Squashua at 20:24, 3 February 2006

2006-02-03T20:24:13Z

Squashua at 15:54, 31 January 2006

2006-01-31T15:54:33Z

PoC at 09:43, 10 January 2006

2006-01-10T09:43:04Z

New page

[[Image:runequest-1st-edition-cover.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Runequest First Edition from Chaosium.]]
'''RuneQuest''' is a [[fantasy]] [[role-playing game]], first published in [[1978]] by [[Chaosium]].

RuneQuest quickly established itself as the second most popular fantasy [[role-playing game]], after [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. The first and second editions were set in the mythical world of [[Glorantha]], while the 3rd edition in the mid [[1980s]] was more generic and much less successful. RuneQuest was the original [[Percentile die|Percentile Based]] and [[Skill Based]] rule set, which ushered in an era of [[Simulationist RPGs]].

The game had been sold to [[Avalon Hill]] under a complex agreement that required all Glorantha-related content be first approved by Chaosium. In an attempt to also have a setting they could release freely, Avalon Hill also supported a new "default" setting, [[Fantasy Earth]], based on fantasy interpretations of several eras of earth's pre-modern history. Later on, Avalon Hill published "generic"/"Gateway" fantasy material of very poor quality (''Lost City of Eldarad, Daughters of Darkness'').

Although both supplements for Fantasy Earth (''Vikings, Land of Ninja'') were well written, the popularity of RuneQuest as a system seems to have come from the strength of its original setting, reflected in the remarkably high sales of materials that were new editions of out-of-print Glorantha content. A proposed fourth edition was originally meant to return the tight RuneQuest/Glorantha relationship, but it was shelved in [[1994]], mid-project.

Glorantha is now served by a new rules system called [[HeroQuest (role-playing game)|HeroQuest]], which is the successor of the intermediate [[Hero Wars]]. Part of the agreement that permitted a new Glorantha-based game was that Avalon Hill retained rights to the name "RuneQuest" but not to the RuneQuest game rules. An attempt was made to produce a new game called "RuneQuest:Slayers", that was neither Gloranthan nor used the original rules but it, too, was shelved. Eventually, Avalon Hill was bought by giant toymaker [[Hasbro]]. At some stage in [[2003]] the rights to the trademarked name "RuneQuest" were reacquired by [[Issaries|Issaries, Inc.]]

In [[2004]], [[Chaosium]] began preparing the most complete version yet of [[Basic Role-Playing]], derived from 3rd Edition "RuneQuest" and Chaosium's other BRP-based games. In addition, [[Mongoose Publishing]] is expected to release a new game called "RuneQuest" in June 2006, under a license from Issaries, Inc., and "developed under the watchful eyes of Messrs Stafford and Perrin".

==Legacy==

The rules system developed in RuneQuest was widely reused by [[Chaosium]] and it is called the [[Basic Role-Playing]] System ([[BRP]]). It forms the basis of several of their other games including [[Call of Cthulhu role-playing game|Call of Cthulhu]], [[Stormbringer (role-playing game) | Stormbringer]], ElfQuest, [[Superworld]], and [[Corum]]. In [[2004]], Chaosium released a print-on-demand version of the 3rd edition RuneQuest rules under the titles ''Basic Roleplaying Players Book'', ''Basic Roleplaying Magic Book'', and ''Basic Roleplaying Creatures Book''.

[[Steve Perrin]], one of the authors of the original RuneQuest game, later developed a similar system known as [[Steve Perrin's Quest Rules]], which some RuneQuest fans consider to be a successor to the original game.

Many other roleplaying games have elements influenced by Runequest, notably [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]], [[Rolemaster]], [[Palladium (role-playing game)|Palladium]], [[GURPS]] and the [[Hero System]].

==External links==
*[http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/runequest.php Mongoose Publishing page on the new RuneQuest]
*[http://www.glorantha.info List of all RuneQuest publications]
*[http://www.perrinworlds.com/SPQR.html Steve Perrin's Quest Rules]
*[http://www.glorantha.com/ Issaries, Inc's home page]
*[http://www.runequestrealms.org/ Ultimate RuneQuest Resources]
*[http://www.thalcos.com/rq.htm RuneQuest:Slayers home page]
*[http://www.runequest.za.org/ Rune Quest ZA (.orc) home page]
*[http://www.runequest.org/rq.htm Pete's RuneQuest! page]
*[http://runequest.free.fr/ Le Livre de Zzabur]
*Many RuneQuest-related (check they are free of rights) documents are available on peer to peer networks.
*[http://catalog.chaosium.com/default.php?cPath=37 Basic Roleplaying PoD Release]

[[Category:Role-playing games]]

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Original Wiki source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/ Wikipedia]

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RuneQuest - Revision history

Squashua at 20:24, 3 February 2006

Squashua at 15:54, 31 January 2006

PoC at 09:43, 10 January 2006