RuneQuest Classics: Sun County

Although Avalon Hill published RuneQuest III in 1984 and would work with Chaosium, Inc. for another four, the publisher, best known for its wargames rather than its roleplaying games, would not release any new material for the setting of Glorantha for seven years. The combination of a new company head and a new line editor would change this. Under the aegis of roleplaying game designer Ken Rolston, Avalon Hill published Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun in 1992. It was well received by the fans of the setting and in the next three years, Sun County would be followed by River of Cradles, Shadows on the Borderlands, Strangers in Prax, Dorastor: Land of Doom, and Lords of Terror. All together, these six supplements for RuneQuest III set in Glorantha explored new areas of Dragon Pass and became known as the ‘RuneQuest Renaissance’, rekindling interest in Glorantha that continues to this day. Notably, some of the titles that formed the ‘RuneQuest Renaissance’ have inspired community-created content on the Jonstown Compendium. For example, Sun County is the setting for the ‘Tales of the Sun County Militia’ series and Dorastor: Land of Doom is the setting for Secrets of Dorastor.

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Originally published in 1992, Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun is once again available in print. It is a remastered edition, rather than an updated edition. What this means is that it is still written for use with RuneQuest III, rather than RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the most recent edition of the roleplaying game. It also means that it has been tidied up and is now available in colour rather than just being in black and white. Plus, it includes a foreword by Shannon Appelcline, author of the Dungeons & Designers series of books about the history of the roleplaying hobby, which explores the origins and consequences of the ‘RuneQuest Renaissance’. This is nicely detailed, but it does not extend that foreword to 2024 and the publication of this new edition of Sun County. This is a missed opportunity. One issue with Sun County is that it is not fully compatible with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, so some adjustments are necessary and the various NPC and monster stats will need adapting. Fortunately, there is a conversion guide in the appendix of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, which also includes the details necessary to play a member of the Cult of Yelmalio, which dominates religious and cultural life and outlook in Sun County. Further information is available in the forthcoming Cults of RuneQuest: The Gods of Fire and Sky.

Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun can be divided into two halves. The first half describes the small, isolated province on the Zola Fel River in the River of Cradles valley, between Prax and Vulture Country, and just south of the city of Pavis. Since 877 S.T., the province has been settled by light-worshipping farmer-soldiers, known for their devout worship of Yelmalio, their extreme conservatism and prudishness, their sometimes-extreme distrust of outsiders, and their skill with the pike and the spear, with many of the county’s young men serving in militias and troops work as mercenary phalanxes far beyond the borders of Sun County. Since 1610 S.T., with the capture of Pavis, the biggest city in the region, by the Lunar Empire, Solanthos Ironpike, Honoured Count of Sun County, has owed begrudging fealty to Sor-eel the Short, Lunar Count of Prax and Governor of Pavis, effectively ensuring a relatively easy peace between the city and the county. Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun is not a gazetteer of the province, but it does give a geographical overview, as well as describing how it is governed, how its deals with and trades with outsiders, and its problem with hazia, the addictive euphoric herb, whose cultivation is profitable, but technically, banned.

Full stats are provided for Solanthos Ironpike, as well as his leading captains, Invictus, Light Captain of Sun County, commander of the Templars and the county’s military and Vega Goldbreath, Guardian of Sun County, an exception to the rule in being a Light lady of Yelmalio. Another exception is Belvani, Lieutenant of the Light Captain Light Son and Light Servant of Yelmalio, whose duties actually require him to deal with outsiders and who is accompanied by The Gamon, a crested dragonewt who never speaks, but who Belvani treats as his dogbody! Although the leading members of the priesthood of the Cult of Yelmalio are described, they are not given stats. The cult itself is fully detailed, including its mythos, history, place in the world, and more. How to become an initiate and then a Light Son or Light Priest, as well as a Light Servant who acts as their special servant. Along with the subcults of Monrogh, the cult’s spirit of reprisal, Kuschile the horse archer, and Togtuvei, the cartographer and geographer, plus a list of Yelmalio’s Gifts and Geases, this is an excellent write-up of the Cult of Yelmalio.

