Jonstown Jottings #107: Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4

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.

—oOo—

What is it?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is the fourth volume of source material and scenarios begun in Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1 and continued with Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2 and Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3, all written for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is a one-hundred-and-seventy-four page, full colour, 48.83 MB PDF.

The layout is clean and tidy, but the text feels disorganised in places and requires an edit. The artwork varies in quality, but some of it is very good.

The cartography is decent.

Where is it set?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is set Sironomandidi, a large islands in the Shorenti Chain of islands located to the north-east of the Korolan Islands.

Who do you play?

Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is designed to be used with Player Characters who are native to the Korolan Islands. The possibility of outsiders playing the scenario, along with a Player Character native to the islands, is explored in more depth than in previous volumes in the series, suggesting that alongside at least one Player Character who is native to the islands, the outsiders could be ‘new hires from strange lands’.

What do you need?

Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 requires Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1, Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2, Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3, RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the Glorantha Bestiary, and The Red Book of Magic. In addition, the Guide to Glorantha and The Stafford Library – Vol VI Revealed Mythologies may be useful.

What do you get?
Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 explores an island that is radically different to those visited in the previous supplements. It is notable for its lack of buildings and other structures, the earth god Olaraoshay having forbidden their construction. Indeed, any building put on one day will be found collapsed the following day. Instead, the inhabitants of the island live in cave dwellings, several of them the size of cities. Indeed, the only building still standing on Sironomandidi is a temple to the antigod, Bodastu, located in the Bleeding Morass, an anti-god-infested swamp. Three Human factions dominate the island’s politics. The Lingbutans are ruled by hereditary nobility of the northern clans; the Polished Grounders worship the gods rather than recognise mortal leaders; and the Gouvanists are followers of the ancient Dragon of Gou, who long ago defeated a heartless trio of rock monsters and transformed Sironomandidi into the vibrant island it is today. However, the Dragon Gou has not been since before the coming of the demonic Slavering Horde, and his worshippers have become adept martial artists, capable of protecting themselves. Besides Humans, Sironomandidi is home to Varanids, Mostali, Black Elves, and the Eresteenes of the swamp.

Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 provides a wealth of setting and background information on the island. This includes its history, descriptions of its cave cities and other places of note, full write-up of all the island’s current leaders and notable personalities, and the cults particular to the island. Amongst these are Sedsaru,the antigod associated with theft and deception, the Cave City Gods, and Dragon Gou, all written up in the standard format. The combination of its large size and the urban nature of its cave cities means that certain Occupations are found here that are rarely followed on the other Eastern Isles. Thief is the one that stands out, but the others include Captain, Noble, and Scholar. There is a surprisingly extensive bestiary too, with entries for such creatures as the Three-Eyed Blood Bat; a variety of the demon breeds known as Andin; the Manananggal, the demonic female which can grow bat wings from its back and preys on pregnant women; Orangutans who sometimes learn Roaring Orangutan Martial Arts; and the demonic shapeshifting Rakshasa. Varanids, a lizard men species with semi-intelligent workers and warriors and intelligent Shamans are presented as a playable option. More fully detailed Sofali, whose culture is tied to the lifecycle of the turtle and with so few breeding islands and beaches, they are very much dispersed across the Eastern Isles.

The Game Master is supported with a wide selection of rumours and an even wider selection of encounters and events, some which the supplement notes the Game Master should use to lay the groundwork for Bezarngay Boil: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Vol 5. There is no help to that end and it would have been useful had the rumours and events been marked in some way to help the Game Master in that objective.

The ‘Korolan NPCs Encounter Table’ and the ‘Sironomandidian NPC Encounter Table’ are both useful since they also lists= the possible mini-adventures they are involved in, as well as the adventures, involvement in previous supplements, and where extra information about them may be found. Some of the encounter write-ups are surprisingly lengthy and many can be developed into fuller adventures. There are some interesting and entertaining encounters here, such as being asked by a Dream Dragon for help, receiving helpful advice from a Great Sea Turtle, needing to appease a Hungry Ghost in a set of temple ruins, and discovering a tribe of red-skinned islanders who revere a giant crocodile who walks on two legs and definitely do not want the adventurers to leave.

In addition to the some detailed forty encounters of the encounter tables, Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 includes eight mini-adventures such as coming to the aid of a Sofli tribe on whose island hunters from a neighbouring island who have set up camp to hunt the tribe’s totem animal, the Olive Sea Turtle; guarding a caravan of dinosaurs on a trip into the interior of Sironomandidi; and the High Chief of the Lingbu Caves, fearing that he is soon to die, hires the Player Characters to clear out a tomb despite it still being occupied by Queen Rogo’s gold-masked mummy! This is followed by forty adventure seeds! All together what this means is the Game Master is given an impressive array of playable content—and yet, none of this is immediately playable content. To one degree or another, the Game Master must prepare this content. Plus given that unlike the previous supplements detailing the Eastern Isles, there are no pre-written scenarios, the Player Characters are not necessarily going to experience particular plots, events, encounters, and intrigues on Sironomandidi. Instead, Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 includes will play out more like a sandcrawl and feels radical compared to the previous supplements in the serious. As much as this gives a lot of freedom of action to both the Game Master and her players, it is not the best set-up as a lead into the scenarios in Bezarngay Boil: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Vol 5.

Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is rounded out with a selection of supplementary information. These include details of various martial arts schools from across all of the islands; a description of  Ferendalo, an island to the north of Sironomandidi in the Haragalan Commonwealth; and descriptions of Dream Magic, which is practiced in the islands. It possible for a Player Character to become a Dream Magician, but it takes years of sacrifice, and in the Eastern Isles, its practitioners are not always trusted. It depends primarily on if the Dream Magician are worshippers of Thella, Goddess of Dreams, or Avanapdur, the God of Nightmares.

As with the previous entries in the series, Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 would have benefitted from the inclusion of a set of pre-generated Player Characters. Given the differences between the setting of Dragon Pass and the Korolan Islands, pre-generated Player Characters would serve as a way to ease the players into and past those differences, showcasing the different Occupations and Cults. It would make the content in Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 easier to run and give the Player Characters motivations to be involved in the many plots and scenarios presented in the supplement. The number of encounters, mini-adventures, and adventures also make a campaign on and around Sironomandidi more challenging to run since the preparation requirements are higher and more demanding.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 continues the exploration of the Eastern Isles, but with almost a hundred encounters and adventure ideas. This gives the Player Characters the freedom to explore the islands like never before.

No—Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign.

Maybe—Sironomandidi: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 4 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign, but its scenarios could be used to explore a clash of cultures.

Jonstown Jottings #106: Marsh Attacks!

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.

—oOo—

What is it?
Marsh Attacks! The Blackthorn Campaign Sourcebook is sourcebook for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. It is intended to be used in conjunction with the Blackthorn Campaign scenario book.

It is a one-hundred-and-thirty-three page, full colour, 21.97 MB PDF.

It is a one-hundred-and-thirty page, full colour book.

The layout is tidy, the illustrations vary in quality, but all are at least good. The cartography is also good, a mix of classic and modern.

Where is it set?
Marsh Attacks! The Blackthorn Campaign Sourcebook is set in the lands of Lismelder tribe, Greydog clan and Delecti the Necromancer’s Upland Marsh in the year 1625 S.T. immediately after the Dragonrise.

Who do you play?

Marsh Attacks! The Blackthorn Campaign Sourcebook is designed to be played using members of the Greydog Clan of the Lismelder tribe (and potentially Ducks). There are no restrictions upon choice of cult, but members of the Orlanth and Humakt cult will predominate.

What do you need?

Marsh Attacks! The Blackthorn Campaign Sourcebook requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack, Lands of RuneQuest: Dragon Pass, and Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers. The Glorantha Bestiary and The Red Book of Magic may be useful. (A number of magazines and fanzines are also listed as being useful, but these are not readily available.)

What do you get?
Marsh Attacks! is the sourcebook for Lismelder tribe, Greydog clan and Delecti the Necromancer’s Upland Marsh. It is as much a history book as a description for all three in 1625 S.T. shortly after the Dragonrise. As the former, it tracks the Lismelder tribe from its founding in 1353 S.T. between the Upland Marshes and the Starfire Ridge, though its near annihilation by Delecti’s undead during the Zombie War and the forging of close ties—in some cases, very close ties—with the Ducks and later becoming part of the Kingdom of Sartar. The tribe suffered under Lunar occupation, as did so many of Sartar’s tribes, but the close ties with the Ducks means it refused to participate in the Duck Hunts that the Lunar Empire instigated. As the tribe continued to warn about the expansion of the Upland Marsh—marked by the newly planted Blackthorn Trees—its clans came under attack from the east. There had long been enmity between Lismelder and Colymar tribes, often over who held grazing rights to the Starfire Ridges, but a combination of the Great Winter, food shortages, and rumours of stockpiled food, lead the Colymar tribe to attack the Greydog Inn, famed for its beer and hospitality. The attack was repulsed, though at great cost. In the wake of the Dragon Rise, the attention of the tribe is once again turning west and worrying about what Delecti the Necromancer is planning.

Although Marsh Attacks! gives a good overview of the Lismelder tribe, its focus is on the Greydog clan. This includes it own history, a breakdown of its steads and families, cult membership numbers (which also acts as a guide to the preferred cults for both tribe and clan), a description and floor plans of the Greydog Inn and its Longbrewer Hospitality Oath (which has surprisingly long terms) and its fare including the extra effects of certain drinks, holy days, and more. There are rules too for brewing, including a magical or special brew. This expand the Craft (Brewing) skill and add the Brew Rune spell, which stackable and can be cast to increase the likelihood of improving the quality of the beverage.

