Free to follow every thread. No paywall, no dead ends.
Common questions
Who created the fantasy world Glorantha and when did he start working on it?
Greg Stafford created the fantasy world Glorantha in 1966 while he was a college student at Beloit College. He began developing the setting as a personal intellectual exercise to understand the nature of myth rather than to sell a product.
What is the physical structure of the world Glorantha and how do the gods shape it?
The world Glorantha is flat with a dome-like sky that has been shaped by the mythic actions of the gods during the Godtime. The continents of Genertela and Pamaltela exist within this structure where the gods are active participants in reality rather than distant figures.
What are the unique characteristics of the Mostali and Aldryami races in Glorantha?
The Mostali are stone-dwelling miners who are literally made of stone and invented iron which has extraordinary magical properties. The Aldryami are intelligent mobile plants who worship nature and the sun and are physically alien to what they call meat men.
What is the central conflict between the Storm God Orlanth and the Lunar Empire in Glorantha?
The central conflict of Glorantha is a complex geopolitical and mythological war between the Storm God Orlanth and the Lunar Empire led by the imperial Sun God and the devious Moon Goddess. This struggle plays out across the northern continent of Genertela and defines the history of the setting.
When was the first game set in Glorantha released and what was its original name?
The first game set in Glorantha was White Bear and Red Moon which arrived in 1975. It did not name the world it inhabited and instead hid its true identity behind a map of Dragon Pass and a story of constant war between Sartar and the Lunar Empire.
Glorantha
In 1966, a college student named Greg Stafford sat in a classroom at Beloit College and decided to invent a world not to sell a product, but to solve a personal intellectual problem. He was trying to understand the nature of myth, and he realized that the existing fantasy tropes of the time were insufficient for the task. Instead of creating a world of elves and dwarves that simply copied the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Stafford began to weave together the mythological theories of Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade into a living, breathing tapestry of conflict and belief. This was the genesis of Glorantha, a setting that would eventually become the bedrock of the Chaosium gaming company, yet it began as a solitary exercise in deep thought. The world he built was not a backdrop for heroes to slay monsters; it was a place where the very act of believing shaped reality, and where the gods were not distant figures but active participants in the daily struggles of mortals. The first game set in this world, White Bear and Red Moon, arrived in 1975, but it did not even name the world it inhabited, hiding its true identity behind a map of Dragon Pass and a story of constant war between the land of Sartar and the Lunar Empire. It was a world where the history was not a linear progression of events, but a cyclical struggle between order and chaos, a concept that would define every aspect of the setting for decades to come.
The Mythic Engine Of Belief
Magic in Glorantha does not function like the spellcasting of other fantasy worlds; it is an extension of belief itself, operating from the mundane level of prayers and charms to the creation and maintenance of the physical world. In this setting, the gods are not merely powerful entities to be petitioned; they are the very fabric of reality, and their mythic actions during the Godtime have shaped the flat, dome-like sky and the continents of Genertela and Pamaltela. The world exists in a state of partial recovery from a universal battle against Chaos, meaning that history is not a clean slate but a scarred landscape where the past is constantly bleeding into the present. This creates a unique dynamic where heroes must venture into metaphysical realms to gain knowledge and power, risking their very bodies and souls in the process. The setting features competing magical outlooks, including theism, shamanism, and mysticism, which are not just different schools of magic but entire worldviews that can clash violently. For instance, theistic worshipers of rival gods may find themselves in open battle with one another, not because of political disagreement, but because their very existence depends on the truth of their specific myth. This approach to magic and religion was revolutionary for the late 1970s, as it forced players to engage with the setting's culture and metaphysics rather than simply rolling dice to determine the outcome of a fight. The world is flat, with a dome-like sky, and it has been shaped in large and small ways by the mythic actions of the gods, creating a landscape where the supernatural is as real and dangerous as the physical.
How has the Glorantha community contributed to the development of the setting since the 1990s?
The Glorantha community has produced numerous media including magazines like Tales of the Reaching Moon and video games such as King of Dragon Pass released in 1999. Fan creations and unofficial business ventures like Reaching Moon Megacorp have kept the setting vibrant even during periods of corporate uncertainty.
While many fantasy settings rely on familiar tropes of elves and dwarves, Glorantha introduced creatures that challenged the very definition of what a fantasy race could be. The Mostali are not merely stone-dwelling miners; they are machine-like dwarves who are literally made of stone and exist as manifest, rigid, and inflexible laws of creation. They are xenophobic and orthodox, having invented iron, which possesses extraordinary magical properties that contrast sharply with the primary metal of the world, bronze. The Aldryami, or Gloranthan elves, are not graceful, immortal beings living in forests; they are intelligent, mobile plants who worship nature and the sun, and they are physically alien and unfriendly to what they call meat men. They are excellent archers, but their very existence is tied to the life cycle of plants, making them fundamentally different from their Tolkien-esque counterparts. Then there are the Dragonewts, a magical race made up of forms of neotenic dragons who are engaged in a cycle of self-improving reincarnation. They possess an incomprehensible mindset and must undergo oral surgery just to speak human languages, highlighting the deep alien nature of their existence. The Uz, or trolls, are the race of darkness, large and intelligent with an astoundingly omnivorous appetite and a very developed sonar-like sense known as darksense. Their societies are matriarchal, and they worship a goddess of darkness called Kyger Litor, the mother of the trolls, and the more violent and sinister Zorak Zoran. These creatures are not just monsters to be defeated; they are complex cultures with their own histories, religions, and philosophies, making the world of Glorantha a place where the familiar is constantly subverted.
