Jump to content

RuneQuest Monsters

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

RuneQuest Monsters
Cover art by David Gallagher, 1987
Designers
PublishersGames Workshop
Publication1987
GenresFantasy
SystemsBasic Role-Playing

RuneQuest Monsters is a game supplement published by Games Workshop in 1987 for the fantasy role-playing game RuneQuest.

Contents

[edit]

RuneQuest Monsters is a bestiary of 90 creatures and monsters for use with the third edition of RuneQuest published by Avalon Hill.[1] Entries include mundane creatures (dog, deer), carnivores (tiger, bear), creatures of fantasy (griffin, harpy), dinosaurs, and literary creations (jabberwock). There are also a number of human non-player characters listed.

Publication history

[edit]

Chaosium originally published Runequest in 1978, and quickly followed this with a second edition the following year. In an attempt to increase distribution and marketing of Runequest, Chaosium made a deal with Avalon Hill in 1984 to publish the third edition of RuneQuest.[2]

During this period, Games Workshop made a number of licensed supplements, RuneQuest Monsters being one, a 112-page hardcover book written by Steve Perrin, Greg Stafford, Steve Henderson, Lynn Willis, Charlie Krank, Ray Turney, Ken Rolston, and Sandy Petersen, with a cover by David Gallagher, and published by Games Workshop in 1987.[3]

Reception

[edit]

Paul Cockburn reviewed RuneQuest Monsters for White Dwarf #93, and stated that "the book doubles up both as a useful long-term reference tool, and as an immediately useable game aid."[1]

In Issue 5 of The Games Machine, John Woods reviewed three 3rd edition Runequest books — the RuneQuest rulebook, Advanced RuneQuest, and RuneQuest Monsters — and found Monsters to be "the poorest value of the three, with the text being thinned out by over-generous illustrations." Woods concluded with a recommendation to not buy this book, saying, "It is quite possible to get by without it, though - the selection of creatures in the [RuneQuest rulebook] is sufficient to get started and to give referees enough examples to invent their own monsters."[4]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Cockburn, Paul (September 1987). "Open Box". White Dwarf. No. 93. Games Workshop. pp. 2–3.
  2. ^ List, Steve (March–April 1987). "Game Reviews". Different Worlds. No. 45. Chaosium. pp. 28–29.
  3. ^ Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 213. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
  4. ^ Woods, John (April 1988). "Flexible Fighting". The Games Machine. No. 5. Newsfield. p. 99.