Orlanth is Dead is a campaign for Hero Wars (soon to be Heroquest). It is part of the Sartar Rising series of adventures. The campaign is set in Sartar, and outlines the beginning of the Hero Wars of Glorantha. You need a copy of the main rulebook, Barbarian Adventures, Thunder Rebels, and Storm Tribe to fully use this book. PC’s are expected to be Orlanthi, or at least allied with them.

The book itself is 8.5” x 11”, soft cover, stapled, and 72 pages. The font is easy to read, and there isn’t too much wasted space. The cover shows a Sartarite/Orlanthi warrior engaging a monster in a snowy forest. It is well done, and I liked it. Art inside the book ranges from average to very good. All of it fits the tone of the game world quite well, something that should be emulated by other companies. Those of you who own the computer game Dragon Pass will recognize some of the pictures. There is a very nice index in the back.

The first chapter of the book is titled “Welcome to the Hero Wars”. It gives a rundown of what is in the book, as well as several pages of advice for GM’s on how to run a campaign in Glorantha. Much of this advice is quite good, including how to pace the campaign, engaging the PC’s in friendly rivalries with other clans, an interesting tidbit on Orlanthi culture (the Mishap House), and a background of Sartar leading up to present time. The Mishap House is really cool. Orlanthi who have become disabled either physically or mentally while serving the clan live there, usually during a heroquest. They are taken care of by the Healers and their clan. They serve as a living reminder why people need to continue to questing, in order to prepare for the coming wars. This provided some nice insight on how the Orlanthi (and thus the PC’s) treat each other.

The next chapter is entitled “The Sartar Campaign”. It outlines the coming Hero Wars, which include the events contained within this book. This is really nice, as it allows GM’s who move past the currently published books to stick with where the story arc is going. It also identifies all the local, important NPC’s, and what they are doing and what will happen to them in the coming years.

One NPC, Kallyr Starbrow, is detailed very well. She is the leader of the rebellion against the Lunars who have conquered Sartar. Various ideas are given for ways that the GM can introduce the PC’s to her. This is well done, as the PC’s will quite probably be swept up into the rebellion, and they can gain a lot of influence if they can present themselves positively to her.

The Mystery of Argrath explains how Argrath is the prophesied savior of the Orlanthi people, and the possibility that one or more of the PC’s could become him. This provides a relatively unique way for PC’s to actually step into a local legend and become that person. I liked it a lot, as it brings the mythic view of Glorantha more into focus (PC’s aren’t just adventurers, they are heroes whose legends have already been told).

The next chapter is “Your Clan”. It provides a long list of questions, with multiple answers for each question. The PC’s answers determine what their clan is like, including religion, wealth, how violent they are, and who they will side with in the coming wars. Poor answers could easily have the PC’s fighting for the rebellion, while their clan backs the Lunars. I should mention at this point that the clan is extremely important in everyday life in Sartar. Orlanthi who do not belong to or have the backing of their clan are fair game for anyone they run into. Laws are enforced by the clan, so if the PC’s have no clan, no one will back them up, and they can be enslaved or killed, and no one would care. This section is very well done, and let’s the players have direct input into what their clan does and thinks. I like this because it causes the players to actually care more about what their relatives are like, and provides a large number of potential campaign hooks that a good roleplayer can use. It could be adapted for other games with relatively little difficulty.

The next chapter is “Heortling Warfare”, which describes how the Orlanthi fight their battles. It goes into detail on what types of units are where in the battle line, and how they act/react to the changing conditions of the battlefield. Different options are given detailing how to run the battle if the PC’s are generals, or if they are just regular foot soldiers. Bits like describing how the “fog of war” affects character knowledge are explained in detail, helping the beginning (or even experienced) GM control events. The chaotic conditions of communications and other vital things can greatly effect the outcome of a battle. The PC’s section may be destroying all comers, but all the units around them may have fallen back. If the PC’s don’t realize what is going on, they could be cut off and surrounded. Or the opposite could happen. The PC’s unit could be in complete disarray, leading them to believe the battle is lost, when their side is actually winning overall. I really liked this advice, as the tips are good reminders of just how limited even the most powerful characters can be if they have limited knowledge. Anyone who runs ancient or medieval battles will benefit from this advice.

There is also a bit on how magic influences the battle. While not overwhelming, it provides some very good ideas on just how effective a well-timed spell can be. Battlefield magic is used by conducting rituals and sacrifices before the engagement, asking for the favor of the gods. Many units that have been together for a while often have a patron god who will help them in some way, whether it be to fire their arrows faster or to grant them the ability to not break in the face of overwhelming odds. It can be very flavorful, or as simple as letting a commander talk with his unit sergeants as if they were standing next to him, instead of engaging the enemy hundreds of yards away. More information could have been helpful here, as it was a bit sparse. But what was given was very good. A few extra pages would have helped this greatly.

