Worlds United Sneak Peek

This blog is officially devoted to Sword & Sorcery, and Worlds United is The Design Mechanism's soon-to-be-published planetary romance role-playing game. So maybe you think I shouldn't be mentioning it. However— isn't planetary romance really just a sub-genre of sword & sorcery?

Anyway, Worlds United lets you play in a 1950s where Herbert George Wells' books are not fictional but true recountings of actual events... Venus and Mars are inhabited planets and, if Venus is amenable to peaceful space trade, Mars definitely isn't, and there is an oppressing militarised atmosphere of Cold War with the Martians.

Contact with the Martians has sparked the development of psi powers, and the latter enable the 1950s depicted in Worlds United to make up for their lack in hard sci-fi technology. There is a lengthy preview PDF available here, which I believe gives a good overall idea of the setting.

Oh, and there are dinosaurs!

Worlds United

The Design Mechanism, publishers of Mythras (formerly known as RuneQuest 6th edition), have announced a new source book for H2 2018, whose title is Worlds United, and that will enable you to play 50s Pulp SF planetary romance adventures.

The book should contain approximately 128 pages. I have no further details at the moment, as there isn't anything about Worlds United on TDM's web-site or on their forum.

The funny thing (well at least for me) is that the announcement has been simultaneous with my re-reading my fabulous Flash Gordon hardcovers by Titan Books. The books feature the admirably restored full-colour Sunday strips by Alex Raymond, which are incredibly evocative of the marvellous atmosphere of Flash Gordon's adventures on the mysterious planet Mongo, with its many villains, astonishingly beautiful queens and princesses, and monstrous creatures!

The Design Mechanism to produce the Lyonesse RPG

I must admit I haven't followed the RuneQuest 6 line much since its rebranding as “Mythras” and its departure from the Gloranthan roots of RuneQuest.

Anyway, The Design Mechanism have just released an announcement about the upcoming release of a stand-alone, fully-fledged role-playing game based upon the Lyonesse Trilogy, a high fantasy trilogy by Jack Vance. The ‘engine’ of the Lyonesse role-playing game will be based upon the Mythras rpg.

It is unclear at the moment how much the Lyonesse rpg will differ (or not) from Mythras, especially with regards to the magic system(s), but The Design Mechanism will certainly communicate on the various groups dedicated to Mythras on social media (G+, MeWe...)

mock cover

RuneQuest: Fantasy Earth & More

According to information gathered from people who were attending the RuneQuest panel at Dragonmeet in London this past week-end, and from an interview of Jeff Richard and Jason Durall at AetherCon, the next big batch of books for RuneQuest once the various RuneQuest: Glorantha books (core rules, bestiary, GM pack) are completed is going to be a series of historical/fantasy campaign books set in the 10th century AD.

The first one will be a re-working of Mythic Iceland, and the following ones are rumoured to be about Constantinople and the Arabian Nights.

On a parallel note, The Design Mechanism have announced Mythic Constantinople, a supplement describing 15th-century Constantinople at the time of the Ottoman conquest, with rules for Christianity, Islam, and some uchronic pagan cults. The book should also contain details on the factions, institutions, guilds and military orders of the city on the Bosphorus, plus “Old School”-like random tables to create scenario seeds for busy referees.

It will be interesting to compare the two Constantinople books and, why not, set up a time-travel campaign between the 10th and the 15th Century!

News From The Design Mechanism

I always hesitate before publishing this kind of blog entry.... I reckon most people reading my blog also scour the various D100 forums and G+ communities. But, well, who knows, maybe there are people who only read my blog, so here are the latest news from The Design Mechanism for your enjoyment.

1) RuneQuest 6 will be re-named Mythras. The book will be re-printed with the same content and the same cover illustration; only the name will change.

2) The next supplement out is a much-revamped incarnation of the former BRP monograph titled Classic Fantasy. There is a preview here, and the cover simply rocks:

This is so Old School! I love it.

Apparently it will be much more than a mere Old School supplement for RuneQuest 6; with Mythras firmly rooted in the ancient world and the bronze age, Classic Fantasy will be the basis for faux mediaeval adventuring using the RQ6/Mythras rules.

3) Rumours are re-surfacing again of Chronicles of Future Earth by Sarah Newton being re-written for the RQ6/Mythras rules set. Stay tuned...

