Cults of RuneQuest Announcement!

[svensson]

Cross post from yesterday.

Chaosium announced a street date for the Gods of Glorantha SERIES of books!

Here is the youtube announcement from yesterday:

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by Nick Brooke

[smiorgan]

I much prefer the series format than the original twin set of huge books in a slipcase format.

Much more user friendly at the gaming table and for people who are not GMs. 

And it gives us a nice stream of RQ releases to wait for.

 

[RandomNumber]

I'm really looking forward to these and to the context it will provide for the following RQ books. I wonder though if we will have to wait for all ten Cults books to be released before some of the other books become available. In any case we can look forward to a steady stream of releases now.

[smiorgan]

8 hours ago, RandomNumber said:

I'm really looking forward to these and to the context it will provide for the following RQ books. I wonder though if we will have to wait for all ten Cults books to be released before some of the other books become available. In any case we can look forward to a steady stream of releases now.

I hope not. I really hope that they will be interspersed with the other releases. It would make sense to have Sartar come out after the Lightbringers and the Earth Goddesses are out. And I really look forward to Sartar with that huge beautiful map! 

I should probably switch to Sartar my game by then... (At the moment I'm playing in Sun County and my players are a bunch of Solar (Yelmalio, Yelorna) and Lunar (Seven Mothers) cultists - so no luck with the cult books for them...).

 

   

[Jeff]

23 minutes ago, smiorgan said:

I hope not. I really hope that they will be interspersed with the other releases. It would make sense to have Sartar come out after the Lightbringers and the Earth Goddesses are out. And I really look forward to Sartar with that huge beautiful map! 

I should probably switch to Sartar my game by then... (At the moment I'm playing in Sun County and my players are a bunch of Solar (Yelmalio, Yelorna) and Lunar (Seven Mothers) cultists - so no luck with the cult books for them...).

 

   

The release of Sartar and Dragon Pass and the rest are freed up by the release of Lightbringers, Earth, and Mythology - all which make those books easier to handle. Sartar and Dragon Pass (which already have all their art) free up Prax, Pavis, and Big Rubble. The Lunar, Solar, Darkness, Horned God, Sea, etc. books all are on their track and not in the same lane for those others. They open up the Dragon Pass Campaign, and others.

In short, we have a metric ton of RQ that gets opened up by this.

But Lightbringers and Earth are foundational for doing more with the Orlanthi.

Edited March 1, 2023 by Jeff

[Soccercalle]

20 hours ago, Jeff said:

The release of Sartar and Dragon Pass and the rest are freed up by the release of Lightbringers, Earth, and Mythology - all which make those books easier to handle. Sartar and Dragon Pass (which already have all their art) free up Prax, Pavis, and Big Rubble. The Lunar, Solar, Darkness, Horned God, Sea, etc. books all are on their track and not in the same lane for those others. They open up the Dragon Pass Campaign, and others.

In short, we have a metric ton of RQ that gets opened up by this.

But Lightbringers and Earth are foundational for doing more with the Orlanthi.

I really like this strategy. But I hope that you have "parallell tracks" and teams for layout and printing so that we dont have to wait for all the different cults book before the GM Guide, Sartar Book and Dragon Pass Book are released. 

[tnli]

On 3/1/2023 at 9:00 PM, Jeff said:

The release of Sartar and Dragon Pass and the rest are freed up by the release of Lightbringers, Earth, and Mythology - all which make those books easier to handle. Sartar and Dragon Pass (which already have all their art) free up Prax, Pavis, and Big Rubble. The Lunar, Solar, Darkness, Horned God, Sea, etc. books all are on their track and not in the same lane for those others. They open up the Dragon Pass Campaign, and others.

In short, we have a metric ton of RQ that gets opened up by this.

But Lightbringers and Earth are foundational for doing more with the Orlanthi.

So we might get to see more than just the announced books later this year or in 2024? 

What would be the Gloranthan equivalent to keeping one's fingers crossed?

[tnli]

On 3/1/2023 at 11:12 AM, smiorgan said:

I much prefer the series format than the original twin set of huge books in a slipcase format.

Much more user friendly at the gaming table and for people who are not GMs. 

And it gives us a nice stream of RQ releases to wait for.

 

This is so true, The Guide is an awesome piece of art, but almost completely impossible to use unless you happen to have a proper reading desk.

[Nick Brooke]

2 hours ago, tnli said:

What would be the Gloranthan equivalent to keeping one's fingers crossed?