One pleasing addition to the write-up of the cult is the map of the Sun County Temple, renowned of course, like all temples to Yelmalio, for its gold dome that catches the light, which is taken from the Pavis: Threshold to Danger boxed set. Besides detailing the temple and its powerful defences—both magical and mundane, the temple description also details terms by which it offers sanctuary, now strictly enforced lest Solanthos Ironpike, irk Sor-eel the Short in Pavis. Which effectively means that if the Player Characters annoy the Lunars in Pavis, they may not have as much luck hiding out in Sun County as they might hope! There is also terrific write-up of an annual ceremony and heroquest, ‘The River Ritual of the Sun People’, which the current count performs to reforge Sun County’s alliance with a daughter of Zola Fel, god of the River of Cradles. (It is a pity that none of the adventures in Sun County deal with this, but that does mean that the Game Master has scope to develop something herself.) Lastly, the Sun County militia is detailed as is ‘Shield Push’, a Sun Domer game that can be best be described as Rugby or Australian Rules Football scrum or ruck played with shields!

Another notable inclusion in Sun County is that of ‘Jaxarte’s Journal’. This is the account of Jaxarte Whyded, a minor relative of Sor-eel the Short given the make-work role of ‘Commissioner of the Imperial Census for Prax’ recounts of his visit to Sun County. It gives a very enjoyable counter to the description of Sun County and a more immediate outsider’s point of view. It also comes with footnotes from a Lhankor Mhy sage which add further commentary, and all together, his account echoes that of the travelogue of Biturian Varosh, the merchant prince of the Issaries cult in Cults of Prax.

In addition to a set of encounter tables with some potentially entertaining entries for Sun County, the other half of Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun is dedicated to four scenarios. Two of these, ‘Melisande’s Hand’ and ‘Rabbit Hat Farm’, are designed for relatively inexperienced Player Characters, whilst the other two, ‘Solinthor’s Tower’ and ‘Old Sun Dome’ require more experienced Player Characters. Most of the scenarios are flexible in who they are run, whether that is with Sun Domer Player Characters or outsiders. The eight provided Player Characters include a good mix of both, though they do come with notes for use with ‘Rabbit Hat Farm’.

The first scenario, ‘Melisande’s Hand’ is a classic festival adventure whose events and intrigues the Player Characters can embroil themselves. It details a harvest festival dedicated to Ernalda—and gives the winner the right to wed a local Ernalda initiate for a year as well as a fair bit of renown—which takes place each year in Garhound, a town on the other side of the river from Sun County. It is a busy affair with lots going on between the various contestants and plenty of opportunities for the Player Characters to shine, whether in the individual events or in between. There are prizes too for each of the individual events, there is the opportunity for everyone to win something. Whilst the scenario is designed for beginning Player Characters, its busyness does mean it is better run by a more experienced Game Master.

‘Rabbit Hat Farm’ is the RuneQuest equivalent of a ‘village-in-peril-that-nobody has heard from lately’-style scenario. Its location, Rabbit Hat Farm has been abandoned following an attack by Praxian nomads and then Broo, and so far, the militia already sent to investigate have not been heard from. The farm is fully detailed, as is what the Player Characters will find below—the remnants of a nasty Chaos nest! This is the scenario that the pre-generated Player Characters are written to play and there are really good hooks to get them involved in the investigation and exploration of the farm. Thankfully, the caves have been partially abandoned as otherwise it would be a very tough adventure. As it is, this is a challenging adventure against some tough opponents for inexperienced players and their characters, as it is effectively, a mini ‘Snake Pipe Hollow’! Nevertheless, clearing the remains out of the caves will be a major achievement.

The Sun County Ruins are site of the Old Sun Dome Temple—abandoned after an earthquake—and the location for the third scenario, ‘The Old Sun Dome’. Lots of hooks are given as to why the Player Characters might want to explore it, including looking for certain artefacts and even mapping it out for architecture-obsessed Jaxarte Whyded, and it makes use of the map of the current Sun Dome Temple (because why would a religiously orthodox society build anything different?) to create what is effectively a haunted house. There are guards outside to prevent anyone from going in, but the real threat lies inside in form of undead who have occupied the otherwise empty complex. There are some interesting secrets to be discovered, no matter whether you are a Sun Domer or an outsiders. The latter especially, as they are unlikely ever to get that far into a functioning Sun Dome Temple!

