Journey to Jonstown #79: The Final Riddle, and more

From Andrew Logan Montgomery, the Platinum-bestselling author of Six Seasons in Sartar, The Company of the Dragon and The Seven Tailed Wolf, and winner of the 2022 Greg Stafford Memorial Award for Gloranthan Fandom, comes a new campaign of Gloranthan horror, Illumination, and corruption.

This, and other exciting new releases from independent RuneQuest creators are in the Jonstown Compendium at DriveThruRPG; do check them out, and leave a star rating or review if you like what you see! 

The Final Riddle
By Andrew Logan Montgomery
110 pages: $15.95 PDF

PAVIS. 1622 S.T. The city teeters on a knife’s edge, ready to fall. In the Great Winter, refugees flood the streets. The granaries are empty. Violence escalates as hunger grows. There is no work to be had. No hope.

Then the Esrolian woman arrives.

Unva Prithverna is hiring, putting together an expedition deep into the Wastes. Stories of a lost city, of a goddess forgotten to Time, stir in her wake. For your adventurers, she offers salvation.

Or, perhaps, damnation.

Based on the sensational Lunar pillow book of the same name, within the pages of The Final Riddle you shall find:

• An alternate system of Lunar Illumination, compatible with Cults of RuneQuest: the Lunar Way but tailored for this campaign.
• New rules for running horror-themed adventures in RuneQuest, focused on the corrosive forces of Chaos.
• The Weird Wastes, rules for exploring the Wastelands not as a simple desert, but a Chaos-shattered desolation where reality crumbles.
• Rules for Epic Passions, overpowering drives for tragic characters.
• Pavis in the Great Winter, a scenario that introduces your adventurers and the key NPCs.
• Riddles in the Dust, a trek deep into the Wastes where every league brings greater horror and madness.
• Six optional episodes of encounters along the way.
• The Final Riddle, a scenario that brings the adventurers at last to the lost city of Shum Sarzum, and face to face with its terrible secrets.
• Pre-generated characters based on the protagonists of the original Lunar pillow book.
• Detailed scholarly quotes on the importance of the book, and its role in ancient Glamour.

Welcome to the heart of darkness. Welcome to The Final Riddle.

Fear and Loathing in Old Pavis
By Ian Thomson and friends, with art by Dario Corallo and many others.
308 pages: $21.50 PDF

The sixth volume in the Pavis & Big Rubble Companion series contains:

• The Eye of the Hurricane: After failing to halt the Cradle, Governor Sor-eel is relieved of his post, and Duke Raus is appointed Administrator of Pavis. To the surprise of many, he picks the Grey Company to be his local advisors and Liaison Officers.
• Sacred Time in Old Pavis: The Company takes part in two powerful quests to revitalize the Old City, including visits to the Aldryami Garden, Yelmalio Hill and Angle Fort.
• The Trip to Glamour: Ousted, Duke Raus and his advisors travel by Moon Boat to the distant imperial capital and appeal to the Red Emperor himself for reinstatement.
• Fear & Loathing in Old Pavis: The Grey Company uncovers a Lunar conspiracy to marry Pavis into the Lunar pantheon. As the savage effects of the Windstop cover Pavis County, the Company must quest to strengthen the myths of the ancient city and thwart the Wedding Plans finally and forever.
• Return of the Champion: With Dark Season looming,the Grey Company explores a forgotten underground complex in search of a sacred artifact prophesied to be part of the restoration of Pavis City.

Many Suns
By Ryan Odens.
51 pages: $8.00 PDF

Behold: the Revelation of the Many Suns! The Cold Sun cult of the Sun Dome Temples and Pentan horse nomads has many faces: known across Glorantha, he is worshiped by many different names, his rites and secrets varying from place to place. Called Yelmalio, Elmal and Kargzant, this god has been a key part of Glorantha for many years, sparking debates on his nature and his cults. This book contains secrets and wisdom at the heart of this cult and much more, both for game masters and players. Inside are four full cult write ups, detailing the cults of Halamalao, Antirius, Elmal, and Kargzant for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, showing how different cultures make for different cults. Appendices muse on the nature of the Cold Sun, detail the varied Sun Domes of central Genertela, and set out how different cults interpret his mythic deeds when heroquesting.

