History TabletopGame / RuneQuest

Since 1980 Chaosium has used versions of the core [=RuneQuest=] rules for other games like ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', ''TabletopGame/{{Stormbringer}}'', and the ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' RPG, and many, many more; these rule variants are now collectively known as the Basic Role-Playing System (BRP), which has in fact sometimes been available as a generic ruleset. The fantasy world of Glorantha is also the setting of the video games ''VideoGame/KingOfDragonPass'' and ''VideoGame/SixAges'', the webcomic ''Prince of Sartar'', and the boardgame ''Khan of Khans''. Although the [=RuneQuest=] title has occasionally been attached to games with other settings, it has always been and remains closely associated withe Glorantha, and the vast majority of the tropes listed below actually relate to Glorantha rather than BRP; hence, they could in fact also be considered to relate to ''[=HeroQuest=]'' and any other games and fictions which use that setting.

* WorldShapes: Glorantha is a cube, floating in a vast sea of water, beneath the Sky Dome.

* SpiritWorld: The Otherworld.

* {{Backronym}}: In universe, it's usually assumed that EWF is an acronym of some kind, and they were commonly called the Empire of Wyrms Friends or derisively as "Enemies Without Friends", but EWF is actually a Draconic word that doesn't translate to any humanly understandable concept.

* MamaBear: In Durulz mythology, after Yelm invaded their ancestral home of Ganderland and drove the ducks away, Canarda, their goddess of motherhood and literal mother of their species, stayed behind. Once she was alone, she walked right up to Yelm, ignoring the way his fiery aura burned her, and gave him an ArmorPiercingSlap. He was so impressed that he allowed her to limp away after her children unharmed and called off his war.

->- '''Orlanth''' and '''Ernalda''', the patron gods of the Orlanthi

With development beginning on July 4th, 1976 ''[=RuneQuest=]'' was published by Creator/{{Chaosium}} in June of 1978, making it one of the oldest tabletop RolePlayingGames. Among other things, it introduced an experience system that replaced levels (as in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'') with skills that increase if you successfully use them (''TabletopGame/{{Traveller}}'' replaced levels with skills first but they didn't increase with use). It also introduced hit regions instead of general HitPoints and did not use Character Classes, which removed weapon and armor use restrictions.

* CreepyCoolCrosses: A symbol almost identical with the Christian cross is the Rune of Death in Glorantha, and it represents the sword of Humakt, [[TheGrimReaper the god of death]]. Thus, you can use a cross to repel undead in the setting without any kind of connection to Christianity, or even CrystalDragonJesus.

%%* AProtagonistShallLeadThem: Argrath.

* WarGod: Several.

%%** Wakboth and Kajabor in the Greater Darkness.

%%* TheEmpire
%%** The Lunar Empire.
%%** The God Learners and the Wyrm's Friends, back in their day.

* GodOfTheMoon: The Red Moon Goddess is a LiminalBeing who was "robbed of immortality and death", so sometimes she hangs in the sky like a normal moon and other times she incarnates as a human who is physically her own granddaughter.

%%* PlagueMaster: Malia, the Mother of Disease.

%%* ScorpionPeople: Scorpionmen.

%%* TricksterArchetype: Several, Eurmal being the main example.

%%* CanonDiscontinuity: The entire ''Glorantha: The Second Age'' line of products by Mongoose Publishing.

%%* FantasyPantheon: '''Many'''.

%%* GodCouple: Yelm and Dendara, Orlanth and Ernalda.
%%* GodEmperor: The Red Emperor is this for the Lunar Empire.

%%* LoveGoddess: Uleria.

%%* MadGod: Ragnaglar of the Unholy Trio.

%%* TheNightThatNeverEnds: This is what happens when you kill the Sun God. [[HellOnEarth And then it gets worse.]]

%%* PlantPerson: The elves.

* ScienceIsBad: Almost everyone outside Zistorwal hated the scientific method-based Zistor project.%%Probably with good reason.%%This being?

