Jonstown Compendium Index 2022 - final update, 31 December 2022

[Nick Brooke]

Blimey! I just noticed we've sold 999 copies of A Rough Guide to Glamour in English and French, and given away about 600 more via the Doctors Without Borders charity bundle for Ukraine.

 

And 400 print copies of Glamour exist (being: 368 , 30 , plus my proof prints), second only to Six Seasons in Sartar (which is sitting pretty on 425).

 

As well as those, there are more than 250 print copies of The Company of the Dragon, and 200+ each of Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass, The Duel at Dangerford, the first three Sandheart books and Black Spear.

 

I plan to create a complete 2022 Catalogue at the end of the year, and I'll update all the relevant charts and stats for that. If there's anything you've been wondering about the programme, or would like to see included in that year-end snapshot, it can't hurt to ask.

[Nick Brooke]

Updated on 26 August with a short scenario, The Sunken Dead by Peter Harroun. A cattle raid goes wrong when Thane Yantar Raelston of the Colymar tribe leads his band against the Varmandi clan of the Malani (shurely shome mishtake? ). An introductory scenario with six short scenes, inc. combat encounters, diplomacy and forensics. $5.00 $2.00 for 11 pages (3.5 pages scenario, 4.5 pages stats, 3 pages cover & front matter). setting a new record for price per page of content. (NB: the scenario has been revised and repriced since first release)

Edited September 10, 2022 by Nick Brooke
Updated price

[Nick Brooke]

Updated on 10 September with the print edition of The Seven Tailed Wolf by Andrew Logan Montgomery. The third book in his best-selling Six Seasons in Sartar trilogy is available in a range of premium colour hardcover ($43.95), standard colour hardcover ($33.95) and standard colour softcover ($27.95) formats.

Also added Somewhere in Glorantha by Mark Prier, a massive collection of tables for generating random locations in Glorantha: if you’ve ever felt the urge to generate a random location in Glorantha, this is the product for you! $13.00 for 196 pages (PDF).

Edited October 3, 2022 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

Updated on 3 October with Jamie Revell's Eyes' Rise, a sandbox village in the River of Cradles valley, just south of the Borderlands. After the Lunar Empire’s ignominous retreat, the mismatched band of pioneer settlers it abandoned here were left to see to their own safety, and are certain to welcome assistance from any bold adventurers in the vicinity as they strive to fortify and defend their homes. $4.50 for 31 pages (PDF).

Also some overdue tidying-up of my Where in the World? maps, and the regular quarterly price-hike: if you failed to get on board earlier, the 2022 Index is now a whopping $2.00 for 74 half-sized pages (that's 5.4 cents per page, by my usual metric).

[Nick Brooke]

Updated on 13 October with Paul Baker's Teshnos Companion, an expansion to his earlier Houses of Teshnos. The book contains a miscellany of local colour pieces (river boats, city guards, moving temples, reincarnation), a new mystical view of the Other Side, non-human races (Hsunchen, Aldryami, Mostali and Wind Children) and remote regions (Wokistan, Matkondu and Trowjang), all with RuneQuest rules for adventurer generation. It's rounded off with short-form cult writeups for several major deities and a host of local hero, spirit and subcults. The author’s next planned release for Teshnos will be a scenario, Along A River. $12.00 for 85 pages (PDF).

Fans of eastern Glorantha should know that Paul's Hsunchen of the East is also useful for a Teshnan campaign, while his Kralori Primer is exceptionally good value ($4.00 for over 200 pages, including bonus content).

More books are promised for the East Isles: two further volumes of Scott Crowder's Pirates of the East Isles, plus an imminent series called Hero Wars in the East Isles by Hannu Rytövuori, David Cake and Nils Weinander. The first two releases will be Korolan Islands (a regional sourcebook, inc. adventurer creation rules plus magic, mysticism and martial arts) and Fires of Mingai (a four-scenario starter campaign).

And while they're not Gloranthan, I warmly recommend the A Thousand Thousand Islands art zines by Zedeck Siew and Mun Kao if you want to add inspired weirdness and local colour to any Teshnos or East Isles campaign.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Nick Brooke
Missed one cover pic!