A nice section at the end of the chapter details the Ethics of War. Basically, it shows how the Orlanthi fight. When individual Orlanthi fight, they don’t try to hurt each other seriously, as they may be allies the next day. When engaging in raids against other Orlanthi clans, they are willing to kill, but will stop short of annihilating each other. When fighting Lunars or other outsiders, they will try to kill every enemy they find, and no quarter is given. Also, poisoning the enemy troops before battle, signing false treaties, and other such behavior is perfectly acceptable when engaging outsiders. It provides another insight into how the Orlanthi, even if fighting each other, will band together against a stranger and kill him. I liked this, as yet again a nice chunk of their culture is explained.

The next chapter is “Narrator Resources”. It gives stats for enemy units, as well as both friendly and enemy NPC’s. It is relatively straightforward, but does have a very nice idea in the Villain. The Villain is an NPC that the character’s will encounter and eventually grow to hate. At first they only fight his troops, but as they grow more powerful, the PC’s will directly confront him. While standard fare for many games, a lot of advice is given on how to gradually bring the Villain into the game. Making sure he escapes once or twice, yet always shows up again to thwart the PC’s, is detailed. By following this advice, the players will end up spending more than a little time dealing with just this one foe, and often dedicate even unnecessary resources to beating him, so that the day when he is finally defeated will be a hallmark of the campaign. The advice is extensive, and will be invaluable to less experienced GM’s. Even experienced GM’s will probably learn something here. It is one of the highlights of the book for me.

The next two chapters contain the campaign. They are titled “Orlanth is Dead”, and “The Battle of Iceland”. Basically, the Lunars “kill” Orlanth, the god of wind and rebellion, whom the Orlanthi peoples of Sartar follow. Once this happens, deep winter sets in. The Lunars are attempting to bring the entire area under the influence of their goddess, Sedenya. Since Orlanth refuses to acknowledge her superiority, they have decided to get rid of him. Hard times strike all the people of the region. Crops are destroyed, game becomes scarce, and starvation and freezing to death become very real threats. The players are caught in the middle of this, and are likely to take the fight to the Lunars in order to restore the natural order of things.

At this time, politics and travel become important. The players can attempt to organize various clans together to heroquest to the God Plane and bring Orlanth back. Unfortunately, they are cut off because of the Lunar magics. Many different clans and tribes try heroquesting, with no success. At this time, the players have the opportunity to join the rebellion. If they do so, they gather with many other Orlanthi rebels in the Aurochs Hills. If they stay at home, options are presented for them, though they will miss out on the very start of the Hero Wars, which they will have been informed of. The fallen King Broyan will lead the rebels to victory in a series of running battles which have been prophecied to defeat the Lunar invaders.

The big thing here is that the campaign is very loosely structured. Events happen over weeks, leaving plenty of time for players to become involved in GM scenarios. This is in fact encouraged, as the players should be fairly powerful before they enter the final battle, if they want to directly influence it. The players also have the opportunity to play politics at this time, visiting different tribes and attempting to bring them either into the Rebellion or onto the Lunar side. The Culbrea tribe, a power in the area, is presented in particular. PC actions can bring them in earlier than expected, if they perform very well.

After a period of time, the Battle of Iceland will occur, between the Sartar rebels and the Lunars. The battlefield is laid out, showing which units will attack where, and what the players can do to influence how it turns out. It’s an interesting read, and allows a lot of leeway on what to do depending on the power level of the characters. They might be foot soldiers in line waiting to fight, they could be a special hero squad that bolsters the army in different places, or they could be captains of a unit. Many different opportunities are presented for the heroes to effect the outcome. A powerful Orlanthi sorceress who helps in the battle is targeted by magic-using Lunar archers. The players will have the opportunity to rescue her. If they fail, or ignore the situation, she will die. Different units may fall back or even routed unless the players can turn the tide of battle.

Overall, this book is very worthwhile for those people interested in Glorantha. It provides a strong outline on current and future events in the major hotbed of the setting. The pace of the adventure is structured so that plenty of time is allowed for players to work with their clan. Both political and military plots are available, depending on which way the players are inclined to roleplay. While the book would definitely have improved with 20 or more pages added, explaining the campaign in more detail, it leaves a strong framework for GM’s to work with.

For players interested in getting into Glorantha, or just looking for source material, there are a few gems in the book. The Clan creation chapter, the look at clan warfare, and the use of a campaign villain can all be useful, especially to those GM’s who have a barbaric tone in their campaign.