Hit Location Tables and Their Evolution

Note: I will restrict my post below to humanoid hit locations, which are anyway the ones I use most when I'm refereeing RuneQuest, as my favourite “monsters” are human opponents. I also believe humanoid hit locations are the ones that have been modified most in the various incarnations of RuneQuest and of the Basic Role-Playing System.

RuneQuest 2 had a simple universal hit locations table, which was applied to a humanoid target irrespective of whether the attack was via a mêlée weapon, a missile, or a spell. The table is the one in the first column (Mêlée) in the illustration at the bottom of this blog post. There were a few modifiers to be taken into account if the attacker was on horseback or riding a high llama (one of the bizarre riding animals used by the Praxian animal nomads).

RuneQuest 3 kept the same table as RuneQuest 2 whilst restricting its use to mêlée combat and adding a second, slightly different, table for the results of missile combat — which made perfect sense. Please refer to the tables in the first two columns (Mêlée and Missile) in the illustration at the bottom of this blog post.

The Basic Role-Playing System “Big Gold Book” (BGB) used the same exact tables as RuneQuest 3.

RuneQuest 6 has introduced a slightly different table, which is supposed to replace both the Mêlée and the Missile tables from RQ3 and the BGB; please refer to the table in the third column (Unified) in the illustration at the bottom of this blog post.

Personally, and in contrast to the latest outcries about Chaosium splitting the RQ fanbase again with yet another version of the RQ rules, I find the various incarnations of the rules sufficiently similar that I can use them interchangeably; e.g., I have recently run my RQ6 Swenstown scenario twice, and I've used the RQ2 hit locations both times... only realising whilst re-reading the various rules sets to write this blog post that they were actually different!

Anyway, my suggestion is to use a mix of the RQ2/3 and RQ6 hit location tables as follows: the first column for mêlée combat, the second column for missile combat, and the third column in all other cases (e.g., falls, spells) or if you only want to use a single hit location table.

Also please remember that a combatant in a superior position adds +1 to the D20 roll for hit locations.

Entropic News

the beloved BGB

A few weeks ago, I asked, somewhat rhetorically and jokingly: Is D100 Dead?, because of the news from early this autumn that Chaosium would be scrapping the 2008 incarnation of the Basic Role-Playing system, fondly known amongst aficionados of the BRP system as the “Big Gold Book” (BGB), and the only one currently available.

[Yes I know about OpenQuest and Legend.]

Well, it now seems we're soon going to experience quite the opposite of the death of the D100, i.e., a plethora of D100-based systems! For those of you who do not follow G+, the gaming forums, etc., here are the latest news:

• The BGB will indeed be scrapped, and replaced with a new generic product called BRP Essentials, itself based on the classic RQ2 rules and “incorporating 30 years of progress”.
• The Design Mechanism isn't working on the new Gloranthan version of RuneQuest any longer (see announcement here); as a result, RuneQuest 6 will continue under a new name.
• Alephtar Games' Revolution D100 has successfully funded.

It hence appears that we will soon have three simultaneously in-print D100-based engines: BRP Essentials, the as-yet-unnamed generic D100 system by The Design Mechanism, and Revolution D100 by Alephtar Games.

These are the generic D100-based role-playing games; I'm not even mentioning that there are going to be two in-print Gloranthan D100-based FRPs in 2016: RuneQuest Classic and the “new” RuneQuest! An embarrassment of riches...

The Hanging Garden, Issue No.4

Howdy dear readers. (Yes, I know I'm late.) The fourth issue of my supposedly bimonthly 'zine, The Hanging Garden, is available for your perusal and enjoyment.

Issue No.4 is a single-themed issue as it is 100% devoted to the description of the city of Swenstown in the mythical world of Glorantha. It features a kind of mini-sandbox with random tables, enabling the referee to use the city for 'urbancrawl' adventures, or as a base for your adventurers whilst they explore Sartar and/or Prax. The 'zine also includes a short scenario set in Swenstown and appropriately titled Swenstown's Sour Secrets. It is quite dark and adult and, as a result, may not be to everyone's taste. I GM'd it twice for two different gaming groups, and it was well-received both times, despite some unsavoury elements.

I have tried and kept the rules-y parts to a minimum. Whatever stats are present are for RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha, and they can be easily converted to other D100-based FRP games or even to other Old School systems.

