Glorantha is the Fantasy world created by Greg Stafford and since used as the background for several role-playing games, including RuneQuest (1st ed. 1978) and HeroQuest (1st ed. 2000). The world is characterised by its complex approach to mythology, heavily influenced by the universalist approaches of Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade, its Howardian ethos, its long and distinctive history as a setting for role-playing games, its community development and expansion, and (unusual among early American fantasy role-playing games) its relative lack of Tolkienesque influence. A fantasy world is a type of fictional universe in which magic or other similar powers work. ... Greg Stafford in Helsinki, Finland on July 21, 2005 Francis Gregory Stafford (born February 9, 1948), usually known as Greg Stafford, is an American game designer, publisher and shaman. ... This article is about traditional role-playing games. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This page is about Hero Wars and its revision, HeroQuest. ... For other uses, see Joseph Campbell (disambiguation). ... Mircea Eliade (March 13 [O.S. February 28] 1907 – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. ... Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936)[1] was a classic American pulp writer of fantasy, horror, historical adventure, boxing, western, and detective fiction. ... For other uses, see History (disambiguation). ... This article is about traditional role-playing games. ... Tolkien redirects here. ...

Stafford began imagining Glorantha in 1966 as a way to deepen his own understanding of mythology. He founded the company Chaosium to publish White Bear and Red Moon (1974), a board wargame set in Glorantha. Chaosium later published other games in the setting, including the critically-acclaimed RuneQuest. Various later editions of RuneQuest, the narrative roleplaying game HeroQuest, and the computer game King of Dragon Pass were also set in Glorantha, as were several prominent fan efforts. Mongoose Publishing currently publishes RuneQuest. Stafford has also explored the Glorathan setting in the fantasy novel King of Sartar and a number of extended essays known collectively as 'the Stafford Library'. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In Glorantha, magic operates from the everyday level of prayers and charms to the creation and maintenance of the world. Heroes venture into metaphysical realms to gain knowledge and power, but at the risk of body and soul. Various magical outlooks, such as shamanism and mysticism, compete to describe the world. Within a metaphysical system, adherents also compete, such as when theistic worshipers of rival gods battle each other. The world is flat, with a dome-like sky, and it has been shaped in large and small ways by the mythic actions of the gods. The historical world of Glorantha is in a more or less fallen state, having recovered only partially from a universal battle against Chaos in the mythic Godtime.

Humans are the dominant race, but other sentient beings abound. Some, such as the mystic dragonewts, are unique to Glorantha. Familiar nonhuman races, such as elfs and dwarfs, are distinct from their common, Tolkienesque portrayals.

Multimedia Glorantha

Glorantha has been so far the background for 2 board-games (White Bear and Red Moon/Dragon Pass and Nomad Gods), two role-playing games (RuneQuestand HeroQuest), 1 computer game (King of Dragon Pass), one comic book series (Path of the Damned), five novels or collections of fiction ("King of Sartar" by Greg Stafford, "The Collected/Complete Griselda" by Oliver Dickinson, "Gloranthan Visions" by various authors, "The Widow´s Tale" and "Eurhol´s Vale & Other Tales" by Penelope Love, and numerous pieces of myth and fiction created by the Glorantha community, featuring in magazines such as Tales of the Reaching Moon. Several hundred gaming miniatures by various licensees and about a dozen plush toys have also been produced at various times. White Bear and Red Moon (WBRM) is a fantasy boardgame set in the peculiar fantasy world of Glorantha, invented by Greg Stafford and published in 1975. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This page is about Hero Wars and its revision, HeroQuest. ... King of Dragon Pass is a computer game published by A-Sharp in 1999. ... Greg Stafford in Helsinki, Finland on July 21, 2005 Francis Gregory Stafford (born February 9, 1948), usually known as Greg Stafford, is an American game designer, publisher and shaman. ... Tales of the Reaching Moon was a British fanzine dedicated to the fantasy world of Glorantha and producing material for fantasy role-playing games based there. ...

History of the Gloranthan game world

Unlike Dungeons & Dragons, the other approach to fantasy role-playing which traces its roots back to the 1960s and which derives from the wargaming scene, the roots of Glorantha lie in experiments with mythology, storytelling, and recreation and blending of ancient societies. This article is about the role-playing game. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969. ... Glory, an American Civil War game by GMT This article is about the civilian hobby. ... For the 2001 film, see Storytelling (film) Storytelling is the ancient art of conveying events in words, images, and sounds. ... Fun redirects here. ...

