ook B of QuestS

Seven Scenarios Against the Sorcerer For RuneQuest 6th Edition

RuneQuest is a trademark of Issaries Inc. Used under License by The Design Mechanism. All rights reserved. This edi- tion of Book of Quests is copyright © 2013. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without permission from The Design Mechanism, except as quoted for purposes of illustration, discussion and game play. Reproduction of the material in this book for the purposes of personal or corporate profit, by photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval is strictly prohibited.

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Developed and Written By Darren Driver, Tom Griffith, Russell Hoyle, Bruce Mason, Keane Peterson, Marko Vojnovic, Jonathan Webb, John White, and Lawrence Whitaker

Editing Lisa Tyler, Pete Nash

Proof Reading Alexandra James

Design and Layout Fred Hicks and Lawrence Whitaker

Artists Dan MacKinnon, Pascal Quidault Cover by Pascal Quidault

Cartography Colin Driver, Carl Pates, Richard Lawrence

Special Thanks John Hutchinson

Playtesters Jordyn Beavan, James Carrington, Milan Dolašević, Chris Donnelly, Tim Eldred, Chris Gilmour, Paul Harrison, Kevin Hicks, Jude Hornburg, Leila Hoyle, Sophie Hoyle, Marcus Knapp, Brad Milburn, Daniel. J Mooney, Alex Morris, Eric Oates, Ian Pachner, Dušan Pavlović, Marko Poznanović, Shaun Rimmer, Gideon Roberts, Bruce Royle, Nick Southwick, Brian Spencer, Braden Spooner, Stephen Watson, Ioan Wigmore, Erik Willis, Russ Zabel, Janko Zafirovski, Ivan Žuvela,

About the Cover At Dark Child's Tower, hidden deep in the Gartharis Mountains, Jedakiah and his Ophidian allies surveyed the army they had engineered. Crea- tures bred to kill in the crystal vats of Yagelan's Bluff; hybrids of chaos trained to destroy in the wildlands, preying on the innocent of The Realm. The Chaos Mother had, through dreams and visions, guided Jedakiah to this day. With an army of Chaos he would lay waste to the weak and fool- ish mortals of the lowlands, delivering to them the Chaos Mother's power and wrath. His army pleased him; it begged to be unleashed to begin its onslaught and, oh, how Jedakiah wished he could release these willing warriors... But there was one, last task. The culmination of decades of study, manipulation, corruption and murder. The transformation of the Pure Beauty, Bria,Sample into the Daughter of Chaos. A rite that would transform the sorcerer into the Son of Chaos and channel anew thefile abeyant powers of the Chaos Mother. With one ritual a new race of Gods, terrible and merciless, would be created. The Chaos Mother's rule would be restored and enhanced. Then would his armies march.

March and kill, not pausing until The Realm in its entirety surrendered... abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz12345678 Contents 87654321zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcba

Map of The Realm 4

Introduction 5

The Realm 7 By Lawrence Whitaker

Caravan 19 By Keane Peterson

Beneath the Black Water 39 By Tom Griffith

Shadows Behind the Throne 55 By Marko Vojnovic

The Chaos Mother's Chalice 87 By Jonathan Webb

Curse of the Contessa 116 By Bruce Mason

Raid on Yagelan's Bluff 160 By Russell Hoyle and Darren Driver

Reckoning at Distaff Peak 192 SampleBy John White file Index 222 Book of Quests  Contents

