The GROGNARD Files

Episode: Glorantha (with Jeff Richard)

Date: October 31, 2023

Host: Dirk the Dice

Guest: Jeff Richard (Creative Director, Chaosium)

Additional Contributors: Judge Blythy

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the legendary world of Glorantha, Greg Stafford’s singular creation, exploring its origin, development, and ever-expanding mythology. Host Dirk the Dice is joined by Jeff Richard, Creative Director at Chaosium and co-architect of Glorantha’s recent resurgence. Together, they discuss pivotal texts like the King of Sartar, the ambitious Cults of Glorantha project, and the unique approach to worldbuilding that sets Glorantha apart from other fantasy settings. The episode also features a lively “library use” segment with Judge Blythy, who reminisces about early experiences with RuneQuest and explores classic fanzines and publications.

Main Segments & Key Discussion Points

[00:00–04:18] Introduction & Context

• Dirk records from the Emily Brontë room in Haworth, Yorkshire, drawing a parallel between the Brontë siblings' shared fictional worlds and RPG worldbuilding.
• Episode milestone: Five years since Greg Stafford’s passing, coinciding with the release of the Cults of Glorantha: Mythology book.
• Focus: The origins of Glorantha, King of Sartar, and contemporary Glorantha releases.

[04:19–20:28] Interview with Jeff Richard: Glorantha’s Literary & Game Origins

The Nature and Structure of King of Sartar ([04:34–05:57])

• Jeff Richard: Describes King of Sartar as “one of Greg’s most remarkable pieces of experimental fiction…a series of contradictory, in-setting articles… archeological snippets, kings lists, stories, all contradictory.”
  • “What really makes it to me remarkable is…to create a series of documents that opens the door to this fictional setting, but also intentionally are contradictory.” (Jeff, [04:46])
• The conceit: The book mimics a historian’s sourcebook, intentionally providing conflicting accounts.

Creative Process and Unpublished Material ([06:05–10:08])

• Greg Stafford’s prolific writing often meant “for everything…published, there’s ten times that material that…he rejected.” (Jeff, [08:25])
• Story behind the assembly of King of Sartar: Accumulated documents, stories, and campaign notes merged by Stafford based on a suggestion from David Hall.

Campaign Play & Development of Glorantha ([10:09–15:57])

• Early Glorantha fiction set in the West (Seshnella, Ralios, etc.), but rejection in the literary world moved Greg to tabletop gaming.
• Original boardgame roots: Creating the “Dragon Pass” setting by blending campaign notes, historical stories, and contrasting inspirations (from war games, US geography, etc.).
• Quote: “One of the tricks to getting Glorantha…is to—it maps, most of fantasy maps, onto Europe…Glorantha maps onto the United States. To me, that’s part of its uniqueness.” (Jeff, [13:35])

The Evolving Portrayal of Factions ([15:57–20:28])

• Lunars: No longer a straightforward Roman Empire analog. Early elements blended Roman, Greek, Persian, and Arabian archetypes.
• Dirk & Jeff discuss the changing cultural lens: “As an invading force, the Lunars… more of a cultural invasion than a militaristic invasion as depicted in King of Sartar.” (Dirk, [15:57])
• The Sartarite perspective in the text: Lunars as military, cultural, and religious threat.

[20:28–30:51] The Cults of Glorantha Megaproject

Genesis & Expansion ([20:48–24:23])

• Initially envisioned as a modest update to Cults of Prax and Cults of Terror for the new RuneQuest.
• Project scope dramatically grew: “We started with…20 cults…then it became about 50…honestly was a hundred cult writeups.” (Jeff, [21:26])
• “We get one chance to do this…If I do part of this and don’t finish the rest of it, I will never get back…” (Jeff, [22:03])
• Decision to split the massive work into 10 volumes for practicality.

