Returning to Glorantha – IV: Under The Covers of the Glorantha Bestiary

Following on from a brief overview of the Runequest Rulebook, the logical next book to focus on is the Glorantha Bestiary. Most people will buy it either as part of the 3-volume initial rulebook bundle or, if not, pretty soon afterwards.

I know I often bang on about the rich tapestry and exotic charms that are the Glorantha backdrop, but again this is this system's unique selling point for me and for many who have been there since the early days. If the core rulebook concentrated on the human kingdoms and cities, the place where most campaigns will take their first steps and which is home to most players' first characters, The Bestiary is the book that adds some otherworldliness to the proceedings.

Runequest tends to have the perfect softly-softly approach to playing the role of a Gloranthan denizen. If you wish, you could have years of adventure within the myriad human-dominated regions of Glorantha, a blend of the familiarity of our ancient world and the unique and exotic additions, its cults and culture, its politics and societies, before ever needing to venture out into those lands where non-humans become more common. 

Unlike D&D, which drops you straight into a high fantasy setting, RuneQuest allows you to explore and acclimatise more gradually, with exotic beasts coming on the player's radar much more gradually at the GM's discretion. But when you are ready for the campaign to embrace the wilderness tracks and trade routes, the rolling hills and the cursed swamps, The Bestiary has everything you need to people it.

One of the great decisions that the RQ powers-that-be made early on was to move away from the Tolkien-esque backdrop that most other fantasy games clung to. Orcs were out, and Broo and Dragonewts were in. Dwarves are weirder and more secretive, Elves are as much plants as sentient beings, and the world seems either home to advanced forms of recognisable creatures, such as Baboons, regular animals, giants and otherwise and a mix of our own, real-world mythologies and its own hybrid creations. The result is enough familiarity found when exploring the wilderness or venturing away from the human settlements but still enough surprises to keep things interesting.

In keeping with the Runequest core rulebook, the Glorantha Bestiary is similarly gorgeous to behold. Divided into various types of creatures, from ancient Eldar Races and Chaos Monsters to strange beasts from other dimensions and plants, which are more than they seem, the book is filled with evocative artwork throughout.

Not only does the Glorantha Bestiary contain detailed descriptions, sample characteristics, and information, such as hit locations for those creatures which don't logically conform to the standard humanoid hit table, but it also contains information regarding those creatures as playable characters. Not something that you need to worry about initially but useful for the GM when creating non-human NPCs and eventually for when the more seasoned players are ready to expand beyond human characters only. It also includes lots of information regarding the cults and beliefs, magic and religious hierarchy of the Eldar races and intelligent creatures, perfect for when you need to encounter their towns, temples and societies in general.

Overall, not only an essential part of setting up your RQ campaign but a beautiful book in its own right.