Interested in making a RuneQuest RPG Submission for Glorantha or Fantasy Earth?
- Jason Durall, Line Editor
We are not accepting new RuneQuest submissions at this time. Thank you for your interest - please consider instead writing for the Jonstown Compendium.
RuneQuest has returned to Chaosium!
We want full-length adventures and campaigns for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha! (RQG)
Know the RQG rules and its terminology (for example, adventurers and a gamemaster, the use of Runes and passions, and the availability of magic to all adventurers!), All submissions must conform to the RuneQuest Style Guide.
Always remember that combat in RuneQuest is dangerous for the adventurers - hack-and-slash scenarios tend to result in total-party-kills or boredom (or both!). Scenarios should be resolvable through means other than just combat - social skills, stealth, or magic should be at least as important as combat, if not more. Concentrate on mystery, investigation, exploration, social conflict, and intrigue - combat is always an option, but there should always be another way.
Always indicate where passions or Runes should, or could, be used and possible effects of successful or failed rolls. Avoid basing absolute success in a scenario upon a single die roll for any ability.
Do not be afraid to present difficult episodes which can be successfully completed only after successive visits.
Remember, the adventurers all belong to communities. They have families, belong to clans, temples, tribes or cities. Many adventurers owe personal loyalty to a king, war-leader, etc. Stories that threaten (or at least involve) the adventurers’ community have greater emotional resonance for the players.
Special Notes on Glorantha
When writing material set in Glorantha, you must be familiar with the Glorantha setting (as described in the Guide to Glorantha, Glorantha Sourcebook, RuneQuest Bestiary, and King of Sartar). If you are detailing a city, tribe, or other significant location or group, you will be working closely with the Creative Director to make sure that the details fit with the overall vision of Glorantha.
You the Author need the know setting - however, the gamemaster and players should not be assumed to know anything more about the setting beyond what is the RuneQuest rules. Help them explore this rich setting through the scenario.
Setting: Our preferred setting is after the Dragonrise of 1625. Sartar is no longer occupied by the Lunar Empire and Argrath either is Prince of Sartar (1627 on) or is maneuvering to become Prince. This is a time of adventure, change, and war. For most scenarios, it should not matter when precisely it is set - and when possible, make the precise year of your scenario as timeless as possible. However, the location does typically matter. Pick a location for where your scenario takes place.
Mythic flavor: A good Gloranthan adventure should have some mythic resonance. Even straightforward scenarios such as raiding trolls or killing broo has a mythic dimension, if only the conflict between Light and Darkness, or the struggle against Chaos. Here are some examples:
- Many adventures follow, at least superficially, the Hero’s Journey of Joseph Campbell even if they are not heroquests.
- Conflicts of the Gods Age are endlessly repeated, and the cycles of mortal time repeat the mythic conflicts of the gods.
- At many times in history, men have cooperated with the Elder Races, the dragons, giants, and even broos. Great empires have been founded with the secrets learned from non-humans. But the curse of knowledge is that once you learn something new you endanger the certainty of old truths.
- The dangers of arrogance and pride. The rise and fall of the Broken Council, the God Learners, the Empire of the Wyrms Friends, and even the Lunar Empire are examples of this theme. Great empires rise in Glorantha, determined to change the world forever, only to fall into ruin.
- The price of success is new conflict. The seeds of the next war are planted in how we ended the last war. Success always comes at a price, and that bill always eventually comes due.
- The paradox of the Hero. The Hero is endowed with exceptional powers and uses those gifts to battle against enemies who would endanger the peace and wellbeing of the community. And yet, the Hero is not bound by the rules and restrictions of the civilization they defend, and is rarely at home in the civilized world.
RuneQuest Fantasy Earth
We are also looking for supplements set in RuneQuest Fantasy Earth. These use the rules template presented in the new RuneQuest Mythic Iceland. These might be additional adventures set in the North Sea of the 9th or 10th centuries AD, using Icelandic Adventurers along the lines of Egil’s Saga or the Viking Romances.
We are also looking for new settings for RuneQuest Fantasy Earth, such as Anglo-Saxon England, Constantinople under the Macedonian Dynasty, the Holy Roman Empire during the Ottonians, Abbasid Baghdad, Heian period Japan, the China of Di Renjie, etc. All RuneQuest Fantasy Earth settings should be set in a specific historical period and culture. Don't try to present everything - focus on a specific city or region. Be historically accurate without being pedantic.
A new setting book will need to include a short self-contained rules section that includes creating characters in that setting, the RQ game mechanics and combat system, magic for that setting (which should not be based on Rune spells or sorcery - the Gloranthan Runes are not present in fantasy Earth!).
Other Basic Roleplaying Games
We are open to proposals to use the Basic Roleplaying system for other settings.
Be sure to read the general RPG submission guidelines and and the RuneQuest style guidelines.