Jonstown Jottings #108: The Tax Collector’s Oxen

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 Tax Collector’s Oxen is a scenario for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is a twenty-two page, full colour, 1.44 MB PDF.

The layout is tidy, but there are no illustrations and the text does need an edit in places. The maps are representational rather than exact.

Where is it set?
The Tax Collector’s Oxen is set in Lunar Tarsh in an area known as Three Hills. (Alternatively, it could be set in any Lunar province on the edge of the Lunar Empire.)

Who do you play?

The Tax Collector’s Oxen is designed to be used with any Player Characters who might find employment in a mercenary company in Lunar Tarsh. There is no advice as to who that might be and the Game Master may want to conduct further research herself.

What do you need?

The Tax Collector’s Oxen requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

However, if the Game Master wishes to develop the NPCs further, then Cults of RuneQuest: The Lightbringers, Cults of RuneQuest: The Earth Goddesses, and Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way may all be useful.

What do you get?
The set-up in The Tax Collector’s Oxen is very simple. When forty-seven head of cattle go missing from trading post of Garan in the Three Hills region, Derenos Varro, the Lunar field administrator, hires a mercenary company to recover them. As it appears to be a simple matter of theft, the most inexperienced members of the company, that is, the Player Characters, are assigned to deal with the issue. Derenos Varro wants the matter to be solved as peacefully or with as little bloodshed as is possible, and the cattle returned.

The trail quickly points to the east to the village of Orvandor and when the Player Characters arrive, it is clear that that the missing cattle are in the village. However, as the village’s spokesman, Harmast Baranson, explains, Orvandor is actually owed a debt by Garan. The nature of the debt and how it might be settled lies at the heart of the scenario.

The Tax Collector’s Oxen is designed to test young warriors by placing them in a social situation and have them conduct some kind of negotiation. There is potentially scope for combat in the scenario, but approaching any situation with weapons brandished and being too willing to use sword rather than speech will land the Player Characters in trouble. There are NPCs who accompany the Player Characters who will likely make this clear.

Although The Tax Collector’s Oxen is set in Lunar Tarsh, the Three Hills region is the creation of the author. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but there is not a lot of detail about Lunar Tarsh that is readily available, so the Game Master may have difficulty researching the setting and making it feel different to other regions in Dragon Pass. Also, none of the NPCs are given cult affiliations, so they feel slightly flat. This is not helped by the writing which tends to be succinct and not as easy to grasp as it should be. That said, the situation itself is easy understand and a Game Master will have no problems in actually running the pleasingly low key scenario once they get a feel for the writer’s style.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—The Tax Collector’s Oxen is a solid enough scenario that can be run as is, but will be better with some development to add detail and/or move it to another location.

No—The Tax Collector’s Oxen requires too much development in terms of the NPC details and the setting to be really useful.

Maybe—The Tax Collector’s Oxen is a solid enough scenario, but how useful it is depends on the amount of development that the Game Master wants to undertake.

Jonstown Jottings #85: Crimson King

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’, instead 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?

Crimson King is a scenario for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha which can be played as either a sequel to both The Duel at Dangerford and Black Spear: A Hero Wars Saga for RuneQuest or a one-shot. It provides a single session’s worth of play and could also be used as a convention scenario.

It is a seventy-five page, full colour 30.81 KB PDF.

It is a sixty-eight page, full colour softback book.

The layout is tidy and both artwork and cartography are excellent.

The scenario is can be easily be adapted to the rules system of the Game Master’s choice.

Where is it set?

Crimson King takes place in the Tarsh King’s MoonPalace on the Red Moon in the year ST 1627 just before the Hero Wars ramp up. Suggestions are given if the Game Master wants to set the scenario prior to ST 1627.

Who do you play?
Crimson King provides six pre-generated Player Characters which were previously seen in A Rough Guide to Glamour and Life of Moonson, Book One: The Characters. They consist of the Red Emperor, Moonson Argenteus, his bodyguard and chief spy Count Julan, his older sister, Great Sister, his cousin, The Red Dancer of Power, his daughter, Jar-eel the Razoress, and former rebel turned loyal captain and Chief Food-Taster, Beat-pot Aelwrin.

What do you need?
Crimson King requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and ideally, the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack or the RuneQuest Starter Set.

What do you get?

