I love fictional settings with deep mythologies. I have seen every single episode of Star Trek and Doctor Who, and if you were to quiz me on them, I could probably turn around an answer rather quickly. Why do I bring this up? This is one of the main things I love about tabletop roleplaying games. I love playing a game in a world, that is a realization of a world, I would never get to experience outside the game, and lots of games have really cool worlds or settings, but I would say based on experience, no game’s setting comes close to what Greg Stafford and Chaosium have put together with Runequest and Glorantha.
In 2018, Chaosium brought forth the latest edition of Runequest, simply titled Runequest – Roleplaying in Glorantha, as to explicitely state that this game, and this setting are 100% intertwined, and that has been covered through each new release in the 5 years since. Of course, early in 2023, Chaosium, and Runequest lead Jeff Richard announced the Cults of Runequest line, and I’m not sure in my 30 years of on again, off again RPG’ing I’ve seen such an in-depth undertaking.
This series will be 10 books each covering the mythologies and cults of Glorantha. The first book to come out is the Prosopaedia, unfortunately, we have not yet reviewed that one. However, the 2nd and 3rd books involved Cults most likely to be utilized by players new to the game and utilizing Glorantha’s famed “Dragon Pass” with “The Lightbringers” and the “Earth Goddesses”. Aside from the obvious Dragon Pass connection, it appears that we start in order of importance. Orlanth, is the Storm God and King of ALL THE GODS and ruler of the universe as well as leader of the Lightbringers. His wife is Ernalda, The Earth Goddess thus the books are paired.
Having not touched upon the Prosopaedia, but knowing that book is more encyclopedia in style, I can say that these 2 books have a very specific style. Both books begin with an introduction to the subject of the book, and how it is to be utilized. It details briefly the other gods, before going into the Gods of Storm and Earth (respectively), and their genealogies, as well as a labeled and GORGEOUS illustration of the deities involved in the tome. We then get a background section of the main god of the tome in the Lightbringers it is Orlanth, the Earth Goddess it is Ernalda.
After this we get into the other deities of their mythologies their cults, and sub-cults. Each section that details a god or goddess includes their mythos and history, including their before time and since time creation and their home in the “Otherworld” We then get into such things as life after death, associations with runes, and more. Beyond that we get information on their cult, their nature and organization, join requirements, and initiation, spells exclusive to the cult (both rune and spirit), and variations of the cult in other regions of Glorantha.
Special attention has to be called to the artwork by Loic Muzy, Agatha Pitie, and Katrin Dirim, which encompasses both books. These are absolutely stunning works of art that help bring Gloratha to even further life. They help channel both the elevated Bronze age elements of Gloranthan society, while having an otherworldly religious feel, and help add value to the books on their own.
So who is this for players, game masters? I’d say both. Glorantha is probably the most fully realized RPG world ever created, and these books help actualize that realization in new ways. For GM’s it definitely helps give more options for their game. For players it gives new ideas for characters to play, and spells to use for those characters as well as help realize the setting in mind even more. Cults of Runequest The Lightbringers and the Earth Goddesses come HIGHLY RECOMMENDED