First of all

Dragon Pass (blue outline), the Kingdom of Sartar (red), the city of Pavis (pink) and Duke Raus's grantland (green).

Where should I start reading?

The Glorantha Sourcebook, the two volumes of The Guide to Glorantha and the book King of Sartar.

What roleplaying game should I choose?

Covers of the current RuneQuest 7th edition, HeroQuest Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha and RuneQuest 2nd edition

The covers of Mythras, the unpublished Adventures in Glorantha, OpenQuest and Legend.





What are good beginning adventures to run?

The RuneQuest Quickstart, The Rattling Wind and the Gamemaster Screen Pack

Sartar Kingdom of Heroes, the two volumes of The Red Cow campaign, and Pavis Gateway to Adventure

You'll notice there are two of each with different covers, but I recommend these because they include a bit more material.

Barbarian Adventures, Orlanth is Dead! and Gathering Thunder

OK, but what would you do, Runeblogger?

is athat its main creator,, started exploring in the 60s. Since then, it has been developed to a level of detail that can seem daunting for newcomers. There are so many different books, roleplaying games and editions, that it can be difficult to really know. Below I offer myto this topic, divided into: "Where should I start reading?", "What roleplaying game should I choose?" and "What are good beginning scenarios or campaigns?"The most common and sensible piece of advice that veterans give to beginners is:. That is,, it is better toand place your players'there. This reduces the amount of information you and your players need to soak in and you can playin those regions. Besides, 90% of the inhabitants ofnever cross the borders of their homelands, so it makes perfect sense. The two regions ofthat havein terms ofandare theinand thein. Therefore, these are the two regions that are, since most of the work has already been done for you. Another good piece of advice is to, usually the. This reduces the amount of information you all need to know, and provides the reason why they all know each other from the start.Another commonis thatis aand that you need to have a degree in Ethnography or Mythology to be able to play it "right". This is, as long as you and your players are having fun.even coined the adage "" YGWV to indicate that everyone will change, forget, ignore, or add things to Glorantha, and that will be. When canon gets in the way of fun, forget about canon! :-)One of the easiest ways is through the. You may not understand everything (and there's no need to, at this point or ever), but it will give youof whatis like. And it's. Unfortunately, it has been on hold for a long time and it is not likely that it will be continued. Still, there are plenty of colorful pages to enjoy. You can read an interview to the artist here (bottom of the post).Another fun way to get your feet wet is by playing theand(follow the links to read reviews). They are available for a variety of platforms. While each of them is focused on, they include encounters with other cultures and monsters, and both include, which are a unique element of the setting. Oh, andabout the world to enjoy them, everything you need to know is included in the game.As for, the best thing is to start with theof a game that hasas its setting (see thefurther below), as each of them obviously contain a fairly good. However, if you don't want to commit to any particular game yet, there are). WhileanGlorantha, it really is the closest thing there is to it (aside from RPGs, that is) and it has aas well. It focuses on the history ofand the, as well as on the, while providing a solid overview of theand gods. The Guide to Glorantha . This is a hugeof the, but at 750 pages, this is too much information and too expensive for beginners. Still, I could justmention it here.. There are a fewandset in Glorantha. For example,is a collection of picaresque short stories set in the city of Pavis. Greg Stafford'sis not proper fiction, more like a compilation of in-world documents detailing the history of Dragon Pass.This obviously depends on your gaming orientations and gaming goals. However, one thing is certain: the easiest point of entry are(see the list below). But if you prefer, you could adapt it to play in Glorantha after some work on your part (see my list of recommendations below).) may suit you if your players and you enjoy RPGs with a, with hit points, magic points, damage dice, etc. Combat rules provide a lot of detail, so they describe the action for you. Detailed Gloranthan magic, passions, runes and reputation. Maybe next year, awith adventures will be published by Chaosium, targeted to showing the system to newcomers. If you want to have, I recommend you tothe. If you consider this is the game for you, I would recommend you to get the, which includes the rulebook, plus theand the) may suit you if your players and you enjoy RPGs withthat. Very low level of prep for the GM, since you don't need to prepare NPC stats. Players have more freedom to create characters. The adventures flow quicker, as they are not