[Nick Brooke]

Updated on 19 October, with two major releases:

• Ian Thomson & Friends' City on the Edge of Forever is a must-buy for anyone with a campaign set in Pavis and the Big Rubble. The first volume in an updated Pavis & Big Rubble Companion series (previously published by Tentacles Press back in the noughties), like Simon Phipp’s Secrets of Dorastor, it massively expands on the previous material, with articles detailing the Lunars in Prax, Knowledge Temple, several cult writeups or expansions (for Pavis, Donandar, Zola Fel, Yelmalio Bird Rider, and a gaggle of Praxian Spirit Cults), a Pavis County gazetteer, many NPC statblocks and more besides. The last fifty or so pages are adventure seeds, detailed encounters and the first part of a scenario that takes the adventurers on a journey across Pavis County. “Welcome back to the Real City!” (NB: if you are lucky enough to own the original editions, this is the Director’s Cut, converted to RuneQuest and with plenty of new material added: don’t miss out! Ian Thomson worked closely with Greg Stafford on the secret lore of Pavis, back in the day). $17.50 for 201 pages (PDF).
   
• The long-awaited Japanese translation of A Rough Guide to Glamour, with glorious new cover and internal artwork, cleaned-up cartography, and helpful footnotes explaining our obscure nineties Dad jokes to a foreign audience. ¥2,000 for 120 pages (PDF).

Edited October 19, 2022 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again on 20 October: it never rains but it pours (and I got soaked today)! Two new books by Hannu Rytövuori, David Cake and Nils Weinander kick off a new series called Hero Wars in the East Isles, unrelated to Scott Crowder's Pirates of the East Isles.

• Volume 1: Korolan Islands is an East Isles campaign sourcebook, detailing the peoples in and around the Korolan archipelago, including basic setting information, cult writeups for the island gods and higher gods, two new magic systems (mysticism and martial arts), and character creation rules for five groups of islands. $9.99 for 91 pages (PDF).
   
• Volume 2: Fires of Mingai is an East Isles starter campaign, containing a detailed gazetteer and four adventures set on the Korolan Islands of Mingai and Sitoro. The authors suggest at least one adventurer should be a native of the Korolan Islands (described in Volume 1), and they will mostly be undertaking quests to benefit their community, their temples and their queen. $14.99 for 129 pages (PDF).

In other news, the hastily-retitled New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever got its Copper best-seller medal (for over 50 sales) on day one, and continues to surge ahead!

[Nick Brooke]

Updated on 24 October with the latest Holiday Dorastor release: Simon Phipp's extravaganza Ragnaglar's Breath. Orlanth is Dead... and now a bad wind is blowing out of Dorastor. When chaotic weather erupts, the adventurers must journey to the Other Side to save the people of Riskland. Although notionally set in Riskland in 1621, it would be easy enough to rearrange or relocate. $3.60 for 30 pages (PDF).

Also updated with recent best-seller medals (DuckPac goes Electrum! New Pavis goes Silver! Yay!), recent reviews and ratings (moar! moar!), and prettier rating stars.

[Nick Brooke]

Updated on 21 November with another Holiday Dorastor release: Leon Kirshtein & Simon Phipp's Moon Elves. A guide to the enigmatic Moon Elves, including a gazetteer of their groves on the Red Moon, stats, magic (including seven “dances”), a scenario and a heroquest. $6.00 for 43 pages (PDF).

And speaking of adventures that take place on the Red Moon, here's a sneak peek at something coming your way soon...

  

(Cover art by John Sumrow; illustrated by Linnea Mast, Dario Corallo and Katrin Dirim; maps and plans by Matt Ryan and Nick Brooke)

Edited November 21, 2022 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again, with two new releases:

• The Indagos Bull by Rob Marcus is a one-shot scenario set in Pavis County. Farmer Jyles’ prize bull goes missing just before the Earth Season County Fair, and the adventurers must investigate. The scenario is presented in a loose sandbox style with several suggested resolutions, some of them hilarious. $2.95 for 26 pages (PDF).
• Rubble Runners, Volume 2 by Jon Hunter is a second collection of NPCs from New Pavis and the Big Rubble. Each character is presented across two pages: typically a column each for description, RQG statblock, notes on associates and plot hooks to draw in your players. $4.99 for 37 pages (PDF).

[Nick Brooke]

Jonstown Compendium community content at Dragonmeet in London, UK: here’s our print-on-demand display, and the creators’ meet-up in the hotel bar.

