Glorantha Source Book v Guide?

[Hendrik]

I was just wondering how much overlap there is in these two publications. If I buy the guide, is there any point also getting the source book as well or am I better to get other supplements?

Also, anyone know if White Bull is coming back to you tube? I miss that badly.

[Jason D]

23 minutes ago, Hendrik said:

I was just wondering how much overlap there is in these two publications. If I buy the guide, is there any point also getting the source book as well or am I better to get other supplements?

The Guide is an encyclopedic reference to everything Glorantha, in that format. 

The Sourcebook is more a series of essays and short informative pieces. 

Ultimately, the question is what you want to do with it. If you're reading about Glorantha or wanting a great intro to it, the Sourcebook is the way to go. If you're writing material for the Jonstown Compendium or want to research a topic deeply, the Guide is the best bet. 

 

23 minutes ago, Hendrik said:

Also, anyone know if White Bull is coming back to you tube? I miss that badly.

No idea! They're on a short hiatus for various reasons but I know they're planning to continue soon. 

 

[Joerg]

26 minutes ago, Hendrik said:

I was just wondering how much overlap there is in these two publications. If I buy the guide, is there any point also getting the source book as well or am I better to get other supplements?

The Sourcebook takes a look at the elemental pantheons and has as its core portion the who-is-who of Gloranthan deities. In addition, it has histories of the important Dragon Pass factions and the History of the Lunar Empire, a good introduction into the recent history of the setting (and a much easier read than the distributed regional histories in the Guide). Until the two volume Gods Book shows up, this is the best currently published entry into the religious lore of Glorantha, and afterwards it still offers an introductory reference a bit more detailed than the Prosopaedia (a name list of gods with very short descriptions) and the long cult formats of the Gods books.

The Guide gives you the major cultures of Glorantha and a geographic overview of the entire surface world, down to settlements of 1000 or more inhabitants. Lots of room in between to use material like the Adventure Book in the GM screen package.

 

[Nick Brooke]

Drew's review is typically helpful:

http://andrewloganmontgomery.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-glorantha-sourcebook-review.html

I usually say that while the Guide is an encyclopaedic gazetteer written by people who love Glorantha, the Sourcebook is a beautifully-illustrated collection of almost every article from the late 70s and early 80s that made them fall in love with Glorantha in the first place. It's less comprehensive, but far more evocative.

The Glorantha Sourcebook collects and expands on and beautifully illustrates the Gods & Goddesses and History of the Lunar Empire articles from Wyrms Footnotes magazine (with new art, lavish cartography and genealogical tables), the History of Dragon Pass we first saw in King of Sartar, the Cosmology and History from Cults of Terror (with new maps of the Godtime) and more besides (Elder Races, Runes, Magic, Argrath's Warlocks, etc.).

If you're worried about duplicating material, see David Scott's comparison of the two books: 

https://wellofdaliath.chaosium.com/home/catalogue/publishers/chaosium/glorantha-sourcebook-the/24015-2/

If you're running a RuneQuest campaign set in Dragon Pass or the Lunar Empire, the Glorantha Sourcebook is an absolutely critical resource: I read passages from it to my players all the time, especially if I’m covering a well-known myth or a recent historical event.

If your game is set far away in some foreign country we don’t know much about, though, you’ll be better off with the Guide to Glorantha. That said, the Gods & Goddesses articles (worked throughout the Theogony section of the Sourcebook) are foundational stuff and no Glorantha fan can afford to miss them.

The Guide is mostly a survey and gazetteer of the Surface World, albeit one that goes into phenomenal detail (every significant town and landmark gets a writeup). There are excellent overviews covering all sorts of things (eight human cultures and the Elder Races; the Sky, the Moon, the Gods Wall, the Hero Wars), but it’s fairly light on myth (you get far more from the Theogony in the Sourcebook).

When I’m writing scenarios or setting material, I keep referring to the Guide: it’s an amazing resource, a treasure-trove of good ideas, and very Ctrl+F-able, if you take my meaning.

Edited June 1, 2021 by Nick Brooke
Updated to include more about the Guide from my Manifesto article.

[Rick Meints]

My short answer is that there is very little overlap, and certainly not enough that you will feel the Source Book is just a cut down version of the Guide. 

[davecake]

This is an actual FAQ, I’ve answered it at least half a dozen times myself. 

The answer is you probably want both, there is a small amount of overlap (essentially the elder races section of the Sourcebook), and the Sourcebook is probably the one you should get first, and it will definitely give you a lot of useful background for campaigns set in the default Dragon Pass setting especially. Also the Sourcebook has a lot of useful information about the gods and summarizing mythology all in one place.

The Guide is less essential for most, as it spends a lot of its time detailing the entire world, which may be less useful for the majority of games that are set in Dragon Pass or Prax. But it does have a lot of information that will be useful for any game (such as information about the Sky), and a lot of big picture information about the world. As Nick says, definitely recommended for those wanting to write in Glorantha, and essential for anyone who wants to do almost anything outside Dragon Pass and Prax currently. 
 

Summary, if you are asking the question, you should probably get the Sourcebook first, but probably plan on getting the Guide as well.