Sacred Sites of Dragon Pass
By Morgan Conrad
31 pages: $3.75 PDF

RuneQuest adventurers are often traveling, and need a shrine or temple for prayer, worship, or Rune point recovery. Or might stumble across one by accident. This handy reference lets players and gamemasters find nearby sacred sites in Dragon Pass.

This is a reverse lookup to all the sacred places listed in Lands of RuneQuest: Dragon Pass, grouped alphabetically by cult and then by area (Sartar, the Far Point, Lunar Tarsh, Old Tarsh, the Grazelands and the Wilds).

Voyages: the Gloranthan Art of Mark Smylie
By Martin Helsdon, with art by Mark Smylie.
54 pages: $19.99 softcover or $24.99 hardcover

This book collects together many of the pictures by Mark Smylie created for Ships and Shores of Southern Genertela, and the covers and some interior pictures of several other titles.

Mark, an American comics creator, writer and illustrator, has worked in all aspects of the comics and graphic novel publishing field, including as an author and illustrator, publisher, and editor. His work has enriched many games, including illustrations for supplements of Chaosium’s RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. In 2024 Mark Smylie was awarded the Greg Stafford Memorial Award for contributions to Gloranthan community content.

RuneQuest without a Gamemaster
By Mark Prier, art by Elizabeth Kirshtein
356 pages: $20.00 PDF

A complete guide to playing RuneQuest without a GM, this book covers getting answers to player questions; determining details, outcomes, unforeseen events and revelations; travelling and exploring; combat; shaping non-player character encounters and actions; and other unpredictable elements normally handled by a gamemaster.

Begin by following the fully detailed, step-by-step instructions, then move to using gameplay summaries as references while playing. You pick and choose which elements are most appropriate for your game. Everything is designed around RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha so that gameplay still feels like RuneQuest.

Not interested in solo or co-operative gameplay without a GM? Gamemasters can use this book to help run games on the fly or to guide “lonely fun” while creating new scenarios and campaigns. The book includes helpful worksheets for organizing your campaign, combat encounters, and mapping out previously unexplored parts of Glorantha.

• 307 pages of instructions, special rules, oracles, random tables, and worksheets, all of it designed to help you play RuneQuest without a GM;
• guides to setting up your RuneQuest game and starting your campaign;
• a set of primary oracles and advice to help you make decisions and get inspired;
• extra rules covering: six options for combat, a system for exploration and travel, and mechanics to keep your game moving;
• 71 pages of additional oracles and random tables covering just about anything that comes up during gameplay, from animals and characters to terrain and treasure;
• references to other helpful random tables and publications;
• a 97-page example of play covering a full season of adventuring, illustrating everything from setup and note-taking to dice rolls and player decisions;
• "The Caves at Two Faces", a scenario starter to begin your campaign (or drop into an ongoing one);
• a complete set of worksheets for adventure details, characters, game issues, goals, an adversary squad sheet, combat trackers, and map sheets (in square and hexagon formats);
• a full appendix gathering the most frequently used summaries and tables in one location for easy reference;
• and a complete index for looking up rules, terms, and details.

Jonstown Compendium Catalogue 2024
By Nick Brooke, art by Dario Corallo
251 pages: $5.00 PDF

Nick Brooke's Catalogue details every supplement published in the first five years of Chaosium's community content programme for RuneQuest and Glorantha. This book merges the 2023 JC Catalogue with the 2024 JC Index to present every release up to the end of December 2024, divided into categories. Titles in most categories are ranked by sales.

Detailed listings analyse content (pages split between scenario, stats, maps, etc.), price per page of content (excluding front matter, blank pages, etc.), and summarise key details about each title. Three Where in the World? maps show product locations (where they can be pinned down). There are notes on when each scenario and campaign is set (by year and season, inc. all Chaosium RQG scenarios). Appendices include notes for creators and best-seller charts (all time and 2024 by quarter), a couple of updated bar-charts, and an Index.

The Jonstown Compendium is where you can find —and create —self-published material for your roleplaying in Glorantha with content for RuneQuest, along with the QuestWorlds, and 13th Age Glorantha systems.

Remember you like what you see in the Jonstown Compendium, remember to give the creators a star rating or even a review!