In the group photo, at our table, L-R: Paul Fricker (co-author of Call of Cthulhu 7e & MR creator), Stuart Mousir-Harrison (prospective JC creator), Nick Brooke (Chaosium Community Ambassador & ENnie award-winning JC creator), Martin Helsdon* (Platinum best-selling JC creator & Chaosium author), Jason Durall (RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha line editor), Diana Probst (JC creator & Chaosium author), Chris Gidlow* (ENnie award-winning JC creator), Matthew Cole (prospective JC creator) and Brian Duguid (co-founder of Tales of the Reaching Moon magazine & JC creator).

* - back of head

Edited December 5, 2022 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again, with Hydra - Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces, by Peter Hart. This is an adventurer creation supplement focused on characters serving as soldiers in the Lunar Provincial Army. Originally written to support the author’s forthcoming adventure Hydra!, the highlights of the book are the expanded family history tables and timeline covering major events in Provincial history, twenty pregenerated adventurers (each with illustration and background), and a travelogue describing one sage’s journey through the Lunar Provinces from Jonstown in Sartar to Eneal in Aggar. $7.00 for 58 pages (PDF).

[MOB]

4 hours ago, Nick Brooke said:

Jonstown Compendium community content at Dragonmeet 🇬🇧: here’s our print-on-demand display, and the creators’ meet-up in the hotel bar.

In the group photo, at our table, L-R: Paul Fricker (co-author of Call of Cthulhu 7e & MR creator), Stuart Mousir-Harrison (prospective JC creator), Nick Brooke (Chaosium Community Ambassador & ENnie award-winning JC creator), Martin Helsdon* (Platinum best-selling JC creator & Chaosium author), Jason Durall (RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha line editor), Diana Probst (JC creator & Chaosium author), Chris Gidlow* (ENnie award-winning JC creator), Matthew Cole (prospective JC creator) and Brian Duguid (co-founder of Tales of the Reaching Moon magazine & JC creator).

* - back of head

And here's from the other direction! Additional attendees at the Meet-Up included Pookie (Jonstown Compendium creator and prolific Chaosium community content reviewer), me, [someone I unfortunately did not get the name of], and in the foreground Jon Quaife (prospective JC creator, and erstwhile RuneQuest submissions editor for White Dwarf magazine back, back in the day). Plus Mike Mason took the photos!

[Brian Duguid]

I was hoping you wouldn't share that one, MOB 😴!

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again, with The White Upon the Hills, by Sacha Gaultier and Reece Dyer: a one- or two-session scenario set in Stael's Hills during the Great Hunt. Adventurers encounter a blighted land and an ancient mystery. Can they piece together legends and lore to trap the monster and lift the curse, or have those asshole Malani screwed everything up yet again?* There are multiple paths through the adventure, several possible resolutions, and advice on speeding up scenes if time is short. $2.95 for 22 pages (PDF).

Also, I'm starting to get things in order for the 2022 Catalogue (merging this year's Index with last year's Catalogue, to cover all releases up to the end of 2022). If you want your opinions to count, please remember to rate and review your favourite Jonstown Compendium purchases on the DriveThruRPG site before year-end! My Catalogues list titles by best-seller medal rank and then by the number of five-star reviews each release has racked up, and you've been pretty slack this year... let's give those authors a nice warm cosy feeling to carry them through the bleak Midwinter, eh?

*  Full disclosure: the author of this Index is a proud member of the Lismelder Tribe. Greydog4Life!

[Nick Brooke]

Updated yet again, with two more new releases:

• A Lamp for Esrola, by Sven Lugar @Sven Lugar: a light-weight fetch quest to the foot of Shadow Plateau, presented with a fully-statted patron, rival and opposition, a one-page cult writeup (Fufluns, the Jolly Fat Man) and a rare treasure. Bonus: bardic verse! The scenario allows for a negotiated resolution, but violence is always an option, and the rivalries involved could make this a complex political sandbox if that’s what you prefer. $2.00 for 16 pages (PDF).
• Died in the Wool, by Braeden Harpool: sheep and trollball, greased trollkin and alarm beetles. Things have gone missing; tempers are easily roused; the players can get stuck in, or stay on the sidelines and enjoy the show. A joyful exploration of lore and an organic introduction to troll high culture, with ties to one of the RQ Starter Set scenarios and a surprisingly deep dive into sheep lore. $1.95 for 15 pages (PDF).

These four recent scenarios (inc. The Indagos Bull and The White Upon the Hills) are all by graduates of the Storytelling Collective's Write Your First Adventure workshop (Chaosium path, RuneQuest track, November 2022).

