The Gateway Bestiary was published by Chaosium in 1980. It was designed for use with RuneQuest. It beasrs the Gateway name though to indicate that it is not tied directly with Glorantha. This allowed the inclusion of entries that would not be appropriate for a campaign using Glorantha as the setting. I am not sure why this was deemed necessary but I am sure it was important.
The Bestiary includes what the advertising says is 99 new monsters for the GM to use in their campaign. I counted the list but did not come up with that exact number but I am sure there are variations and a few not on the list. Each of the entries has statistics that the GM will need to run the creatures that are described. The entries except in a few instances do not have any images though. The book says complete with illustrations but they are used very sparingly. The ones used vary in quality but in some cases are nicely done. For me the cover has always been one that I liked and it evoked a a gaming feel more than some other covers I have seen.
The creatures provided are broken down into seven different categories. Some of these will be more useful than others as some are very specific in the niche that they fill. Legendary beings are a very much Greek/Roman in flavor and the Celtic Horrors will best fit into a campaign using that type of setting. The most specific will the the H.P. Lovecraft Creations entries. They avoid the big baddies but still have some nasty very specific in flavor entries included. The full list of sections is:
Giant Anthropods
Legendary Beings
Celtic Horrors
H.P. Lovecraft Creations
Natural Animals
Dinosaurs
Miscellaneous Types
In the end the book was a nice addition at its time. I am not sure how many of it's entries have been adopted to later editions through out the years though. I have seen this go for a fair amount at times so it might take some waiting or luck to find it cheap enough to warrant purchasing by the non collector. I would still suggest at least find a copy to at least look over if you can at some point.
From the back of the book:
Expand the horizons of your RuneQuest campaign with the exotic creatures in this book. All new, they can be used to create numerous interesting encounters.This book contains 99 new monsters from a variety of sources, presented in the clear and concise format of RuneQuest, complete with illustrations. This is the first of our Gateway products, which are designed to aid the referee who desires to run a RuneQuest campaign without the restrictions of the limited flora and fauna of Glorantha.
GIANT ANTHROPODS - This section includes your favorite insects in human size forms such as giant ants, spiders, or wasps capable of carrying a rider.
LEGENDARY BEINGS - Provides monsters from terrestrial mythos, such as the hydra, gorgon, lamia, or sphinx.
CELTIC HORRORS - Contains terrifying creations of the Gaelic mind. These include kelpies, voughs, and more.
H. P. LOVECRAFT CREATIONS - These are the otherworld nightmares of Lovecraftian mythos such as the rmi-go, nightgaunt, or shoggoth.
NATURAL ANIMALS - This section fills the more obvious omissions of the original RuneQuest rules by including stats on frightening carnivores like lions or bears, and the smaller animals useful as familiars, such as owls or monkeys.
DINOSAURS - Here are the giant prehistoric creatures... from the bulky sauropods that are likely to crush an adventuring party by accident to the terrifying carnosaurs which should make any batch of Rune level characters turn and run.
MISCELLANEOUS TYPES - These include the whimsical creations of Lewis Carroll to the fatal anthropophage from a well-known science fiction movie.
Complete statistics are provided, just roll them up and see the players try to figure out what they're up against!
Spell:
Wizard's Images
Level: Third
Range: 3"
Duration: Special
Ares of Effect: One Item
Components: V,S
Casting Time: One Round
Saving Throw: None
When this spell is cat the magic user will cause the selected item the spell is being cast on to vanish. At the same time a lifelike image of the item will appear on the caster's body. The image will appear where the caster desires so it may or may not be visible.
The image that appears will be the actual item that vanished. The energies of the spell have converted the item to an image that will allow the caster to carry items with them that they might not normally have been able to carry. The item must be non living and can also not be undead.
The item that can be copies will need to be one that would normally be considered a single item. A raging bonfire or the corpse of a fallen comrade could be copied but a pile of gold coins or a dragons hoard could not. The image of the item copied to the casters body can be increased or decreased in size by a factor of up to ten. This will not affect the item's size when it is restored. The caster can restore an item at will simply by willing the item to be restored.
Items copied in this manner can remain on the body of the caster for an extended period of time. There is a limit on the magics involved though. There is a five percent cumulative chance per week after one initial week that the magic will fail and the item will become locked on the casters body. The caster may also only have one item per every two levels, up to a maximum of eight, on their body at any given time. Items which have become locked onto the caster will count against these.
Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the 80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :) Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.
