The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Almost as soon as I'd ordered this, I wished I hadn't. I nearly tried to cancel the order - thank heavens I didn't.

I've been an on-and-off fan of the world of Glorantha for over a decade now, playing first RuneQuest and now Hero Wars. One of the main appeals has always been the world itslef, a rich and exciting and above all original fantasy creation - only M. A. R. Barker's Tekumel comes near it in my opinion.

The Lunar Empire has always been Glorantha's 'superpower', a huge and powerful empire trying to conquer the heroic barbarians of Dragon Pass. But we've never really know much about it beyond that it's big.

This is the first real picture of the empire - a huge 24" by 28" full-color map, on nice, solid, shiny paper. One of the reasons why I regretted my initial impulse to order this was the cost - 27 bucks seemed a lot for a map. But apart from the fact that this included airmail from England in a tough protectie tube, I now think that this is a decent price for such a high-quality product.

It's pretty, but it's also useful. Now we have some idea of the empire, a map to understand where various cultures and cities we heard of go, me and my players want to start playing a lunar game: something mobile, so that we can get exploring this map.

What's also amazing is that this professional-quality map actually comes from an amateur outfit, The Unspoken Word. They also publish a fanzine called, no surprise here, The Unspoken Word, although I haven't seen it.

Their website is @ http://www.celtic-webs.com/theunspokenword/ - follow the Products link for more details on the map (including a link to view a lower-resolution version on-line) and how to order it.

Overall, the only real downside is the price. But then again, a buddy printed the whole thing out onto like 12 sheets of paper and he got a lower-quality map but used up an entire print cartridge, so I reckon it's not that bad. With no gazetteer it's something for people who know Glorantha already, but if you have ever wondered about the empire and want to see a really, well, beautiful depiction of it (kudos to the mappers: Martin Laurie, Wesley Quadros and Greg Stafford!) then it's well worth it.

The Map of the Lunar Empire
The Map of the Lunar Empire Capsule Review by Bob Annis on 15/09/01 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!) Awesome. A huge and beautiful map of the Lunar Empire of Glorantha. Product: The Map of the Lunar Empire Author: Various Category: Map/Play Aid Company/Publisher: The Unspoken Word Line: Cost: $27 Page count: n/a Year published: 2001 ISBN: n/a SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Bob Annis on 15/09/01 Genre tags: Fantasy	Almost as soon as I'd ordered this, I wished I hadn't. I nearly tried to cancel the order - thank heavens I didn't. I've been an on-and-off fan of the world of Glorantha for over a decade now, playing first RuneQuest and now Hero Wars. One of the main appeals has always been the world itslef, a rich and exciting and above all original fantasy creation - only M. A. R. Barker's Tekumel comes near it in my opinion. The Lunar Empire has always been Glorantha's 'superpower', a huge and powerful empire trying to conquer the heroic barbarians of Dragon Pass. But we've never really know much about it beyond that it's big. This is the first real picture of the empire - a huge 24" by 28" full-color map, on nice, solid, shiny paper. One of the reasons why I regretted my initial impulse to order this was the cost - 27 bucks seemed a lot for a map. But apart from the fact that this included airmail from England in a tough protectie tube, I now think that this is a decent price for such a high-quality product. It's pretty, but it's also useful. Now we have some idea of the empire, a map to understand where various cultures and cities we heard of go, me and my players want to start playing a lunar game: something mobile, so that we can get exploring this map. What's also amazing is that this professional-quality map actually comes from an amateur outfit, The Unspoken Word. They also publish a fanzine called, no surprise here, The Unspoken Word, although I haven't seen it. Their website is @ http://www.celtic-webs.com/theunspokenword/ - follow the Products link for more details on the map (including a link to view a lower-resolution version on-line) and how to order it. Overall, the only real downside is the price. But then again, a buddy printed the whole thing out onto like 12 sheets of paper and he got a lower-quality map but used up an entire print cartridge, so I reckon it's not that bad. With no gazetteer it's something for people who know Glorantha already, but if you have ever wondered about the empire and want to see a really, well, beautiful depiction of it (kudos to the mappers: Martin Laurie, Wesley Quadros and Greg Stafford!) then it's well worth it.

The Map of the Lunar Empire