Stafford's first imaginings of Glorantha date back to 1966, when he began his studies at college, as a vehicle for him to deepen his own understanding of mythology by creating his own mythology, and also (so he says) as a way of getting to know girls. Stafford was greatly influenced by the ideas on mythology of Joseph Campbell, and echoes of Campbell's work are to be found in many aspects of Glorantha; for instance the story of the "God Learners" can be seen as an exercise on the implications of Campbell's idea of a unifying monomyth, and the story of Prince Argrath an exploration of Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces. More abstractly, Campbell's idea that myths are how we shape our lives deeply informs the picture of life in Glorantha throughout the game world's publication history. Year 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see College (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... The monomyth (often referred to as the heros journey) is a description of a basic pattern found in many narratives from around the world. ... The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) is a non-fiction book, and seminal work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell. ...

The first game system set in Glorantha was the board game White Bear and Red Moon. Stafford first tried to sell the game to established publishers, but despite being accepted by three different game companies, each attempt ended in failure; eventually he founded his own game company in 1974, the influential Chaosium, to publish his game. The game detailed the rise of the barbarian Prince Argrath to defend his homeland of Sartar against the red tide of the civilized Lunar Empire, and filled out the area of Dragon Pass; since that time the game has undergone several reissues. A shelf of board games. ... White Bear and Red Moon (WBRM) is a fantasy boardgame set in the peculiar fantasy world of Glorantha, invented by Greg Stafford and published in 1975. ... Year 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. ... Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of role_playing games still in existence. ... For other uses, see Barbarian (disambiguation). ...

The next publication was also a board game, Nomad Gods, published by Chaosium in 1978, which detailed the raids and wars between the beast-riding spirit-worshipping tribes of Prax, a cursed land to the east of Dragon Pass. A French language edition was published by Oriflam under license from Chaosium under the name "Les Dieux Nomades" in 1994. Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of role_playing games still in existence. ...

In 1978 the first edition of the role-playing game RuneQuest was released. In this edition of the game, the game world is "Glorontha" (sic). Several later editions were made; RuneQuest II in 1980 introduced many sophisticated game aids, such as Cults of Prax and Cults of Terror, and highly polished game scenarios, such as Griffin Mountain. Using materials such as Cults of Prax, players aligned their characters with any of several distinct religions, grounding those characters in the political, cultural, and metaphysical conflicts of Glorantha. Each religion offered a distinct worldview and cultural outlook, none of which are objectively correct. This approach of offering competing mythic histories and value systems continues in current Glorantha material. Cults of Terror focussed on the worship of evil gods and adversaries, such as Vivamort, a vampire cult, and Lunar and Chaos cults. It did not review as well as its companion volume, being given 6 out of 10 in White Dwarf magazine.^[1] This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Philip Burne-Jones, The Vampire, 1897 Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings that subsist on human and/or animal lifeforce. ...

In an attempt to leverage the power of a much bigger gaming company, RuneQuest III was published with Avalon Hill in 1984. This edition both loosened the connection between RuneQuest and Glorantha, introducing Fantasy Europe as a game world for Rune Quest, and much broadened the scope of Glorantha treated as a possible domain of play. Unfortunately, RuneQuest did not prosper with its association with Avalon Hill, and the relationship between Chaosium, who held the rights to Glorantha, and Avalon Hill, who held the rights to RuneQuest, finally broke down completely in 1995. A draft of the RuneQuest IV rules, called RuneQuest:Slayers, was written but never published. It has since been renamed RuneSlayers and released as a free download. It had little to do with the Glorantha setting. Avalon Hill was a game company that specialized in wargames and strategic board games. ... This article is about the year. ...

During this period of breakdown, Glorantha continued to evolve. The advent of popular use of the internet caused a boom in fan creations in Glorantha, supported by some unofficial business ventures, such as Reaching Moon Megacorp, and a lively convention scene. Loren Miller proposed his Maximum Game Fun principle as a basis for gaming, which soon became a game system in its own right, David Dunham proposed his PenDragon Pass system, a nearly freeform game system, and several ambitious freeform games were played at conventions, such as Home of the Bold with up to 80 participants. The computer game King of Dragon Pass was released by A-Sharp, allowing the player to play an Orlanthi hero who seeks to unite the clans and tribes of Dragon Pass in a kingdom; the game features exceptional depth of coverage of the area of Dragon Pass, and featured the first compelling public view of Stafford's ideas about the heroquest. Also Stafford was at this time publishing material about the history and mythology of Glorantha in non-game form as books such as King of Sartar and The Glorious (Re)Ascent of Yelm. This article is about biological evolution. ... In economics, a business (also called firm or enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers or corporate entities such as governments, charities or other businesses. ... Pendragon Pass is a role-playing game that combines the rules of Pendragon and RuneQuest External links Pendragon Pass. ... The word freeform may refer to: Freeform art - an approach to the arts, particularly sculpture and painting but also applicable to other creative endeavors such as: Freeform hardcore, a subgenre of the hardcore genre of electronic dance music Freeform (radio format), a radio station programming format Freeform, a type of... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... King of Dragon Pass is a computer game published by A-Sharp in 1999. ...

