With a little downtime before the Grand Projects begin in earnest, I can wonder how they've come about.
D&D and Me
I must have encountered D&D in the form of GW's single rulebook edition early in 1978. I know that the first issue of White Dwarf I bought was #6 which is dated April/May of that year.
I was eleven and quite ready for it. I'd discovered wargames - the local library being stocked with the likes of Donald Featherstone and Charles Grant, I'd read some Tolkien and possibly more importantly a number of Roger Lancelyn Green's books (Robyn Hood, Arthur, Troy, Dragons &c.). I could read rules, was primed for adventure and had just enough 'background' to be intrigued but not informed.
While many other systems came (and went) (A)D&D remained the reliable go-to through my school days and beyond. The last edition I owned was the 2nd edition of AD&D. Then there was a hiatus as my gaming buddies of the time were more into Call of Cthulhu and then into the White Wolf games.
I didn't play 3.5 until just before 4th ed came out and a little bit of 5th which was mercifully interrupted by COVID. It is apparent that D&D and I have traveled different paths. Had either been the edition de-jour way then , I'm sure that I've devoured them with same enthusiasm as I did their precursor.
Without the success of D&D it's unlikely that what came next would have reached me - had it even come into existence. In that respect it served the same purpose as Never Mind the Bollocks.
RuneQuest and Me
I've played very little RuneQuest. Nobody at school was too interested. I played a few sessions in the late 80s with an established group but not enough to get deeply into it. Back then it was the rules rather than the setting which appealed to me. Classless and levelless, armour absorbing damage , hit points being pretty much fixed. That sort of thing.
It disappeared from my consciousness for years and it was recently when browsing the Chaosium website that it re-piqued my curiosity. This time the attraction is the setting. The glimpses I've had have tickled my imagination.
The 'Grand Project' is accidental. I'm going to soak up as much lore as possible before reading the main rulebook. Then see how the rules match the setting! The accident being ordering the rule/bestiary slip case while was out of stock leading to me ordering some of the Mythology splats as something to read while waiting.
I've read Mythology and have started the Glorantha Sourcebook, which turns out to have yet more mythology... Have to be intrigued by a setting which will sport nearly a dozen myth/cult splat books, seemingly before any regional gazetteers. A world of such pervasive religion and magic is outside of my usual preference for alt-history - but it isn't that generic fantasy which d&d helped spawn.
It occurred to me that I could have chosen to tackle Tekumel instead. I had a copy of EPT once but teenage me found it too far from any references I had then. Also, unlike Tekumel, Glorantha is the creation of a mythologist rather than a linguist. The last time I looked I couldn't work out where to start with Tekumel - Chaosium make Glorantha easy to locate.
C&S and Me
Count me among the many who found the Red Book a dense, badly printed, messy jumble of intriguing ideas. More than anything else at the time it wanted to place its characters into a functional, living world. That world being medieval France or a fantasy equivalent thereof. I don't recall playing anything other than the mass combat rules before the book disintegrated.
The second edition was tidier and more focused. I could envision actually playing this... But it has followed me unplayed to the present day. (At least I've made up characters and fought some solo skirmishes).
I missed 3rd when it was released but I did find 4th. 4th has niggled at me for years. It always seemed great until one dug at the numbers.
And now 5th is on my shelves and hasn't mended the bits I disliked from 4th.
I may have skipped 3rd but I went back for the Bestiary. It is wonderful book and pretty much essential, even if you're only interested in pack animals and riding horses. Because of number changes between editions, I found myself a copy of the 3rd core rulebook... And after reading about deeper recently found myself tracking down a copy of the GM guide.
That last auction lot included the pages of the Red book... I'm about to find myself with five editions of a game I've barely played!
That's where I am - determined to form some mix of the last 3 editions which satisfies me. The lure is the archaeology of ideas as much as anything.
So for over forty years this has taunted me with the promise of a gritty semi-historical campaign set at some point between 800 and 1500. Every time I read medieval or dark age history or watch Game of Thrones this game comes to mind. It's just never quite happened.
Standing Stones
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