With a nod to Socrates' famous last words, can I suggest you might sacrifice a cock to Babeester Gor?

[g33k]

On 3/1/2023 at 11:00 AM, Jeff said:

... Sartar and Dragon Pass (which already have all their art) ...

The topic of "Sartar" seems pretty clear.
Is "Dragon Pass" then the rest of the DP region, glossing over Sartar in a few minimalistic pages with "for more details, see..." ?

Are there other differentiators?  Is each essentially a "regional guidebook" sort of resource?

Edited March 5, 2023 by g33k

[Jason Farrell]

1 hour ago, g33k said:

The topic of "Sartar" seems pretty clear.
Is "Dragon Pass" then the rest of the DP region, glossing over Sartar in a few minimalistic pages with "for more details, see..." ?

Are there other differentiators?  Is each essentially a "regional guidebook" sort of resource?

From what I know, which isn't everything, the Sartar book will (of course) look specifically at Sartar, and Boldhome in particular.  I don't know how detailed it'll be, but I'm thinking along the lines of the treatments of Pavis in the past.  It will include scenarios (I know this from things Andrew Logan Montgomery has said, as he worked on it)

The Dragon Pass book is a gazeteer, a broad overview of the entire region.  Probably no scenarios or any mechanical game info.  There has been at least one Dragon Pass gazeteer published in the past (in the Heroquest era, I think), and though it may not be identical in structure to that, I think it will be along those lines. 

Edited March 5, 2023 by Jason Farrell

[RandomNumber]

On 3/6/2023 at 7:33 AM, Jason Farrell said:

From what I know, which isn't everything, the Sartar book will (of course) look specifically at Sartar, and Boldhome in particular.  I don't know how detailed it'll be, but I'm thinking along the lines of the treatments of Pavis in the past.  It will include scenarios (I know this from things Andrew Logan Montgomery has said, as he worked on it)

I believe I read somewhere a while back that it will have an alternative char gen approach.  Let's hope it has the Sartar tribes map - I'm itching to get my hands on a high fidelity version of that.

[Scornado]

On 3/1/2023 at 7:00 PM, Jeff said:

The release of Sartar and Dragon Pass and the rest are freed up by the release of Lightbringers, Earth, and Mythology - all which make those books easier to handle. Sartar and Dragon Pass (which already have all their art) free up Prax, Pavis, and Big Rubble. The Lunar, Solar, Darkness, Horned God, Sea, etc. books all are on their track and not in the same lane for those others. They open up the Dragon Pass Campaign, and others.

In short, we have a metric ton of RQ that gets opened up by this.

But Lightbringers and Earth are foundational for doing more with the Orlanthi.

So with those three books released, when Sartar?  I'm sure we're all keen if not desperate.  (I also look forward to something on the Lunars so I can understand them finally).

[Joerg]

43 minutes ago, Jason Farrell said:

Uh... I did not see a single new date in that trailer.

Dates will be announced when pysical books back from the printers have arrival dates at the distribution centers, and then the distribution centers can deliver them at an agreed-upon date. Sometimes one center may be left out initially, like recently Down Under.

Short of a ship with those books aboard stuck in the Suez canal or sunk by Great Cthulhu, such dates will be reasonably manageable.

Chaosium will not promise a fixed release date for products out of this scope - the best you can get is a progress report that something has finished layout or that Chaosium has received the test print for review. From there to delivery, you may guess at times, but Chaosium doesn't guess. They tell us when a product is available.

You might as well ask for next week's jackpot lottery number.

[Jason Farrell]

Some details on The Lunar Way (the cults book) dropped today on the Chaosium blog, along with a release date in March 2024.

 

Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way

CHA4045-H
$39.99
ISBN 9781568824741
160 pages
Hardcover

I believe in the Red Goddess, Mistress of Life and Death

Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way is the player’s guide to the deities of the Red Moon. Each cult dives deep into the mysterious and misunderstood Lunar gods, and provides mechanics for each of their cults to create your RuneQuest adventurer.

15 brand new cults, including Jakaleel the Witch,the Goddess of Youth Teelo Norri , the Chaos demon known as the Crimson Bat, and the Red Goddess herself—all playable for the first time!

An expanded treatment of the cult of the Seven Mothers.

Rules to create brand-new RuneQuest adventurers belonging to these cults, detailing the skills, passions, spirit magic, and Rune magic each cult offers.