Lastly, in ‘Solinthor’s Tower’ is more of an encounter than a full scenario. A Lhankor Mhy sage is writing a thesis which collects all five hundred hymns and poems written by Solinthor, a priest of Yelmalio who ‘died’ in 1375 S.T. except that she cannot find the last seven. She thinks they might have been interred with him in his ‘retirement tower’ (which is where all priests of Yelmalio spend their last days) and so wants help in locating the right tower and getting inside. This is challenging since the penalties for looting—and this applies to ‘The Old Sun Dome’ scenario too—are death by ritual combat if they are caught! This sets up a bit of a dilemma because Solinthor is possession of treasures that the count will be pleased to have in his possession, but then where did the Player Characters find them? Getting hold of them though means getting past some tough magical defences which will challenge most Player Characters, especially given the tight space of Solinthor’s Tower. One thing it does share with ‘The Old Sun Dome’ is potential access to Yelm’s realm on the Hero plane, neither of which is actually designed to lead to any Heroquesting, given that at the time of publication for Sun County there were no rules for such activity! (Oh, how times change.) The outcome though of that access is actually better and better handled than it is in ‘The Old Sun Dome’. ‘Solinthor’s Tower’ is by no means a bad scenario, but it feels all too short.

One issue with Sun County is what you play. The core characters are the Sun Domers of Sun County and they are to man, xenophobic, misogynistic, repressive, and strict. This represents a roleplaying challenge because although not necessarily nasty, they are not nice people and they have a dislike of anyone who is different to them. In particular, female Player Characters will struggle in a society that would ideally restrict women to certain roles. Sun County does acknowledge this by suggesting that the Player Characters be outsiders for many of its scenarios, though of course, that has its own challenges. Alternatively, they could be misfits, as per Tales of the Sun County Militia: Sandheart Volume 1. This does not mean that players cannot roleplay Sun Domers, but both the Game Master and her players need to be aware of their cultural attitudes and present them with care.

Physically, the Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun is decently presented. Behind the excellent front cover, the layout has been tidied up whilst still retaining the look and style of a RuneQuest III book, the internal artwork is good, and colour has been judiciously applied to make various elements stand out. This includes a new map of Sun County that now includes the settlement of Sandheart and the various documents done as scrolls, such as ‘The Light List: The Honoured Counts of Sun County’ and ‘Jaxarte’s Journal’.

In terms of a setting, Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun does could have done with a gazetteer and more on the ordinary lives of the Sun Domers, as both would have been useful, especially if running the book’s four scenarios for Sun Domers. That said, the scenarios are easier to run for outsiders than they are for Sun Domers, as the Sun County parochial attitudes do set up tensions that a Game Master and her players might not want to deal with. However, Sun County: RuneQuest Adventures in the Land of the Sun is still a great book with a balanced mix of background and overall decent scenarios, ultimately providing what was a great introduction to the Yemalio-worshipping Sun County in 1992 and still is a good introduction over thirty years later.

[Fanzine Focus XXVII] RQ Adventures Fanzine Issue 1

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another DM and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. As popular in the Old School Renaissance as the format is, not all fanzines are devoted to Dungeons & Dragons-style roleplaying games—and in the nineties, many fanzines appeared dedicated to roleplaying games other than Dungeons & Dragons.

