Guide to Glorantha sourcebook returns in 50th anniversary printing

Guide to Glorantha, the colossal two-volume sourcebook set covering the entirety of the setting for RPGs including RuneQuest and HeroQuest, the board game White Bear and Red Moon, and the video game King of Dragon Pass, is being reprinted to celebrate the fantasy world turning half a century old.

Glorantha was first envisioned in 1966 by designer Greg Stafford as a setting for a proposed novel, later becoming the world in which publisher Chaosium’s 1975 debut White Bear and Red Moon was set.

In 1978, Steve Perrin set highly influential roleplaying game RuneQuest in Glorantha, and the world made its digital transition in 1999 with the video game King of Dragon Pass after Stafford left Chaosium, the company he founded.

2003 saw a new Glorantha-set RPG, HeroQuest (the name Stafford originally wanted for RuneQuest), designed by Robin Laws; RuneQuest itself was republished three years later.

Stafford returned to Chaosium in 2015, having published the first edition of Guide to Glorantha the previous year after a successful Kickstarter.

Co-written by fellow Chaosium stalwarts Sandy Petersen and Jeff Richard, Guide to Glorantha aims to be a comprehensive overview of the fictional universe, covering its races, history, geography, weather and more. The book won the 2015 Diana Jones award for excellence in gaming

It’s a sizeable read, coming in at 800 pages and just over 6kg. To help, the Guide is split into two volumes measuring 10 by 12 inches, both featuring full-colour illustrations and maps.

To mark Glorantha’s 50th anniversary, the second printing of the previously sold-out Guide is being offered in a new slipcase – the set costs $180 (£147), or the (empty) slipcase can be picked up on its own for $20 (£16).