Glorantha is my favorite (role-playing) gaming world. I first got interested in it in middle school, when it was the official game setting for RuneQuest II (although it had featured in Chaosium’s two board games, White Bear and Red Moon, and Nomad Gods). The RuneQuest system was different from the D&D system, and Glorantha was different from the Medieval European setting that most other game worlds were based on.
Created by Greg Stafford, the Glorantha of RuneQuest II was mostly limited to the area known as Dragon Pass, which was currently being fought over by the (good guy) Orlanthi (worshipers of the storm god Orlanth) and the (bad guy) Lunar Empire (worshipers of the Red Moon). Underneath that overarching conflict were smaller regions with histories that strongly suggested a further backstory. These included Snakepipe Hollow, Prax, and the cities of Pavis and Boldhome. Humans weren’t alone on Glorantha either. Other races included the Aldryami, Mostali, and the Dark Trolls.
One of the most intriguing premises of Glorantha was the widely varied pantheon of deities. The presence of the gods of Glorantha were indisputable; magic was everywhere. Â There was the Orlanthi or Storm deities, the Seven Mothers of the Lunar Empire, the nomadic deities of the plains of Prax, the deities worshiped by the trolls, and even the deities of Chaos. But even with all this detail, the setting was still mostly constrained to the Dragon Pass area. That would soon change.
The publication of RuneQuest III by Avalon Hill also led to an expansion of knowledge about the rest of Glorantha, especially the southern continent of Pamaltela. Â Yet the level of detail was slimmer because of the sheer size of Glorantha; it was impossible to go into the same level of detail that Dragon Pass had been pubished.
Eventually, more information about the Lunar Empire was published, starting with the Solar beliefs which the Lunar belief originated. Â More material has been published at both the local level (Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes) and at the “global” level (The Guide to Glorantha).
I have been lucky enough to play in Glorantha for many years; I’ve made the campaign log and chronology available for download, and I’ve been extremely fortunate to have been a player in the games run by the folks who have created and expanded Glorantha. I finally got to run a campaign in Glorantha (The Colymar Campaign).
Thank you, Greg, for creating Glorantha and allowing so many of us to share in your vision.