Impressions & Overview of Games Workshop's Stormbringer rpg

 The Stormbringer RPG is one of the most celebrated titles from the "Golden Age" of tabletop gaming. First released by Chaosium in 1981, it brought Michael Moorcock’s Elric of Melniboné stories to life using a streamlined version of the Basic Role-Playing (BRP) system—the same engine behind Call of Cthulhu. This blog entry picks right up from 

Cracking The Spine - Quick Impressions of Games Workshop's Stormbringer rpg & The OSR

It is famous for being "gloriously unfair," dark, and dripping with atmosphere. Here is a breakdown of what makes the classic game (specifically the 1st through 4th editions) unique.

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1. The Setting: The Young Kingdoms

The game is set in the Young Kingdoms, a world caught in a cosmic tug-of-war between Law (order, stagnation, and eventually sterility) and Chaos (change, entropy, and madness).

• The Melniboneans: You can play as the ancient, decadent, and cruel "Bright Empire" of Melniboné, though they are a fading race.

• No "Standard" Fantasy: There are no Hobbits or Dwarves here. The world is human-centric but filled with ancient ruins, bizarre cults, and alien entities.

2. The Mechanics: Gritty and Lethal

The system uses d100 (percentile) dice for almost everything. If your Broadsword skill is 65%, you need to roll a 65 or lower to hit.

• The Luck of the Roll: Character creation is notoriously random. One player might roll up a beggar from Nadsokor with no skills and a missing foot, while another rolls a Melnibonéan Noble with world-shattering stats and a demon-bound suit of armor.

• Combat: It is fast and deadly. Armor doesn't make you harder to hit; it reduces the damage you take. A single lucky strike can (and will) end a legendary hero.

3. Magic: Summoning, Not Spellcasting

In the classic editions, there are no "fireballs" or "magic missiles." Magic is about pacts and summoning.

• Demon Binding: Sorcerers summon demons and elementals, then bargain with or command them to inhabit items. A "magic sword" in Stormbringer is usually just a regular sword with a demon bound inside it to provide extra damage or accuracy.

• High Risk: Summoning is dangerous. If you fail your rolls, the demon might decide to eat you instead of following orders.

4. The Editions

Edition	Year	Key Note
1st - 3rd	1981–87	The "Classic" era. 3rd Edition (published with Games Workshop) is often considered the peak of the original ruleset.
4th	1990	Updated the magic system and consolidated the rules into a single book.
Elric! / 5th	1993+	A major mechanical overhaul. It became more balanced and added more traditional "spells," though some purists felt it lost the "chaotic" flavor of the originals.

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Why People Still Play It

• The "Anti-D&D": It rejects the idea of "zero to hero." You start as who you are, and you deal with the consequences of a world that is fundamentally doomed.

• The Aesthetic: The art (especially by Frank Brunner and Michael Whelan) and the nihilistic tone give it a "Heavy Metal" magazine vibe that few modern games replicate.

• The Narrative Stakes: You aren't just fighting for gold; you are navigating the end of the world.

Fun Fact: The game’s influence was massive; the creators of Warhammer Fantasy have openly stated that their "Chaos" system was heavily inspired by the mechanics and lore found in Stormbringer.

Buckle up, because character creation in classic Stormbringer is a wild ride where "balance" is a concept the dice gods find hilarious. In this system, your social standing and birthplace are often more important than your actual attributes.

Here is how you would roll up a character in the classic 1st–3rd editions:

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1. The Attributes (The Standard Six)

You roll 3d6 for your primary characteristics. There are no "point buys" here; you get what the universe gives you.

• STR (Strength)

• CON (Constitution)

• SIZ (Size)

• INT (Intelligence)

• POW (Power) — Crucial for sorcery/luck.

• DEX (Dexterity)

• CHA (Charisma)

2. National Origin (The "Great Filter")

This is where the game gets "gloriously unfair." You roll a d100 to determine where you were born. This table is weighted by the population of the Young Kingdoms, but the power discrepancy is massive.

• The "Lower" Tier (Common): You’ll likely roll a Puarite or a Vilmirian. You get basic skills and maybe a rusty spear.

• The "Middle" Tier: You might get Dharijor or Jharkor—sturdy warriors with decent starting gear.

• The "God" Tier (Rare): If you roll a 99 or 100, you are a Melnibonéan. You get massive bonuses to INT and POW, access to world-class sorcery, and probably start the game with a demon-bound item that could level a village.

3. Social Class

Once your nation is set, you roll for your profession. Again, this is a d100 roll.

• You might roll "Beggar" (Start with 1 copper piece and a bowl).

