With Lynn Willis taking responsibility for the Stormbringer line, the opportunity arose to revise 4th edition and streamline the mechanics further. Under the guiding hands of Richard Watts, Elric! was the final result, a core set of rules that build on the earlier editions of Eternal Champion gaming while also revisiting Michael Moorcock’s original source material.

Elric!

Description – Core Rule Book
Author(s) – Lynn Willis, Richard Watts & Others
Stock Number – CHA2100
Published – 1993
Page Count – 160
ISBN – 09-33635-98-2

IN DECAY.

Melnibone is an island, an archipelago set amidst the oldest ocean. Ruler of the Young Kingdoms for the past 10,000 years, Melniboné has seen the might of its once all-powerful dragons wane. Their terrifying flights are no longer common, and the dragons sleep longer after each foray.

Imrryr, the dreaming city, is the capital of Melniboné. It is rich beyond imagining, but its people are quiescent, slumbering in a stupor of neglect and decay.

Elric is emperor, 428th in line of direct-descent from the first Dragon-Lord. Elric is a brooding albino, unlike his ancestors in many ways. Yet in his hands rests the future. To be counted Elric’s friend is to be found, dead.

Stormbringer is Elric’s fearsome runesword, intelligent and malicious, with its own plan for tomorrow. Stormbringer is highly magical, harkening from an age when chaos held greater sway upon the world.

The Young Kingdoms are a handful of upstart nations, once part of the bright empire, who in the past few centuries have dared to defy once-mighty Melnibone.

Elric! is a roleplaying game set in the fantasy world of the Young Kingdoms. Exhaustive BACKGROUND features detailed descriptions of the island of Melnibone and of her former holdings, known collectively as the Young Kingdoms. CHARACTER GENERATION is quick and complete: if you would like to create a character right away, turn to pages 30-31. The forces of Law, Chaos and the Cosmic Balance affect every adventurer, their allegiances reflect the choices you make for him or her. MAGIC includes rules for demon summonings, a cast spells system, and invocations and enchantments. CREATURES & PERSONALITIES chapters describe the multitude of beasts, denizens, and humanlike inhabitants of the world. SPOT RULES highlight important game details. The GAMEMASTER CHAPTER (recommended reading for new gamemasters), TWO SCENARIOS, SIX READY-TO-COPY adventurers, a NEW WORLD MAP, INDEX, LIST OF TERMS, STORMBRINGER CONVERSION RULES, and PLAY AIDS complete this book.

Summaries of important game features occur in the Foreword and Introduction.

Melniboné

Description – Supplement with Adventures
Author(s) – Geoff Gillan, Mark Morrison, Richard Watts & Penelope Love
Stock Number – CHA2001
Published – 1993
Page Count – 132
ISBN – 15-68820-01-1

A DEAD EMPIRE.

Melniboné is an island, an archipelago set amidst the oldest ocean. For 10,000 years the bright empire of Melniboné ruled the world. The folk of Melniboné are not human, and their race is far older than humanity.

Powerful sorcerers, their magic comes easily to them. As easy as breathing.  They forged unthinkable pacts with demon cods. Shaped the elements and lands to their liking, and tamed dragons and rode them to conquest.

Age has dulled the bright empire, tarnished its beauty, and weakened its people. The empire rots from within. Soon a new emperor will come to the ruby throne, and rescue Melniboné from its dotage.

Elric is that emperor, a brooding albino unhappy with his pre-ordained life. He rails against the gods of chaos, his culture, and his proud ancestors. Will he bring the bright empire back to its former glory, or send it to its extinction?

WHAT IS ELRIC?

ELRIC! is a roleplaying game based on the novels of Michael Moorcock whose numerous tales about Elric and other incarnations of the Eternal Champion inspired thousands of fantasy readers.
In this game, certain heroes discover secrets about the world of the Young Kingdoms, the nature of the universe, the gods of Law and Chaos, and their plans tor the future. You and your friends will portray ordinary people from the Young Kingdoms who seek adventure and the secrets to the mysteries of Iife. You will face the same situations and dangers that Elric, Moonglum, Dorian Hawkmoon and Corum encountered, but this time you are in control and the results depend on what you decide your character should do.