bogged down in combat or crunch. Moreover, non-combat "skills" such as social skills, relationships, and even abstract concepts like "Peaceful Aura" become as important as combat-oriented skills because they all have the same weight in game terms. If you want to have a look at the rules, the, now called, is. Acan also be found in the, which ismay suit you if you prefer rules similar to those of: character classes, hit points, class-based powers, niche-protection, etc. Of course, if you are already familiar with the rules of the 13th Age RPG, this is a no-brainer. The rulebook also includes. However, there aren't any supplements for it yet.This is the classic,edition of RuneQuest from the 70s. Some fans like it, but I wouldn't recommend it over the current RuneQuest Roleplaying in Glorantha All thesearefromand. Mongoose Publishing also produced a couple editions of RuneQuest with Glorantha as its basic setting, although set in a previous age. However, I haven't included them in this list because they are no longer in print. If you are curious, follow the link toThis can beyou prefer, but of course they require, as you will need to create rules or adapt them to the setting of. Theto adapt are those that have ato the ones mentioned above, and specifically to the D100-based system that started with RuneQuest. For example:: Formerly known as, it almost got a supplement for playing in Glorantha ( Adventures in Glorantha ), but their authors lost the license before they could publish it. It has a level ofslightly higher than, but this also means it is also a lot more strategic. Read a review : This a, made for people who want lighter rules that are still similar to RuneQuest. The basic rulebook without art is. Plus,also sellsandfor the world of Glorantha.This used to be the 5th edition of RuneQuest until Mongoose Publishing lost the rights to the RuneQuest name. Now it does not contain any reference to Glorantha, but the rules are similar to the 6th edition. However,is a much more refined version of these rules, so the biggest appeal of Legend nowadays is its price:For, you have the), which is. To celebrate Greg Stafford's memorial day, there is also this other adventure. Then the next best thing is thewhich includesfocused on a small region ofand a).Forthe rulebook includes a. There is also ascenario called. The next best thing is the big book about the Orlanthi culture:, which includes a). Orcampaign, in two volumes (includes all the NPCs), lots of factions, NPCs and an. You could also choose to start your campaign in, which containsandset around ain the arid region of, occupied by an invading empire and right next toAside from these, you can findandoriginally published for, that are still compatible.As long asgoes, thepublished for theare great. They focus on small regions, contain lots ofandand are very easy to use with the latest edition. What's more: they can be easily connected to each other:An classiccampaign where your players have free reign to decide what to do. A huge wilderness full of, three, and lots of adventure.The players become mercenaries for, a nobleman exiled from his homeland and forced to tame a wild grantland in the, south of, in the arid region of. His fort is surrounded by Praxian nomad tribes and roaming monsters.Brave the dangers of the huge ruins of Old Pavis for treasure and glory, and perhaps join the rebellion and kick the Lunar Empire out of the new city! The city ofis set in the semi-desertic region of, so it is a bit like the Tatooine of Glorantha.Foryou can easily include in the above mentioned campaigns all the scenarios published for HeroWars, the 1st edition of the rules, set in Sartar:, includes 3 pretty low-key scenarios that immerse you in the clan life of the Orlanthi (much as in the King of Dragon Pass video game );offers you information and two pivotal and epic scenarios for your campaign. Finally,provides a heroquest where you meet important NPCs and do heroic stuff.The adventures published forare also usable for. The other way round is also doable, but it requires a bit more work, since HeroQuest scenarios do not include any stats. All these adventures and campaigns are available fromand fromIf I knew nothing about Glorantha, I would start reading first the free materials I have mentioned along the text, to see if I like it in general: the webcomic, the RuneQuest Quickstart, the Sartar Player's Primer. Then I would buy either RuneQuest Roleplaying in Glorantha (simulationist) or(narrative), together with The Glorantha Sourcebook . After that I would choose between one of the two best supported regions for starting gamemasters to start a campaign: either theinor thein, and I would buy one of theset in that region that uses the rules of the game of my choice. Years ago, with a friend, we arranged it this way: he would buy all the scenarios set in Dragon Pass for his campaign and I would buy all the scenarios set in Pavis and Prax for mine. :-PWell I hope I have given you some clues to help yourunning adventures in. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. :-)