Whilst the Greydog Inn provides a social focus for the clan and the campaign, the Temple of Indrodar, gives it a duty. After Orlanth and Ernalda, the most popular cult is that of Humakt, and whilst Humakt and his warriors are dedicated to ending the scourge of the undead, those without souls. For the Lismelder tribe and the Greydog clan, as well as the warriors at the Temple of Indrodar, this means defeating Delecti the Necromacer and destroying his undead menace, or at least withstanding the spread of the Upland Marsh and thus his reach. The Temple of Indrodar is dedicated to Humakt and then his hero cults of Indrodar Greydog, Li Phanquan, Yan Starcere and Makla Mann. Given the focus of the companion campaign, it should be no surprises that it is fully mapped and detailed, but there are rules too for Temple of Indrodar Humakti adventurer generation. These add the Upland Marsh Lore skill and replace some of the gifts and geases gained by Humakti.

The description of the Upland Marsh traces its origins to its creation by Delecti and his allies following the destruction of the Empire of the Wyrms Friends. It notes that Delecti is an undead necromancer, Hero-Priest of Vivamort, rumoured to have been a sorcerer on the Council of the Empire of the Wyrms Friends, and technically neutral in Dragon Pass—though open to bribes, very big bribes! It adds the ‘Clodhopping’ skill, which covers safe movement across the marsh and the ability to spot safe bits of ground. It is accompanied by a detailed gazetteer, an extensive set of encounter tables plus stats for very odd undead. Dinosaur Zombie, Griffin Zombie, Pterodactyl Zombie, Wyvern Zombie, anyone? These are not the weirdest and worst of the monsters to be found in the Upland Marsh. Numerous plants are also described, the worst of which is the Blackthorn Tree, planted by Delecti’s Dancers in the Dark to spread the borders of the Upland Marsh.

The complex content in Marsh Attacks! consists of The ‘Gloranthan Battle Rules’. These are designed to handle skirmishes all the way up to full scale battles, from ten to five thousand combatants per side, building forces around their overall size, leaders, and heroes, with the Game Master adding in encounters, opportunities, and special events as necessary. Passions will motivate combatants to keep fighting and are used to determine unit morale. The outcomes will ultimately be determined by Battle rolls, whilst the Intensity of the battle will determine how brutal and bloody the battle is, and how likely the Player Characters will need to get involved. The rules allow from charging, forming shieldwalls or phalanxes, use of chariots and cavalry, and Player Character posture, which will indicate how long he will fight for and its effect upon nearby squads. A heroic posture means that the Player Character must fight for four rounds and will increase the squad’s morale. A cowardly posture means that the Player Character can retreat, but if not seriously wounded, squad moral will suffer. After the battle, the winner can gain Reputation, ransom the enemy captured, and may even find some plunder. The system does require a fair bit of preparation upon the part of the Game Master as ‘Battle Cards’ for each squad need to be created. These effectively look like NPC stats. As well as having to prepare any ‘Battle Cards’, the Game Master may want to run several sample battles by herself to gain an understand of how the rules work.

The last part of Marsh Attacks! is dedicated to creating Player Characters. A member of the Lismedler tribe will not be a Chariot Driver or Philosopher, so will become a Warrior (Humakti) if either are rolled. There are starting Passions for the eight Lismelder clans and replacement events for the Battle of Grizzly Peak, Boldhome Campaign, and other events during character creation. Otherwise, these changes are minor, whereas those for ‘Dragon Pass: Duck Adventurers’ is more significant, expanding those details given in the RuneQuest Glorantha Bestiary. Dragon Pass Ducks have the Marshsense ability and new occupations include Boater and Upland Marsh Scout. This is accompanied by a guide to roleplaying Ducks and the Duck factions. The former is useful. Lastly, Engizi, the Sky River Titan, is written in the style of the cult books for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. This is not of immediate use, though that will change once the campaign is published.

Marsh Attacks! The Blackthorn Campaign Sourcebook is primarily going to be of use when the actual Blackthorn campaign itself is released. However, it has is a lot of background and information that can be applied to a wider campaign, particularly for Greydog Player Characters and NPCs or for campaigns or scenarios where Ducks or Upland Marsh the play a role, such as DuckPac, The Howling Tower, or GLORANTHA: A trek in the Marsh.

Overall, Marsh Attacks! The Blackthorn Campaign Sourcebook is solid, useful sourcebook with a nice pun of a title.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Marsh Attacks! is an excellent introduction to the Lismelder tribe, Greydog clan, and the Upland Marsh in particular with solid support for Greydog clan Player Characters, whether that is in readiness for the Blackthorn campaign or general play.

No—Marsh Attacks! is too location specific for a lot of its content to be readily useful for a broader Dragon Pass campaign except Greydog clan and/or Duck Player Characters.

Maybe—Marsh Attacks! is too location and story specific to adapt to elsewhere with ease, but may be useful for Greydog clan and/or Duck Player Characters and Duck-related content set in Dragon Pass.

