The Only Story You Need: More Thoughts on Glorantha

When I introduce newcomers to the world of Glorantha, I always start with some variation of the following: it's an ancient world setting that focuses on myth, and there's really only one myth you need to know. It goes something like this.

The cosmos emerges from Chaos. First comes Darkness, then Water. The Earth emerges from the waters and begins the Green Age, the spring of the world. The Sky rises from the earth and starts the Golden Age, ruled by the sun god. The world is shaken then by the birth of the Storm gods. They tear heaven and earth apart to make room for themselves. One storm god slays the sun, throwing the world into darkness and eternal winter. This ignites the Gods War. The gods fall to fighting each other, and Chaos re-enters the world. Nearly everything dies. In a last ditch effort to save the cosmos, the gods bind themselves and create Time. The time of the gods is over. It is the time of the mortal races. History begins.

It's a fractal story. The general pattern is easy to grasp. We all know this story because we all live it. Our lives begin in Darkness and Water--the womb. We are born into childhood, the Green Age, followed by youth, the Golden Age. Strife and struggle enter our lives, then decline and darkness. Our time ends and someone else's begins.

A Fractal Cosmos

But the deeper you look, the pattern repeats itself endlessly. It's there in the order of the Gloranthan seasons, the days of the week, and even the Ages of Time (which begin with exploring new powers and end with conflict and destruction). The myths of individual deities almost invariably explore how the god or goddess in question fits into the story told above, and it even dictates the layout of the Elemental Runes on your character sheet.

With new players, I like to start campaigns during Sacred Time, when some variation of the story above is retold. I don't tell the players the story ahead of time, I give it to the characters during the game. Then I play seasonally, starting with Sea Season, letting the pattern become obvious as we play. Gods and cults get introduced as necessary. I've done this hundreds of times and it's never failed me.

Skip the "Family History" section of character creation. It means nothing to newbies. Right on p. 29 RuneQuest tells you it's optional anyway. I also use the "Inexperienced Adventurers" option (p. 25) and skip choosing cults. You can get new players into the game in about 20-30 minutes with these options, and teach them the game and setting through play. Essentially, Six Seasons in Sartar was my blueprint on how to do all this.

This works particularly well at conventions. I shun pre-generated characters, and have been able to introduce first time players with their own characters and still have time to play. 

I introduced all four of my current players to RuneQuest this way. Sure, now they are all Glorantha nerds, putting their grubby little mitts on my precious tomes and getting lost in the pages of The Guide to Glorantha, but they all went into it blind. They hadn't even read the rulebook. But that's the thing about rabbit holes: you don't need to know what's at the bottom of them before you take the plunge.  

If you like what you read, consider buying me a martini! Follow this link--> ko-fi.com/therook93

Greg Stafford's "A Pyre for Gods and Heroes" at Long Last. or, Where the #$%& Have You Been the Last 5 Months Montgomery?

READERS MAY HAVE NOTED an absence of posts since August 2025. That is the longest period of silence this blog has seen since it launched in 2012.

I could tell you that I ran off and joined the circus, that I was abducted by aliens, that I joined a tantric cult and achieved higher states of consciousness one yogini at a time. The truth is, however, that I suddenly had a project on my lap that was for me a wish come true, an offer I could not refuse, and something I was willing to suspend all my projects for (including this blog). Now the cat is out of the bag, and I can talk a little about it.

Chaosium's Michael O'Brien (MOB) posts about this over on the Chaosium page (link here), but I will quote the first half of what he has to say to set up the picture:

As many Glorantha fans will know, Chaosium founder Greg Stafford long harbored aspirations to be a published novelist, and worked on perfecting his “Harmast’s Saga” novel over many years – decades even – stopping and starting several times. Greg would sometimes read and share his work-in-progress at conventions; today there are different, incomplete fan versions out in the wilds of Gloranthan fandom, but no complete “novel” per se. 

Starting in 2015, Jeff Richard, Greg’s frequent creative collaborator, and editor Susan O’Brien, who knew Greg personally, began – with Greg’s blessing – the task of gathering these manuscripts together and constructing a master text. The plan then was to work with Greg to “fill in the gaps” and, at long last, publish a novel pitched for Glorantha fans and the general reader alike. 

Jeff and Susan made solid progress. Altogether the tale Greg wanted to tell was about 90% complete. And for the parts yet to be done, Greg left himself notes about what was needed. Sometimes these notes were detailed drafts, sometimes dot points, sometimes there were even diagrams.

Sadly, Greg’s untimely passing in 2018 put paid to this three-way approach. Work on the ‘Harmast’s Saga’ project was shelved as we mourned Greg. Jeff and Susan went on to other creative endeavours…

For Chaosium's 50th anniversary year, one of the things that was decided was this was the perfect time to honor Greg by finishing, and publishing, his novel. Back in July of 2025, MOB arrived about a week early for KaijuCon, and we had dinner in Tokyo. He asked--straight-faced--If I might like to finish up Greg's novel and get it across the finish line. 

Naturally I said "no"...

...in some bizarre alternate universe. In this one I said "yes," and spent the next five months alone with Greg, pouring over what was written and his notes and trying to figure out where he had intended to go with it all.

I didn't do this alone. Susan O'Brien returned to the project as editor, and together we wrote, rewrote, and rearranged to get a text that would read something like a modern novel. Understand, this is not another King of Sartar. Greg was writing a novel, not an in-world collection of historical texts. This book was different from anything else the world has seen for Glorantha. I honestly believe it will change how people approach Gloranthan gaming. It certainly changed how I did.

I will not give spoilers, but the histories are out there. The novel takes place in the First Age, 1200 years before the events of most RuneQuest campaigns. The main events are set in 411 ST, with a lot of material showing the years and decades before that. You will see the breaking of the First Council. You will see the birth of Nysalor (and get to know him fairly well). And you will meet Harmast Barefoot, at the very beginning of his career. That is about all I will say.

Also, for the record, one thing I never plan on discussing is what I wrote and what I didn't. A lot of what I did was adding to Greg's chapters, clarifying. The chapters that were mine, I wrote using Greg's character's, following his notes, advancing his plot. So to my mind it was, is, and remains Greg's novel.

So go to Chaosium and download the sample chapter, "Invitations." And stay tuned.