands book plus the RQ2 Plunder book).

 

If I might make an observation... 

I agree but might add the classic line is classic for a reason, the packaging the lay out the art, everything; is just “classic”! The “Gloranthan Classics” are the work of devoted fan boys and it shows, the bang for buck value increases as speculative notions and cults and write-ups of various ilk are added with glee, some of the art slides but there is more of it... Great value and for a while all there was (worth a note, the above mentioned fanboys are now running the asylum, err Chaosium).  Being old, I  went for the original, for the above reasons and added sentimentality which canon cannot* be weighed, but to someone without the ties... it becomes very very subjective.

* edited to add and change: sometimes the spell checking demon is more of an imp with more mischief on its mind than malice... I actually like the odd correction.

Cheers

Edited December 18, 2019 by Bill the barbarian

[Austin]

3 hours ago, Chromatism said:

Brilliantly informative on both counts, and I think it sets me leaning towards Borderlands and Beyond to begin with... though Pavis and the Big Rubble absolutely sounds like something to absorb and dive into sometime soon.

For now I shall also indulge in play throughs of King of Dragon Pass and Six Ages and dream of a good old tribal campaign. Many thanks!

Welcome to the tribe!

Great collection of summaries above on the material. As a comparatively newer member myself, I just wanted to add in that of the classic content, I picked up both Pavis & Big Rubble and Borderlands & Beyond pretty early on. While I skimmed both initially, I ended up reading Borderlands pretty much cover-to-cover; I really enjoyed just absorbing that book, whereas Pavis &. felt more "crunchy." Plunder and Runemasters (included in B&B) give a great, brief insight into Glorantha which IMHO makes B&B the best bang for your buck in both time and money.

[Lordabdul]

45 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

If I might make an observation... 

And also that they're all available only as PDF unless you go find them on eBay or whatever... but I assume the OP is aware of that.

[Chromatism]

Just now, lordabdul said:

And also that they're all available only as PDF unless you go find them on eBay or whatever... but I assume the OP is aware of that.

I am, but thank you for the heads up. I must admit I'm keeping my fingers crossed for print on demand. We can hope!

[Qizilbashwoman]

4 minutes ago, Chromatism said:

I am, but thank you for the heads up. I must admit I'm keeping my fingers crossed for print on demand. We can hope!

maybe considering that Chaosium is putting the Stafford Library on Lulu they'll do the same with the other PDFs as well

[Bill the barbarian]

1 hour ago, Chromatism said:

I am, but thank you for the heads up. I must admit I'm keeping my fingers crossed for print on demand. We can hope!

Please see the topic I created for a fantastic and handicrafty way to make the wait a little more interesting. There is a series of post wit pictures on how to create your own POD at about the second page of ... DIY your way to OLG or even BRP bliss 

[Qizilbashwoman]

19 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Please see the topic I created for a fantastic and handicrafty way to make the wait a little more interesting. There is a series of post wit pictures on how to create your own POD at about the second page of ... DIY your way to OLG or even BRP bliss 

I'm ready to murder someone for a printable commentary-enabled codex of the entekosiad

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by Qizilbashwoman

[Rick Meints]

As one of the founders of Moon Design Publications, I am happy to summarize our first 4 main projects, aka the Gloranthan Classics line of books:

Gloranthan Classics Volume I - Pavis & Big Rubble (1999)
is an updated and reformatted 316 page reprint of ALL of the information from the two original boxed sets organized together. Additional material on the Sun Dragon cult, plus 35 additional new pieces of art specifically commissioned for the book are also included. Rediscover the Puzzle Canal, Kakstan's Art Museum, Balastor's Barracks, the Devil's Playground, and Ogre Island. Adventure once more in the greatest roleplaying city ever written. Journey along on the epic Cradle scenario! The hardcover has a color dust jacket.

Gloranthan Classics Volume II - Griffin Mountain (2001)
is 256 pages (plus 12 pages of player handouts on the citadels, inns, and the like) of the legendary land of Balazar, plus the dangerous Elder Wilds to the north. Some of the new stuff we've added include magazine articles about Balazaring clans written by Rudy and Paul, a large section on running Gloranthan campaigns by Greg Stafford, over 30 new pieces of art, and several pages of designer's notes. We even added in a few of the new bits that were in Griffin Island, like Granny Keeneye and the maps of the major Inns in the three Citadels.