Friday Fantasy: A Darkness at Runegate

The Dragonrise broke the hold that the Lunar Empire had on Sartar and enabled the clans and tribes the imperial thumb to join forces with the rebels that had long opposed the occupation from the hills and rise up, to free themselves. It also upended the social order, leaving a vacuum where there was not a fully cohesive government. Some settlements were left to fend for themselves. One such town is Runegate, famed for its east gate sacred to Asrelia, the goddess of luck and fortune, and for the great horses it breeds and sells. Despite lying in the lands of the Colymar tribe and being the market and religious centre for three of the tribe’s clans, its leaders and inhabitants have been forced to recover alone in the aftermath of the Dragonrise. This is going to change. Leika Blackspear, newly restored Queen of the Colymar Tribe has despatched a delegation from Clearwine Fort to present gifts to the Runegate leadership and so hopefully lay the groundwork for both its and town’s restored fealty to her. However, when the delegation of four reaches the walled town, they find too many funeral pyres smouldering and being attended to outside of the walls, many of the townsfolk coughing and spluttering, and a far from happy welcome.

This is the set-up for A Darkness at Runegate, a scenario for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha published by Chaosium, Inc.. It comes complete with a set of four pre-generated Player Characters and can be played as a one-shot, but its location and time frame actually make it easy to add to a campaign. It is located in the northwest of the Colymar tribal lands, a day or so’s travel west of Apple Lane. It takes place late in Earth Season of 1625. This combination makes it easy to add to a campaign based in the area, especially if the Game Master has used or is using the campaign material set in and around Apple Lane primarily found in the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack.

Begrudgingly welcomed into the town, the Player Characters find any fears they had upon reaching Runegate, quickly confirmed. The townsfolk are suffering from a widespread outbreak of disease, but the situation worsens as their only source of respite, the Chalana Arroy priestess, is found murdered in the Lightbringers Temple. This escalates A Darkness at Runegate from a horror scenario into a murder mystery. This being a scenario for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the cause of the diseases is essentially already known. In Glorantha, bad spirits cause disease, sent by the Goddess of Disease, Mallia, and nearly all of the inhabitants of the town have been touched by a disease spirit, and when they interact with them, there is a strong possibility that the Player Characters will be touched by them too. This adds to the impetus driving the scenario. That is, to find the source of disease that it is not only afflicting the townsfolk and its leadership, but potentially the Player Characters. If Mallia, the Mother of Disease and one of Unholy Trio of Chaos gods, is involved, the likelihood is that there are cultists devoted to her operating in Runegate or nearby. Investigation and talking to the townsfolk able to talk will reveal the depth of the problem, but observation will reveal that with the failure of the Chalana Arroy priestess to find the cause and alleviate the symptoms—prior to her death—some in the town are turning to another healer, recently arrived in Runegate.

The scenario will culminate in a confrontation with The Healer as the Player Characters attempt to work out quite who she is and who she actually worships, whilst she obfuscates and prevaricates. The scenario presents several ways in which this can play out, but whether The Healer lives or dies, is captured or escapes, she still has a group of quite nasty allies nearby. Ideally, the Player Characters will be able to identify and deal with the threat that blights the people of Runegate and thus as her delegates, show Queen Leika in a favourable light. Four pre-generated Player Characters are provided if A Darkness at Runegate is to be run as a one-shot or demonstration scenario. They consist of a good mix, particularly ages. There is a young priestess of Ernalda; her elder sister, an initiate of Orlanth Adventurous (Vinga); a middle-aged initiate of Issaries; and a young initiate of Humakt. All four have quite detailed background, but these are not presented separately for easy provision to the players.

Physically, A Darkness at Runegate is decently presented in the style you would expect for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. The new artwork is good, as is the map of the town. There is no map of the region which might have been useful considering that the actual climax of the scenario is likely to take place outside of Runegate.

One thing to note is that A Darkness at Runegate is not a new scenario, it having been used as a demonstration scenario prior to it now actual publication. What this means is that there will be some players who will have already played this scenario, so it will not be of use to every group or Game Master. Of course, given the diversity of games run in Glorantha, this applies anyway. The scenario itself is a little dense, but that is often the way of mystery scenarios. Otherwise, this is a great little scenario that shows off some of the consequences of Sartar’s immediate history and how the world of Glorantha is different to other fantasy settings. A Darkness at Runegate is a desperately disease-driven scenario as a one-shot or convention, but a good addition to a Sartar-based campaign.

Jonstown Jottings #105: Applefest

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.

—oOo—

What is it?
Applefest is a scenario for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. It is intended to be used after the events in and around Apple Lane as detailed in the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack.

It is a thirty-three page, full colour, 1.410 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy, but there are no illustrations and the text does need an edit in places. The single map is decent.

Where is it set?
Applefest is set in Apple Lane and takes place early in Fire Season over the course of Harmony week in the run up to the Ulerian holy week.

Who do you play?

Applefest is designed to be used with any Player Characters, ideally ones who have played through the events of the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack. It is assumed that by the end of that, one of the Player Characters will have been appointed the Thane of Apple Lane, although the scenario accounts for the possibility that this has not happened or has not yet happened.

What do you need?

Applefest requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack. The Glorantha Bestiary and The Red Book of Magic may be useful.

