''RuneQuest Monsters'' is a game supplement published by

Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer (game), Warhammer'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake ...

in 1987 for the fantasy role-playing game ''

RuneQuest ''RuneQuest'' (commonly abbreviated as RQ) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game originally designed by Steve Perrin, Ray Turney, Steve Henderson (game designer), Steve Henderson, and Warren James, and set in Greg Stafford (game designer), Gre ...

''.

''RuneQuest Monsters'' is a

bestiary A bestiary () is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beas ...

of 90 creatures and monsters for use with the third edition of ''RuneQuest'' published by

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the compan ...

. Entries include mundane creatures (dog, deer), carnivores (tiger, bear), creatures of fantasy (

griffin The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk ...

harpy In Greek and Roman mythology, a harpy (plural harpies, , ; ) is a half-human and half-bird mythical creature, often believed to be a personification of storm winds. They feature in Homeric poems. Descriptions Harpies were generally depict ...

), dinosaurs, and literary creations ( jabberwock). There are also a number of human

non-player characters A non-player character (NPC) is a Character (arts), character in a game that is not controlled by a Player (game), player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaste ...

listed.

Publication history

Chaosium originally published ''Runequest'' in 1978, and quickly followed this with a second edition the following year. In an attempt to increase distribution and marketing of ''Runequest'', Chaosium made a deal with

in 1984 to publish the third edition of ''RuneQuest''. During this period, Games Workshop made a number of licensed supplements, ''RuneQuest Monsters'' being one, a 112-page hardcover book written by

Steve Perrin Stephen Herbert Perrin (January 22, 1946 – August 13, 2021) was an American game designer and technical writer/editor, best known for creating the tabletop role-playing game ''RuneQuest'' for Chaosium. Early life and education Perrin earned a ...

, Greg Stafford, Steve Henderson,

Lynn Willis Lynn Willis (died January 18, 2013) was a wargame and role-playing game designer, best known for his work with Metagaming Concepts, Game Designers' Workshop (GDW), and Chaosium. Biography Willis began by designing science fiction wargames for M ...

, Charlie Krank,

Ray Turney Ray Turney is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Hendrik Jan Pfeiffer, Art Turney and Ray Turney originally planned to publish information on the fictional world of Glorantha from '' White Bear and Red Moon ...

Ken Rolston Ken Rolston is an American computer game and role-playing game designer best known for his work with West End Games and on the computer game series ''The Elder Scrolls''. Tabletop role-playing games Ken Rolston began working as a professional g ...

, and

Sandy Petersen Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is an American game designer. He worked at Chaosium, contributing to the development of ''RuneQuest'' and creating the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game Call of Cthul ...

, with a cover by

David Gallagher David Lee Gallagher (born February 9, 1985) is an American actor and former model. He began his career as a child actor and model at the age of two, and is known for his roles as Mikey Ubriacco in '' Look Who's Talking Now'', Simon Camden in '' ...

, and published by Games Workshop in 1987.

Reception

Paul Cockburn Paul Cockburn is a game designer who has worked primarily on role-playing games. Career Paul Cockburn worked for '' Imagine'' magazine, published by TSR. Cockburn later led the new editorial team of ''White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compa ...

reviewed ''RuneQuest Monsters'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compact star, stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very density, dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place i ...

'' #93, and stated that "the book doubles up both as a useful long-term reference tool, and as an immediately useable game aid." In Issue 5 of ''

The Games Machine ''The Games Machine'' was a video game magazine that was published from 1987 until 1990 in the United Kingdom by Newsfield, which also published '' CRASH'', ''Zzap!64'', '' Amtix!'' and other magazines. History ''The Games Machine'' ran head ...

'', John Woods reviewed three 3rd edition ''Runequest'' books — the ''RuneQuest'' rulebook, ''Advanced RuneQuest'', and ''RuneQuest Monsters'' — and found ''Monsters'' to be "the poorest value of the three, with the text being thinned out by over-generous illustrations." Woods concluded with a recommendation to not buy this book, saying, "It is quite possible to get by without it, though - the selection of creatures in the 'RuneQuest'' rulebookis sufficient to get started and to give referees enough examples to invent their own monsters."

References

Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1987 RuneQuest 3rd edition supplements {{game-stub

Contents

Publication history

Reception

References