Gloranthan Classics Volume III - Cult Compendium  (2002)
is 352 pages which detail over 40 cults, including all of the cults found in Cults of Prax, Cults of Terror, and Trollpak, plus White Wolf and Different Worlds magazines. Associated background from Wyrms Footnotes and similar sources give you a complete breakdown on how rune magic, spirit magic, elementals, and runes operate. Also added are all of the designer's notes, some never published before and a vastly improved index. The topics are vividly detailed with the addition of over 50 new pieces of art showing cult life (and death). 

Gloranthan Classics Volume IV - Borderlands & Beyond (2005)
is an updated and reformatted 300+ page reprint of ALL of the information from the original Borderlands boxed set, Plunder, and Runemasters, as written for the Runequest 2 rules. Also included additional Plunder items, expanded Runemasters character histories, and loads of background info from Nomad Gods and Wyrms Footnotes magazine. The interior is lavishly illustrated with dozens of new pictures from Simon Bray, Dario Corallo, plus loads of oldies but goodies from Lisa Free, Luise Perrinne, Gene Day and Rick Becker.

Back in 2006 you could buy the full set of 4 softcovers for just $150... The Hardcovers were about $60 each. 

Colin Phillips and I did the first volume all by ourselves, with the great art additions by a number of volunteer artists. The last three volumes were just me working from home in my spare time, with the great art additions by a number of volunteer artists. We could not publish the RQ2 Rulebook at this time because Avalon Hill had the rights to it, along with the Trademark, and Chaosium had some of the copyright. Information about the RuneQuest Classics can easily be found on Chaosium.com. Each book is pretty much a straight reprint of the best version of the original, with extra bonus or cut material included as applicable. The only substantive difference between the Gloranthan and RuneQuest Classic lines are that the Gloranthan Classics have more art (drawn by volunteers) and that the Cult Compendium has some RQ3 cults in it that were originally in White Wolf and Different Worlds magazines.

Are the Gloranthan Classics ever going to be printed again? Probably not, although I won't go so far to say that it's impossible. I still get asked by people about picking up Vol. 1 the most, especially in hardcover, of which we only did 300 in total. Alas, getting these reprinted is far far down our priorities list.   

[Bill the barbarian]

18 minutes ago, Rick Meints said:

As one of the founders of Moon Design Publications, I am happy to summarize our first 4 main projects, aka the Gloranthan Classics line of books:

 

Thanks for the real story. , I could not have done the justice to that they required so I stuck to the good old boys doing great work and taking over err, saving the company part of the tale. 

Cheers

Edited December 18, 2019 by Bill the barbarian

[g33k]

1 hour ago, Chromatism said:

Hi everyone.

I'm a new devotee to the wonderful world of Runequest, Heroquest and Glorantha. Right now I'm diving head long into the world and slamming into the enormity of the prospect! So time to start smaller. I'm very interested in the Gloranthan Classics, however I can't seem to find a good synopsis about the flavour that the big three offer. Can anyone kindly oblige? I'm aware that Pavis and the Big Rubble is likely good old dungeon delving, but I'm guessing there's a city intrigue component? And I don't know what to make of Griffin Mountain and Borderlands just atm.

Thanks very much.

Hey there!  Welcome!

I suspect you've realized that "RuneQuest" and "HeroQuest" are entirely different and unrelated game-mechanics (HQ being much more narrative in mechanics; RQ more crunchy/simulationist), but the difference is worth reiterating (just in case; or for the sake of even-newer folks who stumble across this thread thinking "A-HA!  Now THAT thread will help me figure it out!")

If that's not enough, the d20-variant "13th Age" has a Glorantha-specific version, "13th Age in Glorantha."  Naturally, it too has mechanics that are unrelated to the other two.

It's also worth mentioning that the current game (which is where all new RQ development is happening) is RuneQuest:  Roleplaying in Glorantha (RQG).  It's intended to be largely backward-compatible with the RuneQuest2 aka RuneQuestClassic rules; everything you're looking at above (except HQ, obviously) is for the RQ2 line.

Most of the RQ2 mechanics rolled forward into RQG, but some of the RQ3-era modifications were selected instead, and some all-new mechanics are also in RQG.  Still, all of that older "Classic" stuff is intentionally easy to "upgrade" to play in the new edition.  Much as the RQ2 content can be "upgraded" to RQG, you can back-port any RQG mechanics you like into an essentially RQ2 game (but that becomes -- more or less immediately -- simply a sliding scale of  RQ2<--------->RQG  (which is fair enough, fans of the underlying BRP system have long intermixed different subsystems from different games; the core mechanical chassis is versatile and robust in that way)).

Out of print but often available used is the RQ3 line, including the highly-regarded River of Cradles campaign (often seen as a sequel to some of the RQ2 stuff), Dorastor:Land of Doom, and more.