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: Most commonly associated with the Chaos god Vivamort, the vampires are immortal and possess some frightening abilities, but are also severely handicapped by the various elemental curses placed on them by the gods due to their treachery (being fervently hated both by Humakt as undead and by Urox as Chaos isn't a good place to be either). Sunlight doesn't destroy them, but does take away their powers; to sleep, they require special soil, as regular earth had rejected them. Their mist form is scattered by winds, but their greatest weakness is probably running water (a fact eagerly exploited by duck undead-fighters, of course...). A drop from the river Styx would destroy a vampire in an instant. And notably, in some versions, they're also extra vulnerable to swords - as they are the image of the Death rune, that they seek to escape from.

* EvilVersusOblivion: Subverted. In the Greater Darkness Wakboth was the Evil, Kajabor was the Oblivion and they were allied. In fact, they could even be the same entity.
** Wakboth did eventually backstab Kajabor, though just to save his own skin, and because treachery is such an intricate part of his being. Still, in subversion to the usual pattern, Wakboth is usually seen as the worse of the two, since he acted out of genuine, sadistic malice, while Kajabor was utterly impersonal and had no choice about his actions.

* AllMythsAreTrue: All Gloranthan myths are literally true, even utterly contradictory myths of different cultures. Changing a myth (by going on a [=HeroQuest=] to the world of the gods) can ''retroactively change reality''.
* AllTrollsAreDifferent: Among other things, they're matriarchial, cannibalistic, and [[ExtremeOmnivore Extreme Omnivores]]. You could argue that they're pre-Blizzard [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Blizzard-style Orcs]].

* [[HellOnEarth Chaos on Earth]]: The Greater Darkness.
* TheChosenOne: Several, Argrath being one of the main examples.
** TheChosenMany: It is implied, and outright confirmed in ''Sartar Rising'', that there was no single Argrath and that several heroes were turned by later sources into one CompositeCharacter. Ironically, Sheng Seleris, the closest parallel to the original Arkat from whose name the word "Argrath" derives (both of them were anti-heroes who became the rival empire's single greatest enemy until said empires defeated and imprisoned them; both were released by a Lightbringers Quest, and both ended up betraying their allies), is not one of them.
* ColdIron: Iron is poison to elves and trolls, because the dwarves who invented it -- not "found," not "refined," they ''invented a metal'' -- designed it as a weapon against them.

* EternalRecurrence: The Sacred Time, a concept pretty much inspired by mythologist Mircea Eliade's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return_(Eliade) eternal return]].
** There's a more straightforward example of the trope: the Devil is said to appear once every 600 years.

* FantasticCasteSystem: The Brithini are divided into five castes, the four castes of men founded by the legitimate son of Malkion (Dromal, Horal, Talar and Zzabur) and his wife's caste Menema (caste of women). Dromali=commoners, Horal=warriors, Talar=diplomat and coordinator castes (no leader, even though people often make derivatives), Zzabur=wizards, intellectuals (spiritual power, like the Brahmans of India). The Brithini are as Indo-European, while the Malkioni are more feudal; a subtle reference to the divergent evolution of the Indian system and the European one.
* FaunsAndSatyrs: The Broos often look like this, since they [[FaceFullOfAlienWingWong impregnate]] goats, sheep, and cattle most often. They can do it with any other animal though, and there exists a separate, much nicer race of satyr.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: True Dragons are beings of unfathomable power, and human beings can become dragons if they follow Draconic Mysticism. The Empire of Wyrmfriends wanted to [[AssimilationPlot assimilate everybody into being dragons. Or at least part of the messianic Great Dragon to Come]].
* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Massively averted. Dwarves are made into one of several castes, very different from each other. And they are not Viking-like, they are instead living tools dedicated to repairing the once-perfect World Machine.
* OurElvesAreDifferent: They're kind-of dryads, or PlantAliens.
* OurGodsAreDifferent: The gods gave up their free will as part of the peace treaty that ended the Gods' War (the war that nearly destroyed them, and the world). Now the gods are locked into their roles, unable to choose to change--though it's possible that their ''worshipers'' can change the gods, by changing the myths or by going on mystical quests into the God Time.