Elric! Gamemaster Screen

Description – GM Screen & Adventure
Author(s) – Les Brooks, Gustaf Björksten & Richard Watts
Stock Number – CHA2902
Published – 1994
Page Count – 4 page screen and 16 page adventure
ISBN – 15-68820-11-9

GRUESOME GAMEMASTER GOBBETS

The Elric! Gamemaster Screen includes:

  • Herein Elric! Gamemasters will find invaluable tools to make their job easier. Whether you are a new player of the Elric role-playing game, or an experienced gamemaster, the play-aids in this kit will help you run your adventures. An  assemblage of key charts and much useful information is now in an easily referenced form. No more fumbling through the book to find important rules. New types of character sheets are provided to assist in record keeping, and an entry level scenario is also included to get you started right away.
  • The Gamemaster’s Screen is a large 8.5″ x 38″ quick reference source containing several of the most commonly needed charts and rules. This information is now available at a glance. A mood setting design graces the front of the screen while providing privacy for your adventure notes and
    maps. The long, low design blocks the players view but will not limit your line of sight. Unlike the taller screens available for most role-playing games this screen will not make you feel boxed in.
  • Four sturdy 8.5″x ll” Rules Reference Cards are included with Spot Rules and listings needed by gamemasters and players alike. Now you can keep your own rulesbook handy and pass around these play-aids instead.
  • A Gamemaster’s Book, complete with an evocative depiction of Stormbringer, is also included. It presents a short, concise index of the most commonly accessed sections of the rulesbook. This bookmark will not only hold your place, it will help you find particular sections when you need them.
  • New Character Record Sheets are included to make your NPC record-keeping easier. A Bound Demons & Elementals Sheet, a Rogues Gallery
    Sheet, a Leaders & Followers Sheet, a Squad Sheet, and a Large Squad or Rabble Sheet can be found herein. Reprinted here, two per page for easier photocopying, are the half-page Demon Sheets and the NPC Character
    Sheets. With these play-aids you can now keep all of your PC and NPC information on fewer pages and in a more convenient format.
  • Rounding out this Kit is a complete, ready-to-play scenario The Curse of Chardros. Intended for beginning characters, this scenario is perfect for an inexperienced gamemaster, or for starting out a new group of adventurers. It has enough horror and intrigue to fill a couple intense sessions of roleplaying. The Curse of Chardros will whet your appetite for more dark fantasy roleplaying . Happy adventuring-and good luck, your players will need it!

Fate of Fools

Description – Scenario Collection
Author(s) – Stefan Bjorling, Lawrence Whitaker & Others
Stock Number – CHA2903
Published – 1994
Page Count – 62
ISBN – 15-68820-24-0

PAWNS.

All Humans are enmeshed by powers, circumstances, and wills greater than they. A few bear this burden humbly because they do not struggle against fate, they find it to be of no consequence. Some feel the burden too keenly, and take refuge behind cynicism, envy and indifference. Others try to calculate what profit can be gained at every turn, or choose a narrow, zealous commitment to an idea or religion.  So we twist and struggle until we die. When we reflect we revere as almost mystical those who stay true to their feelings and are lucky enough.

  • THE BOOK OF BRILLIANT THINGS – Strange apparitions haunt the city of Raschil. An unusual source commissions the adventurers to stop them. They journey to Cadsandria, to the famous university, and there attempt to gain  possession of a Melnibonéan rarity. Only the Book of Brilliant Things can staunch the flow of inexplicable events and restore a friend to his own.
  • THE FOUR SEASONS – A lovesick young nobleman finances a search across Ilmiora, the Sighing Desert, and the Weeping Waste in search of that which can heal his true love. The adventurers return with him to an  unpredictable conclusion. Including many incidents and characters, this adventure makes a convenient introduction to the Northern Continent.
  • MAPS include the Young Kingdoms portion of the Northern Continent, a summary plan of the University of Cadsandria, details of the library, and city maps of Ilmar on the Pale Sea, Raschil, and Cadsandria. There are also many illustrations and statistics, several new spells, and other source materials.

