| The Official Roleplaying Game | |
|---|---|
 First edition cover illustration by Wendi Pini. | |
| Designers | |
| Publishers | Chaosium |
| Publication | 1984 |
| Genres | Fantasy |
| Systems | Basic Role-Playing |
Elfquest is a fantasy role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1984 that is based on Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest series of comics.
The game uses the same setting as the comics, the World of Two Moons. Players can either choose to take on the roles of elves from the comics including Cutter, Skywise, and Redlance; or they can design their own characters, providing them with skills taken from a short list including Troll Lore and Wolf Riding. [1]
Wendy and Richard Pini created the Elfquest comic in 1978, a fantasy story about a community of elves called the Wolfriders and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on the primitive Earth-like planet World of Two Moons. Chaosium acquired the role-playing game license, and Steve Perrin, Sandy Petersen, and Yurek Chodak created the first edition in 1984. The boxed set contained a 72-page players' book, a 36-page gamemaster book, a map of the world, character sheets, and dice. [2]
Chaosium subsequently produced several supplements over the next four years, including:
Elfquest did not sell nearly as well as hoped. One of the game's creators, Sandy Petersen, who worked at Chaosium at the time Elfquest was developed, pointed out that Elfquest was given to the same game developer as the new edition of Runequest that was being worked on at the same time. Petersen believed that Elfquest was used as a 'test bed' for complex game mechanics that were going to be used in Runequest. Petersen speculated that this caused parts of Elfquest to be much more complex than fans of the comics were likely prepared for. [4]
Ral Partha released several 25 mm miniature figures for Elfquest:
In Issue 60 of White Dwarf , Murray Writtle was impressed, noting "The game, utilising the simplicity of the RuneQuest characteristics and skills system, concentrates squarely on storytelling and the creation of atmosphere." Writtle did warn that "This is not a game for the traditional wargamer, who will find a lack of emphasis on tactical or combat skills, which are relegated to the last section of the players' book." Writtle concluded by giving the game an excellent rating of 9 out of 10, saying, "This is really the nicest RPG I have seen to give someone as a present. It would suit especially a new player or the parents of young children, who will undoubtedly love the elves wholeheartedly, but also any player who really cares about The Story." [6]
In his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games , game critic Rick Swan called this "an engaging blend of high adventure and whimsy." Swan found the game "easy to learn, thanks to the clear rules by Steve Perrin, liberally illustrated with excerpts from the original comics." Swan noted that the game rules stated that combat is "contrary to the spirit of the story" and was therefore puzzled that an uncharacteristically complex combat system took up twenty pages of the rule book. He also warned that, for traditional role-play gamers, "Monsters are scarce, and magic barely exists, very disappointing in a fantasy game and not particularly exciting." And he commented that players might find themselves at a loss for what to do, since the rulebooks "aren't much help, offering only sketchy adventure situations that do little more than illustrate specific portions of the rules." Swan concluded by giving the game a rating of 2.5 out of 4, saying, "The problems with Elfquest have more to do with the limits set by the comic books than with the game itself. Fans of the comics will have a ball replaying their favorite sequences. Others should check out the comics first." [1]
James Nicoll in 2020 for Black Gate wrote, "Steve Perrin, Sandy Peterson, and Yurek Chodak's Elfquest, set in the world of Wendy and Richard Pini's Elfquest, an independent comic that had been running since the 1970s. I was not a particular fan of Elfquest as I did not care for the art [...] but — this was a Chaosium product which meant I could scavenge elements for other BRP games." [7] In 2024, he added, "[ElfQuest] the RPG wasn't hugely successful. Nobody actually complained about it. They just didn't buy it in the first place. Tie-ins are a gamble." [8]
Basic Role-Playing (BRP) is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in the RuneQuest fantasy role-playing game. Chaosium released the BRP standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of RuneQuest. Greg Stafford and Lynn Willis are credited as the authors. Chaosium used the percentile skill-based system as the basis for most of their games, including Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, and Elfquest.
RuneQuest is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford's mythical world of Glorantha. It was first published in 1978 by The Chaosium. Beginning in 1984, publication passed between a number of companies, including Avalon Hill, Mongoose Publishing, and The Design Mechanism, before finally returning to Chaosium in 2016. RuneQuest is notable for its system, designed around percentile dice and an early implementation of skill rules, which became the basis for numerous other games. There have been several editions of the game.