What do you get?
In the wake of the Dragonrise and the Lunar Empire being forced out of Sartar, there has been an understandable resurgence in Orlanthi religious practices and the village of Apple Lane is no exception. Every Fire Season for decades before the Lunar occupation, the community would hold a three day festival which celebrated its most well-known crop in conjunction with the village’s renowned temple to Uleria. It was, until the Lunars invaded, a quiet local affair, but this year it will be different. It will take on a greater significance than ever before as omens speak of ill winds flowing south still from the Lunar Empire, the Storms gods intimate that the old practices be taken up again, and guests from far and wide, including the great and good, and the unknown and the malicious. It will be up to the Player Characters to help marshal events, keep the peace, guide several children on their first ‘hero quest’, help save the day, and ultimately make sure everyone has a good time.

Playing out over the course of three days and nights, Applefest is a busy affair that brings a classic festival scenario to Glorantha and Apple Lane in particular. What would have been an ordinary affair quickly balloons in size as unexpected guests arrive, including a band of Telmori, an Earth Priestess from Kero Fin and her entourage, and Queen Leika and her entourage! In addition, there are traders and entertainers, and significantly if the Player Characters have played through the events of ‘Gringle’s Pawnshop’ in Apple Lane, the return of an old band of foes. Thus, there will opportunities for a barroom brawl, diplomacy, shopping, entertainment and games, a little mystery, some madness, and some active childcare in the field!

Although any ordinary band of adventurers can play through Applefest, this is a scenario that is really going to both interest and benefit a group that includes the thane of Apple Lane amongst their number and which makes the village their home. It is highly detailed and it involves multiple plot threads, both major and minor, plus a lot of NPCs, so the Game Master will need to need to prepare it carefully and be prepared to keep those threads moving and the Player Characters involved. The effort will pay off, ideally with the thane and the other Player Characters burnishing their reputations and helping to restore the spiritual strength of Sartar and its people.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Applefest is a thoroughly entertaining addition to any campaign set in and around Apple Lane.

No—Applefest is too location specific and too story specific to work elsewhere with ease and the Game Master may be running a campaign set elsewhere.

Maybe—Applefest is too location and story specific to adapt to elsewhere with ease, but there are plenty of ideas and events that could be reworked for a similar event.

Friday Fantasy: Stealing the Eye

Stealing the Eye is a smash and grab scenario. The Player Characters have to break into a temple, steal a jewel, and get out again. It is as simple that. Or rather, it is not that simple, because Stealing the Eye is a scenario for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the roleplaying game of myth and legend published by Chaosium, Inc.. That means there is vengeance and honour thrown into the mix. In the north of Dragon Pass, the lands of Tarsh have for decades been divided between Lunar Tarsh and Old Tarsh, the former under the heavy-handed influence of the Lunar Empire to the north which has long sought to spread its influence and that of the Red Goddess south. Part of this involves repurposing local temples and one of these, once dedicated to a daughter of the Earth goddess, Ernalda, has been rededicated to the worship of Yara Aranis, Goddess of Six Arms, Goddess of the Reaching Moon, and Goddess of the Glowline, the literal line that marks the magical border of the Lunar Empire. Now a band of adventurers from a Orlanthi clan of exiled traditionalists have decided to strike at the Lunars when they and their magics are at their weakest, on Black Moon Day, by breaking into the Temple of Yara Aranis, prying the opal from the forehead of her statue, and striking a blow to Lunar pride, for Orlanthi honour, and the prestige of their clan.

Stealing the Eye is a short and direct scenario, intended to be played in a single session. It comes with a set of four pre-generated Player Characters and can be played as a one-shot, making it suitable for convention play, or it can be added to an ongoing campaign, with the players’ own characters replacing those of the ones provided. Should the players bring their own characters, the Climb, Jump, and Move Quietly skills will probably be the most useful along with their combat skills. One character type that will be useful and one not normally found in typical Player Character groups in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, is the Thief, whether a worshipper of Eurmal or Lanbril. One of the four pre-generated Player Characters is a thief. There is also another reason why a thief is needed and that is because Stealing the Eye has a bit of history to it—thematic history, that is.

Long time fans of RuneQuest and Glorantha will recognise that the cover of Stealing the Eye is a homage to the cover painting by Tom Sullivan for Gods of Glorantha, a box set published by Chaosium, Inc. and Avalon Hill in 1985. That depicts a pair of adventurers about to do exactly what the Player Characters are doing on the cover of Stealing the Eye. In turn, Tom Sullivan’s cover was inspired a classic piece of roleplaying art—the cover by Dave Trampier of The Player’s Handbook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. Which of course, depicted another adventuring party attempting to prise the jewels as eyes out of the statue of a demon. That cover to The Player’s Handbook is perhaps one of the most emulated and copied pieces of artwork in roleplaying history, both as homage and parody, but mainly within the Old School Renaissance segment of the hobby, so it is a pleasure to see it given a nod here.