Release Schedule, Thematic Strategy, and Artistic Choices ([24:23–27:06])

• Launch order chosen to maximize appeal: Prosopedia (a gazetteer-like book with capsule summaries of gods), Lightbringers, Earth Goddesses, then Mythology.
• Importance of art: Louik Muzi commissioned for 100+ images.
• Staggered quarterly releases: “I think people are willing to buy a couple of books…a quarter of RPGs, but I don’t think they want to buy 10 volumes at once.” (Jeff, [26:20])

Deep Dive: Cults of Terror and the Role of Monsters & Chaos ([27:06–30:38])

• Dirk notes: “Monsters have a culture too and they exist in the world,” reflecting Glorantha's unique monster ecology.
• Jeff: “We love the trolls…even though they eat humans…But with Chaos, you’re dealing with…the truly awful parts of the cosmos…that’s part of mythology.” ([28:21])
• On the dangers and profundity of the setting’s “bad guy” treaties. “It feels complete—it’s got beauty and ugly.” (Jeff, [29:58])

[30:51–47:57] Library Use with Judge Blythy—Classic Publications & Personal Reflections

Exploring the Prosopedia and Gloranthan Deities (A God Quiz!) ([32:06–38:44])

• Playful quiz: Dirk must deduce which deities are “real” Gloranthan gods. Gods with names like “Comb and Bread, God of Barbers”; “Stink Bal, God of Dung”; “Swems, Goddess of Worms,” etc.
• Notable moment: “It is like overwhelming, but at the same time it’s not. It’s quite a fun book to flick through and look at all these strange deities…” (Blythy, [32:20])

Early Experiences with RuneQuest ([41:36–44:20])

• Nostalgic recall of deciphering RuneQuest rules together as teens: reading the rules aloud, paragraph by paragraph.
• The early mystique of Glorantha, stemming from the promise of “over a million words” written by Greg Stafford.

The Challenge and Allure of Gloranthan Lore ([45:49–49:30])

• Blythy: “I’m conflicted…in one sense brilliant, but, but in another sense it’s rather a bit too much.” ([45:50])
• Dirk posits the multiverse theory: “Maybe the different ages represent…different ways into Glorantha.” ([48:06])

[49:30–64:39] Complexity, Commitment, and GM Insecurity

• Discussion of the “commitment issue”—the daunting nature of “doing Glorantha justice.”
• Compare to other settings (Deadlands, etc.)—Glorantha uniquely demands immersion and pre-reading.
• The anxiety of “breaking” the world versus “not doing it justice.” Fear that, despite the countless published words, GMs are always missing some vital piece of lore.

Notable Quotes

• “[Running Glorantha]…does feel sometimes like a commitment issue…right, next year I’m going to run nothing but RuneQuest…by about August, September…maybe I’ve immersed in this world.” (Blythy, [62:54])
• “You get the sense that everybody else is doing it better than you…It’s like reading Cosmopolitan…‘My life isn’t like that’…And then you get…” (Dirk, [64:39])

[64:39–75:09] Old Fanzines, Early Setting Material, and Gloranthan Humor

• Library Use segment: Deep-dive into classic fan publications (Worms Footnotes, Different Worlds), now available as PDFs (“a labor of love that is slowly revealing…material that Greg Stafford has got to support the games”). ([52:00])
• Examination of quirky places (e.g., “a village near Alone” with spike-traps for giants) and the uniquely integrated monster/human ecology.
• Reflection on Glorantha’s many in-jokes and the sacred/profane paradox. Example: the cult of Geo (the god of taverns)—a nod to “Eat at Joe’s” cartoons and Stafford’s tongue-in-cheek humor.