The world of Glorantha has had any number of fanzines dedicated to it over its forty year or so history, most notably, Wyrm’s Footnotes and Tales of the Reaching Moon. Published by John Castellucci, RQ Adventures Fanzine ran for six issues between 1993 and 1998, each issue containing scenarios written around a particular theme or location. Published in 1993, the inaugural issue of RQ Adventures Fanzine contains just the one scenario, ‘Escape from Duckland’, which the author and publisher had previously released as a standalone title. The scenario is set in 1621 ST in the kingdom of Sartar and sees a band of adventurers tasked with locating a small band of outlaw Ducks which has been struck down with the Red-Feather plague, a disease which fortunately only seems to affect Ducks and seems to be directly related to the intensity of the Red Moon in the sky. The only healer known to be capable of curing this disease resides by the mouth of the Marzeel River where it flows into the Mirrorsea Bay, many days travel away in the Holy Country. The adventurers must make their way to Apple Lane where they can find a guide, the famed Quackjohn, and then travel south and west into the Delecti Marsh to locate the stricken ducks, and from there escort them south to the border between Sartar and Esrolia. They will need to take some care, as not only are the Ducks outlaws and have a price on their heads (or beaks), but the infamous proclamation issued by General Fazzur Wideread, blaming the Ducks for the 1613 ST rebellion led by Kallyr Starbrow and placing a bounty of one year’s Imperial taxes for every Duck head/bill turned over to the provincial Lunar government is still in effect.

The scenario proper begins in Apple Lane. After they have dealt with a would-be Lunar tax collector and his bully boys on the make, the adventurers can sneak their guide out of the village and west to Runegate, but to avoid Dragonewt entanglements they are diverted south along Starfire Ridge and then over into Greydog territory. There are a couple of nasty encounters along the way—a band of Broo and horde of the undead which comes swarming up out of Upland Marsh. After both locating and placating the refugee ducks, the adventurers can begin their long journey south. There are some more nasty encounters along the way, a band of mercenary Tusk Riders which has decided to go Duck hunting—and have some horrid plans for any they catch, and there is one last attack by a threat encountered earlier. Not all of the encounters are quite so confrontational, an old man on Starfire Ridge proves to be good company and potentially helpful in speeding their journey, and there are dinosaurs to be found along the way, who might prove to be nuisances, or they might actually be helpful.

Consisting of ten encounters, ‘Escape from Duckland’ is a linear scenario, but then it is designed to be a journey. In terms of framing, being set in 1621 ST and thus written around elements of the Lunar occupation, it would be challenging for the Game Master to set the scenario elsewhere—or else when. That said, it could be adjusted to a few years earlier, but only few as they have to be after the Lunar proclamation on Ducks. This does not mean that the scenario could not be run today despite its strict time period. Since it takes place following the destruction of Gringle’s Pawn Shop in Apple Lane, it could be run as a flashback for Player Characters being run in the current timeline of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, especially if they have played through the events of Apple Lane at the very start of their careers. If so, then the old man they encounter on the Starfire Ridge early in the scenario could easily be the shaman they would have run into at the beginning of ‘The Broken Tower’ from the RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha – QuickStart Rules and Adventure. Alternatively, it could be run as part of The Company of the Dragon campaign which takes place during this period.

Mechanically, ‘Escape from Duckland’ is written for use with Avalon Hill’s RuneQuest III—as would all six issues of RQ Adventures Fanzine would be. The differences between those rules and the previous and subsequent rules for RuneQuest are relatively minor, such that ‘Escape from Duckland’ can be run with relatively few changes. In terms of support it is suggested that the Game Master be familiar with Apple Lane, Snakepipe Hollow, King of Sartar, and Gods of Glorantha. Were ‘Escape from Duckland’ be run today, The RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack would be useful for information about Apple Lane, and the RuneQuest: Glorantha Bestiary and The Red Book of Magic will be useful for details on the various creatures and magics encountered as part of the scenario, but otherwise it is easy to set up and run. An experienced Game Master would have no problem running the scenario.

‘Escape from Duckland’ is supported with a total of eight pre-generated adventurers. Ranging from a young and headstrong Orlanthi and a cold, hard Tarsh Exile to a peaceful centaur from Beast Valley to a bachelor of the Newtling race, they run the gamut of the standard Gloranthan types to the slightly odd, even weird. The scenario suggests the type of player each is suitable for and each is given a full page, including stats and nicely done background briefing. It also includes a copy of the Lunar proclamation on Ducks, some reasonable maps, and an enjoyable write-up of both Hueymakt Deathdrake, Druulz God of Death & War and the Indroduck Greydog subcult. Plus there are full stats for all of the creatures and monsters encountered in the scenario.