Well, anyway. Feedback and comments are welcome, as usual. Cheers!

Better ReD100 Than Dead!

A few days ago, I provocatively and rhetorically asked if D100 was dead. I do know that D100-based role-playing games are from being dead, what with the new version of Mythic Iceland in the works or with the announcement by Chaosium at THE KRAKEN that a hardback 'nostalgia' version of RQ2 and a new, Gloranthised RQ6 would be published in 2016.

However, all the role-playing games mentioned above are standalone books. Apparently, the new management at Chaosium are convinced that generic universal rule sets are not selling at the moment, and that the public favours standalone role-playing games. I have no idea whether they have made any marketing research or analysed data of which books sell and which ones don't, but I'm ready to believe them. After all, Chaosium has been doing much better since the new management took over.

This being said, I am sure there still are many GMs and players out there who would like to have a 'toolbox' kind of D100-based rule set, and who are going to miss the BGB.

Fear not, brave souls, for Alephtar Games has started a crowdfunding campaign on Ulule to fund exactly such a role-playing game! Revolution D100 will feature a solid and modular implementation of the D100 system with quite a few new niceties (like Traits). I encourage you to have a look at the web-site of the crowdfunding campaign and, of course, to back it!

THE KRAKEN 2015 Report

The following statements are both true:
1. The Kraken is a gaming vacation.
2. The Kraken takes place every second (even) year at Schloss Neuhausen in Brandenburg.

However, it is also true that there was a mini-Kraken this year. Not a gaming vacation, no— a gaming retreat. And it was as good as the real McCoy except that –alas– it was much shorter.

FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER, afternoon

I drove all the way from Paris with my daughter and a friend. On Friday afternoon, we arrive at last, after 1,000km of heavy metal, noise pop, folk punk and Autobahnbaustellen, and get our Krakeneers' kits and schlüssel.

The weather is fantastic, which keeps the illusion of the gaming vacation, and Fabian doesn't look too stressed (yet). Sandy Petersen, the Only Old One, is already busy running demos of Gods War.

FRIDAY 2 OCTOBER, evening

Playtesting session of my (formerly) Secret Project. Lots of fantastic input from Mark and Patrick (thank you, guys, I'm already taking your feedback into account for version 2).
People slowly start arriving; I get to see old friends and new ones. Chatted about the new supplement of The Cardinal's Blades with Rémy. Jeff and Claudia explained me at length the pros and cons of the various gaming conventions; apparently I miss a lot by never going to Essen.

veggie food – thank you, Fabi!

SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER, morning

Played the gianormous wargame Operation Market Garden by Odile and Louis; lost twice in a row.

the gianormous map

my starting position

heavy fighting

Then attended the What's Up, Chaosium? seminar with Jeff, Neil, MOB, Sandy. Here are the main highlights:

Chaosium is now a fully virtual company (they've closed the Hayward office). What this really means is that there isn't any warehouse any longer. US fulfilments will be via Brainerd MN; European ones are in view via a UK company, who will also be carrying Moon Design and The Design Mechanism products.
Big focus at the moment is the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition kickstarter. Printing is underway, they are waiting for the physical proofs. Still working out the shipment details. Once this is solved, they expect to be in full working mode again, with lots of products and scenarios down the road, e.g., Infectious Fungi From Outer Space, a collection of short, unrelated, standalone scenarios by Sandy Petersen set at various different time periods (not the 1920s). If it is successful, expect more of those.

RuneQuest is back to the fold. The new version (referred to as Chaosium RuneQuest, CRQ) will be out by next year's Gen Con. It will be a shorter book, set firmly in Glorantha, back to the look and feel of RQ2, with brand new material (cults, scenarios). By the way, to celebrate Glorantha's 50th anniversary, the original RQ2 will be re-released as a hardback.

Basic Role-Playing System. The line is still alive. A new standalone Mythic Iceland will be the first book in this line (with new stuff, of course, e.g., more magic). Should be out before CRQ. MOB insisted that the BRP had not been killed off.

All the HeroQuest products are going to be published by Chaosium from now on; the Red Cow books, the new three-volume Trollpak, are the next ones in the pipe.

13th Age in Glorantha (13G): the 3rd playtest pack has been released today [i.e., on 3 October].

Credo, the Game of Duelling Dogmas. Updated the game of 21 years ago.