* AProtagonistShallLeadThem: Argrath.

** Played straight with the Vadeli, the corrupt relatives of the sorcerous Brithini people. Like their nicer if xenophobic relatives, Vadeli are TheAgeless so long as they follow the rules of their FantasticCasteSystem. ''Unlike'' the Brithini, the caste systems of the Vadeli generally involve breaking the laws of Malkion, which is to say things like "Murder is bad", "Incest is abhorrent", "Don't lie"... About the only reason they're tolerated is that those same rules make them [[ProudMerchantRace ideal, if untrustworthy businessmen]] — and because they cheerfully blackmail port cities into playing along.

* AntiVillain: The Lunar Coders from ''Strangers in Prax'' are extremely capable special agents from the Lunar Empire. Though the Lunars as a whole are generally portrayed as villainous (or at least antagonistic) the Coders present the more positive side of the Lunar way. They are ''genuinely'' heroic - brave, merciful, honourable, devoted to each other and civilized. In the adventures provided they come across as either WorthyOpponent types (showing that there are sincerely well intentioned people working for the Empire) or allies and possibly friends in an EnemyMine situation.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted, as armor provides DamageReduction. Heavy armor and a good shield are the best way to survive a battle.

* BigBadDuumvirate:
** Wakboth and Kajabor in the Greater Darkness.
** The God Learners and the Empire of Wyrm's Friends in the Second Era, due to a case of being criminally TooDumbToLive. Naturally, they hate each other.

* CanonDiscontinuity: The entire ''Glorantha: The Second Age'' line of products by Mongoose Publishing.

* ColourCodedArmies: The Vadeli in the West, much like the Brithini they broke away from and warred with, are divided into castes. Brown Vadeli are commoners, and until recently, the only ones that seemed to survive into historical times; they're slimy and evil, but not actually that great at military planning or any grandiose long-term schemes. More recently, Red Vadeli warriors came back onto the scenes - and quickly rallied the Brown Vadeli for a campaign of maritime terror. Everyone dreads the possibility of the return of the Blue Vadeli, the leaders and archmages, who could actually put the bad old Vadeli Empire together again.

* GiantEnemyCrab: Supplement ''Trollpak'', "Book of Uz" part 2. The crabs tamed and used by trolls can weigh more than 2,000 lbs.

* GodCouple: Yelm and Dendara, Orlanth and Ernalda.
* GodEmperor: The Red Emperor is this for the Lunar Empire.
* GodIsDead

** The Unholy Trio, a subset of the Chaos gods, are even more so-even Chaos worshipers hate them.

* LoveGoddess: Uleria.

* MadGod: Ragnaglar of the Unholy Trio.

** In Glorantha, the giant Grotarons (a.k.a. Trimanes and Maidstone Archers) have a third arm where their head would be (and eyes on the backs of their hands and a mouth in their solar plexus...) They use massive bows, held in their left and right arms and drawn with their top arms.

** Esrolia is matriarchal. Glorantha creator Greg Stafford has pointed out that this does not mean "rule by women" — it means "rule by mothers", specifically, Grandmothers, the heads of extensive matriarchal patrician (matrician?) clans (and their clients). Some of them are genuinely well-meaning and benign; others are ruthless, controlling, manipulative tyrants. All of them are iron-willed, powerful Earth priestesses with decades of positively Byzantine political experience, and so none of them are to be messed with.
** Older troll leaders tend to fall under this too. Female trolls don't tend to venture out of the dark or fight with weapons much - they have expendable males for that. But if threatened or provoked, troll "grannies" usually have a vast arsenal of dark magic and demons to throw at an enemy.

** In the mythical history of the Durulz, Yelm demanded three times that the Durulz fly down and save him from being trapped in Hell after Orlanth killed him. They refused him each time. When Orlanth was finally forced to rescue Yelm to end the Darkness, Yelm was determined to destroy the Durulz utterly for refusing him, changing his mind only when the rest of the Sky Gods persuaded him that a FateWorseThanDeath would be more fitting. Completely ignoring that he ''earned'' their enmity by invading their ancestral homeland, burning it into a lifeless desert and slaughtering them until they were forced to flee, an invasion he launched only because their pantheon had made friends with Orlanth.

