| Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars | |
|---|---|
 Box cover illustration by Steve Purcell. | |
| Designers |
|
| Publishers | Avalon Hill |
| Publication | 1988 |
| Genres | Fantasy |
| Systems | RuneQuest |
| ISBN | 9780911605761 |
Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars [1] is a supplement created by Chaosium and published under license by Avalon Hill in 1988 for the fantasy role-playing game RuneQuest .
Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars is a campaign setting describing the continent of Genertela in the fantasy world of Glorantha. [2] The components of the boxed set are:
Chaosium first published RuneQuest in 1977. In 1984, seeking a wider distribution and marketing, Chaosium licensed Avalon Hill to create and produce the third edition of RuneQuest. [3] However, Chaosium did not include the setting of Glorantha in the license unless the content was either created or approved by Chaosium staff. As a result, RuneQuest material created by Avalon Hill was usually set in the more generic Fantasy Earth setting.
In keeping with this policy, Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars was created in 1988 by Chaosium staff (written by Greg Stafford, Sandy Petersen, and William Dunn, with a cover by Steve Purcell, and illustrations by Kevin Ramos), but was published under license by Avalon Hill as a boxed set. [2]
In the January 1989 edition of Games International (Issue 2), John Scott was pleasantly surprised by the large amount of content in this boxed set, saying, "I didn't expect much from this pack when I opened it, but I am a convert now!" He concluded by giving it a perfect rating of 5 out of 5, commenting, "This is RuneQuest as it was meant to be. Start saving now — you gotta get this pack!" [4]
In the September 1990 edition of Dragon (Issue #161), Jim Bambra admired the sheer amount of content in this boxed set. He called the history book "first class", and noted how major events were often described from several different viewpoints, commenting that "This divergency adds greatly to the mythic content of Glorantha, making it fascinating and very credible." Bambra also complimented the "Genertela" book, saying, "The variety of cultures and societies covered is very impressive, reflecting the years of careful thought and development that as gone into creating Glorantha." However, although Bambra thought this boxed set "is a very impressive product", he felt that "to be used effectively, the Gods of Glorantha supplement is needed; without it, the deities of Glorantha remain little more than a collection of names, but with it Glorantha comes to life." Bambra concluded with a strong recommendation, saying, "Whether you play the RuneQuest game or another system, Glorantha is a world to study and marvel at for its complexity and detail. Players of the RuneQuest game have cause for celebration and more than a little smugness in knowing that the one of the greatest campaign worlds has been designed for them." [3]
Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include Call of Cthulhu, based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft, RuneQuest Glorantha, Pendragon, based on Thomas Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and 7th Sea, "swashbuckling and sorcery" set in a fantasy 17th century Europe.
Glorantha is a fantasy world created by Greg Stafford. It was first introduced in the board game White Bear and Red Moon (1975) by Chaosium and then in a number of other board, roleplaying and computer games, including RuneQuest and HeroQuest, as well as several works of fiction and the computer strategy game King of Dragon Pass. The Gloranthan world is characterised by its complex use of mythology, heavily influenced by the universalist approaches of Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade, its sword and sorcery ethos, its long and distinctive history as a setting for role-playing games, its community development and expansion, and its relative lack of Tolkienesque influence, which is uncommon among early American fantasy role-playing games.
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.
Francis Gregory Stafford, usually known as Greg Stafford, was an American game designer, publisher, and practitioner of shamanism.
RuneSlayers is a free role-playing game first published in 1998 by its authors, J.C. Connors and Christopher Lawrence. The game was originally developed as RuneQuest: Slayers, a follow-up to the third edition of RuneQuest by the publisher Avalon Hill, which owned the RuneQuest trademark at the time. In 1998 Avalon Hill was acquired by Hasbro and the project was canceled. The authors then published the game on the Internet as a free PDF file, under the title RuneSlayers.
Griffin Mountain is a tabletop role-playing game supplement for RuneQuest, written by Rudy Kraft, Jennell Jaquays, and Greg Stafford, and published by Chaosium in 1981. Griffin Mountain is a wilderness campaign setting for the RuneQuest system, focussed on the land of Balazar and the Elder Wilds. It contains role-playing material to help gamemasters design adventures in the setting. It received positive reviews in game periodicals including Ares, White Dwarf, The Space Gamer, and Dragon.
Trollpak, Troll Facts, Secrets, and Adventures is a boxed fantasy tabletop role-playing supplement, written by Greg Stafford, and Sandy Petersen, with art by Lisa A. Free, and published by Chaosium in 1982. Trollpak is a detailed and extensive background packet for use with RuneQuest, an examination of trolls in Glorantha. A second edition was published in 1988 by Avalon Hill. Both editions received positive reviews in game periodicals including Different Worlds, Dragon, White Dwarf, The Space Gamer, and Games International.
Griffin Island is a boxed tabletop role-playing game supplement for RuneQuest. Originally published by Chaosium in 1981 as Griffin Mountain, a set of adventures set in the world of Glorantha, this edition was published in 1986 by The Avalon Hill Game Company as part of its third edition RuneQuest rules set. It was written by Rudy Kraft, Jennell Jaquays, Greg Stafford, and Sandy Petersen. Griffin Island contained role-playing material to help gamemasters design adventures in the setting. It received positive reviews in game periodicals including Casus Belli, White Dwarf, Dragon, Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer, The Games Machine, and Games International.
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.
Questworld is a boxed supplement published by Chaosium in 1982 for the fantasy tabletop role-playing game RuneQuest.
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.
RuneQuest Companion is a tabletop role-playing game supplement for RuneQuest. Originally published by Chaosium in 1983, it consisted of reprints of Wyrm's Footnotes magazine articles as well as new material to expand the game rules and setting. It received positive reviews in game periodicals including Dragon, White Dwarf, Fantasy Gamer, and Different Worlds. It was republished in 2019 in PDF format as part of Chaosium's RuneQuest: Classic Edition Kickstarter.
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.
Eldarad: The Lost City is a campaign setting published under license by Avalon Hill in 1990 for Chaosium's 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
Land of Ninja is a supplement published under license by Avalon Hill in 1987 for Chaosium's fantasy role-playing game RuneQuest.
Snakepipe Hollow is an adventure published by Chaosium in 1979 for the fantasy role-playing game RuneQuest, then revised and republished in various editions.
Troll Gods is a 1989 role-playing game supplement for RuneQuest published by Avalon Hill.
Elder Secrets of Glorantha is a 1989 role-playing game supplement for RuneQuest published by Avalon Hill.