Details of the unique organization, history, and nature of each cult.

A new and unique Lunar magic system, plus expanded rules for Lunar sorcery, and the unique way Lunar Rune spells are affected by the phases of the Red Moon.

Rules for how your adventurer can grow into a God-talker, Rune Priestess, or even a mighty Rune Lord.

The history of the Lunar gods, the Lunar Empire, the Red Emperor, and details for adventuring on the surface of the Red Moon itself."

[Richard S.]

Bit bummed that it's still four whole months away, but still good to hear. I'm excited about the non-cult stuff, like Lunar sorcery and Red Moon adventures. It's good to see that the series has room for more than just the standard writeups.

[Jason Farrell]

15 minutes ago, Richard S. said:

Bit bummed that it's still four whole months away, but still good to hear. I'm excited about the non-cult stuff, like Lunar sorcery and Red Moon adventures. It's good to see that the series has room for more than just the standard writeups.

We knew it would be 2024, but like you I was hoping for the earlier the better, but March isn't terrible.  It took them until July to start things rolling in 2023.  On the bright side, Chaosium Con is in April, and I was a bit nervous they'd push The Lunar Way to coincide with that.  There's a solid chance they will still release something in mid April for the Con, so maybe that's when we get The Dragon Pass Gazeteer, and maybe Fire/Sky too if we're lucky.

Edited November 13, 2023 by Jason Farrell

[Starcarr]

Does anyone know which cult book will have the Humakt write up? Thanks. 

[Beoferret]

2 minutes ago, Starcarr said:

Does anyone know which cult book will have the Humakt write up? Thanks. 

It's in the Lightbringers volume (and comes complete with a seriously badass depiction of our favorite god of dourly serious, death-dealing.)

[Starcarr]

14 minutes ago, Beoferret said:

It's in the Lightbringers volume (and comes complete with a seriously badass depiction of our favorite god of dourly serious, death-dealing.)

Oh excellent! I’ll buy it today 👍

[Techpriest]

8 hours ago, Jason Farrell said:

We knew it would be 2024, but like you I was hoping for the earlier the better, but March isn't terrible.  It took them until July to start things rolling in 2023.  On the bright side, Chaosium Con is in April, and I was a bit nervous they'd push The Lunar Way to coincide with that.  There's a solid chance they will still release something in mid April for the Con, so maybe that's when we get The Dragon Pass Gazeteer, and maybe Fire/Sky too if we're lucky.

Solar deities are a large minor faction in every nation in Dragon Pass, same with the Lunars. If they don't get cult books in the same year I'll be VERY disappointed. We got 4 cult books this year, so I'm hoping we'll get another 4 - Lunar, Solar, Darkness, and Sea. That way we've got all the elemental pantheons out of the way and with them the majority of cults you'd expect people to follow around Dragon Pass and the southern coasts. 

[Cassius]

4 hours ago, Techpriest said:

Solar deities are a large minor faction in every nation in Dragon Pass, same with the Lunars. If they don't get cult books in the same year I'll be VERY disappointed. We got 4 cult books this year, so I'm hoping we'll get another 4 - Lunar, Solar, Darkness, and Sea. That way we've got all the elemental pantheons out of the way and with them the majority of cults you'd expect people to follow around Dragon Pass and the southern coasts. 

You forgot the Spirit cults, more on shamans, the Horned Man, the Kolati, etc.

[Techpriest]

1 minute ago, Cassius said:

You forgot the Spirit cults, more on shamans, the Horned Man, the Kolati, etc.

While they're important, they're not as prevalent as either the Darkness cults through Trolls or the Solar cults with Yelmalio and Yu-Kargzant. I agree shaman's need more, but they should come after those two, and possibly also the Water in terms of priority, at least to me. 

[Richard S.]

The remaining books after Lunar are Solar, Sea, Darkness, Spirit, Chaos, and Invisible God. I think Jeff mentioned wanting to get Solar out this year too, and at least one more near the end of the year. IG we know is last from other comments. I'm assuming they'll finish up the elements first, probably starting with Darkness given that its more important to Dragon Pass than the sea.

[metcalph]

I think the Darkness and Chaos books won't be needed so soon as we already have Cults of Terror and Trollpak. I'm struggling to muster much enthusiasm for the water book and think that spirits will next in line after the Solars.  I could (probably will) be wrong. 

Edited November 13, 2023 by metcalph