Today, new official material is appearing for the HeroQuest game system, for a short while called the Hero Wars system. The game system, written by Robin Laws in collaboration with Greg Stafford, is radically different from RuneQuest in that it emphasises narrativist aspects of role-playing; in contrast, RuneQuest emphasised simulationist aspects. Because of this change in approach some RuneQuest fans found it difficult to adjust to HeroQuest. However, other long-term fans felt that the game fit Glorantha far better than RuneQuest. HeroQuest is a fantasy role-playing game written by Robin D. Laws and published by Issaries, Inc. ... Robin D. Laws is a respected and prolific writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Ontario. ...

Another company, Mongoose Publishing, has obtained rights from Issaries to publish material concerning the world of Glorantha, focusing exclusively (and for the first time) on the little-explored Second Age of Gloranthan history. Their new edition of Runequest debuted in August 2006, and the first Gloranthan supplement for it was released in October 2006. Mongoose Publishing is a highly prolific British manufacturer of roleplaying, miniatures, and card games, actively publishing material since 2001. ... Greg Staffords Issaries, Inc. ...

The World of Glorantha

There are a variety of cultures in Glorantha that have strikingly different perceptions of their world, the magic that pervades it and the major events that have shaped it. The word culture comes from the Latin root colere (to inhabit, to cultivate, or to honor). ... The Sorceress by John William Waterhouse Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events, objects, people, and physical phenomena) through mystical, paranormal or supernatural means. ...

The Issaries website [1] introduces Glorantha as: Greg Staffords Issaries, Inc. ...

"Glorantha is an action-packed world of adventure. Gods and Goddesses struggle here, with nations of people nothing but their pawns. The stormy barbarians with their brutal but honest Storm God struggle against the Lunar Empire, led by the imperial Sun God and devious Moon Goddess.
Glorantha is an exciting world of heroes. Legends are being made by great individuals, many who are not even human beings. Some work with the deities, other heroes and heroines fight against them.
Glorantha is colorful and full of magic. Supernatural animals are found, ranging from unicorns to seven types of merfolk and the Goddess of Lions.
Glorantha is immense. If explored, it has different worlds and dimensions, whole realms where Gods, spirits and sorcerous powers come from. Unlike many fantasy settings, Glorantha emphasises religion, myth and belief to a level rarely seen in roleplaying or fantasy fiction elsewhere.
Glorantha shares some fantasy tropes such as dwarves, elves, trolls, giants, but has developed them differently to the more conventional versions based on the work of Tolkien. Dwarves are literally made of stone and exist as manifest rigid inflexible laws of creation, while elves are intelligent, mobile plants. Glorantha is full of surprises.
Glorantha is as deep as you want it to be, or not. Hackers and choppers have what they want, while scholars and mythologists have a vast playground of new stories, legends and myths to enjoy." For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... For other definitions of fantasy see fantasy (psychology). ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... This article is about the mythical creature. ... Read psychedelic section for amazing info! on the experiments of real elves good for school projects This article is about the small mythical creature, for the 2003 film, see Elf (film). ... For other uses, see Troll (disambiguation). ... Jack the Giant-Killer by Arthur Rackham. ... Tolkien redirects here. ... This page is about a mythological race. ... Read psychedelic section for amazing info! on the experiments of real elves good for school projects This article is about the small mythical creature, for the 2003 film, see Elf (film). ...

The world of Glorantha has various cultures analogous to Earth spread over two major landmasses and a widespread archipelago. The northern continent of Genertela has a feudal society of roughly medieval type to the west, an autocratic Oriental society to the east and a classical style Bronze Age culture in the center. The southern continent of Pamaltela is somewhat like Africa, but with many differences. This article is about Earth as a planet. ... The Mergui Archipelago The Archipelago Sea, situated between the Gulf of Bothnia and the Gulf of Finland, the largest archipelago in the world by the number of islands. ... Animated, colour-coded map showing the various continents. ... In Greg Staffords fictional world of Glorantha, the northern continent of Genertela is divided into a couple of distinct regions by three great mountain ranges: The Rockwood Mountains and their western extension, the Nidan Mountains, part western and central Genertela into a northern and a southern half. ... The term the Orient - literally meaning sunrise, east - is traditionally used to refer to Near, Middle, and Far Eastern countries. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...

