History TabletopGame / RuneQuest

* PettingZooPeople: The Durulz, who appear as anthropomorphic birds, divided into two major tribes: the Ducks and the Keets, with the latter being made up of various species (flamingos, pelicans, penguins, auks, herons, swordbills, peacocks, etc).

** Later, the Lunar Empire also wants everybody to worship their Goddess, so that the world can be one in All again. And damn are they succeeding. According to ''King of Sartar'' the Goddess would be eventually defeated, but [[InUniverse many believe]] [[HesJustHiding She is just hiding.]]

Since 1980 Chaosium has used versions of the core [=RuneQuest=] rules for other games like ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', ''[[Literature/TheElricSaga 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 ''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.

Since 1980 Chaosium has used versions of the core [=RuneQuest=] rules for other games like ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', ''[[Literature/TheElricSaga 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-game ''VideoGame/KingOfDragonPass'' and the web-comic ''Prince of Sartar''. 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.

In 2005 Stafford licensed the ''[=RuneQuest=]'' name to Mongoose Publishing to create a new version, published in 2006. It cloned the basics of the rules but didn't use the original copyrighted wording (which had reverted to Chaosium). This version was placed under the Open Gaming License. A heavily revised Mongoose edition, written by longtime ''[=RuneQuest=]'' fans and game designers Lawrence Whitaker and Pete Nash, was published in 2010, and was far better received than the first Mongoose edition. However, Mongoose's license was not renewed, and in 2012, a new company formed by Whitaker and Nash, The Design Mechanism, picked up the license and published a 6th edition of ''[=RuneQuest=]'', an expansion of the second Mongoose edition. Moon Design Publications purchased all of the rights and trademarks for ''[=RuneQuest=]'' and Glorantha from Stafford in 2014, and maintained the license at first. Shortly after, however, ongoing financial issues at Chaosium led Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen (who collectively owned a majority ownership) to retake control of Chaosium and arrange a merger with Moon Design, whose management team would run the combined company. With the trademark and copyright for ''[=RuneQuest=]'' once more under its control, Chaosium is developing a new edition of ''[=RuneQuest=]'', called ''[=RuneQuest=]: Roleplaying in Glorantha'', scheduled to debut just before the end of 2017.

Since 1980 Chaosium has used the core [=RuneQuest=] rules for other games like ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', ''[[Literature/TheElricSaga Stormbringer]]'', and the ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' RPG, and many, many others, which are all now collectively known as the Basic Role-Playing System (BRP). The fantasy world of Glorantha is also the setting of the video-game ''VideoGame/KingOfDragonPass'' and the web-comic ''Prince of Sartar''.

* AdjectiveAnimalAlehouse

* AlwaysChaoticEvil
** Deconstructed with the broo-they were created as a warped parody of life meant only to destroy, and they know it. [[TorturedMonster And they have never forgiven their creators.]]
** 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.

* AssimilationPlot

* AttackReflector

* BigBadDuumvirate

* ChariotRace

* CreepyCentipedes

* DarkIsNotEvil

* GiantSpider

* GodOfEvil

* IKnowYourTrueName

* LightIsNotGood

* MultiArmedAndDangerous
** In the default world of 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.

* NeverMessWithGranny
** 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.

* NeverMyFault

* SuperSpit
** Supplement ''Dorastor: Land of Doom''

* VampiricDraining
** Supplement ''Dorastor: Land of Doom''

* WeakenedByTheLight

** 3rd Edition boxed set "Gamemaster Book". In the adventure "The Money Tree", the {{PC}}s AllMeetInAnInn: specifically, the Bouncing Buffalo Inn.

* AdjectiveAnimalAlehouse: ''Champions of the Reaching Moon'' mentions the Tardy Newt inn in the city of Glamour.

* EternalRecurrence: The [=GodTime=], a concept pretty much inspired by mythologist Mircea Eliade's eternal return.

** 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 among the list of named candidates.

* 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 among the list of named candidates.

* 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 a single, composite character. 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 among the list of named candidates.

* 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 a single, composite figure. 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 among the list of named candidates.

* 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 a single, composite figure. 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 great enemy until said empires defeated and imprisoned them; both were released by a Lightbringers Quest, and both ended up betraying their allies), is not among the list of named candidates.

* EldritchAbomination: The Lunar Goddess rides one of these.

* 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 others' job as a ''thought experiment?'' Given how you managed to blow yourselves up, guess not.

* AllMythsAreTrue: All Gloranthan myths are literally true, even utterly contradictory myths of different cultures. Changing a myth (by going on a Hero Quest to the world of the gods) can ''retroactively change reality''.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: True Dragons are beings of unfathomable power, and human beings can become dragons if they follow Draconic Mysticism. The Empire of Wyrmfriends wants to [[AssimilationPlot assimilate everybody into being dragons. Or at least part of the messianic Great Dragon to Come]].

* 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 Godtime.

* PettingZooPeople: The Durulz, who appear as anthropomorphic birds, divided into two major tribes; the Ducks and the Keets, with the latter being made up of various species (flamingos, pelicans, penguins, auks, herons, swordbills, peacocks, etc).

** Supplement ''Dorastor: Land of Doom''. The claws of the powerful evil Chaos being Cacodemon inject a potent corrosive venom that can inflict up to 114 Hit Points of damage. The claws of his Fiend minions inject a similar poison that can do up to 20 Hit Points of damage. (A typical human has 11–12 Hit Points, for reference.)

** Later, the Lunar Empire also wants everybody to worship their Goddess, so that the world can be one in All again. And damn are they succeeding. According to ''King of Sartar'' the Goddess would be eventually defeated, but [[InUniverse she probably]] [[HesJustHiding is just hiding.]]

* AnthropomorphicPersonification: The deities of the Celestial Court personify the Runes.

* AllMythsAreTrue: All ''Gloranthan'' myths are literally true, even utterly contradictory myths of different cultures. Changing a myth (by going on a Hero Quest to the world of the gods) can ''retroactively change reality''.

** 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 their 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.

* UnreliableNarrator: Lots. Many texts are written from an InUniverse point of view, and even if AllMythsAreTrue in Glorantha falsehoods and inaccuracies still creep in.

* MindScrew: There are lots of mutually exclusive mythologies, and all of them are true because reality before Time started was fluid. And sometimes (the Sunstop, which temporarily broke Time, being the main example) it can still be. And traveling to the reality before Time started, which still exists as a separate plane, can potentially retcon reality after Time started. Needless to say, all of this can be ''just a little'' confusing.

* RedEyesTakeWarning: ''Magazine/WhiteDwarf'' #45, article "Dealing With Demons". Demon wolves are large wolves with red eyes. They can inflict a curse that can strike the victim dumb or blind, paralyze their arms or wither their legs, or cause them to be disfigured or turned into a rat. They are summoned by the sacrifice of sapient beings to them.

** ''Magazine/WhiteDwarf'' magazine #92 article "Demons! Dealing with the Otherworld". When summoning a demon, the caster must speak the True Name of the demon during the invocation.