#dragon pass

[oldschoolfrp]

ドラゴン・パス — Hobby Japan’s 1988 edition of Dragon Pass, a game of warfare in Greg Stafford’s world of Glorantha, originally published by Chaosium then by Avalon Hill. (Edit: Artist is Takuhito Kusanagi)

[vintagerpg]

Back in October, the tabletop community lost a giant in game designer and publisher Greg Stafford. I am still not over it, to be honest. This week, I’m looking at some of the games that cemented his legendary status.

Let’s start as near to the beginning as my collection allows, with Dragon Pass. Way back in 1966, 18-year-old Stafford created the fantasy world Glorantha as a sort of creative exercise. In 1975, increasingly involved in game design, he founded Chaosium in order to publish a board game based in Glorantha. It was called White Bear & Red Moon. That game was successful enough to warrant a sequel called Nomad Gods in 1977. That in turn led some RPG enthusiasts to propose the creation of an RPG set in Glorantha, which would come to be known as RuneQuest. Dragon Pass is the 1980 remake of White Bear & Red Moon (huge thank you to the anonymous donor who sent this lovely box my way).

White Bear & Red Moon/Dragon Pass is a huge pivotal publication in tabletop RPG history. Without it, we wouldn’t have Chaosium, Call of Cthulhu (which arguably kept Lovecraft’s legacy fresh for modern audiences), Prince Valiant (from which Vampire the Masquerade and other storytelling games sprang from) and more in their recognizable forms; without their ripples of influence, the entire RPG industry as we know it would be unrecognizable.

Dragon Pass also depicts a pivotal moment of Gloranthan history – the decisive battle between the rebels of Sartar against the Lunar Empire. Those familiar with the many editions of the RuneQuest and HeroQuest RPGs will recognize this as the always near, but not quite here, destination of those games.

Join our Patreon!

[oldschoolfrp]

Are you summoning demons in the basement again? Steve Swenston cover for White Bear and Red Moon, fantasy board wargame by Greg Stafford set in his world of Glorantha, Chaosium, 2nd printing 1976. Stafford founded Chaosium to publish this game in 1975, then Runequest, Call of Cthulhu, and everything else followed.

[vintagerpg]

I’ve never played RuneQuest.

I didn’t even know it existed until recently, let alone the strange licensing history with Avalon Hill, or the ties to HeroQuest and the King of Dragon Pass videogame. It’s a brand new world of strange cults and anthropomorphic ducks for me. I love Dungeons & Dragons because I grew up with it, but I love RuneQuest because I didn’t, if that makes sense.

This is the second edition, the 1981 fat box. Aside of that stunning (if primitive) cover art, I’m not a huge fan of Luise Perrin’s art (though she gets lots of points for drawing a manticore without wings – if there’s one stain D&D has left on the world, it’s the belief that manticores can fly).

The real star here is the elegant skill-based rules system (which would form the basis of Chaosium’s Basic Role-Playing, which formed the foundation of all their systems) and the introduction of Greg Stafford’s fantasy world of Glorantha. The latter is probably the most important – Glorantha isn’t the first detailed fantasy world, but it normalized the idea, paving the way for Faerun, Krynn and the very notion that it was important to market the setting of a game as much as the rules. Perhaps more so.

[skunts-own-truth]

Got me hands on some Glorantha literature!!

[nelc]

White Bear and Red Moon, fantasy wargame by Greg Stafford

[theladyisafuckingdandy]

My new Runequest character, Tiska. Dragon people took her home, and now she’s gonna kill all of them. Angry trauma hunter lesbian.

[experiencetheskies]

Reader Question-Lounge Options At Changsha Huanghua Airport

Reader Question-Lounge Options At Changsha Huanghua Airport #aviation #avgeek #airline #airport #alliance #lounge

A reader recently asked the following question for the Changsha Huanghua International Airport, “Hi. Myself and 2 colleagues will have a 5-6 layovers at CSX. Are you able to buy 3 individual passes for the business lounge? Thank you.” (more…)

View On WordPress