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Orlanth is Dead is a supplement for Issaries Inc.’s Gloranthan RPG Hero Wars (soon to be retitled HeroQuest). It is the second volume of the Sartar Rising campaign that began in Barbarian Adventures. Were BA concentrated on the everyday life of the Sartarites, OiD is an epic level adventure in which the player character will participate in a very significant event in Gloranthan history. Because of this, my review will contain some spoilers.

The book is 8 ½” by 11” like Barbarian Adventures, a departure from the earlier HW products which were trade paperback sized. The art seems good to my untrained eye, and includes some pictures from A Sharp’s Gloranthan computer game King of Dragon Pass and some more of Simon Brays atmospheric woodcut style illustrations of deities.

The book begins with a brief introduction chapter, which contains some general Gming advice.

The second chapter is titled The Sartar Campaign. It gives a timeline for events that occur in Sartar from 1613 to 1625. It also gives information on Kallyr Starbrow, the most important of the Sartar rebel leaders who are fighting the occupying Lunar Empire and a figure who mentioned in several past publications. Her history and the way the pcs will meet her are described. Finally some information on Argrath, a mysterious composite figure mentioned in “future” Gloranthan documents about this time is given, including some candidates for who he/she really was and how a PC might become one of them.

Chapter three is titled Your Clan and contains the clan generation table that was originally meant to be included in Barbarian Adventures. By answering the questions on this table, the players create the history of their home clan, all the way from the mythical gods age to the modern day.

The next chapter is Heortling Warfare, and gives a description of how this society views and practices war. Quick methods are given for resolving two different types of battles: hero driven, in which the level of success or failure of the heroes modify the outcome of the battle, and leader driven, in which the outcome of the battle modifies the heroes actions.

Next is Narrator Resources. This chapter contains military units of the Lunar Empire (the foes of PCs), game statistics for eight of the Sartar rebel leaders, including Kallyr Starbrow. These are given in the same format as were the important characters in Barbarian Adventures, with the character’s main abilities in the center and their various followers above them and their relationships to organizations and cults below and to their sides. I noticed a few typos on one of the leaders, some of the mastery runes for his skills had been replace with dashes, but anyone familiar with the rules can see were they belong. Also given are two powerful Lunar characters in the same format, as well as two with minimal stats so that the narrator can tailor them to his campaign. These are examples of recurring villains, NPCs who keep the bad guys from becoming faceless numbers.

Chapter Six in titled Orlanth is Dead and it gives the big picture of the campaign. The Lunar Empire has invaded and occupied the storm worshipping kingdom of Sartar. As the campaign opens, the Lunars have just conquered the last city in neighboring country of Heortland, were the storm gods are also worshipped. This means that they have the met the magical conditions for the death of the chief storm god, Orlanth. This causes two major events: all the winds stop blowing, and the followers of the Orlanth, his wife Ernalda the earth goddess, and many (but not quit all) of their pantheon of gods lose the ability to perform magic. This would be a significant event in any fantasy world, but it is particularly so in the magic-rich Glorantha. To quote the book, the chapter “does not provide detailed scenes or scenarios, but provides a backdrop for narrators (GMs) to use before running “The Battle of Iceland””, which is the next chapter. The events of the four seasons following the death are given. It starts to get colder. Worshippers of the Orlanth pantheon tire more quickly. The ceremonies of the holy days do not work. Spring (Sea Season) comes, but the cold remains. A Lunar official sends troops into the wilds to retaliate for a rebel attack, they kill every rebel they find and later attack every Heortling hamlet they find.

The next chapter is titled “the battle of Iceland.” It is a scenario in which the players will participate in one of the first great events of the Hero Wars. It turns out that Broyan, the last free king of Heortland, was not in Whitewall when it fell. He has performed the ritual of the Summons of Evil, which will attract the Lunars to the Auroch Hills. Here he plans to defeat them, which under these special circumstances will free Orlanth. This scenario is comparable to the famous Cradle scenario (from the Pavis supplement for the old Runequest rpg) in scope and importance.

In many ways this is the campaign that Glorantha fans have been waiting for, the one that starts the age-ending Hero Wars that have been mentioned so often in Gloranthan publications.