Superworld is a superhero-themed role-playing game published by Chaosium in 1983 that uses the generic Basic Role-Playing rules system. The game began as just one part of the Worlds of Wonder product before being published as a stand-alone game. In competition against other well-established and popular superhero games, Superworld never found an audience, and was discontinued after only three supplements were published for it.
Elfquest is a comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978, and still owned by them. It is a fantasy story about a community of elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and coexist on a primitive Earth-like planet with two moons. Several published volumes of prose fiction also share the same setting. Elfquest was one of the first comic book series to have a planned conclusion. Over the years Elfquest has been self-published by the Pinis through their own company Warp Graphics, then Marvel Comics, then the Pinis again, more recently DC Comics, and, since 2013, Dark Horse Comics. All issues of Elfquest published prior to 2014 are available online for free.
Stephen Herbert Perrin was an American game designer and technical writer/editor, best known for creating the tabletop role-playing game RuneQuest for Chaosium.
WaRP Graphics, later Warp Graphics, is an alternative comics publisher best known for creating and being the original publisher of the Elfquest comic book series. It was created and incorporated in 1977 by Wendy and Richard Pini. The company title is an acronym formed from the founding couple's name: Wendy and Richard Pini.
Wendy Pini and Richard Pini are the husband-and-wife team responsible for creating the well-known Elfquest series of comics, graphic novels and prose works. They are also known as WaRP.
Worlds of Wonder is a multi-genre set of three role-playing games (RPGs) produced by Chaosium in 1982 that all used the Basic Role-Playing set of rules.
Stormbringer is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game published under license by Chaosium. Based on the Elric of Melniboné books by Michael Moorcock, the game takes its name from Elric's sword, Stormbringer. The rules are based on Chaosium's percentile-dice-based Basic Role-Playing system.
Borderlands is a boxed tabletop role-playing game adventure for RuneQuest. Originally published by Chaosium in 1982, this edition was republished in 2018 in PDF format as part of Chaosium's RuneQuest: Classic Edition Kickstarter.
Trouble for HAVOC is a supplement for the superhero role-playing game Superworld that includes three adventures.
Gods of Glorantha, subtitled "60 Religions for RuneQuest", is a boxed supplement published under license by Avalon Hill in 1985 for Chaosium's fantasy role-playing game RuneQuest. The fifth of their boxed supplements for RuneQuest, it provides information and game rules related to sixty fictional cults, and was the first to feature the world of Glorantha instead of the default setting of "Dark Ages of fantasy Europe". The supplement was designed by Chaosium staff writers Sandy Petersen, Greg Stafford, Steve Perrin and Charlie Krank. It received positive reviews in game periodicals including Casus Belli, Different Worlds, Dragon, and The Games Machine.
Pavis: Threshold to Danger is a boxed tabletop role-playing game supplement for RuneQuest, originally published by Chaosium in 1983. This boxed set detailed the fictional city of New Pavis for use in role-playing adventures. It received positive reviews in game periodicals including White Dwarf, Dragon, Different Worlds, and Fantasy Gamer. The set was republished in 1999 by Moon Design Publications in a single volume with Big Rubble: The Deadly City as Gloranthan Classics Volume I – Pavis & Big Rubble. The 1983 edition was republished in 2019 in PDF format as part of Chaosium's RuneQuest: Classic Edition Kickstarter.
The Asylum & Other Tales is an anthology of seven adventures published by Chaosium in 1983 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu.
Vikings, Nordic Roleplaying for RuneQuest is a boxed tabletop role playing game supplement, written by Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen, with a cover by Steve Purcell. Published under license by Avalon Hill in 1985 for Chaosium's fantasy role-playing game RuneQuest.
The Sea Elves is the final supplement for the fantasy role-playing game Elfquest, published by Chaosium in 1985.
RuneQuest Monsters is a game supplement published by Games Workshop in 1987 for the fantasy role-playing game RuneQuest.
Into the Troll Realms, subtitled "Troll Adventures and Encounters for RuneQuest" is a supplement that includes adventures and material that involve interactions with trolls, published under license by Avalon Hill in 1988 for Chaosium's fantasy role-playing game RuneQuest