Stormbringer!

Inhabitable Dreams

On June 5, 2019

A One-Off Scenario for the Stormbringer 5th edition ruleset by Richard Watts

Fair winds carry a ravenous evil to Dhakos, City of Spires. King Dharmit’s capital of Jharkor is raw and bustling – soon it will be rawer still. Silver Leopards will die beneath the tiger’s claws as screams drift like seagulls over the once busy harbor. What burdens drove the slave-artist Halig to suicide by self-mutilation so soon after painting a bloody portent of his own demise? What nightmares and dreams of empire stir in the shadows and devour the waking world?

Inhabitable Dreams is a tournament-length scenario written by Richard Watts. Originally written and run at Arcanacon X, Melbourne, Australia, in 1992 (for 4th Stormbringer), it sets four nobles of Jharkor’s City of Spires – Dhakos – in a race to save their King – and his Kingdom – from the evil machinations of the dread pirates of Pan Tang. Designed to be completed in four hours, Inhabitable Dreams is bound to give your players nightmares!

The edition you find here has been updated to the Stormbringer 5th edition ruleset, and provides not only 4 ready to use characters, but also a number of play-ready handouts designed to enhance your session.

Choose Your Masques

By Stormbringer

On April 28, 2019

In Scenarios

A Short Scenario for the ELRIC! ruleset by Carl Pates

Deep with the bowels of Old Hrolmar an ancient evil has been released. Lying dormant for centuries the chaotic Masque of F’Haarok Tor has been found by a young girl who mistakenly ventured into a rotting temple of Chaos, sealed by the Champions of Donblas some two centuries before. Now the Masque has taken possession of the child’s body and once again roams abroad seeking fresh hosts to feed its unholy lust.

Choose Your Masques is a short ELRIC! edition scenario introducing new powerful artifacts to the Young Kingdoms – the Masques of Law & Chaos.

This adventure, and its supporting material, first appeared in the Herald of Doom fanzine, and is reproduced here with the permission of the author.

Actual Play – Red Moon Roleplaying

By Stormbringer

On April 14, 2019

In Actual Play, Stormbringer Related

Great games like Stormbringer never die… and to prove this point the team over at Red Moon Roleplaying have recently teamed up with Dirk the Dice (from the Grognard Files) to play through one of our favourite Stormbringer 4th edition scenaros – The Fang & the Fountain.

This excellent scenario, written by the fantastic Richard Watts, is a great way of introducing players, new and old, to the Stormbringer experience. In Red Moon Roleplaying’s hands, this chilling seaborn adventure becomes even more of a classic, with the group’s narrative-driven, character-focused approach to their actual play recordings bringing the setting and story bursting into life. Go find out yourself just how great Stormbringer can be over at Stormbringer, with The Grognard Files!

[Review] The Book of Brilliant Things

By Stormbringer

On March 13, 2019

In Reviews

Two Gods – one Dead yet Living, the other trapped behind the Barrier of Law – struggle for power in the Young Kingdoms. For too long has this battle has ebbed and flowed, and now through the manipulation of an innocent bard the plans of both sides reach towards a conclusion.

Yet, even now the Mistress of Fate, Balance, acts in the guise of our heroes. Through their actions and decisions, the future is yet to be decided. Which God will prevail? Only time – and perhaps the Book of Brilliant Things – may tell…

The Book of Brilliant Things is a scenario written by long standing guardian of all thing Eternal Champion, Loz Whitaker and appears as one half of the supplement – The Fate of Fools (released by Chaosium Inc in 1994 for the Elric! Edition). As with all scenario reviews on the Stormbringerrpg.com site, these commentaries are the opinion of the author only, and are rated in three simple categories – Must Run, Should Run, Might Run (see the sidebar below for more information on these ratings).

The Book of Brilliant Things is recommended as a Must Run scenario.

Interview with John R. White

By Stormbringer

On June 10, 2018

In Interviews

The transition of the Eternal Champion license from Chaosium to Mongoose Publishing was a sudden one, although, given the lack of interest in the line at the time by its long term owners, one that I suppose, in hindsight, was not to be unexpected. By the mid 2000s, Chaosium was a shadow of its former self, surviving for the most part, on their loose schedule of new Call of Cthulhu products and its impressive back catalogue; to be successful, the Moorcock’s roleplaying Multiverse needed a new Champion!

This opened the way for Mongoose Publishing, who under the leadership of Mathew Sprange, and the dedication of such authors Pete Nash, Loz Whitaker and Gareth Hanrahan (amongst others) revived both the Elric and Hawkmoon lines. But, like many of Moorcock’s own stories, history was destined to repeat itself. The lines, although popular, suffered from the very aspects that had made Mongoose a rising star in the early 2000s, and in the end only one author remained – John R. White – The Last Defender!