Orlanth is Dead
Orlanth is Dead Capsule Review by Mark Mohrfield on 17/09/02 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty) ...or is he? contains spoilers. Product: Orlanth is Dead Author: Greg Stafford and friends Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Issaries Inc. Line: Hero Wars Cost: 14.95 Page count: 72 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 1-929052 SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Mark Mohrfield on 17/09/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Orlanth is Dead is a supplement for Issaries Inc.’s Gloranthan RPG Hero Wars (soon to be retitled HeroQuest). It is the second volume of the Sartar Rising campaign that began in Barbarian Adventures. Were BA concentrated on the everyday life of the Sartarites, OiD is an epic level adventure in which the player character will participate in a very significant event in Gloranthan history. Because of this, my review will contain some spoilers. The book is 8 ½” by 11” like Barbarian Adventures, a departure from the earlier HW products which were trade paperback sized. The art seems good to my untrained eye, and includes some pictures from A Sharp’s Gloranthan computer game King of Dragon Pass and some more of Simon Brays atmospheric woodcut style illustrations of deities. The book begins with a brief introduction chapter, which contains some general Gming advice. The second chapter is titled The Sartar Campaign. It gives a timeline for events that occur in Sartar from 1613 to 1625. It also gives information on Kallyr Starbrow, the most important of the Sartar rebel leaders who are fighting the occupying Lunar Empire and a figure who mentioned in several past publications. Her history and the way the pcs will meet her are described. Finally some information on Argrath, a mysterious composite figure mentioned in “future” Gloranthan documents about this time is given, including some candidates for who he/she really was and how a PC might become one of them. Chapter three is titled Your Clan and contains the clan generation table that was originally meant to be included in Barbarian Adventures. By answering the questions on this table, the players create the history of their home clan, all the way from the mythical gods age to the modern day. The next chapter is Heortling Warfare, and gives a description of how this society views and practices war. Quick methods are given for resolving two different types of battles: hero driven, in which the level of success or failure of the heroes modify the outcome of the battle, and leader driven, in which the outcome of the battle modifies the heroes actions. Next is Narrator Resources. This chapter contains military units of the Lunar Empire (the foes of PCs), game statistics for eight of the Sartar rebel leaders, including Kallyr Starbrow. These are given in the same format as were the important characters in Barbarian Adventures, with the character’s main abilities in the center and their various followers above them and their relationships to organizations and cults below and to their sides. I noticed a few typos on one of the leaders, some of the mastery runes for his skills had been replace with dashes, but anyone familiar with the rules can see were they belong. Also given are two powerful Lunar characters in the same format, as well as two with minimal stats so that the narrator can tailor them to his campaign. These are examples of recurring villains, NPCs who keep the bad guys from becoming faceless numbers. Chapter Six in titled Orlanth is Dead and it gives the big picture of the campaign. The Lunar Empire has invaded and occupied the storm worshipping kingdom of Sartar. As the campaign opens, the Lunars have just conquered the last city in neighboring country of Heortland, were the storm gods are also worshipped. This means that they have the met the magical conditions for the death of the chief storm god, Orlanth. This causes two major events: all the winds stop blowing, and the followers of the Orlanth, his wife Ernalda the earth goddess, and many (but not quit all) of their pantheon of gods lose the ability to perform magic. This would be a significant event in any fantasy world, but it is particularly so in the magic-rich Glorantha. To quote the book, the chapter “does not provide detailed scenes or scenarios, but provides a backdrop for narrators (GMs) to use before running “The Battle of Iceland””, which is the next chapter. The events of the four seasons following the death are given. It starts to get colder. Worshippers of the Orlanth pantheon tire more quickly. The ceremonies of the holy days do not work. Spring (Sea Season) comes, but the cold remains. A Lunar official sends troops into the wilds to retaliate for a rebel attack, they kill every rebel they find and later attack every Heortling hamlet they find. The next chapter is titled “the battle of Iceland.” It is a scenario in which the players will participate in one of the first great events of the Hero Wars. It turns out that Broyan, the last free king of Heortland, was not in Whitewall when it fell. He has performed the ritual of the Summons of Evil, which will attract the Lunars to the Auroch Hills. Here he plans to defeat them, which under these special circumstances will free Orlanth. This scenario is comparable to the famous Cradle scenario (from the Pavis supplement for the old Runequest rpg) in scope and importance. In many ways this is the campaign that Glorantha fans have been waiting for, the one that starts the age-ending Hero Wars that have been mentioned so often in Gloranthan publications.