Sample file

â4â Introduction: Book of Quests 8

his is the first volume of an occasional series. It Using Book of Quests features seven connected scenarios forming a loose campaign. Each scenario is set against the as a Campaign Tbackdrop of a fantasy region known, for simplicity, as The If you are intending to run Book of Quests as a com- Realm; however the intention is that Games Masters can plete campaign we recommend that you read through all take some, or all, of the adventures from Book of Quests the scenarios to see how they connect and then plan the and slot them into their own campaigns without needing preferred order of presentation. Several non-player charac- to use The Realm at all. Those Games Masters who do not ters recur, so noting where, and how, they appear may be have a developed setting for their games should find The of importance. Realm provides enough detail to act as a coherent back- You may also want the players to create fresh characters drop that can be developed and built on for future games. for The Realm campaign. Standard RuneQuest 6 rules Each scenario is complete, with non-player characters, apply and the following points are worth noting for char- diagrams, maps and handouts. They can played in just acter creation. about any order although the sequence presented forms ҉ÒAll the basic cultures are supported, although Bar- a natural arc with the characters becoming more deeply barian, Civilised and Nomadic are most suitable. immersed in the nefarious schemes of the sorcerer Jeda- ҉ÒThe Realm is not magic-rich. Folk Magic is taught kiah, leading to a show-down at Distaff Peak, the final sce- only through the different cults and regaining Magic nario in this volume. Points can occur only at sacred and holy sights. ҉ÒOf the different magic systems found in RuneQuest, Animism and Theism are the most apt. Sorcery is an Sampleancient, long-forgotten file and feared art, known only to corrupted individuals such as Jedakiah. There is

8â5â8 Book of Quests 8 Introduction: Book of Quests

Scenarios The scenarios occupying the rest of the book are Although not specifically designed with Glorantha in mind, these scenarios can be used in structured along similar Glorantha campaigns – either Second or Third Age. Some suggestions are: lines. All necessary maps and diagrams are ҉ÒUse the west of Glorantha – Ralios, Seshnela or Fronela would make good locations. The included in the main Elder Wilds or Balazar may also make for a good substitute setting. body of the text, and ҉ÒJedakiah is a corrupt Malkionist or Rokari sorcerer who has lapsed into Chaos worship. Non-Player Character Any of the chaos gods, such as Thed, Malia, or Cacodemon, would make good substitu- statistics are provided at tions for the Chaos Mother. the end of the chapter. ҉ÒTheF ounding Four of The Realm can be substituted with Malkioni Saints or even Orlan- We've presented these thi deities: Issaries, Ernalda, Lhankor Mhy and Humakt (or Storm Bull/Urox) statistic blocks in two ҉ÒFolk Magic will be usable by all characters, so spells for non-player characters should ways. Major Non-Player be adjusted. Characters have a full ҉ÒChaos hybrids are clearly Broo! range of characteristics. ҉ÒThe Ophidians are a new race, and could be introduced as they stand, although a colony Those that are likely to of exiled and corrupt dragonewts would also fit. just be combatants or casual encounters are Games Masters will need to adapt some elements of the RuneQuest rules to fit with Glo- not presented with char- rantha: such conversion notes are not included in this book. acteristics - although all other pertinent details, such as Attributes, Skills and Conbat Styles, are there in full. no inherent Mysticism tradition in The Using Book of Realm although it can be introduced if Games Masters so wish. Quests in Existing ҉ÒMembership of the Founding Four cults Campaigns is recommended for some characters, If you are intending to use these scenarios especially if they want to wield magic. in your own setting, a little work will need to Cult details are provided in the chapter be done to ensure compatibility. outlining The Realm. ҉ÒCharacter may also be members of the ҉ÒGeography, place names and non-player Order of Truth: see page 17 for more characters will need to be adjusted to fit. details. We have tried to keep specifics as loose ҉ÒNon-human species exist but are rare. as possible to make it easier for Games Dwarves and Elves are possibilities Masters to do this. although Games Masters will need to ҉ÒMagic may need some adjustment develop a rationale for their existence depending on its use in your campaign. and decide on likely locations for their You may, for instance, want to increase homes. Minotaurs are a further possi- the access some of the non-player char- bility: their herds are found in the south acters have to Folk Magic – or reduce, of The Realm. as appropriate. ҉ÒThe cults of The Realm will need to be adjusted to fit those of your campaign world. The Founding Four are generic gods of trade, fertility, war and knowl- Sampleedge and most fantasyfile campaigns have corresponding religions making transla- tion easy. The Chaos Mother cult can be quite easily turned into any ‘evil’ cult or force within the campaign world. 8â6â8