The scenario begins en media res. The Player Characters, consisting of a Dancing Woman of Maran Gor and the group’s leader, a thief and initiate of Eurmal the Trickster (and also a Duck), an Orlanthi warrior, and a Humkati warrior. Both warriors are brothers. Their task is to break in, get past the guards and temple staff, and make their way to the statue of Yara Aranis—and that is the easy part. How the Player Characters deal with the statue is another matter. The Player Characters have been told that the old Earth spirits, active before when the Lunar Empire arrived and took over the temple, may still be present, just suppressed by Lunar magic. If the Player Characters can appease them, then they may be of some whelp whilst they are in the temple. This would be difficult at the best of times, but again, it is Black Moon Day, so the Lunar magics are at their weakest in the temple—so there is a good chance.

The Player Characters can approach the mission however they want, but the objective is straightforward enough and the scenario covers numerous ways in which they can break into the temple and carry out their mission. The emphasis is on stealth and action as well as making the best use of their magic, rather than roleplaying, and it is designed to be used with the RuneQuest Starter Set or the full rules of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. That said, if the Game Master is running the scenario for players new to Glorantha, it might be worth creating a cheat sheet for each of the Player Characters, in particular, highlighting how Runes, Passions, and spells can be used, since they are pivotal to the play of the scenario.

Physically, Stealing the Eye is nicely presented in the house style of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. It is well written and laid out, and both the cover and the single illustration inside are excellent. The character sheets pack a lot of information onto a single page, but there are no illustrations of the characters themselves. The only thing that is missing that would have been useful, would have been a players’ map of the temple, since their characters are told about the temple in some detail.

Stealing the Eye is a highly serviceable and straightforward scenario that presents a Gloranthan treatment of a classic roleplaying situation. It is easy to set up and run and flexible enough to be run as a single session one-shot, or easily inserted into a campaign.

Jonstown Jottings #104: Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3

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.

—oOo—

What is it?
Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 is an anthology of source material and scenarios the continues the campaign begun in Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2 for use with Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1, both written for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is a one-hundred-and-forty page, full colour, 74.50 MB PDF.

The layout is clean and tidy, but the text feels disorganised in places and requires an edit. The artwork varies in quality, but some of it is very good.

The cartography is decent.

Where is it set?
Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 is set on Tamoro and Lutva, two of the five Korolan Islands that make up the Korolan Isles which lie in the Jewelled Islands, the Islands of Wonder that lie to the east, as well as two islands that lie outside of Korola Isles.

Who do you play?

Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 is designed to be used with Player Characters who are native to the Korolan Islands. The possibility of outsiders playing the scenario, along with a Player Character native to the islands, is explored in more depth than in previous volumes in the series, suggesting that alongside at least one Player Character who is native to the islands, the outsiders could be ‘new hires from strange lands’ in the in service of Queen Tamerana, a major NPC introduced in the previous volume who plays a much bigger role in this one.

What do you need?

Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 requires Korolan Islands: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 1, Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2, RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the Glorantha Bestiary, and The Red Book of Magic. In addition, the Guide to Glorantha and The Stafford Library – Vol VI Revealed Mythologies may be useful.

What do you get?
Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 includes some rules as well as more setting material and background. These are for ships and seafaring, particularly in the East Isles. Each vessel is defined by its Draft, Freeboard, Speed, Seaworthiness, Hull Quality, Structure Points, and more. They note that the Craft (Carpentry) skill is vital for ship maintenance and making minor repairs is a constant activity, and that Sea Lore or Shiphandling are used for navigation, augmented by Celestial Lore and the Cult Lore of the appropriate sea deity. Bound together stick charts are used by some cults. Numerous ship types from the raft and the canoe to the Lancaran warship of Fereva and the Andin War Canoe (both of which appear in the following scenarios) are detailed and illustrated. Warfare mostly consists of ramming and boarding along with the use of magic. The only thing missing here are deck plans, but otherwise these rules are serviceable.

As with previous sourcebooks in the series, Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 provides specific setting information about two more islands, in this case, Tamoro and Luvata, including settlements, major landmarks, NPCs minor and major, and the gods and cults particular to them. For this supplement, the most important of the gods is the Trickster, as one of his cultists plays a big role in the supplement’s two scenarios.  For  Tamoro, there is a description of Mount Tamorongo, revered as the Parondpara, god of the island, home to a labyrinthine temple complex, details of Simotora, its capital, as well as other settlements. There are write-ups of various NPCs, including Tamerana, Queen of Korola and the members of her court. In comparison, Lutvata is low-lying and marshy, and notably surrounded by an impassable reef of sharp corals that protects it and provides extra income for the fishermen who know the secret routes through it. Again, its ruling family is detailed, as are various locations. Its highlights include the Dance Mat, a large, multi-coloured rug on which dance rituals are performed and the Wet Fett Inn, a floating tavern with the bottom of its hull cut out, which caters to sea folk rather than humans and other land folk. Both sections are accompanied by classic ‘What your grandfather told you’ sections that neatly sum up the cultural outlook of the peoples of each island.