Physically, RQ Adventures Fanzine Issue 1 is scrappily presented. It is very far from unreadable, but it does need another edit and the art is rough. The maps are decent though. Another issue is the tone, that taken with the Ducks, which involves more than a few puns. Of course, ‘Escape from Duckland’ is very much a case of ‘Your Glorantha May Vary’ and another Game Master will have a different approach. The scenario includes a lot of flavour and detail about the various locations it visits over the course of its journey and each of the NPCs is decently done as well.

RQ Adventures Fanzine Issue 1 is rough around the edges, but ‘Escape from Duckland’ is decently serviceable and playable, taking the Player Characters on a challenging and nicely described tour of southern Sartar. For a modern campaign and a scenario of its vintage, ‘Escape from Duckland’ is a far more flexible scenario than at first seems.

Retrospective: Apple Lane II

It is not just a player’s first roleplaying game which makes an impression, it is also their first adventure. For many of a certain age, this would be B2 Keep on the Borderlands, the introductory adventure which for many years appeared in the Basic Dungeons & Dragons boxed set. For others it would be Apple Lane, the scenario first published for RuneQuest in 1978 as Apple Lane: Two Beginning Scenarios - Gringle’s Pawnshop & The Rainbow Mounds (Scenario Pack 2). This would be revised as a second edition in 1980 and then again in 1987 by Avalon Hill for use with RuneQuest III. The second edition would be further revised again in 2016 for a PDF as part of the Kickstarter campaign for RuneQuest: Classic Edition and it is the second edition which had the most impact, having appeared in the Runequest, 2nd Edition Boxed Set—both the American and British editions—and so was not only the first scenario for RuneQuest that many played, but the first chance to play in the world of Glorantha. With the release of the RuneQuest - Gamemaster Screen Pack and its ‘Adventures Book’ set in and around Apple Lane, it seems as perfect a time as any to examine the original scenario—in both of its two most recent versions. 

Having reviewed the second edition of Apple Lane, it is time to move on to the third. Published in 1987 by Avalon Hill for use with RuneQuest III, but importantly still written by the team at Chaosium, Inc., the third edition of Apple lane contains the same two scenarios, Gringle’s Pawnshop’ and ‘The Rainbow Mounds’, as well as the same set-up, ‘The Tribal Initiation’, and to be fair, there is very little different between them in this edition and the previous editions. So the thoughts and opinions given about Apple Lane in the previous review apply here equally as much as they did the previous review. Thus, Apple Lane and the scenarios it contains highlight the strengths of RuneQuest both mechanically and as a setting in the form of Glorantha—the lethality of combat and the need for tactical thinking, the importance of faith and ritual, and the mythic nature of the world around the player characters. All on a relatively small scale, but all still very playable today, just as it was in 1978, 1980, and 1987.

So what are the differences between the Apple Lane of 1980 and the Apple Lane of 1987? To begin with, there is a title, or rather, a subtitle change. The 1980 edition carried the title, Apple Lane: Two Beginning Scenarios - Gringle’s Pawnshop & The Rainbow Mounds (Scenario Pack 2), but here the title is Apple Lane with the subtitle, ‘Save the Hamlet From Scurrilous Scoundrels’, but more obviously, this edition of Apple Lane has been given a whole new redesign, starting with the colour cover. This depicts Quackjohn, Gringle’s right-hand Duck and assistant. Now Quackjohn is an inhabitant of Apple Lane and he does appear in the first scenario, ‘Gringle’s Pawnshop’, but only briefly and he really does not play much of a role in life around the village or even in the scenario. So as good as the artwork is and as eye catching as it is, it seems weird to have him feature so strongly on the front cover, especially given the contentious regard in which Ducks are held among Gloranthaphiles, let alone in the hobby at large. Arguably any one of the foes that the player characters might face in either ‘Gringle’s Pawnshop’ or ‘The Rainbow Mounds’, or even in the form of Gringle himself, would have been better suited to be depicted on the front cover.