Notable Quotes

• “What’s notable about Glorantha is that its origins are not in Tolkien. They come from Moorcock, they come from Vance…” (Dirk, [40:58])
• “It’s a paradox at the center of Glorantha…all this mythology, but at the heart it’s a load of jokes…in-jokes and a little bit of Stafford’s quirky sense of humor.” (Dirk, [69:48])

[75:09–84:22] Closing Reflections & “Closing Time Chatter”

• Brief tangent on other games: Blythy recounts running Liminal for the first time; Dirk prepping an adventure for GrogMeet.
• The challenge of running old modules and teasing out their playable structure; difference between the need for “understanding everything” and just running with the material.
• Importance of rules lawyers “reading the manual”—joking parallel to assembling IKEA furniture vs. operating a time machine ([83:46]).

Memorable Quotes (with Timestamps)

• “Glorantha maps onto the United States. To me, that’s part of its uniqueness.”
  —Jeff Richard, [13:35]
• “For everything that Greg ever published, there’s ten times that material that Greg rejected.”
  —Jeff Richard, [08:25]
• “It’s a paradox…the sacred and the profane…at the heart, it’s just a load of jokes.”
  —Dirk, [69:48]

Summary Table of Notable Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Title | Notes | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:12 | Episode Introduction | Brontë analogy, Glorantha theme set up, meet Jeff Richard | | 04:19 | Jeff Richard on King of Sartar | Experimental fiction, contradictory sources | | 10:34 | Glorantha’s campaign roots | Western origins, US/Europe mapping, board game development | | 20:48 | Cults of Glorantha project | Massive expansion, modular release plan, art direction | | 27:13 | Cults of Terror, monsters, and chaos | Monsters as culture, chaos as mythic terror | | 32:06 | Prosopedia & God Quiz | Playful segment on esoteric Gloranthan deities | | 41:36 | Early RuneQuest memories | Learning by reading aloud, million words of myth, nostalgia | | 45:49 | “Commitment Issue” with Glorantha | Lore complexity, doing justice, GM anxiety | | 52:00 | Worms Footnotes and fanzines | Raw source material, village near Alone scenario example | | 69:48 | Gloranthan Humor and In-Jokes | Geo, god of taverns, railway bouncers, ducks, cult irony | | 75:09 | Closing Time Chatter: Other Games and Events | Liminal, prepping for GrogMeet, scenario reading challenges |

Tone & Language

• Warm, conversational, nostalgic, and often self-deprecating.
• Blends serious appreciation for Glorantha’s literary/mythic sophistication with playful ribbing, in-jokes, and Northern British humor.
• Dirk and Blythy frequently riff on their personal histories with the game, celebrating both the brilliance and the intimidating depth of Glorantha’s lore.

Takeaway for Newcomers

For listeners new to Glorantha or the GROGNARD Files, this episode is invaluable for:

• Context on Glorantha’s creation and how its literature-like world evolved through tabletop gaming.
• Understanding the ambitious scope of the Cults of Glorantha series and why Jeff Richard and the team chose to expand and restructure it.
• Appreciating the inclusive (if intimidating) spirit of the Gloranthan fandom: it welcomes explorers as well as scholars.
• Realizing that, under the labyrinthine layers of myth, there’s a foundation of playful creativity and even silliness—just as Mythology, monsters, and million-word tomes are balanced by gods of barbershop and puns.

Final Thoughts

This episode demonstrates that loving (or returning to) Glorantha is not about mastery of every detail, but the joy of exploration, shared storytelling, and embracing both the profundity and idiosyncrasy of Stafford’s world. The “million words” aren’t a barrier—they’re an invitation to play, fail, laugh, and get a little lost together.

Jeff Richard [13:35]:

“One of the tricks to getting Glorantha for me is…Most of fantasy maps onto Europe…Glorantha maps onto the United States. To me, that’s part of its uniqueness.”

Dirk [69:48]:

“But at the heart of it, it’s just a load of jokes. A little bit of in jokes and a little bit of Stafford’s quirky sense of humor that we’ve referred to previously. And I think this [Geo] is a good example of it.”

For more, visit Chaosium’s digital archives, and don’t hesitate to pick up the new Cults of Glorantha: Mythology book or join the GROGNARD Files Discord for ongoing discussions!