Creatures

Broo or Goatkin are creatures with the body of a man and the head of a goat, or less often some other animal. Broos are filthy creatures, always carriers of disease--they worship Malia, the Mother of Disease, in addition to their patroness, Thed, the goddess of rape and mother of Chaos. Broo have the ability to mate with any other species, with the child eating its way out of the host at full gestation. The newborn would distribute traits of parent and host. It just so happens that within Dragon Pass (where most players set their adventures), goats, sheep and cattle are prevalent, resulting in the common 'goat' appearance of broo. This article is about the domestic species. ... This article is about the medical term. ...

Scorpionmen are belligerent folk, who look like a sort of scorpion-human centaur.They are described as stupid, vicious and live in violent matriarchies with a religious emphasis on devouring. This article is about the mythological creatures. ... Matriarchy is a term, which is applied to gynocentric form of society, in which leading role is with the female and especially with the mothers of a community. ...

Ducks or Durulz are large intelligent ducks with arms instead of wings (or men cursed with feathers and webbed feet, depending on your point of view). They reside around rivers, mainly in Sartar, and have an unexplained mystical affinity with Death. The word duck was also used as slang for the WWII amphibious vehicle called a DUKW. It is also a cricketing term denoting a batsman being dismissed with a score of zero; see golden duck. ...

Aldryami are Gloranthan plantmen, nature and sun worshipping-mainly worshipping Aldrya, deity of plants. Unlike Tolkienesque elves, they are alien, physically plant-like and often hostile to normal humans (meat men). Like many other fictional elf races, they are excellent archers. J. R. R. Tolkien in 1972, in his study at Merton Street (from by H. Carpenter) John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973) is best known as the author of The Hobbit and its sequel The Lord of the Rings. ... For alternate meanings, see Lightning (disambiguation). ... Archers in Competition Archery is the practice of using a bow to shoot arrows. ...

Mostali are a machine-like dwarf race, extremely xenophobic, orthodox and insular. Inventors of iron--which has many extraordinary properties in Glorantha. This article is about the mythical creature. ... Xenophobia means fear of strangers or the unknown and comes from the Greek ξενοφοβια, xenophobia, literally meaning fear of the strange. It is often used to describe fear of or dislike of foreigners, but racism in general is sometimes described as a form of xenophobia, as are such prejudices as... in Christianity: Eastern Christianity Oriental Orthodoxy Orthodox Christianity Orthodoxy by country in Judaism: Orthodox Judaism Modern Orthodox Judaism Jewish organisations: Orthodox Union Categories: ... Fe redirects here. ...

Uz, the trolls, are the race of darkness, large, intelligent, astoundingly omnivorous, with a very developed sonar-like sense (darksense). Their societies are matriarchal, and they worship a number of violent and sinister darkness gods, including Kyger Litor, mother of the Trolls. Omnivores are organisms that consume both plants and animals. ... This article is about underwater sound propagation. ...

Dragonewts a magical race who comprise several forms of neotenic dragons, engaged in a cycle of self-improving reincarnation. Extremely alien and incomprehensible mindset. They must have oral surgery in order to speak human languages. Neoteny is a term in developmental biology that describes the retention of juvenile characteristics in the adults of a species and is similar to but not the same as progenesis, which is the attainment of sexual maturity by an organism still in its larval stage, as is found among certain... Chinese dragon, color engraving on wood, Chinese school, 19th Century The dragon is a mythical creature typically depicted as a large and powerful serpent or other reptile with magical or spiritual qualities. ... This article is about the theological concept. ... “Surgeon” redirects here. ...

See also

• King of Dragon Pass

King of Dragon Pass is a computer game published by A-Sharp in 1999. ...

References

• Astinus, 1998. History of Role-playing: Part III - A golden age emerges.
• Peter Maranci, 2001. History of RuneQuest.
• Greg Stafford, 1997. Why Chaosium is. From Starry Wisdom #1.

External links

• Glorantha.com - Issaries website containing information about Glorantha and HeroQuest
• Heroquest sites in the ODP
• Runequest sites in the ODP
• GBC's Glorantha Links - Extensive list of Glorantha links on the net.

Greg Staffords Issaries, Inc. ... HeroQuest is the revised edition of the Hero Wars Gloranthan role-playing game. ...

Community resources

• WhiteWall Wiki, a community effort to describe the events of the Lunar siege of Whitewall, an Orlanthi stronghold south of Dragon Pass.

Information about game systems based in Glorantha

• PenDragon Pass, the rules for David Dunham's system, which puts the Gloranthan world into the Pendragon Arthurian role-playing system.