The War Of Gods And Empires
The central conflict of Glorantha is not a simple struggle between good and evil, but a complex geopolitical and mythological war between the Storm God Orlanth and the Lunar Empire, led by the imperial Sun God and the devious Moon Goddess. This conflict plays out across the northern continent of Genertela, which features a caste society of roughly Vedic type to the west, an autocratic Oriental society to the east, and a classical-style Bronze Age culture in the center. The southern continent of Pamaltela is analogous to Africa, adding a layer of real-world cultural resonance to the fantasy setting. The story of Prince Argrath, a hero who explores Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces, is a prime example of how Stafford used mythology to drive the narrative. The game White Bear and Red Moon details a time of constant war between the land of Sartar and the Lunar Empire during the reign of Argrath Dragontooth, providing a large-scale map titled the Greater Lunar Empire that shows a larger world in which Dragon Pass is placed. This war is not just a backdrop for adventure; it is the driving force of the setting, with every faction, religion, and culture caught in its wake. The Lunar Empire, with its imperial Sun God and devious Moon Goddess, represents a different kind of order, one that is often at odds with the stormy barbarians of the Storm God. The conflict is so deep that it has shaped the very history of the world, with the gods and goddesses struggling here, with nations of people nothing but their pawns. The war is a testament to the complexity of the setting, where the lines between hero and villain are often blurred, and where the outcome of the conflict depends on the actions of individuals who may not even be human.
The Evolution Of A Gaming Universe
The history of Glorantha is a story of resilience and adaptation, marked by a series of legal battles and corporate shifts that nearly destroyed the setting before it found its footing. The first edition of the role-playing game RuneQuest was released in 1978, and the world was referred to as Glorontha, a slight variation that would later be corrected. In 1984, a third edition of RuneQuest was published with Avalon Hill, but the default setting was given as the Dark Ages of fantasy Europe, and it only included a booklet allowing use in Glorantha. The relationship between Chaosium, who held the rights to Glorantha, and Avalon Hill, who held the rights to RuneQuest, broke down completely in 1995, leading to a period of uncertainty. During this time, the advent of the Internet caused a boom in fan creations for Glorantha, supported by unofficial business ventures such as Reaching Moon Megacorp and a lively convention scene. Loren Miller proposed his Maximum Game Fun principle as a basis for gaming in Glorantha, which soon became a game system in its own right, while David Dunham proposed his PenDragon Pass system, a nearly freeform game system. The video game King of Dragon Pass was released by A Sharp in 1999, and the player assumes the role of an Orlanthi hero who seeks to unite the clans and tribes of Dragon Pass into a single kingdom. This game featured exceptional depth of coverage of the area of Dragon Pass, and it was the first compelling public view of Stafford's ideas about the hero's quest. The setting continued to evolve through various editions, including Hero Wars, which was published in 2000, and HeroQuest, which was released in 2003 and later updated in 2008. The setting returned to the spotlight in 2018 with Chaosium publishing RuneQuest - Roleplaying in Glorantha, which advanced the in-game date to 1625 and focused once again on Dragon Pass.
The Community That Built A World
Glorantha is not just a product of its creator, Greg Stafford, but a living community that has grown and expanded over decades of fan engagement and creative output. The setting has been the background for a number of different media, and numerous pieces of myth and fiction created by the Glorantha community, featured in magazines such as Tales of the Reaching Moon. Several hundred gaming miniatures by various licensees and about a dozen plush toys have also been produced at various times, showing the depth of the community's investment in the world. The fanzine scene has been particularly vibrant, with publications like Hearts in Glorantha and Tales of the Reaching Moon providing a platform for new stories and ideas. The community has also produced a wide range of prose fiction and comics, including King of Sartar by Greg Stafford, The Collected/Complete Griselda by Oliver Dickinson, and Path of the Damned, a comic book series. The community's influence extends to the development of new game systems, such as PenDragon Pass, which puts the Glorantha world into the Pendragon Arthurian role-playing system. The community has also been instrumental in the creation of video games, such as Six Ages: Ride Like The Wind by A Sharp and Six Ages 2: Lights Going Out by A Sharp, which continue to expand the world's narrative. The community's dedication to the setting has ensured that Glorantha remains a vibrant and evolving world, even in the absence of official support. The community has also been instrumental in the development of new game systems, such as PenDragon Pass, which puts the Glorantha world into the Pendragon Arthurian role-playing system. The community's influence extends to the creation of new game systems, such as PenDragon Pass, which puts the Glorantha world into the Pendragon Arthurian role-playing system.