Edited December 9, 2022 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again, with details of the new print edition of The Children of Hykim by Brian Duguid @Brian Duguid: $30.99 standard colour or $45.99 premium colour hardcover. The digital edition has been updated to match the (revised and expanded) print edition, so download it again from DriveThruRPG -- and why not leave a rating or even a review while you're doing that?

Plus two beautiful poster campaign maps by Dario Corallo: Dorastor (€2.00) and Pamaltela (PWYW / €1.00).

Finally, there's less than two weeks to submit your ratings and reviews of 2022 releases to DriveThruRPG before this year's Jonstown Compendium Catalogue heads to the printers... if you picked up something wonderful a while back but didn't leave a rating because you hadn't yet read or played through it, why not do it now? Our authors, artists and potential customers will thank you!

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again, with two new releases:

• The Way: Paths of Enlightenment, by Paul Baker @Exubae. A supplement to the Kralori Primer, this covers two aspects of Eastern philosophy: mysticism and martial arts. As is his wont, the author expands on previous material, covers a lot of ground via short-form writeups (in this case, monastic traditions and martial arts techniques), and provides a detailed setting inc. local maps, history and customs to show how this works in practice (the Twisting Leopard School and its personnel, statted for RuneQuest). Appendices include a couple of pages of RQ stats for martial arts weapons, which will doubtless appeal to those who are gung-ho for pandybats. $12.00 for 66 pages.
• A Weather Eye Open, by Drew Baker (no relation). A 38-page system for creating weather almanacs and climate tables, that comes bundled with eight pregenerated examples covering Dragon Pass and Prax, each of which includes two years’ worth of randomly-generated weather tables. At least you’ll have something to talk about...

The Indagos Bull and The White Upon the Hills are already Copper best-sellers (more than fifty sold). Note that Matthew Pook @pookie covers many recent Jonstown Compendium scenarios (including these) at his Reviews from R'lyeh blog, with five new reviews already in December.

Edited December 20, 2022 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again, with three new products:

• Desire for Knowledge, by Niall Sullivan: a sage in the Jonstown library is looking for a scroll containing dangerous secrets of Lunar sorcery, and hires a party of adventurers to retrieve it: shenanigans ensue! This has been written to tie in with the RQ Starter Set and includes GM guidance on which pregenerated adventurers have particularly useful skills. $2.99 for 20 pages (PDF).
• Secrets of Dorastor Personalities - Tactics by Simon Phipp: an expanded version of the bonus content for Secrets of Dorastor, now lavishly illustrated by Dario Corallo, making it a valuable companion volume to the earlier book. The personalities section presents descriptions, gross statblocks and combat tactics, and covers prominent characters from Cults of Terror’s fiction as well as the monsters and terrors of Dorastor. The high level gaming notes will appeal to players who enjoyed the combat tips in RuneMasters, though much of it is taken up with obvious comments about spell effects. $14.00 for 108 pages (PDF).
• Temple Hill Acropolis, by Dario Corallo: a massive virtual tabletop map (24k x 18k pixels) of the Temple Hill Acropolis in the Big Rubble of Pavis. The map comes bundled with a key, encounter table and wargame skirmish suggestions. Pay What You Want (recommended: 1 euro).

And a final reminder to submit your community content reviews and ratings before the New Year, if you want to see them in the 2022 Catalogue!

[Nick Brooke]

It just missed the cut, but my next update (probably the final update for the 2022 Index) will detail Edge of Empire by Harald Smith: thirty years in the making, this campaign pack for the Kingdom of Imther is now available via the community content programme. In the smallest of the Lunar Provinces, followers of Sun, Moon and Storm compete as their once-peaceful kingdom plunges into civil war. This extensive  sourcebook contains everything you’d expect: adventurer creation (with localised clan and family history tables), new cults and spirits, prominent personalities, seasonal events, campaign themes, adventure seeds, a rumour table, myths and legends, encounter tables and of course an extensive guide to the local cheeses. The author has developed a deep lore for this bucolic land, whose mythology, history and customs richly adorn this highly-playable book. Strongly recommended! $24.99 for 206 pages (PDF).

[Nick Brooke]

The final version of the Jonstown Compendium Index 2022 is now live on DriveThruRPG. 

The Jonstown Compendium Catalogue 2022 has been released, merging the 2022 Index with the 2021 Catalogue, plus new quarterly, annual, and all-time best-seller charts. $3.00 for 171 6x9 inch pages (PDF).

I will start work on the 2023 Index once the first major publications of the New Year are released.