• You might roll "Noble" (Start with fine plate armor, a horse, and a small fortune).

• The Catch: Your profession determines your starting skills. A Hunter will be great with a bow, but a Priest might start with the ability to summon a minor Chaos god.

4. The "Sorcery" Check

Not everyone can use magic. In fact, unless you are from a specific high-magic culture (like Melniboné or Pan Tang), you usually need a POW of 16 or higher just to have a chance at being a sorcerer.

If you qualify, you don't just "know" spells—you know how to bargain with extra-planar entities.

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A Typical "Balanced" Starting Party

To give you an idea of the chaos, a starting party often looks like this:

Player	Origin	Class	Notable Stat/Gear
Player A	Melniboné	Sorcerer	POW 21; owns a ring containing a Fire Elemental.
Player B	Llowri	Peasant	STR 9; owns a very sturdy goat.
Player C	Tarkesh	Sailor	DEX 17; high skill in "Climb" and "Dagger."

5. Final Touches: Derived Stats

• Hit Points: Calculated by $(STR + SIZ) / 2$.

• Damage Bonus: Based on your STR and SIZ. If you're a big guy, you hit harder.

• Luck Points: Equal to your POW. These are your "don't die yet" points.

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The Philosophy of the Roll

The game explicitly tells the Game Master that if one player rolls a demigod and another rolls a pauper, they shouldn't try to fix it. The pauper's goal is to survive by their wits (and by hiding behind the Melnibonéan), while the Melnibonéan has to deal with the fact that everyone in the world hates and fears them.

Will the Real 'Set' stand up?! Set & His Minions in Gods, Demi Gods, & Heroes & Dieties & Demigods by Robert Kuntz & James Ward

 It's been a bit of a hectic three days or so but last night I put down the keyboard and went back to original Dungeon & Dragon's Gods, Demigods, & Heroes by Robert Kuntz and James Ward. Mostly to cleanse my own palette of the never ending 'scree' about whatever topic the hobby is upset about this time.

 And thumbing through the book I noticed something really interesting about original Dungeons & Dragons version of the Egyptian god Set. It's not the god  Set of Egyptian mythology who according to his Wiki entry; "Set (/sɛt/; Egyptological: Sutekh - swtẖ ~ stẖ^[a] or Greek: Seth /sɛθ/) is a god of deserts, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners in ancient Egyptian religion.^[4]: 269 In Ancient Greek, the god's name is given as Sēth (Σήθ). Set had a positive role where he accompanies Ra on his barque to repel Apep, the serpent of Chaos.^[4]: 269 Set had a vital role as a reconciled combatant.^[4]: 269 He was lord of the Red Land (desert), where he was the balance to Horus' role as lord of the Black Land (fertile land)" 
The God of Evil and the Night is straight up nasty in original Dungeons & Dragons. Check this out from original Dungeon & Dragon's Gods, Demigods, & Heroes by Robert Kuntz and James Ward;"SET GOD OF EVIL AND THE NIGHT Armor Class — 4 Magic Ability: (See Below) Move: 18" Fighter Ability: 17th Level Hit Points: 275 Psionic Ability: Class 6 Set is a scaled humanoid with the head of a fierce jackal. He is totally dedicated to the spreading of evil and has attributes to match. He can change any being's alignment from neutral and lawful to evil (saving throw applicable) these changed beings becoming Minions of Set. He can shapechange, make all light turn to darkness, and call on 2-200 Minions of Set. He enters battle with a Javelin of Darkness. This night black shaft has a plus 4 hitting ability and does 9-90 points of damage. There is a 5% chance that Set is watching when a being does a highly evil act (judge's option) and if he is he will give the being 2-20 Minions of Set with no strings attached being confident that the being will only do evil with them. MINIONS OF SET Armor Class — 2 Magic Ability: (See Below) Move: 12" Fighter Ability: 10th Level Hit Points: 25 Psionic Ability: Class 6 Minions are able to transform themselves into giant snakes. They also fight as 10th level lords. They appear in plate armor and use a broadsword. They are fully intelligent and often act as gobetween for Set and man. These beings never check morale. " 