The first and shorter of the two scenarios is ‘Pirates of the Horizon’. It is two-part scenario that can be played through in roughly two or three sessions. It opens with the Player Characters in the coastal village of Anotora on Tamoro Island where they are told that pirate ships have been seen nearby. Summoned to an audience with Queen Tamerana, she tells them that they are not pirate ships, but Lancarans, warships of the Ferevan queen, and asks the Player Characters to sail out and find out what they want. The audience also gives a chance to interact with both the queen’s court and family, setting up relationships that play a bigger role in the second scenario. The Player Characters are able to find one of the ships and learn from its captain and passengers that its purpose is peaceful and what their purpose, though it is not part of the scenario itself. Instead, that really begins when on the way back, the Player Characters learn that one of the ships from the fleet of five has turned pirate and attacked a nearby village.

Confronting the pirates sets up a standoff that is only going to be broken by skilful bargaining or a bloody fight, if not both, whilst the immediate consequences require the latter when the Ferevan queen learns of what the crew did whilst sailing as part of her fleet. The long term consequences are almost an afterthought, but will set up another confrontation with pirates as the mask that hosts village of Anotora’s wyter is stolen and the Player Characters are asked to get it back. The trail leads to an uninhabited island where fortunately, the crew are getting drunk on the beach, making it easier for the Player Characters to sneak aboard the pirates’ vessel and get away. 

The second adventure, ‘Islands of the Lost’, is a much longer affair in three parts that will take multiple sessions to complete. It combines a mystery with Romeo & Juliet-style set-up as Queen Tamerana’s youngest daughter, Yotheata Earth-Sleep, vanishes. In ‘Islands of the Lost Part 1: Thief of Hearts’, the Player Characters are again, asked by the queen to investigate, and soon discover that the missing woman is in a secret relationship with Raingo, the son of chief Itos Arinta of Luvata, the much hated rival Queen Tamerana. They must follow in Yotheata’s path to Luvata and after some adventures on the island and a confrontation with Raingo, learn that she has disappeared at sea after fleeing Luvata.

The continued search for Yotheata Earth-Sleep goes awry in ‘Islands of the Lost Part 2: Bhat-Nupu’ as the Player Characters’ ship is caught in a boiling current and shipwrecked. This middle part is an almost static change of pace as the Player Characters and the crew and passengers try and survive on the desert island. Their capacity to do so is tracked as Survival Points and as they fall, so does the Constitution stat of both the Player Characters and the NPCs. The Player Characters have the chance to counter this through a series of survival encounters, including with the wildlife and other things on the island, all whilst they are attempting to build a raft. The effort is complicated by the activities of some of the surviving crew and passengers, including the scoundrelle who has been flitting in and out of the Player Characters’ adventures, the harsh environment, and assuaging the needs of some wonderfully mythical NPCs. The adventure concludes with a heroic rescue, though not yet of Yotheata Earth-Sleep, and a hard won escape from the island.

‘Islands of the Lost Part 3: Cwat-Bajat’ turns up the pulp action with a desert island temple full of zombies and undead, in what is effectively a dungeon! Even if the Game Master scales the opponents to the Player Characters, this is challenging situation and they will be hard-pressed to make their escape at the end, chased by Yotheata Earth-Sleep’s captors. If they succeed in getting her home, the Player Characters will be very rewarded.

This is a decent pair of adventures, and though linear, both take the time to discuss the different means by which the Player Characters might tackle one challenge or another. Early on, both scenarios call for gift-giving, so the players and their characters need to get used to that as part of the local customs. It would have been a nice touch if the scenarios had developed some ideas for gifts a little more, but there is nothing to stop the Game Master from doing that. Both scenarios offer plenty of opportunity to roleplay, especially in their early parts, whilst they tend to switch to action in the later parts. Better suited to the experienced Game Master, overall, these are entertaining scenarios that though perhaps a little heavily plotted in places, offer up lots of scope for good roleplaying, action, and excitement.

Much like Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2 before it, one of the elements missing from Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 is a set of pre-generated Player Characters. Given the differences between the setting of Dragon Pass and the Korolan Islands, pre-generated Player Characters would serve as a way to ease the players into and past those differences, showcasing the different Occupations and Cults. It would also make the two scenarios in the anthology easier to run.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 continues both the entertaining scenarios from Fires of Mingai: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 2 and the exploration by the players and their characters of cultures different to those they would normally experience in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.
No—Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign.

Maybe—Islands of the Lost: Hero Wars in the East Isles – Volume 3 is too location specific and too radical a change in cultural outlook to be of use in a general RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha campaign, but its scenarios could be used to explore a clash of cultures.

Jonstown Jottings #103: Figurines of Glorantha

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 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.

—oOo—

What is it?
Runequest: Figurines of Glorantha is a short supplement for for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. It is by the same author of GLORANTHA: Trinkets from Dragon Pass.

It is a five page, full colour, 3.28 MB PDF.

Runequest: Figurines of Glorantha is reasonably presented, but it could have been better organised. It needs a slight edit.

Where is it set?
Dragon Pass.

Who do you play?
Adventurers of all types who could come across these rare items.

What do you need?
RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. It can also be run using the RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha – QuickStart Rules and Adventure.