Secret announcement for Krakeneers only: another boardgame will be KS'd next year. Ultra-secret. Come to Paris and buy me a beer if you want to know more. [Note: I could see on G+ that some pictures had been leaked...]

Q&A Session

Q: Are you going to publish conversion rules for 13G/HQ/RQ?
A: No, because those rules sets aim at different gaming experiences.
Q: What happens to non-Gloranthan RQ6?
A: No standalone core engine, no third party products; any future "RQ6"-like product by TDM will be a standalone game à la Mythic Iceland.
Q: What do you suggest as an introduction to Glorantha for newbies?
A: HeroQuest: Glorantha, or the upcoming 13G or CRQ. They are all self-contained Gloranthan books.
Q: Talk to us about your fiction line.
A: We definitely want to revive it; we feel it's been neglected. At the moment we're still in the assessment phase.
Q: What happens to Magic World?
A: We simply do not have time to focus on all game lines.
Q: What happens to 3rd party licences?
A: The Laundry stays. Alephtar Games have lost theirs. Jeff says "If anybody has a great idea, they just come to me". But the idea is, again, to aim at standalone games.
Q: Are your games going to be available at game stores?
A: CoC 7e and 13G certainly.
Q: What about Pendragon?
A: Ask Greg!

on display

the new Chaosium

We then had a sort of short Sandy Petersen Games panel on top of the Chaosium seminar. In the pipe:
 - Cthulhu Wars Onslaught (extensions, new figures)
 - Gods War. New improved version compared with last year. KS early next year.

SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER, noon

Tested the new Gods War. The game mechanics have been slightly improved. The game is still pretty long (more than 2hrs for a four-player game). And I really, really would like to see some statistics. I think Chaos is too strong, no matter what they say.

SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER, afternoon

Played Cthulhu Wars with the new factions extensions, I got Yog-Sothoth (and summoned Him too late).

Played Operation Market Garden and won at last.

SATURDAY 3 OCTOBER, evening

Playtested my game again, and rather successfully too.

SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER, morning

Played in Jason Durall's The Akkadian Stars Are Right, powered by Magic World but set in a hybrid Bronze Age/Sci-Fi world, not unlike my own Glorantha in Space. I enjoyed the adventure very much!

SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER, early afternoon

GM'ed my RQ:AiG scenario, Swenstown's Sour Secrets, that I had been preparing for weeks (I had forgotten the pain that stat blocks and creating pre-gens could be for such a detailed system). I was so immersed in my GM'ing that I forgot to take any pictures!

my daughter preparing the map for the Swenstown game

Anyway, it was fantastic fun. I am planning on running it another time in Paris and then I'll probably publish it in The Hanging Garden.

SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER, late afternoon

Pancake Wars– Which ones are the best? Finnish or Dutch? Honestly, BOTH.

SUNDAY 4 OCTOBER, evening

Sandy Petersen entertained us to many anecdotes from all his years of gaming and of running gaming companies. Enormous fun.

that was before he started giggling

And then the closing ceremony, and then the sad farewell on Monday morning. I don't even want to recall that part. There should be a Kraken every three or four months!!!

my daughter

Fabi

Is D100 Dead?

For various reasons, chief amongst which the fact that I have been directly impacted [my book The Celestial Empire cannot be sold any longer, see below], and yet I strive to remain impartial on my blogs, I haven't blogged much about the latest news in the small world of D100-based role playing games. For those of you who are unaware of the latest developments, here is a short summary of what has happened during this eventful summer.

• Moon Design has taken control of Chaosium and announced that they wouldn't publish the 404-page Big Gold Book any longer. Instead they will publish a 32-page booklet called BRP Essentials. 32 pages? That's tantamount to setting the clock back to the 80s and the slim Chaosium BRP booklet :-(
• Ben Monroe, who was the driving force behind Magic World, has left Chaosium.
• The Design Mechanism's RuneQuest licence — which has made gateway (i.e., non-Gloranthan) RQ products such as Luther Arkwright possible — has expired and will not be renewed. Loz and Pete will now work on an upcoming fully Gloranthan version of RuneQuest for Chaosium (ETA mid-2016).
• Third party licences (e.g., Alephtar Games') have also been rescinded. As a result, celebrated historical RPGs such as Rome (which had won a silver ENnie) aren't available any longer.