HQ content for Glorantha should be regarded as good for the descriptive bits, plotlines, etc; but you'll need to create the RQ mechanics/statblocks/etc for all characters & so forth if using HQ material in a RQ game.  The same is true in reverse, of course... but if running a RQ scenario under HQ rules, those HQ stats tend to be much faster to create on-the-fly.  Sartar:Kingdom of Heroes, Sartar Companion, Pavis: Gateway to Adventure, Coming Storm / 11 Lights, and more...  As "getting into the setting" material goes, all of this HQ content is really good stuff !

 

[ Also note (at least to avoid confusion) "the Mongoose Interregnum" -- Mongoose Games had the RQ & Glorantha licenses for a while, and produced two editions of the game.  Some like their stuff, some dislike it (in particular, the folks at Chaosium disliked the Mongoose direction). ]

[ Also note #2... the MRQ line spawned a LOT of follow-on, none of it Gloranthan, but all of it relatively-easily adapted if desired, because of similar mechanics:  MRQ2 (Mongoose RuneQuest 2nd) had a talented author team, who got the license after Mongoose and launched ANOTHER iteration of that branch of the RQ family tree as "RuneQuest 6" but currently published as "Mythras," de-linked from Glorantha and re-written without any conflicting "IP."  It's a popular & worthwhile game, with its own whole line of supplements, sub-licensees, etc.  That main branch also yielded d101Games' OpenQuest, Cakebread&Walton's Renaissance (and several games/settings using their respective (and similar) game-engines), and others with AFAIK smaller lines.  Most recently joining the family, I think, Alephtar has launched their Revolution d100 game, and are building up that line of supplements. ]

[ Also Note #3 - And, of course, the fully "BRP" Chaosium lines, but without any "Glorantha..."   Most particularly Call of Cthulhu, but also Superworld, Stormbringer/Elric, Nephilim, and the general "Basic Roleplaying" book itself, the BGB (Big Gold Book). ]

===

But now, back to Glorantha!

Many find the Glorantha Sourcebook a good introduction to the setting.  It's entirely free of game mechanics.  Even more of the setting -- but another "enormity of the setting" experience -- is in the incredible Guide to Glorantha, 2 oversized volumes in a slipcase, equal in wordcount to 4 "average" game-supplements.

It's very Old-School, but the original Cults of Prax book (newly re-available in PDF (hardcopy presumably to come "eventually") courtesy of a Kickstarter project) was for many folks what opened up Glorantha for us & grabbed us.  The ongoing travelogue in sidebars, The Travels of Biturian Varosh, is particularly nice!  Others prefer the material in the Cults of Terror book and associated sidebar Reminiscences of Paulis Longvale.  All this material (and much more!) is also available in the Gloranthan Classic Cult Compendium volume.  Until the (still in production) Cults of Glorantha project comes out, the Compendium is probably the best resource available.  Whichever way you want to get this content, it's worth pursuing!

(It may seem odd to be pointing you to "the religions book(s)," but myth is deeply entwined with Glorantha, and any "foundation" without the myths (and runes!) is built on sand.)

Last but not least, I don't see that anyone has pointed you at the Prince of Sartar webcomic; it's on hiatus for now, pending the artist & the storyteller both having more free time ("free" being the operative word here -- it's a real time-sink for them, but has a low financial return).  But there's something like 100 pages of it, IIRC... So here's a pointer...

  http://www.princeofsartar.com/new-reader/

===

There's really two loci of adventure-development in Glorantha, plus a few other bits-and-bobs.

1. First up is the Zola Fel valley, with the two you've already spotted (P&BR, B&B) plus some RQ3-era supplements (currently only to be found on the used market); the surrounding region of Prax & the Wastes (with the Beast-Rider nomads, the Men-and-a-Half, etc) is also viable, but has less actual adventure-development done.
2. Then there's the Dragon Pass & Sartar area, where Prax meets the Lunar Empire (& the goddess of the Red Moon) and also meets the Storm&Earth folk of Sartar&Esrolia (and their respective pantheons featuring "Orlanth Storm-King and his wife Ernalda" & "Ernalda Earth-Queen and her sometime-husband Orlanth") and also meets the Grazelander folk... also with large varieties of other races &c not commonly found such proximity.  Sartar is only recently, in the new RQG era, getting much actual RQ development, although it got a fair bit of love from the HQ line!

"Bits and Bobs" would include things like Balazar (aka Griffin Mountan), Dorastor (from the RQ3 era), and others.

The RQ2/RQG mechanical differences (see above)  are MUCH less significant than the time-advance in the game-world, and what it does in the setting!

