A Rough Guide to Glamour
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A Rough Guide to Glamour is your indispensable companion for any visit to the capital city of the greatest empire the world of Glorantha has ever known!
This 111-page book contains:
- A comprehensive map¸ gazetteer and guidebook detailing the capital of the Lunar Empire;
- Portraits and descriptions of eleven Very Important People who can be encountered there¸ including Moonson¸ the Red Emperor¸ and the Lunar hero Jar-eel the Razoress;
- A description and map of the Sultanate of the Silver Shadow¸ the throbbing heart of the empire;
- Sweeping overviews of the geography and history of the Lunar Empire;
- RuneQuest writeups for the cults of the Red Emperor¸ the immortal wizard-ruler of the Lunar Empire¸ and the goddess Glamour¸ the humble nymph who became the First Inspiration of Moonson;
- Insights into the secrets of Kalikos Icebreaker¸ the Lunar College of Magic and the Imperial Monopolies of the Etyries cult;
- Never-republished supporting material from the legendary fanzine Tales of the Reaching Moon;
- Rumours¸ fiction¸ poetry¸ and more besides!
This is a thoroughly revised and expanded edition of the original Rough Guide to Glamour¸ written by Chris Gidlow¸ Mike Hagen¸ Nick Brooke¸ Michael O'Brien¸ Jeff Richard¸ Greg Stafford and friends¸ lavishly illustrated by Dario Corallo¸ Simon Bray¸ Julie Hudson and other artists.
Foreword by Jeff Richard¸ Creative Director of Chaosium Inc.
A Rough Guide to Glamour was first published as a players' background book supporting Reaching Moon Megacorp's Life of Moonson¸ a 50-player live-action role-playing game that debuted in 1997 and ran in North America¸ Europe and Australia.
Is this book 'canon'?No. Like everything else on the Jonstown Compendium¸ this is a non-canonical fan publication: Your Glorantha Will Vary. The only "official" canon for Greg Stafford's world of Glorantha will be found in material published by Chaosium / Moon Design Publications.
Jeff Richard¸ the Chair and Creative Director of Chaosium¸ Inc.¸ has said some generous things about our book on public RuneQuest Facebook groups¸ citing it as one of the best sources on the Lunar Empire (alongside the Glorantha Sourcebook¸ the Lunar Empire chapter of the Guide to Glorantha¸ and the Lunar chapter of the forthcoming¸ unpublished Cults of Glorantha). In another discussion¸ he commented: " I'd say the Guide to Glamour is about 95% how I view it. And as all RQ players know¸ a roll of 96-00 is always a failure. As opposed to something like the Imperial Lunar Handbook books [for HeroQuest] which were closer to 25%. And as all RQ players know¸ don't go into combat with a 25% skill."
Revised & Expanded?The 1998 edition of the Rough Guide to Glamour contained 29¸000 words. We have cut out a third of the book: sections either reprinted in or made redundant by the Glorantha Sourcebook (The Lunar Pantheon¸ Dart Competitions & New Year Ceremony) and sections primarily written to support the freeform Reaching Moon Megacorp's Life of Moonson (Recent History & a list of Sultanates¸ Provinces etc. and their rulers). So there are 20¸000 words from the old Guide remaining.
The Jonstown Compendium edition of the Guide contains more than 50¸000 words.
Most major sections are significantly expanded (eg: the Gazetteer is 60% longer¸ detailing 117 locations in Outer Glamour; the Rough Guide itself has two new pages on Holidays and Festivals). We have incorporated material from the Guide to Glorantha (a full writeup of the S