Review & Commentary On The Stormbringer Rpg's Guide to Old Hrolmar by Richard Watts

 This rich city was a great meeting place for all the imaginative people of the Young Kingdoms. To it came explorers, adventurers, mercenaries, craftsmen, merchants, painters and poets for, under the rule of the famous Duke Avan Astran, this Vilmirian city state was undergoing a transformation in its character. THE VANISHING TOWER, II, II Michael Moorcock 

OLD HROLMAR IS A BASTION of culture within grim Vilmir, and stands as one of the greatest cities the Young Kingdoms will ever see. Yet it is a city under siege. While the machinations of Law and Chaos threaten its stability from within, far greater dangers are massed outside its walls. Neither King Naclon of Vilmir, nor the powerful Cardinal Garrick of the Church of Law, look favourably upon Old Hrolmar, and its bravely independent ruler, Duke Avan Astran. 

Stormbringer! Guide To Old Hrolmar Bastion of Change in the Young Kingdoms is an updated monograph that covers the fifth  edition of The  Stormbringer rpg!. 

OLD HROLMAR clocks in at a solid one hundred and ten pages of monograph. We get a bit of everything here from Richard Watts in OLD HROLMAR from region  history, setting material, a boat load of NPC's, organizations, guild material, adventure hooks and more. 

OLD HROLMAR is an  urban cityscape for the Stormbringer rpg. And this urban cityscape is a perfect land of adventure for Stormbringer PC's. It presents a bastion of civilization amid the world of theYoung Kingdoms. And it's been updated with brand new maps and cover. And the OLD HROLMAR supplement has everything a crew of Strombringer rpg PC's are going to need to dive headlong into the city at the height of it's power and wealth. 

The Sword & Sorcery horrors of Law & Chaos are at the center of the city of OLD HROLMAR. And as a campaign of adventure for Stormbringer we have a bastion of civilization and culture. 
OLD HROLMAR is miles away from the usual rabble & rile of the Young Kingdoms. As a point of adventure and civilization this kingdom is invaluable. Did I mention that OLD HROLMAR is rotten to it's core?! There's in roads that the beggar's guild has made and the Order of the Pale Orchid Chaos cult that has exploded into influence. And a host of smugglers and cult throat NPC's!? 

Also the church of Law is on the wane as well. So things in OLD HROLMAR are not as they seem on the surface but they seldom are! 

OLD HROLMAR is a very detailed monograph and supplement with everything a Strombringer! Rpg fourth edition DM needs to bring this Young Kingdom cityscape to life in spades. We get a very and highly detailed gazeteer of the city and it's districts, neighborhoods, personalities, etc. And there's a boat load of information that covers everything that one needs to drop your PC's into the mix of OLD HROLMAR. 

OLD HROLMAR is oriented towards working with Stormbringer fifth edition and that's fine. Since Stormbringer fifth edition is almost but not quite the  Ruinquest rpg OLD HROLMAR should also work well as a resource for that BRP game as well. 

OLD HROLMAR works on several levels as a campaign setting. One as a 'safe' harbor within the Young Kingdoms for adventurers until events of the Stormbringer mythos bring that to an end. And OLD HROLMAR also acts an adventure point as well when the corruptions of Law & Chaos come to call in the old city. And the other point is Duke Avan himself as patron for a group of adventurers until his death. 
"FOR A BRIEF SPAN of years Old Hrolmar is one of the greatest cities in the Young Kingdoms, and a beacon of tolerance and creativity in grim Vilmir.", this statement isn't a lie the city was for a brief golden age a beacon of hope and home in the Young Kingdoms.
Is  OLD HROLMAR worth the download?! In a word, oh yes! For a number of reasons. 
OLD HROLMAR could in point of fact be used with a couple of BRP products as a campaign base. One would be the Avalon Hill Runequest gaming system. OLD HROLMAR fits right into the background of it's Historical Europe rpg model. There will have to be adjustments & handwaving on the DM's part. The second is possibly the Call of Cthulhu rpg where the Young Kingdoms become a part of the Dreamlands and the cycle of birth and death of Young Kingdoms happens. And the third option is Stormbringer itself as the system. 
The fourth option is going to make the purists cringe and that's to bring OLD HROLMAR over to an OSR game. And this could be done with Castles & Crusades where the NPC's are easily going to be within 3rd to 6th level and beyond easily for that system. 

OLD HROLMAR makes an excellent adventuring base and solid campaign setting. The fact that the old city can be turned in on itself and then used as a terrific adventure plot point is something that few folks even know about. 
This city has everything that a campaign needs to start or end in one location. The fact that it works on so many levels is enough to speak volumes about Richard Watts and co. writing and design.