• In the RQ2 era (year 1615-ish), the Lunar Empire is waxing strong, and nobody can tell when (or if) that will change.  They have conquered the Storm folk of the Kingdom of Sartar, in Dragon Pass (despite Sartar's incessant, but always-failing, efforts to rebel).  Imperial Legions rule the city of Pavis, and their allied Sable Tribe lords it over the other beast-rider Tribes in the surrounding Praxian wastes.
• In the RQG era (year 1626) the Lunars in Sartar have run afoul of a dragon.  It ate most of their army in Sartar, all their magicians and leaders in Sartar.  Sartar is free!!!  Now the kingdom is hastily raising forces and rushing them to intercept the (hastily reassigned) Lunar Imperial forces rushing to re-take Sartar.  In Prax, the Imperial Legions were decisively defeated, alongside their Sable allies, and without the Legions in place, the Lunar rulers of Pavis have driven from power (mostly killed).

The collapse of the Lunar influence in these two areas make some of the premises of RQ2-era adventures more than a bit "odd" if run in the RQG era, and vice versa.

In both times, the big overarching conflict is the expansionist Lunar Empire vs the independent Kingdom of Sartar, echoing the metaphysical Chaos-vs-Creation fight.

===

As per others' replies, above ...

Pavis & Big Rubble (city of Pavis, abutting the "Big Rubble" (which is itself  the "Old City" of Pavis (and previously called Robcradle)) -- on the shores of the Zola Fel river aka "River of Cradles") - New Pavis for urban adventures, politicking, rivalries/alliances, etc; Old Pavis for mysterious magical ruins & their varied mysterious (often magical) traps, loot, inhabitants (some of whom have their OWN "urban in the ruins" storylines), etc.

It's rather sandbox-y (within the confines of the specific sandbox of the Old & New Cities).  Nothing makes you go into the Rubble... nothing makes you stay in Pavis... but either choice gives lots of play; and within each portion, you're able to ally with any of many groups or factions, or maintain your independence, or try to forge larger multi-group alliances, etc etc etc; and then there are groups already covertly & overtly reaching across the wall between Old City & new...  Really very sandboxy.

Borderlands & Beyond -- Downriver from Pavis, exiled Lunar nobleman Duke Raus is just setting up a new home on the "borderlands" of the empire.  He's hiring mercenaries to help him.  This is a pretty linear set of adventures, specifically set up so as to introduce elements of Gloranthan Wierdness and specifically the Zola Fel valley & surrounding wastes of Prax (q.v. below).  Finish one assignment, rise in the esteem of the Duke, get a new assignment.

I'd honestly advise going with Borderlands first, at least for actual gaming.  Adventurers who are veterans of the Rubble will likely be able to brute-force through some of the Borderlands scenarios that are more about trying to set up Raus's holdings to be long-term-stable, where the players are supposed to solve the situation more than killfix the problem.  Also, for new players the "assignment" format avoids the sandbox-y "analysis paralysis" risk of "but what do we do in Pavis?  and Why?"

Griffin Mountain -- one of the great Sandboxes, hunter-gatherer tribes of "Balazar" (essentially neolithic tech, plus bits of traded / stolen metal) surrounding a few more-advanced cities.  Either or both of the P&BR and B&B volumes can naturally grow here, or this one can grow there.  Travel through the intervening territories is tough enough to make back-and-forth'ing between Balazar & Prax an unlikely option.

===

Of course, there's other "ways in" to Glorantha...

RQG itself, the new game, has a "Quickstart" product, about 50% intro-to-rules-and-setting, and 50% adventure-with-pregen-PCs.  Move on with the core rules (spring for the version in the slipcase, which includes the extraordinary GM's Pack with several adventures and a sandbox setting for the "Colymar" tribe in Sartar; unless you're specifically sticking with RQ2/RQClassic, in which case maybe just get the Screen Pack for the adventures & setting).

Going back to the Classic line, Apple Lane is one of those "all the old-timers fondly remember" modules, together with Rainbow Caverns, and often chosen as a first game for newbies.  Note that the RQG GM Pack has an explicit years-later sequel, "Return to Apple Lane.

 

[Bill the barbarian]

Just now, g33k said:

I suspect you've realized that "RuneQuest" and "HeroQuest" are entirely different and unrelated game-mechanics (HQ being much more narrative in mechanics; RQ more crunchy/simulationist), but the difference is worth reiterating (just in case; or for the sake of even-newer folks who stumble across this thread thinking "A-HA!  Now THAT thread will help me figure it out!")

 

Shh, ixnay on the ifficultday uffstay, eh g33k.

Ignore the heretic, Chromatism, next he will start talking about ducks (sheesh, were do they get these guys, right?)...