What do you get?
Runequest: Figurines of Glorantha is a description of seven figurines, or statuettes, which might be found in the world of Glorantha. In comparison to other treasure guides from the same author, it points out that they more common, since they are typically carved or sculpted to represent deities, powerful ancestors, and cult figures. Some of those described in the supplement are rarer than others and some are tied to more obscure deities, which lessens their usefulness in a campaign. They are crafted from a variety of materials—bone, clay, metal, stone, and wood—grant a magical effect that is either linked to a Rune or the purview of the creature or deity represented.

For example, Fast Legs is a rough carving of a horse’s hindlegs with a handle sacred to the cult of Mastakos, Orlanth’s charioteer, the God With No Home. It is dotted with tiny points that represent Mobility Runes. It must be held in the hand to be effective and increases the wielder’s Move score and Kick skill. Gelid Breath is a flat plate of bronze with the arms, mouth, and face of a man. Crafted by Orlanthi priests, if held to the mouth, the user can fire darts of ice through its mouth using his Blowgun skill. However, if character’s player rolls a critical failure of one hundred, it explodes and will inflict damage directly to the character’s head. Perhaps the rarest item is Korasting’s Bless, a dull, but heavy statute of a pregnant Troll female raising her hand to her face in blessing. If broken into pieces and eaten by a Troll female, her next birth will always be of a Troll rather than of Trollkin.

As with the other treasure supplements from the same author, the figurines in Runequest: Figurines of Glorantha vary in quality and usefulness, as well as development. More description of their histories and their legends would have been welcome, especially since they are meant to be rare. However, none of the entries are overly powerful and they feel more thought out and less rushed than in other supplements from the author, making it the best of the series so far.

Is it worth your time?
Yes—Runequest: Figurines of Glorantha is an inexpensive way of adding more magic to give Player Characters or NPCs minor powers that will enhance their legends and the entries are some of the best yet.
No—Runequest: Figurines of Glorantha is simply too expensive for what you get and the entries too underdeveloped in terms of the setting. Plus, the Game Master could create her own with a little bit of research which are just as good.
Maybe—Runequest: Figurines of Glorantha is expensive for what you get, but entries are far from being poor and the Game Master might want to add a little variety to the treasure found or perhaps take inspiration from the treasures presented here and either develop more of their legend or create new ones of her own.

Jonstown Jottings #102: Talismans of Glorantha

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 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.

—oOo—

What is it?
Runequest: Talismans of Glorantha is a short supplement for for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. It is by the same author of GLORANTHA: Trinkets from Dragon Pass.

It is a five page, full colour, 1.23 MB PDF.

Runequest: Talismans of Glorantha is reasonably presented, but it could have been better organised. It needs a slight edit.

Where is it set?
Dragon Pass.

Who do you play?
Adventurers of all types who could come across these rare items.

What do you need?
RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. It can also be run using the RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha – QuickStart Rules and Adventure.

What do you get?
Runequest: Talismans of Glorantha is a description of seven talismans, or rather pendants which might be found in the world of Glorantha. However, it begins by noting that such talismans are rare in Glorantha, but it contradicts itself because in a couple of examples, the items are obviously much more common than being simply rare. For example, Farmer’s Help is given by Barntar’s God-talkers to farmers to help them defend their farms against bandits, wolves, and monsters, whilst the Pelorian Firmament is described as a traditional Pelorian amulet.

All seven talismans in this supplement come with publicly sourced image and two short paragraphs, one giving its description and the other its effects when worn. The entries vary in their effects, the best being quite low key. For example, the aforementioned Farmer’s Help has the very straightforward effect of increasing the distance that the wearer can throw rocks and stones. Whereas the very alien Alien Fear, come from another world where Chaos has won, grants the wearer who is wielding a spear or a sword and strikes a target to inflict a point of extra damage from acid and temporarily lower the Power attribute of the target. Any creature or person with the Chaos rune affinity is immune, which makes sense. What does not make sense is the wearer suffers no drawback for wearing a magical device linked to Chaos and if the wearer does have an affinity for Chaos, surely there should be an extra effect?

The talismans detailed in Runequest: Talismans of Glorantha vary in quality and usefulness, as well as development. More description of their histories and their legends would have been welcome, especially since they are meant to be rare. At least one is too powerful, and another, The Lady, which grants the ability to use and train others in the Courtesan skill as if wearer was a member of Uleria’s cult, begs the question, what does the cult of Uleria think of it?

Is it worth your time?
Yes—Runequest: Talismans of Glorantha is an inexpensive way of adding more magic to give Player Characters or NPCs minor powers that will enhance their legends.
No—Runequest: Talismans of Glorantha is simply too expensive for what you get and the entries too underdeveloped in terms of the setting. Plus, the Game Master could create her own with a little bit of research which are just as good.
Maybe—Runequest: Talismans of Glorantha is expensive for what you get, but the Game Master might want to add a little variety to the treasure found or perhaps take inspiration from the treasures presented here and either develop more of their legend or create new ones of her own.