Inside, the content has been given a cleaner layout and the amount of artwork has been greatly expanded. Some of the artwork is truely, utterly awful, the thumbnail portraits of the many NPCs in Apple Lane, in particular, is dreadful. These are described as being woodcuts done by Quackjohn and as such, are as bad as his opera singing is described in his write-up. As thumbnail portraits, they are so bad that the fact that none of the foes in either ‘Gringle’s Pawnshop’ or ‘The Rainbow Mounds’ is given their own thumbnail portraits is actually an improvement—and this is despite the fact that it is actually disappointing that none of the foes are individually illustrated in their write-ups. Fortunately, much of the rest of the artwork in the scenario anthology is actually very good, particularly those depicting the denizens of the Rainbow Mounds. These are worth separating out and being used by the Game Master to show her players at the appropriate time when their characters encounter them.

Also worth separating out from the booklet is its pullout section, the ‘Apple Lane Digest’. This contains two things. The first is the character digest, which provides all of the stats for the inhabitants of Apple Lane, the attackers upon Gringle’s pawnshop, and the denizens of the Rainbow Mounds. Here is where the dreaded thumbnail portraits appear, but having the stats all in one place is handy as makes referring to them much easier than flipping back and forth between pages. The second thing is a bigger map of Gringle’s pawnshop, not only bigger, but more detailed with room enough for both the Game Master and her players to use figures should they want to. The use of the floorplans in this fashion both supports and enhances the tactical nature of the scenario and the attack on, and defence of, Gringle’s pawnshop.

Carolyn Schultz Savoy’s larger map of Gringle’s pawnshop is not the only cartographic improvement in the third edition of Apple Lane. Indeed, every map in the supplement has been redrawn to give it more character and detail. In terms of the scenarios, the resulting map of the Rainbow Mounds is a lot easier to read and use. This edition of Apple Lane has not one, but two regional maps. The first one shows the area within about thirty kilometres of Apple Lane, enabling the Game Master to better place the village in Dragon Pass and more easily grasp the local geography. This is a redesign of the map that appeared in the previous edition of Apple Lane. The other map is new and shows the area within ninety to one-hundred-and-twenty kilometres of Apple Lane. Again, this widens the context and allows the Game Master a better grasp of the region.

The third edition of Apple Lane also has one other addition—a section devoted to ‘Deluxe Rules’. This covers rules for magic, including items and rituals, friendly and bound spirits, magic crystals, divine and spirit spells, and deluxe edition armour. This section did two things. First, it presented rules and mechanics found in Deluxe Edition RuneQuest, but even then it was not quite enough, as the Game Master would still need to consult another supplement, Gods of Glorantha, for some of the spells used by the NPCs in Apple Lane. Second, it highlighted the split not between editions of RuneQuest, but within a single edition itself, that is, RuneQuest III, which had not one ruleset , but two with Standard Edition RuneQuest and Deluxe Edition RuneQuest.

Physically, the presentation of the third edition of Apple Lane is a step up from the edition published in 1980. The maps are generally clearer, there is more artwork—some of which is very good, some of which is awful, and the ‘Apple Lane Digest’ is a more than welcome addition. Overall, this edition of Apple Lane is a more professional product whereas the previous version had an amateur feel to it. Yet despite the increased degree of professionalism, the choice of artwork is not always the best, the lack of artwork in places is unhelpful, and with the benefit three decades or more since its publication, the need to include the ‘Deluxe Rules Section’ just looks odd, especially since the Game Master is still expected to consult another supplement to get the most out of the two scenarios.

Although there is little difference in the text to either edition of Apple Lane, the third edition provides more support for the Game Master wanting to run either scenario. Better art, better maps, and of course, the NPC reference sheets. These all serve to make the third edition the better version to run, yet it simply does not have the simple charm of the edition from 1980. Nevertheless, Apple Lane is still a classic scenario and still fun to run and play, whichever edition you choose to use.