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.

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.

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.

Jonstown Jottings #101: Spiders Gorge

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?

Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween describes a small location and encounter.

It is a full colour, two-page, 284.03 KB PDF.

The layout is clean and tidy, though a little tight in places, and it is decently illustrated.

Where is it set?

Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween is set in Prax, slightly off the beaten track and far away from any settlement.

Who do you play?
Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween does not require any specific type of Player Character, but general outdoor skills will be useful. Combat skills and the ability to counter the effects of venom may be useful..

What do you need?
Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

What do you get?

Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween is a small location or encounter that a Game Master can drop into her campaign when her Player Characters are travelling through Prax. The travellers or expedition are short on water and are advised of a nearby gorge where water might be found, but told that a sacrifice is required before water can be drawn or potted. The location is literally a gorge and is spider-infested, and the Player Characters must get past them—including, delightfully, being able to dance past them—to get to the altar. Here the Player Characters will encounter a surprisingly chatty spider, whom they can negotiate with or fight and potentially even gain as an ally if they agree to help him.

Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween is a straightforward, even simple scenario, one that can be played through in a single session, even less. The only thing missing is a suggestion as to what the Player Characters might actually sacrifice to a spider spirit if they do not have a ‘horn ornament’, and development of what the chatty spider wants and where he can find it.

The question of whether or not Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween lives up to its subtitle, really depends on how the players and their characters feel about spiders. At best, it is slightly weird and slightly creepy.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween is short, simple, and easy to prepare for a campaign set in or going through Prax.

No—Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween has spiders in it? @#$%&! no!

Maybe—Spiders Gorge: A Spooky Halloween should be avoided if there is an arachnophobe playing, but could be adapted to elsewhere with very little effort.

Jonstown Jottings #100: City on the Edge of Forever

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?

The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever is a sourcebook and first part of a campaign for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha in which the Player Characters come to the city of Pavis and attempt to make a life and reputation for themselves.

It is the first part of The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut campaign.

It is an update of a campaign previously available in the nineties and includes commentary from the author on both the original and current version of the campaign.

It is a full colour, two-hundred-and-twenty-four-page, 105.55 MB PDF.

It is a full colour, two-hundred-and-twenty-page hardback.

The layout is clean and tidy, though a little tight in places, and it is decently illustrated.

The cartography is decent for the most part.

Where is it set?

The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever takes place in the city of Pavis and its surrounds (but not the Big Rubble).

It is set in ST 1619.

Who do you play?
The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever suggests and even provides a wide range of character types. What it mandates is that the Player Characters are all new to the city of Pavis.

What do you need?
The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the RuneQuest: Glorantha Bestiary, and the Red Book of Magic. It also requires The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 02: New Pavis: The City that Time Forgot, Pavis: Threshold to Danger, and Big Rubble: The Deadly City.

In addition, Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses, Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky, and Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way will all be useful. Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun may also be useful.

What do you get?

The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever is the archetypal release made available on the Jonstown Compendium. It is written by fans for fans. It is messy. It requires a high number of other sourcebooks to fully work. It requires a high degree of knowledge about Glorantha. It contains a lot of information that is extraneous. It is overwritten. It is incomplete. It is set outside the current time frame for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. Of course, this will not be a problem if the Game Master has access to all of the supporting material that she needs to set up and run the campaign, but if not, this is a campaign that the Game Master might want to wait to run or perhaps play it before she does so. Nevertheless, there is the start of an interesting campaign here which is designed for beginning characters and to some extent beginning players. However, whether the players are new to Glorantha or not, an experienced Game Master is needed.

The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever is the reconstruction of old campaign content created in the nineties that was influenced by conversations with the late Greg Stafford. It does rely upon the Game Master having access to both Pavis: Threshold to Danger, and Big Rubble: Threshold to Danger, as the author did when he first ran it. He puts this in context a historical backdrop to the campaign, both in game and out, the in-game backdrop providing a history of the original Pavis City, its destruction, the founding of New Pavis, and the invasion of the Lunar Empire. This is supported by an introduction to the city, overviews of the region, a discussion of its local languages, and then... Well, then it takes hard turn into a lot of background about Pavis in ST 1619 that is potentially going to confuse the reader and leave him wondering what he has got himself into.

