''Stormbringer'' is a fantasy

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participan ...

published under license by

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include ''Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game), Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', R ...

. Based on the

Elric of Melniboné Elric of Melniboné is a fictional character created by English writer Michael Moorcock and the protagonist of a series of sword and sorcery stories taking place on an alternative Earth. The proper name and title of the character is Elric VII ...

books by

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English people, English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic nov ...

, the game takes its name from Elric's sword,

Stormbringer Stormbringer is a magic sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. It is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes, created by the forces of Chaos with its own will. It is wielded by the doo ...

(though one edition was published as ''Elric!''). The rules are based on Chaosium's percentile-dice-based ''

Basic Role-Playing ''Basic Role-Playing'' (''BRP'') is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in the ''RuneQuest'' fantasy role-playing game. Chaosium released the ''BRP'' standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of ''RuneQu ...

'' system.

System

The game uses a variant of Chaosium's

Basic Roleplaying ''Basic Role-Playing'' (''BRP'') is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in the '' RuneQuest'' fantasy role-playing game. Chaosium released the ''BRP'' standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of ''Ru ...

, with its own rules for magic and other setting-specific elements. The first three editions are functionally similar, while the fourth edition changed the magic system extensively. ''Elric!'' was a substantial reworking of the game, and ''Stormbringer'' fifth edition consists of the ''Elric!'' rules with additional material from several older, out-of-print supplements incorporated.

History

Chaosium had already published a boardgame based on Moorcock's Elric of Melniboné series, called '' Elric'' in 1977. There have been several editions of the

: * 1st edition (1981) by Ken St. Andre and

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 ...

; boxed set * 2nd edition (1985) by St. Andre; boxed set * 3rd edition (1987) by St. Andre, published jointly with

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 Age of Sigmar'' and '' Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake, ...

* 4th edition (1990) by St. Andre, Steve Perrin, and John B. Monroe; boxed set * ''Elric!'' (1993) by Lynn Willis, Richard Watts, Mark Morrison, Jimmie W. Pursell Jr., Sam Shirley, and Joshua Shaw. ** The adventure '' The Bronze Grimoire'' (1994) for use with ''Elric!'' * 5th edition (2001) by Lynn Willis In 2007 Chaosium dropped their Eternal Champion license, and it was picked up by

Mongoose Publishing Mongoose Publishing is a British manufacturer of role-playing games, miniatures, and card games, publishing material since 2001. Its licenses include products based on the science fiction properties ''Traveller'', ''Judge Dredd'', and ''Paranoi ...

. In August 2007, they published ''Elric of Melniboné'' by Lawrence Whittaker, which is based on Moongoose's first edition of ''RuneQuest''. A second edition by Lawrence Whittaker and Pete Nash was published in 2010, based on Mongoose's second edition of Runequest. This was discontinued when Mongoose lost the RuneQuest license in 2011.

Publications

Black Sword ''Black Sword'' is a 1985 role-playing game adventure for '' Stormbringer'' published by Chaosium. Plot summary ''Black Sword'' is the second adventure about the heroine Freyda Nikorn's search for Elric of Melniboné, who killed her father. R ...

* The Shattered Isle * Stealer of Souls

Reception

In the February–March 1982 edition of ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes ...

'' (Issue #29), Murray Writtle gave it an average overall rating of 7 out of 10, and stated that "So, if you want to have single death or glory adventures in the Young Kingdoms, ''Stormbringer'' will give you them, but to get a continuing campaign underway will take a certain amount of rewriting and careful thought." In the January–February 1985 edition of ''

Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', '' Ru ...

'' (Issue #38), Keith Herber gave it a top rating of 4 stars out of 4, saying, "I thought ''Stormbringer'' not only an excellent adaptation of the Elric series but also found it an extremely enjoyable game. If you have ever read an Elric book (or one of Moorcock's related novels) and wished it could be a game, this is it. If you haven't read one yet do so and then consider the game. You may not find the "doomed" atmosphere to your liking, but around this neighborhood there is a growing movement for a permanent ''Stormbringer'' campaign." In the August 1987 edition of ''

'' (Issue #92),

Jim Bambra Jim Bambra (born 1956)Jim Bambra: Director Summary
Company Check Ltd is a Briti ...

called the percentile-based skill resolution system "quick and simple to play." He also liked the experience system, calling it "simple and easy to use with no unwieldy book-keeping required between game sessions." He concluded with a strong recommendation, saying, "Come and enter the world of Elric, you won't be disappointed." In a 1996 poll of readers conducted by ''Arcane'' to determine the 50 most popular roleplaying games of all time, ''Stormbringer'' was ranked 25th. Editor Paul Pettengale commented: "A simplified ''RuneQuest'', only set in Elric's world. It captures the spirit of the books, but to play it properly you really need to be familiar with the novels, and they are of the type of fantasy that you either love or loathe."

References

External links