Except for D101 Games' OpenQuest, this doesn't leave us with much non-Gloranthan D100-based gaming left. Is D100 gaming dead?

Future of RuneQuest [6]

This is a follow-up to yesterday's blog entry.

The Design Mechanism has posted the following statement earlier on today, both on FB and on their forum:

The recent news that Moon Design Publications’ management team (Rick Meints, Jeff Richard, Neil Robinson and Michael O’Brien) would be taking over at the helm of Chaosium has naturally created a lot of interest and speculation. It has clear implications for the Design Mechanism, and Pete and I would like to issue a statement of making clear where we stand as a company and where RuneQuest stands as a game system. We cannot and will not speculate or discuss Chaosium’s existing game systems such as Call of Cthulhu, Basic Roleplaying or Magic World.

We (Design Mechanism) license the RuneQuest trademark from Moon Design Publications. We entered into a licensing agreement that comes up for renewal around this time next year and part of the contract and business plan I proposed when first negotiating the licence was to insist in a full review and assessment of our progress with RuneQuest as a property. Our licence is not perpetual, and that review process had already begun before the recent announcement.

With Moon Design now becoming part of Chaosium, the RuneQuest trademark transfers to Chaosium – its place of birth. Until the licence we have expires next year, RuneQuest will continue to be published by the Design Mechanism and the core rules will remain in print. From July 2016, the following will take place:

1. RuneQuest reverts to Chaosium.
2. Pete and myself [Loz] will become the new lead writers for RuneQuest as a Chaosium brand line with specific responsibilities for developing the system and its supplements.
3. The Design Mechanism as a company will continue. Chaosium and Design Mechanism have signed a new contract whereby we can continue to write, produce and distribute our own RuneQuest supplements, and can continue to support the lines we have already started to develop.
4. The RuneQuest 6 mechanics remain the core of the system, but as the trademark is now held by Chaosium, we have been contracted to develop a new version of the game based in Glorantha called, simply, ‘RuneQuest’. This game will appear in July 2016 (or possibly earlier). This new version will roll together all the work we have done on ‘Adventures in Glorantha’ into a standalone RuneQuest game.
5. At that point, RuneQuest 6 will go out of print as its own title. Design Mechanism will find ways of ensuring full compatibility across our supplements, the new version and RQ6.
6. Effectively immediately, Chaosium will sell Design Mechanism’s existing (and future) books through its various channels. Indeed, this increases Design Mechanism’s exposure, extends its reach and removes a huge administrative burden from the shoulders of a two-man team.

Pete and I are delighted to be working with Chaosium. We are pleased to be able to return RuneQuest to Chaosium stronger than it has been since it left home for Avalon Hill back in the mid 1980s. Even better, it comes back to a revitalised Chaosium that carries a clear mandate of excellence, transparency and commitment to its fans and creative contributors. We are especially happy to have the opportunity to work closely with Rick, Jeff, Neil and Mike and to become part of the Chaosium family. But what makes this even more special is that the Design Mechanism carries on as a company, continues to publish and support RuneQuest, and will always engage with its loyal and faithful fans.

More details will emerge as various pieces come together. We will communicate and discuss them with you just as we always have. Pete and I really are excited and happy with the new direction and we hope you will share our enthusiasm and optimism for the future!

Long Live Design Mechanism!
Long Live Chaosium!
Long Live RuneQuest!

New Ownership at Chaosium — Implications for RuneQuest 6

It's been a hectic year in our industry... It's been slightly over a month since Charlie Krank got ousted from Chaosium and replaced by Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen, and now it's been announced that Moon Design are the new owners of Chaosium. It's been all over the internetz now so I won't go into the boring details (which are here).

This is tremendous good news for Moon Design, for Chaosium, for the world of Glorantha, and for the Call of Cthulhu line. However, after reading the various press releases, announcements, FB and G+ posts, etc. etc., I was really really concerned and worried about the future of RuneQuest 6 and of its Adventures in Glorantha supplement because they were not mentioned anywhere.

So I was really relieved this morning when I read the following by Loz on The Design Mechanism's forum:

[All] this has implications for RQ and Design Mechanism and I will be posting a fuller discussion/news piece as soon as time permits. I can assure all our fans, however, that Design Mechanism isn't going anywhere, the RQ6 system continues, all our books will remain on sale and we will be continuing to release our own RuneQuest material.