The Bronze Grimoire

Description – Supplement
Author(s) – Ross A. Isaacs, Mark Morrison & Lynn Willis
Stock Number – CHA2904
Published – 1994
Page Count – 80
ISBN – 15-68820-29-1

Ambition.

Sorcerers strive to understand the universe through unholy pacts with the lords and demons of chaos. Now their ambition grows.

Their rune magic allows them to cast hideous spells directly upon a living being or inanimate object, cursing the unfortunate with the powers of the damned. They speak with the dead, calling forth rotted cadavers to do their bidding and to divulge. Secrets from beyond the grave. Now these sorcerers search through ancient tomes for yet greater power, di5covering new demon breeds and new infernal powers with which to vibe them.

Fools! They will be the end of all.

The Unknown East

Description – Supplement
Author – Lawrence Whitaker
Stock Number – CHA2907
Published – 1995
Page Count – 94
ISBN – 15-68820-32-1

Forgotten.

Twenty-thousand years ago Grome and Straasha waged a mighty war. Continents, oceans, islands & seas were created. Twelve-thousand years ago a strange people settled an island, changed the world, and in the process changed themselves.

Melnibone and her chaos patrons warred against the Menastrai, supporters of the balance, and a bloody fight ensued. Ancient sorceries allowed the Menestrai to flee their Melnibonean pursuers, and escape to unmapped eastern lands.  There they built beautiful kingdoms, each based upon the principles of balance.

For a thousand years they prospered until found by Melnibone once again.

Atlas of the Young Kingdoms Volume 1: The Northern Continent

Description – Supplement
Author(s) – Mark Morrison, Richard Watts, Lawrence Whitaker & Lynn Willis
Stock Number – CHA2905
Published – 1996
Page Count – 144
ISBN – 15-68820-21-6

Founded

Great Imperial Melnibone lay swollen across the world. Her fingers wound through the planes of the multiverse a hundred times.

Among the earthly slaves of great Melnibone were grunting ape-men who ploughed and harvested the fields and vineyards.

When the ape-men changed, they challenged their betters, and won against them. New Kingdoms were gathered, this time by human hands.

The Atlas of the Young Kingdoms: The Northern Continent discusses the Sighing Desert, the Weeping Waste, heavenly Tanelorn, horrible Nadsokor (the kingdom of beggars), the ancient evil of Org and the Forest of Trans, free-trading and progressive llmiora, and the Lawful hell of dying Vilmir. We learn the origin of the Young Kingdoms and the great rebellion of Vil Valario, the ways of the people, histories, products and attitudes, customs and holidays, provinces and towns, and important leaders. There are plot ideas and story seeds, scores of illustrations, full-page national and regional maps, city plans, a Lormyrian and a Melnibonean calendar and an index! Lovingly and ingeniously written, a triumph of sustained creation.

Sailing on the Seas of Fate

Description – Supplement
Author(s) – Nick Hagger, Mark Morrison, Carl Pates, Richard Watts & Others
Stock Number – CHA2906
Published – 1996
Page Count – 80
ISBN – 15-68820-22-4

Open Seas

Who rules the oceans has mastered the Young Kingdoms. Melniboné, the Isle of the Purple Towns, and Dread Pan Tang are the hinges of the sea and the grapples of the land.

Each seeks dominion in the world, and has had it in the past, or will have it soon. While Chaos, Law and the Balance leave the waters to the wind, those who dare may sail.

Sailing on the-Seas of Fate details ship and sea rules for use with the ELRIC! roleplaying game, providing all the tools and background needed by a gamemaster. It includes a ship record sheet, sixteen types of merchant vessels, various small boats, lethal warships, and the feared Melnibonéan battle barge. Also featured are sailing instructions, a ship disaster table, sea menaces, storms, siege engines, seafaring, survival at sea, ship and sea battles in the Saga, crew stats for five classes of vessels, creatures, scenario hooks, an analysis of the Dark Ship that sails the multiverse, spot rules for shipboard combat, shipboard fumble rules, many illustrations, more.