The problem is that The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever really opens with a lot of background material that is useful, just not necessarily useful in this first part of the campaign, and content that the players and their characters are very unlikely to interact with starting out. This includes the full details of the New Pavis Knowledge Temple—run jointly by the cults of Lhankor Mhy and Irrippi Ontor—and their various subcults and factions; full details of the Lunar military presence in and around Pavis and their regimental magic and spirits; a history of Pavis, the founder of old Pavis and his cult, as well as the Flintnail the Dwarf Father subcult of the Pavis cult; details of Old Pavic magic and alternative means of a Praxian shaman gaining his magic as well as the Raven as a Praxian spirit cult; the Flintnail Dwarves in Pavis; the Cult of Donandar as full cult rather than a subcult; and details of the the criminal underworld in Pavis. The latter very much expands upon the information given in Pavis: Threshold to Danger, suggesting new criminal occupations such as the Confidence Merchant, Pick-Pocket, Roofer, Strong-Arm Specialist, and even Assassin! Plus, it details various gangs in the city, including details of The Hidden One, a Lanbril subcult worshipped by the Hole Lords Gang. In addition to the various gangs, Jorjar’s Trollkin Nightwatch, almost as criminal as the gangs and all of its members open to bribes, is detailed. There is a section on the general knowledge that any local will have of the Big Rubble and a gazetteer of Pavis County, plus full stats for the numerous NPCs to accompany the descriptions of the various factions and organisations. This includes the notable members of the Knowledge Temple, soldiery of the Lunar regiments present in the city, the auxiliaries and mercenaries found outside the city in Pavis County, the members of the criminal gangs, and Jorjar’s Trollkin Nightwatch.

It is a lot to take in, and none of the information is actually bad or uninteresting. Rather, it is not easy to tell what is relevant and what is not. Or rather, what is relevant right now and what is not. There is a lot here that the Player Characters are more likely to interact with later in the campaign, including the Knowledge Temple, the Cult of Pavis and the Flintnail Dwarves, and the Cult of Donandar. Initially, it is possible to play a character who worships Lhankor Mhy and wants to join one of the subcults or an entertainer who wants to join the Cult of Donandar—and this is seen in some of the pre-generated Player Characters that the campaign provides. Later in the campaign it will a different matter, as it will be very likely that the Player Characters will have interacted with these various groups and factions and learned more about them. To that end, the campaign makes two suggestions. One is that if Player Character dies, then his replacement can have stronger ties to or even be a native and a member of one of these cults, whilst the other is that each player create a second character who is native to Pavis and be member of one of these cults. Again though, this is for later in the campaign.

The second half of the book focuses on the campaign and its set-up. It is thus more direct and there are elements during the set-up and in the opening stages of the campaign that make use of the content previously presented and so begin to provide some much-needed context. In terms of character creation, beyond requiring that they be new to Pavis, The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever does actually suggest a lot of options. Suggestions in terms of Race include Baboons, Crested Dragonewts, Ducks, Dark Trolls, Dwarves, Elves, Morokanth, Newtlings, and more. The creation process is streamlined, there not being available the family history tables for this period as there are for ST 1625 in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and to this it adds two new skills, Streetwise and Pavic Philosophy, both of which will factor in the campaign. Included here too, are the game details of the local Lhankor Mhy subcults discussed earlier—Cobrin the Reseracher and Marlogh the Investigator,* plus Mercario the Street Entertainer, a subcult of Pavis and Donandar, and Thandros the Trader, a subcult of Pavis and Issaries. This is followed by information about the Zola Fel Riverfolk and their Cult of Zola Fel, the Aldryami of Old Pavis out in the Big Rubble, the Yelmalions of Pavis and Sun County, their associated cults, and if the Game Master and her players wants to cut to the chase, six pre-generated Player Characters. These are very nicely detailed and ready to play as well as offering a diverse range of characters.