But Pete and I will be working very closely with Chaosium, in official capacities, and we'll explain more as soon as time permits.

I can assure you all that this is Good News.

People tweeting from Gen Con, however, wrote that 'a new version of RuneQuest' had been mentioned during one of the Chaosium panels. So I guess at the moment the best we can do is wait for further official announcements from the various parties after the dust has settled.

Summer Teaser

RuneQuest 6 in italiano

After the unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign of last year's summer (very bad timing for a crowdfunding campaign in Italy.... everybody's at the beach), Alephtar Games is back with an Italian version of RuneQuest 6. No more crowdfunding-related shenanigans; this time, the product has been translated and is about to be made available; actually part of it is already available, see below, and the fully-fledged product will be available on 11 April 2015.

Player's Manual

Alephtar Games is going to release the game in three books. I guess the idea is to have players only spend money for the Player's Manual whereas the referee buys all three books. Moreover, the PDF version of the Player's Manual is currently pay-what-you-want (i.e., free if you're stingy) from this site. Hopefully, this will make RQ6 popular in Italy.

Anyway, here's a partial English translation of the announcement available on Alephtar Games' web-site:

Alephtar Games is happy to publish the 6th edition of RuneQuest in Italian.

To increase the convenience of the game, especially for newcomers, the A4 450-page English-language book has been repurposed as three convenient A5 appr. 200-page booklets: Player's Manual, Magic Manual, Game Master's Manual. Each manual will cost €19.90 if bought separately. However, the full bundle will only cost €49.90, just like the English version of RQ6. The manuals will also be available in electronic format, with a layout specifically designed for screen and tablet perusal.

The PDF version of the Player's Manual is currently available as “pay-what-you-want”. The dead tree manuals will be available at the next Modena Play! convention (11-12 April 2015), during which a RuneQuest 6 tournament will also take place, organised by La Stanza dei Sogni.

But, wait!, there's more. The advance sale of three manuals has already started at the incredible price of €39.99. This offer ends 31 March.

RuneQuest 6 Auf Deutsch

The Design Mechanism posted the following on social media:

The RuneQuest Gesellschaft eV, the group behind the excellent Gloranthan Tradetalk fanzine from the 1990s and 2000s, have licensed the rights to produce the print edition of the German language version of RuneQuest 6.

Like the Spanish edition, this will be a crowdfunded campaign. No news yet on the platform that will host it, but watch this space for more details.

RuneQuest Dice.... W A N T !

W A N T !

Apparently these über-fantastic dice were part of the Spanish RuneQuest 6 crowdfunding project. Augggh, I so much WANT them. I hope they will be available for non-backers.

I particularly crave the white dice in the bottom left part of the photograph.

RuneQuest 6 In Italian - Further (Good) News

The Christkind (or rather his earthly representative, Alephtar Games) has brought us an excellent piece of news for Christmas: the Italian version of RuneQuest 6 will be published next year, and it should be available by the time the 7th edition of the Play! gaming convention begins in Modena on 11 April.

As announced during the (failed) crowdfunding campaign, the Italian edition of RuneQuest 6 will be published as a three-book set. Watch this place for further news.

Alephtar Game News

Alephtar Games is a discreet but constant publisher of high-quality games and supplements. There are two pieces of news regarding them:

1) Wind of the Steppe, a BRP-based historical role-playing game that will enable you to adventure into the harsh world of the steppe nomads should be out by the end of the year (i.e., soon!)

2) The Italian translation of RuneQuest 6, despite its failed crowdfunding campaign, should be available in March 2015.

How does RQ: AiG compare to 13th Age in Glorantha?

The following is from Loz, and has been posted today on the G+ Glorantha community:

How does RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha compare to 13th Age in Glorantha?

The brief answer is... you don't fully know yet because neither book is complete. However, we're likely to cover most bases (character creation, cults, magic, monsters) to a similar degree albeit from very different perspectives that fit the nature of the respective game systems. 13th Age in Glorantha will obviously have a heavier emphasis on the Icons whereas RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha will be more 'down in the dust' which fits with the overall ethos of RQ Glorantha gaming. However RuneQuest: Adventures in Glorantha will include HeroQuesting and also how to emulate HQ-style magic using RQ6's various magic systems.

Both books will also be quite awesome. Buy both.