From the earliest days of Glorantha, Chaos was not like the other Runes. It first shows up in Greg’s stories with Gbaji. The earliest description of the Chaos Rune places it among…
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Yanioth
It should be of no surprise that Yanioth is one of my favorite pregens. She’s no fighter, with no combat skills beyond an axe she can’t actually use with her shield (but…
Vasana Ernaldoring
Vasana Ernaldoring is one of those who fought in the Hero Wars. We know of her largely through the saga about her life attributed to Sorala Tor, a scribe who followed Argrath…
Cults of Runequest series
These are the six books so far printed that are the results so far of the Cults of Runequest series. I’m including Red Book of Magic because it is the result of…
By Caravan from Swenstown to New Pavis I
It takes just under two weeks for a caravan to go between Swenstown and New Pavis. That will take you along a route that goes to Pimper’s Block, Days Rest, Tourney Altar,…
Hero Wars 1621-1627
The Hero Wars are the Big Story for the RuneQuest setting. What initially drives the Hero Wars is simple – the Sartarite drive to free themselves from the Lunar Empire and the…
Darkness Genealogy II
The Darkness pantheon is an unusual in that most of these cults are worshiped primarily or even exclusively by non-humans. Darkness is deadly, fearsome, devouring, crushing, cold, silent, secretive, and mysterious, and…
Understanding Gloranthan Cosmology
To really understand Gloranthan cosmology, keep two things in mind: 1. The world is created by the conflict/dance of the five elements – Air, Darkness, Earth, Fire, and Water. This interaction is…
Orlanth Subcult Membership
In Sartar, more than a third (35%) of all Orlanth initiates belong to the Orlanth Adventurous subcult. A little less than two thirds (62%) belong to the Orlanth Thunderous subcult. And a…
Rune Masters
So why is there variation in cult Rune Masters, some have only Rune Lords or Rune Priests, while others have both? Good question. So Rune Priests are the most common way that…
The Syncretism of Elmal and Yelmalio
If you start from the position that these are “two divinities” you are always going to run into problems. So start with this proposition – “two names”. At the Dawn, the Orlanthi…
Oldest notes on Orlanth
I’m going through some files and found some of Greg’s oldest notes on Orlanth (from about 1977): The council of gods in Dragon Pass is made of several major deities. Orlanth is…
What are the Hero Wars?
As the books repeatedly say, the backdrop for RuneQuest is the Hero Wars. But what the heck is that? The Hero Wars has at its core the conflict between Orlanth and the…
Exploring Glorantha
RuneQuest operates on many levels. It is a fantasy RPG where we can have fantasy adventures in a mythic Bronze Age world of tribes and empires, with gods, cults, and spirits. You…
Otherworld Home
So in every cult description, there’s an entry called Otherworld Home. That is where the cult members experience the god during holy day ceremonies and other important rituals. From there, there may…
Heroquesting beyond Holy Day Ceremonies
Each cult performs holy day ceremonies that reinforce the link between the cult members and the deity. These links can mechanically be described as the cult’s available Rune spells. These ceremonies fit…
Running a Heroquest
So let’s think about how to run a heroquest in a game session, based on the ideas in my previous posts. Couple of ground rules: Let’s set the scene. The community or…
Untangling Heroquesting
Let me try to untangle a few things. Let’s start with what a heroquest is: it is the direct interaction between the eternal God Time and mortal beings. Now that may sound…
Shamans in other cults
Are Shaman only in certain cults (Daka Fal/ Waha) or do all cults, specifically Orlanth, have them too? It depends. In many cases, a shaman is initiated outside of the main structure….
Notes on The Invisible God II
The Invisible God is the Hidden Mover, the Ultimate Reality which can be known. From the Invisible God came everything. And once the Invisible God viewed everything, we could have the One…
Werewolves in Sartar
Sartar has one of the – if not the – highest percentages of werewolves of any civilized kingdom. Some 2% of the population are werewolves! The Prince is defended by werewolves and…
Kallyr Starbrow and the Dragonrise
It may come to some surprise, but Kallyr Starbrow likely had no idea that her intervention at the New Lunar Temple ceremony would result in the Dragonrise. Let’s start with what was…
RuneQuest has Dragons
As we know, RuneQuest has dragons. And True Dragons are huge entities so powerful their thoughts and emotions can manifest and develop lives of their own. But at the same time, they…
Original Horse People
In the Grey Age, there were two main groups of horse people in Peloria. One was west of the Hungry Plateau/Jord Mountains in what is now Saird (Vanch, Terarir, and Holay). These…
An Ancient Dawn Age document from Brithos
The following is an ancient Dawn Age document from Brithos. It predates the Gbaji Wars, and likely dates to the time of the Serpent Kings. It is some of Greg’s oldest writings….