[g33k]

28 minutes ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Shh, ixnay on the ifficultday uffstay, eh g33k.

Ignore the heretic, Chromatism, next he will start talking about ducks (sheesh, were do they get these guys, right?)...

<sigh>

Sorry Bill... didn't notice you there in the peanut gallery, eh?  (gotta throw him an eh sometimes, he gets cranky when he doesn't feel understood).   So, once more for any Barbarians who... uh... "happen" to be lurking in the shadows:

RuneQuest is a good ol' fashioned RPG.  The game-mechanics do a very good job with simulating the "ancient-world" feel of Glorantha.  It's an excellent game.

HeroQuest is one of those newfangled "storygame" RPG's, big into "narrative" elements and less about mechanics that "simulate" the world.  It's an excellent game, too.

It's OK if you need to lay down in a dark corner, Bill.  I know how these things sometimes stress you.

[g33k]

2 hours ago, Qizilbashwoman said:

I'm ready to murder someone for a printable commentary-enabled codex of the entekosiad

Paging @Chaosium.  You have an...  interesting...  offer on the table, if you need any non-traditional competetive work done...

[Bill the barbarian]

10 minutes ago, g33k said:

It's OK if you need to lay down in a dark corner, Bill.  I know how these things sometimes stress you.

Okay kid, that does it, GITOFFMYLAWN, eh!

[Rick Meints]

As for the Entekosaid, being a work in progress, and an unfinished one in particular, sometimes speculation is all we have. Greg's ideas flowed like a veritable well spring. He wrote down what leapt to mind, regardless of where such speculations might lead him over time. Many parts of Glorantha were written on a large chalkboard, rewritten, erased, or revised regularly. His maps are full of erasures, small cut out sections replaced with taped in replacements, and countless revisions on multiple layers. Greg didn't worship canon. He valued exploration and experience. Everything he did combined the logical, illogical, creative and destructive. As long as it was interesting and fun and potentially transformative he continued his explorations. Alas, some of his unfinished works may never be understood, at least to their original intent. As we try our humble best to carry on his legacy perhaps we will fill in some of the missing pieces, or finish an unfinished body of work. Also, it is very possible that we might just leave the mystery as it is, and enjoy the confusing conundrum it may create. Sometimes the imponderable is its own reward.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Rick Meints

[g33k]

4 hours ago, Bill the barbarian said:

Okay kid, that does it, GITOFFMYLAWN, eh!

<ahem>
Bill.  That stuff in your yard?

 

Cold, white stuff?   THAT'S NOT "LAWN."

 

 

 

As the remarkably-helpful Mr. Meints sig's it:  "Hope that Helps"

Edited December 18, 2019 by g33k

[Qizilbashwoman]

4 hours ago, Rick Meints said:

As for the Entekosaid, being a work in progress, and an unfinished one in particular, sometimes speculation is all we have. Greg's ideas flowed like a veritable well spring. He wrote down what leapt to mind, regardless of where such speculations might lead him over time. Many parts of Glorantha were written on a large chalkboard, rewritten, erased, or revised regularly. His maps are full of erasures, small cut out sections replaced with taped in replacements, and countless revisions on multiple layers. Greg didn't worship canon. He valued exploration and experience. Everything he did combined the logical, illogical, creative and destructive. As long as it was interesting and fun and potentially transformative he continued his explorations. Alas, some of his unfinished works may never be understood, at least to their original intent. As we try our humble best to carry on his legacy perhaps we will fill in some of the missing pieces, or finish an unfinished body of work. Also, it is very possible that we might just leave the mystery as it is, and enjoy the confusing conundrum it may create. Sometimes the imponderable is its own reward.

i wouldn't ask for answers, just a better binding than the current version. it's not digest-shaped, which makes it hard to transport and read. i just wish it were the laid out more like King of Sartar, and presumably you have the actual text and can just change the borders... then I can print it at LULU. Something like the Pathfinder digests, they run something like 8 by 6.5 inches? You can stick a digest in your pocket, if it's printed. I haven't printed my annotations, of course, but I own the Chaosium hard copy of all Stafford Classics, and they are full hardcover RPG layout-sized, which are really annoying to carry and to read.

I'd buy the whole Stafford collection again from LULU if it was in digest size. And legible - it'd require some layout, I don't mean just make the print super tiny. Presumably you have the actual text of these documents and could lay them out in like extremely short order primarily by changing the page settings and then adjusting any wonky image conflicts that showed up. The pagination would change, of course, but *shrug* well, who cares? Just say so.

Edited December 18, 2019 by Qizilbashwoman