Jonstown Compendium Index 2023 - updated 27 December

[Nick Brooke]

Here’s the stack of my print-on-demand Jonstown Compendium books we’ll be selling at PAX Aus in Melbourne, Australia tomorrow afternoon (come to Chaosium booth TT1234 at 5:15pm). I’ll be happy to sign books on request, chat about anything, etc. ad lib.

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again on 6 November:

• The Sanctum of Sarkath Han, by Magnus Seter and Robert Dudock: inspired by Steve Perrin’s short Magic World scenario The Vault of Sarkath Han, this classic sword-and-sorcery sandbox adventure gives players an environment filled with denizens and challenges, from the Aldryami and other creatures of the Iron Forest to the demon-haunted sanctum of a long-dead sorcerer. It’s beautifully presented. ($9.99 for 50 pages)

Plus another Smol Snek two-pager, Eurmal's Truth, and a well-earned Electrum best-seller medal for Martin Helsdon's Ships & Shores, just two months after its release.

Please consider leaving a rating or even a short review on DriveThruRPG for any Jonstown Compendium books you've particularly enjoyed: the creators really appreciate it, it helps other potential customers make up their mind, and your best quotes could make it into this year's printed Jonstown Compendium Catalogue.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again on 14 November:

• Islands of the Lost (Hero Wars in the East Isles, Vol. 3), by Hannu Rytövuori, David Cake & Nils Weinander: a gazetteer and book of adventures for the Hero Wars in the East Isles campaign, detailing two more islands of the Korolan group (Tamoro and Luvata, both presented with settlement maps, prominent NPCs and parental advice in the traditional format) and two other, more remote islands (Bhat-Nupu and Cwat-Bajat, the titular Islands of the Lost). The longest scenario, Pirates on the Horizon, stands alone; the other three make up the Islands of the Lost sequence, in which adventurers search for the Korolan Queen’s daughter among the lost islands of the Bezarngay Boil. Encounters include cruel pirates, sea monsters, shipwrecks, and a lost temple. The book also contains brief rules for ships (modelled on RQ3), six short-form cult writeups, and an overview of the authors’ plans for future volumes, to help game masters plot the arc of their campaign. ($15.90 for 140 pages)

Harald Smith is running a seasonal sale on print and digital versions of Edge of Empire, his Imther campaign sourcebook.

Plus fresh artwork by Zed Nope (Stern Kolating), another settlement map by Mikael Mansen (who provides a commercial license allowing community content creators to use his maps in their own works, although the details have not been made public), and a short encounter at Tarkalor's Keep from Finmirage. 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

Updated again on 20 November:

• Nochet: Adventurer's Guide, by Harald Smith & Simon Bray: a superb companion and expansion to Harald Smith’s comprehensive tome Nochet, Queen of Cities, two-thirds of the material in this book is entirely new and covers adventurer creation, new cults and occupations, in-world narratives for both newcomers and residents introducing the city, and a fully-detailed example of an Enfranchised House and its clients and friends. The reprinted material is all player-facing: in particular, the Getting Around section (which summarises every district and its neighbourhoods in a characterful page or two, without detailing every building) opens the City up for players to explore, while preserving all the GM’s secrets.
  
  New occupations include Laborer, Overseer, Sailor, Servant, and two specialist types of Warrior: Marine and Militia, plus Background and Recent Events tables.
  
  Short-form cult writeups for Delaeo (Beauty and Good Fortune), Delaina (Music and Wisdom), Durev (the Everyman), Ernalda Talosa (Mother of Serpents), Imarja (the Creatrix), Irillo (the Good Defender), Kadone (the Grounder), Ketha (Land Goddess), Lyksos (River God), Auntie Nym (thieves’ spirit cult), Orana (Fertility, Pleasure and Marriage), Panaxles (the Builder), Serdrodosa (the Earth Witch), Sestarto (the Artist) and Vogarth (Strongman), plus two pages of cult special Rune magics.
  
  (124 pages for $7.99)

Edited November 20, 2023 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

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.

Edited December 21, 2023 by Nick Brooke

[Nick Brooke]

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

[Nick Brooke]

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.

[Nick Brooke]

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!)

[Nick Brooke]

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)

Edited December 28, 2023 by Nick Brooke