Jonstown Jottings #83: Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

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What is it?
Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces is a supplement for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha which provides support for the scenario, Hydra! It is also sufficiently versatile to do a fair bit more.

It is a seventy-four page, full colour 14.91 MB PDF.

The layout is slightly untidy in places, but the artwork is decent.

Where is it set?

The contents of Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces are set in Lunar Tarsh and the Lunar Provinces of Aggar, Holay, Imther, and Vanch.

Geographically and culturally it makes accessing supplements such as A Rough Guide to Glamour and Citizens of the Lunar Empire easier.

Who do you play?
Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces requires characters with backgrounds connected to either the Lunar Empire or the Lunar Provinces, but supplies content to facilitate the latter.

What do you need?
Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Book of Red Magic. In addition, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses, and Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way and Cults of RuneQuest: The Solar Way will be useful.

What do you get?

Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces is at its most basic, a set of pre-generated Player Characters, all of them from the Lunar Provinces Aggar, Holay, Imther, or Vanch and members of the Lunar army, for use with the scenario, Hydra! There are some twenty of these, belonging to one of six cults—Humakt, Jakaleel, Seven Mothers, Waha, Yanafal Tarnils the war god for the Native Tarsh Corps, or Yelmalio, and originally from one of six Lunar provinces—Lunar Tarsh, Aggar, Holay, Imther, and Vanch. All possess more Rune points to reflect their military service and experience. Included with each are an illustration, their family histories, created using the provided tables in Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces, personality descriptions, plus mounts and familiars where required.

However the supplement is more than just a set of pre-generated adventurers, although that is what it started as. It also gives description of the Lunar Provinces, supporting both the backgrounds of the pre-generated Player Characters and any that the players might create themselves. There are maps latter as well of the provinces, and it might have been more useful to have them close to their descriptions rather than further on in the supplement. Similarly, the timeline of the Lunar Provinces could have better placed towards the front of the book. To support the latter feature, Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces includes all of the additional information needed to create Player Characters from the six Lunar Provinces in conjunction with the rules in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. Thus there cultural modifiers for Runes, skills, and weapons, and this followed by ‘Family History for the Lunar Provinces’ which gives substitutions to reflect these Player Character experiences rather than those given in the core rulebook. Additional tables suggest regiments that a Player Character could have served with if created for general play or could be still serving with if intended for use with the scenario, Hydra! and the battles they would have fought in as members of those regiments.

A more personal guide to the Lunar Provinces is presented in ‘Jonstown to Eneal’, which describes the wayward wander around the Lunar Provinces by Salvatrix the Sober, much in the manner of the travelogue of Biturian Varosh, the merchant prince of the Issaries cult, found in Cults of Prax. In comparison, it is more picaresque. In addition to being a pleasant read, what ‘Jonstown to Eneal’ does illustrate are the collection of encounters that follow, which can also act as plot hooks. They include Etyries Merchants, Gargoyles from the Plain of Stones, Tusk Riders from the Stinking Forest, and more, all with full stats. The Game Master will have to look to their appearance in ‘Jonstown to Eneal’ for direct inspiration on how to use them, or simply comes up with ideas of her own.

Lastly, the supplement includes a couple of pieces of plunder from the Lunar Provinces, both more dangerous than they look, and some additional content for use with Yelmalio. These consist of new Spirit magic spells—Cold Sun Spear and Cold Sun Dart; new Rune spells such as Defend Against Darkness and Summon Hawk, the latter summoning a Vrock Hawk which will fly to the caster and serve him, though this can take second or it can take hours, and new gifts.

Although it is in need of a reorganisation, Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces can be a very useful supplement. It is definitely of use if the Game Master wants to run Hydra! and it is definitely of use if the Game Master wants to expand Player Character (let alone NPC) background options from those presented in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. It also opens up easier options for Player Characters wanting to explore the Lunar Empire or even visit Glamour. Overall, there is a lot of Player Character information here that will remain useful until such times as official source material is published.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces is a useful addition for the Game Master wanting to support the scenario Hydra! or wants a wider range of both Player Character and NPC options.

No—Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces explore both a region and character backgrounds that my campaign is unlikely to visit or need.

Maybe—Hydra – Adventurers from the Lunar Provinces provides and supports more Player Character and NPC options than is currently available, both of which can be useful even if the Game Master has no intention of running Hydra!