* TheNightThatNeverEnds: This is what happens when you kill the Sun God. [[HellOnEarth And then it gets worse.]]
* OnlyAFleshWound: Averted, due to the hit-location system. Characters can get crippled very easily in combat.

* OrderVersusChaos: Lunar Empire versus Orlanthi, big time. Although it is kind of a weird case - the Lunar Empire promotes (cosmic) Chaos but is ''very'' organized, whereas the Orlanthi are Chaos-hating barbarian berserkers.
* OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous: Rashoran/Rashorana and Androgeus.
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: Glorantha is famous for its many, many odd creatures, and for being one of the earliest settings in which playing as a monster was ''encouraged''. You can even play intelligent ducks, called Durulz in ''[=RuneQuest=]''. (It has its advantages: small size, high Dexterity, and hardly anyone notices a Duck — perfect for a thief/rogue or a mage. And you know what? They have their own island empire in the far East.)

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Massively averted. Dwarves are made into one of several castes, very different from each other. And they are not Viking-like, they are instead living tools dedicated to repairing the once-perfect World Machine.

* PlagueMaster: Malia, the Mother of Disease.
* PlantPerson: The elves.

* RainbowMotif: The rainbow [[BlobMonster gorp]] can change from one color to another. Each color gives it a different Chaos Feature: red (increase Size by 11), orange (RegeneratingHealth of 1 HitPoint per round), yellow (12 points of skin armor), green (RegeneratingHealth of 6 {{Hit Point}}s per round), blue (turn into a harmless appearing pile of dust) and purple (absorb spells that cost up to two magic points).
* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: In ''[=RuneQuest=]: Roleplaying in Glorantha'', rape is one of the two most dishonourable deeds in the game (the other is killing of a kin) - both of these would cause a loss of 50 honour points. In contrast, killing a guest is only a loss of 35 points.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: ''Magazine/WhiteDwarf''

* ScienceIsBad: Almost everyone outside Zistorwal hated the scientific method-based Zistor project. Probably with good reason.
* ScorpionPeople: The Glorantha campaign setting has scorpionmen.

* SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum: The broo's primary motivation.
* SupernaturalMartialArts

* TooDumbToLive: Hey, God Learners and Empire of Wyrm's Friends? Did ya ever think that ''maybe'' mucking around with the ''source code of reality '''might''''' have consequences down the line? Like, say, forcing a pair of goddesses to do the other's job as a ''thought experiment?'' Given how you managed to blow yourselves up, guess not.

* TricksterArchetype: Several, Eurmal being the main example.
* UniverseCompendium: The ''Guide to Glorantha'' and the ''Glorantha Sourcebook''.

* RainbowMotif: The rainbow gorp can change from one color to another. Each color gives it a different Chaos Feature: red (increase Size by 11), orange (RegeneratingHealth of 1 HitPoint per round), yellow (12 points of skin armor), green (RegeneratingHealth of 6 {{Hit Point}}s per round), blue (turn into a harmless appearing pile of dust) and purple (absorb spells that cost up to two magic points).

* RainbowMotif: The rainbow gorp can change from one color to another. Each color gives it a different Chaos Feature: red (increase Size by 11), orange ({{regeneration}} 1 HitPoint per round), yellow (12 points of skin armor), green ({{regeneration}} 6 {{Hit Point}}s per round), blue (turn into a harmless appearing pile of dust) and purple (absorb spells that cost up to two magic points).

* OtherworldlyAndSexuallyAmbiguous: Rashoran/Rashorana.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: Are you familiar with the work of comparative mythologists like Joseph Campbell or Mircea Eliade? What about concepts like "mytheme" or "euhemerism"? Yeah, good luck trying to understand Gloranthan deep lore if you answered "no".