Review of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha
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Does the new RuneQuest Glorantha do Greg Stafford's legacy justice? Yes, in spades. I'm sure every reader would expect exactly that answer, but I don't think I'd be doing him justice unless I explained why. So I'll try to give praise where it's due, without flattery.
To start with, RuneQuest Glorantha (or in full, RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha) is a superlative production job; a huge advance in style and production values over all preceding versions that doesn't skimp on content for the sake of pizzazz. What's more, the artwork absolutely reinforces the setting. That might not seem so important in some RPGs, but RuneQuest in all its iterations owes its genesis to Greg Stafford's lifelong preoccupation with religion and mythology, and the art in the book is as persuasive and evocative as it needs to be to reinforce that. Some readers might genuinely buy the book for the art alone. Chaosium has done some great work with its recent publications, the 7th edition of Call of Cthulhu being a standout example, but this one really tops them all.
Next, with 7th edition Call of Cthulhu fresh in the mind, RuneQuest Glorantha builds out the original RuneQuest game system with alterations and add-ons that don't change its fundamental structure and mechanics. Most of these are ones that Gamemasters used to previous editions can take or leave. Almost all of them appear to add fresh dimensions that it's a pleasure to have. The Runes, so integral to Glorantha's structure and mythology, now ramify through every level of the system, and affect almost every aspect of it from magic to character creation. But all of those are rich trappings and dressing on the bare bones of a system that can still function perfectly well without them. The Conversion Guide, provided in the book and as a free PDF to explain how to transition from previous editions to this one, is only 6 pages of actual text. That's how consistent the new system is with what went before. Not to say that RuneQuest Glorantha is light on material, though. Far from it. It's a very big book: 448 pages big. The first edition of RuneQuest essentially skimmed over the Gloranthan setting, reserving most of its emphasis for a pretty abstract combat, basic magic and skills system, with only the chapters on Rune Magic and Monsters to really give a deep flavour of the world. The second edition went a little further, but still only included three cults. How things have moved on since then.
"Vasana's Saga, a frst-person narrative of the Hero Wars written (or dictated) by Vasana Ernaldoring, a Wind Lord companion of Prince Argrath," guides readers through the rules with examples. Categories of magic that weren't ever included in the original books, like Sorcery, are now given full billing. The new section and rules on Passion and Reputation help give player-characters greater emotional and social depth from the start, in a fashion that once again is tied in to the setting. The importance of Homelands and Family History in the character creation process adds the commensurate social dimension for what it might feel like to live in and be a part of a Bronze Age community. These are backed up with full guidelines on life between adventures, even marriage and parenthood. The Runes get a chapter to themselves. Above all, RuneQuest Glorantha more comprehensive selection of cults and creeds than the early editions ever had: 21 in outline, with exhaustive details on structuring and composition to create many more. Given how essential the various rune cults and religions are to the setting, Greg Stafford and his co-authors probably made the right move in putting so much emphasis in the core rules on gods rather than monsters. Of course, I hope there'll be legion supplements down the road with more gods and cults, but there are enough here already for any halfway creative Gamemaster to flesh out into a complete campaign pantheon.
Criticisms? Well, some might carp that the core RuneQuest Glorantha book is bereft of the bizarre and fascinating Gloranthan bestiary that is so central to the setting. But at 448 pages, something had to give, and owners of previous editions of RuneQuest can simply dip back into their legacy material for Gloranthan monsters without fear of problems with backward compatibility. Besides, Chaosium is publishing separately the equally lavish - yes, you've guessed it - Glorantha Bestiary, with all the original game's strange and fabulous creatures, and many new ones besides, and has made a free preview of this available for new players who need a few monsters. (I'll review that book later, but it definitely is one you won't want to be without.)
Another observation - hardly a criticism - is that RuneQuest Glorantha takes the original simplicity of Basic Roleplaying combat and elevates it to a level of complexity and crunchiness that some players and GMs might find daunting. Sections of the book now look like the best, most comprehensive rules for Bronze Age skirmish wargaming that you could ever wish to see. Back at the dawn of RPGs, RuneQuest and BRP excelled in their superb balance of simulative realism with playable simplicity, compared to D&D and others, and that rush of sliding your sword point past your opponent's greave was part of RuneQuest's original allure. Some might feel that RuneQuest Glorantha has tipped the balance heavily towards realism. But it's up to GMs to go with exactly however much or little of the full system they choose, and there's a superabundance of options here for them to pick from.
Finally, RuneQuest Glorantha still arguably needs Heroquest and the whole myth-walking process to truly lift its characters and its gameplay from juicy simulation into the realm of the gods. There's no levelling up to give players an easy path to becoming superheroes and demigods, even though the setting, mythology, and even artwork are packed with them. You could argue that Heroquest is where the mythic dimension of the Gloranthan universe truly comes into its own. But if players of RuneQuest Glorantha never take that path towards divinity, they'll still get to enjoy one of the most mind-blowing, polymorphous, self-consistent, richly conceived, conceptually profound, emotionally satisfying, and just plain fun imagined worlds ever created. In the game system that suits it best, and that was made for it.
Sure, if you already own previous editions of RuneQuest, you don't need to buy this one. But you'd be impoverishing yourself if you didn't. There simply is no comparing the quality and the wealth of rich material in this version with the past rulebooks. This is Greg Stafford's monument. But it's made not to be admired or mourned over, but to be played, relished, and lived in. Do it.
Style: Chaosium is producing some of the best-looking books in gaming right now, and RuneQuest Glorantha is not only probably the best of the best, but also both a superb representation of its setting and a fitting tribute to it.
Substance: Can it go higher than 5?
