Between Law & Chaos - More Thoughts on Corum Heroic Adventures Across The Five Planes 2001 By Darcsyde Productions For The Stormbringer rpg

 "A New World for Stormbringer

The balance between Chaos and Law has tipped. Barbarian hordes sweep across the land while civilization decays in doomed castles. Eldritch beasts terrorize the innocent. Arcane technologies are all but lost and foul Chaotic magic corrupts land and sea alike. In the age to come a cursed Prince will seek his destiny across this dying world. His path will be vengeance, his ultimate goal . . . to confront the gods themselves."

"In this supplement to the acclaimed roleplaying game Stormbringer you can adventure in a heroic fantasy setting based on the World of the Five Planes created by the master of fantasy, Michael Moorcock. You will confront the most bizarre monsters and foil the deadliest plots on this and other planes of the Multiverse as you battle to free yourself and your world from the machinations of the gods" 

If there was one campaign changing supplement for the Stormbringer rpg for our players this was it. Corum was published in 2001 & brought home the five planes and deadliest horrors of Chaos and Law.. yet. And what made it so damn deadly was the combination of the lands of Law & the adventure elements of Michael Moorcock's Corum mythology. According to the Corum wiki entry;"This trilogy consists of The Knight of the Swords (1971), The Queen of the Swords (1971), and The King of the Swords (1971). In the United Kingdom it has been collected as an omnibus edition titled Corum, Swords of Corum and most recently Corum: The Prince in the Scarlet Robe (vol. 30 of Orion's Fantasy Masterworks series). In the United States the first trilogy has been published as Corum: The Coming of Chaos." One of the things that makes the Corum Adventures Across the five planes work is the fact that not only does Corum work on the side of Law but that the game supplement brings some very neat magical options into the Stormbringer rpg. 

What Corum does is takes the myth of Elric and the Eternal Champion in new directions. The forces of Chaos work for the incredibly destructive side of mankind in the form of the "Mabden" (men) led by the savage Earl Glandyth-a-Krae. Adventuring on the fifteen planes presents its own obstacles and problems. The fact is that running afoul of the Mabden or thier armies can prove very dangerous. The Mabden are some of the most savage and dangerous examples of humanity in the Stormbringer rpg.
The Corum rpg brings home the fact that Law is as much a force for the greater good as is Chaos. The balance between the two depends on the equalibrium for the planes centered around these two metaphyiscal aspects. Our own adventures with Corum began with the the Storm of Chaos which carries the monstrous legions of Queen Xiombarg hastening the appearance of the Infinite Cathedral of Gormweller the God Seller from 1991's Perils of the Young Kingdom. The appearance of the Infinite Cathedral of Gormweller the God Seller marked our party's cross over into the world of the five planes and our first encounter with the Mabden. We lost four party members. But struck back against these armies after the defeat of Arioch on Corum's watch. 

Ultimately we would not encounter the Mabden until much later after aquiring our own scale craft. And we ran straight into a group of Mabden mercenaries working for a sorcerous foe of ours who was in league with the corrupt forces of Chaos from the five planes.