Jonstown Jottings #89: Eyes’ Rise

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?

Eyes’ Rise is a supplement for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha which details the sandbox setting of the village of Five Eyes and its surrounds and its factions, as well as the River Folk of the River of Cradles.

It is a thirty-one page, full colour 2.80 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy and it is lightly illustrated. It needs a slight edit.

There are notes on how to use it with QuestWorlds.

Where is it set?

Eyes’ Rise is set in the Grantlands along the banks of the River of Cradles after the Lunar Empire has been driven out of Pavis and fled the area.

Who do you play?
Eyes’ Rise does not require any specific character type. The main hook for the supplement has the Player Characters hired to protect the village, so combatants will be useful.

What do you need?
Eyes’ Rise requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and the RuneQuest: Glorantha Bestiary.

What do you get?

Eyes’ Rise presents a settlement facing an uncertain future. This is the village of Five Eyes, a former River Folk settlement renowned for the nearby ancient carvings on the cliffs which look like eyes and from which the village takes its name. Following the Lunar invasion, the village was selected as town and administrative for the surrounding grantlands. Circumstances that begin the Dragon Wise forced the Lunar Empire to flee the area, leaving the would be town partially completed, but without protection or direction as to its future and in danger of imminent collapse and abandonment by the remaining population. The villagers need to find a way to finish building the fortifications which will protect them from raids by bandits, grow the population, train the militia, and establish it as a viable stopping point along the river. In the immediate future, the villagers need to find a way to protect the village and train the militia. This is where the Player Characters, hired for their services. (Other reasons are given for visiting Five Eyes, but this is the primary one.)

Both the village and its inhabitants are described in some detailed, including detailed backgrounds, with eight of the Grantlanders or newcomers and three Riverfolk given full stats as well as a number of outsiders. The former includes five teenagers that the Player Characters will have to train into a serviceable militia. The latter includes a scholar, a bandit, and more. Each NPC is given one or more aims or motivations and several have reasons why they might hire the Player Characters.

A last part of Eyes’ Rise is devoted to the River Folk, their society, culture, governance, and religion. There is the means too to create Riverfolk characters. This is useful to create characters local to Five Eyes and up and down the River of Cradles.

Eyes’ Rise is essentially the set-up for a mini-campaign. This can be one of simply providing protection to the village, but there is scope too for the Player Characters to settle here and use Five Eyes as a base of operations or a home. How either will play out is outside the scope of the supplement, as it does not provide details of the threats facing the village and its inhabitants. The Game Master will need to create these and build in events and happenings to keep the campaign moving and the Player Characters involved. There is thus potential here for a campaign in the style of Seven Samurai or The Magnificent Seven, or given the upheaval of recent events in the region for a bunch of vagabonds, deserters, mercenaries, and the like to redeem themselves and hopefully keep the village safe.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Eyes’ Rise can form the basis of a solid mini-campaign though one that the Game Master will need to further develop to make her own.

No—Eyes’ Rise is not developed enough for the Game Master to use easily and it is set well out of the way.

Maybe—Eyes’ Rise has potential as a campaign, but not without a high degree of effort.