A Collection of Greg Stafford's RuneQuest Campaign Essays
1978-1981
“Call me Greg. I am a person, human, male, and devout family man. I am occasionally crazed, possessed, or perceptual. [...] I usually write for fanzines when I am half (or more) drunk.”
— Greg Stafford, in the essay Dragons Past #1 (1978)
Be transported in time to the earliest days of tabletop roleplaying games with the first volume of Chaosium’s Archival collection: The Stafford House Campaign!
What’s Inside?
Chaosium Archival Collection Vol. 1: The Stafford House Campaign, is a collection of essays penned by legendary game designer and Chaosium founder Greg Stafford, between 1978 and 1981.
Details on Greg Stafford’s Personal RuneQuest Campaign
“...we are fortunate that Greg kept notes of what went on, and often recorded player and player character information [...] We hope to uncover more such documents over time.”
— Rick Meints, President of Chaosium
Greg Stafford’s RuneQuest house campaign has a kind of legendary status among fans of the game. Many of the original RuneQuest playtesters took part in it, which was hosted either at the Stafford home on Evelyn Avenue in Berkeley, or the first Chaosium office nearby.
The extensive notes compiled across this volume give unparalleled insight into the birth of RuneQuest, as seen through the eyes of the architect of Glorantha himself.
Dragon's Past
“I certainly do not expect most people to set a RuneQuest campaign in my fantasy, but I figure if someone does want to then this ought to be the starting place.”
— Dragon's Past #1
The earliest editions of RuneQuest, the tabletop roleplaying game set in the world of Greg Stafford’s Glorantha, contained very little information on the setting itself—especially considering the depth of the setting we know today!
It was across the 10 essays that comprise Dragon’s Past that Greg Stafford first set out to expound on the world of Glorantha for RuneQuest, compiled in this archival volume for the very first time.
Son of Sartar
“There have been occasions when I dropped all the clues I thought necessary for the players to have gotten the message. Sometimes they don't, and I am aware that it is a situation which the characters would recognize, but the players don't. What to do short of telling them? I have them roll their SPOT OBVIOUS ROLL.”
— Son of Sartar #1
The collection of four essays entitled Son of Sartar explores early iterations of rules and setting information of the now fabled Kingdom of Sartar. Alongside are conversations, rebuttals, and thoughtful debate from a range of Amateur Press Association (APA) publication contributors, giving further insight into Greg Stafford’s creative mind.
Pharaoh’s Gazette
“Temertain, Grey Sage of the Lhankor Mhy, lately of Seapolis, has been brutally murdered in the sanctity of his own quarters. The attack occurred on Water Day, Death Week: the Humakti holy day. The murderers were a band of fanatical Sartar Humakti loyalists intent upon preserving the potential independence of their land.”
— Pharaoh’s Gazette #3
The first volume of this archival collection concludes with the never-before published Pharaoh’s Gazette’s 1-3, which are in-world documents from the Holy Country. Excellent artifacts for RuneQuest and Glorantha historians, these documents can also serve as story seeds and player handouts for your tabletop games—some 40 years after they were first penned!
Download the Sample
Curious?
Click here to download the introduction and first two essays from the Dragon's Pass essay collection.
What The Critics Say
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"It's wonderful that this material has been made available! At the back of RQ2, I learned that THE WILD HUNT "is an Amateur Press Association zine which occasionally includes a section by Greg Stafford called "Son of Sartar," which are notes from his personal Dragon Pass campaign." And now, forty years on, I've finally read the lot."
— Nick Brooke (Black Spear, The Duel at Dangerford, A Rough Guide to Glamour).
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"Invaluable for the insight it provides on the very early years of our hobby in general, and on the birth of Glorantha as a frp setting in particular."
— Timinits & Trolls, The Stafford House Campaign and the Barguest.
Product Configuration
Physical Product Settings
Is Physical Product: [L]
Has Inventory: [Y]
United States: [Y]
United Kingdom: [Y]
Europe: [N]
Australia: [N]
Canada: [N]
Is PDF Available: [Y]
PDF Product Name: [The Stafford House Campaign - PDF]
PDF Product Link: [/the-stafford-house-campaign-pdf/]
PDF Settings
Has Physical Product: [N]
Is Physical Available: [N]
Physical Product Name: [Argan Argar Atlas Softcover]
Physical Product Link: [/argan-argar-atlas-softcover/]
Product Footer
Footer Name:
- Edition:
- RuneQuest 2nd Edition
- Year Released:
- 2022
- Format:
- Black and White Softcover POD
- Page Count:
- 84
- Author:
- Greg Stafford
- Cover Artist:
- William Church
- OCR and Layout:
- Rick Meints
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Good read!
Fascinating look at the early RQ campaigns with GS and the use of fanzines. Thank you for publishing it!