From the Q&A: What does YGWV (“Your Glorantha Will Vary”) mean?
Posted by Michael O'Brien on 11th May 2022
From our Fan Use and Licensing Q&A:
Q: What does YGWV (“Your Glorantha Will Vary”) mean? How does this apply to fan and licensed products?
A: Glorantha is one of the oldest and most influential fantasy role-playing settings. It is the magnum opus of legendary designer Greg Stafford, who accumulated Glorantha's myths, legends, and other lore from 1966 until his passing in 2018.
“Your Glorantha Will Vary” is a long-established principle in Gloranthan fandom. First espoused by the creator of the setting himself, Greg Stafford, in a nutshell what it means is you are free and welcome to take what you want from the incredibly rich tapestry of myth, magic, history and wonder of Glorantha for use in your own games.
We work closely with our Commercial licensees to ensure what they publish is in alignment with our published products, but Fan content creators - including those publishing in the Jonstown Compendium - have no such obligation.
The “official” canon for the world is found in material published by Chaosium/Moon Design Publications, with what is presented in The Guide to Glorantha and The Glorantha Sourcebook as definitive.
nb, in addition to YGWV, there's also YGMV - "Your Glorantha May Vary". As you'll frequently see in the RuneQuest and Glorantha discussion boards at BRP Central, this term is often used when offering personal interpretations and speculations about the world of Glorantha, e.g. "In my RuneQuest campaign, we play the Sun Dome Templars of Prax as if they are Spartans who've somehow ended up the Wild West. YGMV."