Crimson Keep is the chance for the players to take the roles of the divine rulers of their Lunar Empire enemies. It has been done before with the ‘Life of Moonson’ freeform, but Crimson King scales the fifty roles of that LARP down to a manageable six whilst still ramping up the epic nature of its scenario. They are guests of Tarsh King Pharandros at his MoonPalace on the Red Moon, and Crimson King is—initially—a freeform in which the relationships between the dinner guests and their fears are explored and played out. Each of the six pre-generated Player Characters is highly detailed, not mechanically, but in terms of background, with the information on the character sheets is well presented and easy to grasp. The wealth of information given though, does mean that the scenario is going to be appreciated more by experienced players and Gloranthaphiles who will enjoy the details and significance of both playing the pre-generated Player Characters and the events of the scenario.

Unfortunately, the dinner party does not go as planned when there is an assault upon the MoonPalace! The action switches up with each of the Player Characters having a chance to shine as they personally defend the various porticos which open out onto the Red Moon. And then, it switches up again, but in most unexpected fashion.

Essentially, Crimson King plays out as an epic, though highly staged film, which starts out as Casablanca, but switches midway into a combination of Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Star Wars, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me!, and just about any James Bond film you care to name. Fortunately, what could have been a messy mélange of influences is kept, if not necessarily under control or reined in, at least corralled and energised in service of the plot.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—Crimson Keep is an over-the-top, ‘batshit’ crazy epic that brings genuinely imaginative high action and high interaction to a Glorantha freeform.

No—Crimson Keep is potentially off-putting, if not intimidating because of its scale and the wealth of knowledge it draws from, even though the scenario does its best not to overwhelm either player or Game Master.

Maybe—Crimson Keep is too weird and involves the doings of High Lunar muckety-mucks and that really is not for everyone.

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

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

—oOo—

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

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

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

Where is it set?

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

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

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

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

What do you get?

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

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

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

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

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

Is it worth your time?

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

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

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

Jonstown Jottings #71: The Lottery

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 Lottery is a scenario for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

It is a thirty-one page, full colour, 11.4 MB PDF.

The layout is clean and tidy, and the artwork and cartography excellent. It needs an edit in places.

Where is it set?
The Lottery is set in the river valley of The Deep Cut, just inside the Glowline in Lunar Tarsh.

Who do you play?

A set of six pre-generated Player Characters are provided, all members of the same trade party from Esrolia.

What do you need?
The Lottery requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and the Glorantha Bestiary.

What do you get?

The Lottery is a one-shot scenario based on Shirly Jackson’s short story, ‘The Lottery’. It begins with an Esrolian trade caravan arriving at a village just inside the Glowline in Lunar Tarsh. Here its members get caught up in a macabre ritual—the voluntary sacrifice to the dread Crimson Bat of villagers, decided by lottery, in order to keep the rest of the village safe. With two members of the caravan taken, it is up to the Player Characters to persuade the villagers to stop this ghastly ritual and rescue their family members being taken away to be eaten!

The Lottery does start with a problem. It has to start with the ritual and get to the point where the cultists of the Crimson Bat take those selected by the lottery before the Player Characters can act. Which involves a fair degree of exposition. However, once the scenario proper does start and they can act, the Player Characters will find themselves racing up and down the valley to reach the other villages and try and persuade their inhabitants that the covenant between them and the Lunar Empire is based on a lie. Fortunately, the Player Characters do have proof, although exactly how is handled in game is underwritten.

Once past the set-up, the players and their characters are free to approach the situation however they want. The scenario focuses on the primary routes across the valley, the Player Characters having the advantage in terms of speed over the Crimson Bat cultists’ wagon, and the NPCs they will have to deal with in the various villages. For the players, there is a pre-generated character each, complete with illustration, whilst for the Game Master, there are stats for the abducted NPCs, the villagers and the local wyter, and the Crimson Bat cultists. There are several handouts and maps. There is also advice on the possible outcomes depending upon the actions of the Player Characters.

The Lottery is a short scenario, intended to be played in a single session. It could easily be run as a convention scenario. It is more difficult to run as a campaign scenario, primarily because the Player Characters are likely to have the Passion of antipathy towards the Lunar Empire and this will influence their initial reactions. None of the provided pre-generated Player Characters have such a Passion.

Is it worth your time?

Yes—The Lottery is a clever adaptation of a classic short story to Glorantha, which although requires a degree of exposition, leads to an exciting player driven situation.

No—The Lottery is of little use if the Game Master’s campaign is not set in Lunar Tarsh, or near there, or involves Player Characters who right from the start hate the Lunar Empire.

Maybe—The Lottery is a difficult scenario to use in an ongoing campaign, primarily due to geography and likely antipathy towards the Lunar Empire, and would be easier to run as a convention scenario.