* Yes, really.

The campaign proper begins with ‘New Faces in Town’. For whatever reason, the Player Characters have come to Pavis to start afresh and so they arrive with only the barest of knowledge of both the city and the Big Rubble it abuts, unsure of where to start and what to do. The campaign strongly recommends that the very last thing that the Player Characters do at this stage is run off and look for adventure or treasure in the Big Rubble, since their ignorance and lack of skill is likely to get them killed. So instead, the opening sequences all about the mundane steps of settling into a new place—finding food, looking for somewhere to live, and getting a job or two. Several infamous establishments are described here, including Gimpy’s Tavern, Geo’s Inn, and Rowdy Djo Lo’s, as possible places to eat and stay. Here the campaign is grounding the Player Characters in the city, beginning to make it their home, and backs this up with small encounters and small job opportunities that the Game Master will need to tailor to her players and their characters, giving them a slice of life in Pavis.

The first full scenario in The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever is ‘Ghost In The Darkness’. It is a classic set-up in that the newcomers to the city get got up in a fracas, picked upon by one of Pavis’ many criminal gangs, and find themselves under arrest by the city watch for a breach of the peace. Since they are new here, the judges are surprisingly lenient, sentencing the Player Characters to civic duties befitting their talents and temperament for at least one season. Which is why, with intervention of a priest of the Pavis Cult, they find themselves attached to Captain Draximedes, a Yelmalion officer posted to the city as part of the treaty with Sun County. Draximedes is a soldier through and through, but takes the Player Characters in hand and gives them time and money to prepare for their first assignment. This is to ride out into the contested eastern borderlands between Pavis County and the Sun Dome lands where independent settlers have their home in the rough, frontier country. Out towards Vulture Country some of the settlers have organised the building of a sturdier bridge over the White Rock River to facilitate both travel and trade, but there has been a series of deaths at construction site and the work crew have called for aid.

This is primarily a travelogue scenario in which they accompany Captain Draximedes out into the countryside and onto the frontier, interacting with fellow travellers, stopping off at various settlements, solving some of their problems, and so on. The last part of the scenario takes place at the bridge construction site where they can learn what has happened so far and perhaps begin their investigation, but what the Player Characters cannot do at this point is resolve the scenario. This is because the finale is actually contained in the next part of the campaign, The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 02: New Pavis: The City that Time Forgot. There is no denying that this is disappointing, because what it means is that there is no closure to The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever and that it is not a complete chapter. And arguably, there is content in The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever which could have been saved for the next or a subsequent volume in the series and the resulting space been devoted to enabling the Game Master, her players, and their characters to complete the introductory chapter to the campaign.

The scenario, what there is of it, is a solid affair with opportunities for roleplaying and even some combat. Ultimately, what it is providing several sessions of tempering, both in game and out, as the characters learn to work together under the watchful eye of Captain Draximedes, the players learn about their characters and the rules, and both learn a bit more about the setting.

What this all means is that The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever presents the prospective Game Master with not so much problems, as impediments to play: the requirement for a large number of source books, the amount of setting material presented in the first half of the book, and the anti-climactic scenario. Some of these are less of an issue for some Game Masters than others, and get past at least the first two, and what Game Master has in her hands is a very enjoyable introduction to roleplaying in and around the city of Pavis, accompanied by advice and lots of options and help in creating Player Characters and getting them involved in the street life of Pavis. If the rest of the campaign is as decently done as the actual start in The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever, then the campaign will be worth investing in.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever is a good start to the campaign that will ultimately reward its high buy-in and investment.

No—The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever requires too much of an investment and buy-in, falls too much under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’, and it is probably set too far away from where the Game Master’s own campaign is set.

Maybe—The Pavis & Big Rubble Companion – Director’s Cut: Vol. 01: New Pavis: City on the Edge of Forever does not make its set-up easy to get to and really get going, but the Game Master willing to make the investment and who wants a campaign away from the roleplaying game’s current focus might want to take a look at it.