Wyrm’s Footnotes (1976-1982, 2012)

HISTORY, 1976-2012

Wyrm’s Footnotes began publishing in 1976. Originally, it was a magazine that supported White Bear & Red Moon and other early Chaosium Board Games. Soon, however, it had become a forum for the discussion of Glorantha, and Chaosium’s first role-playing game, RuneQuest. By issue 11, Wyrm’s Footnotes officially became The RuneQuest Magazine.

In its short lifetime, Wyrm’s Footnotes went through several changes. The first issue, edited by Greg Stafford, was a stapled fanzine, with a print run rumored to be as low as 25 copies. For the fourth issue, Wyrm’s Footnotes began using real binding, but it became digest sized. The fifth issue was again full sized, and circulation had clearly improved considerably. With issue 8, published in 1980, Charlie Krank took over editorship of the magazine. Issue 11, of Spring 1981, was officially labelled Vol. II, No. 1. It sported a full color cover, the first that had ever adorned Wyrm’s Footnotes.

Shortly after Wyrm’s Footnotes 6, Chaosium began publication of their second magazine, Different Worlds. Unfortunately by 1982 it had become too expensive for Chaosium to publish both magazines. Different Worlds continued on, while Wyrm’s Footnotes’ publication came to an end. Originally Chaosium planned to publish a series of RuneQuest Companions. These books were to be 96 page supplements that contained assorted information on Glorantha, as Wyrm’s Footnotes once had. The first RuneQuest Companion was published in 1983. It was the last Gloranthan supplement that Chaosium published for 9 years.

Since the first RuneQuest Companion was, in many ways, Wyrm’s Footnotes 15, it has been included in this index, and is noted as “RQC”.

In 1995, Wyrms Footprints was released. It was compiled by Reaching Moon Megacorp, and distributed by Chaosium. It contains reprints of many old Wyrm’s Footnotes articles, some of them newly annotated or expanded. It addition, they was a small amount of new material in that volume. It too is included in this index, noted as “WFP”.

In the summer of 2012, Wyrms Footnotes returned one more turn, courtesy of Moon Design Publications, who produced issue #15. There was talk of more, but that’s been the last issue to date.

Shannon Appelcline.