And we get this version of Set repeated in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition Gods & Demigods ;"SET (god of evil and the night) Greater god ARMOR CLASS: -4 MOVE: 78" HIT POINTS: 378 NO. OF ATTACKS: 2 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 7-70 SPECIAL ATTACKS: Alignment change SPECIAL DEFENSES: Poison skin; + 3 or better weapon to hit MAGIC RESISTANCE: 59% SIZE: M (7') ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil WORSHIPER'S ALIGN: Evil beings SYMBOL: Coiled cobra PLANE: Nine Hells CLERIC/DRUID: 75th level cleric FIGHTER: 77th level fighter MAGIC-USER/ILLUSIONIST: 30th level illusionist THIEF/ASSASSIN: 75th level assassin MONK/BARD: Nil PSIONIC ABILITY: II S: 74 I: 25 W: 23 D: 20 C: 25 CH:-2"
"Set is a scaled humanoid with the head of a fierce jackal. He is totally dedicated to the spreading of evil and has attributes to match. He can change any being's alignment from neutral or good to lawful evil with a touch (saving throw applicable); these changed beings become Minions of Set (see below). He uses a Spear of Darkness that is a jet black + 4 spear that hits for 7-70 points of damage. His skin is also deadly poisonous to the touch. There is a 5% chance that Set may be watching when one of his worshipers does a highly evil act, and if so, Set will lend that being 2-20 Minions of Set for 12 weeks. Set is the implacable enemy of Osiris and Horus, ond will attempt to thwart them through others whenever possible" 
And the Minions of Set are a force to be reckoned with 
"Minions of Set FREQUENCY: Uncommon NO. APPEARING: 1-20 ARMOR CLASS: -2 MOVE: 12" HIT DICE/POINTS: 25 hp % IN LAIR: 0% TREASURE TYPE: Nil NO. OF ATTACKS: 3/2 DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-12 (bite), by weapon type, or by form SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below SPECIAL DEFENSES: Save as 10th level fighters MAGIC RESISTANCE: 10% INTELLIGENCE: High ALIGNMENT: Lawful evil SIZE: M (6W) PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil Attack/Defense Modes: Nil LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: V/500 Minions are able to polymorph themselves into giant snakes that bite for 1- 12 points of damage. They fight and save as 10th level fighters. They appear in black scaly plate mail and use broadswords. They are fully intelligent and act as go-betweens for Set and mankind. These beings never need to check morale. Some minions are also able to polymorph themselves into cave bears, giant crocodiles, or giant scorpions" 

This isn't just another snake cult but this is a full on Lawful Evil god with a base within the Nine Hells. And a growing cult that has minions to spare for anyone who can further his evil influence upon the planes prime. For an OSR Sword & Sorcery game 'Set's a perfectly suited antagonist ready to go. The real question is, who the Hell is 'Set' really?! My suspisions are that he's an arch devil whose been using the guise of 'Set' for eons now. 

And this makes him a perfect antagonist for a Sword & Sorcery game. He's methodical, nasty, and dangerous. And he's been around right under the noses of the rest of the Egyptian pantheon and thier followers. The cult of 'Set' might not be simply another cult of snake worshippers but instead be the growing root of methodical evil within a campaign. 

Cracking The Spine - Quick Impressions of Games Workshop's Stormbringer rpg & The OSR

 Its been ages since the spine of my Games Workshop Stormbriner rpg was opened in this blog entry we're going to talk about some on the spot observations from the book. 

The Stormbringer rpg put out in 1987 by Games Workshop and Chaosium Inc. was typical of their collaberations of that era. Just on the cusp of the Golden era of Old Hammer Realms of Chaos & Realm of Chaos: The Lost and the Damned (1990) crossing the line of  Warhammer Fantasy Role Play & 40K. The Stormbringer Rpg represents something special. While the binding was always an issue with GW's Stormbringer Rpg game had a very distilled quality about for our games and Rpg net GW Stormbringer rpg entry bares this out; "The core rulebooks for the original Stormbringer game (not to be confused with Elric!/Stormbringer Fifth Edition, which was a different BRP game system also set in the Young Kingdoms).

This is a high-power RPG set in the world of Michael Moorcock's Elric novels. A core BRP skill system and a magic system based on demons and elementals are some of the notable elements of this game.

Though this game has four different editions, they're all essentially identical, with versions 1-3 largely unchanged. Version 4 was reorganized, and had some significant changes in the demon summoning/creation rules. Also, some references regarding levels of sorcery found in the earlier editions were left in, but the rules for them were left out. See the Elric! entry for the fifth edition of Stormbringer, which is actually a new game."

There's also a very early Games Workshop feel about this Stormbringer rpg. What I mean that there's a very wargamy feel to the material here. The armies of the Pan Tangians & Melniboné are presented along with the figures of the Eternal Champion. The book feels like GW went all out here. And this bares out as more of a reorganization then simply another rpg book. Something that again Rpg net has picked up on;"Notes on This Edition
The third edition of Stormbringer was distributed as a hardcover by Games Workshop. It is a straight reprint of the second edition rules, but with the magic and gamemaster sections reorganized (curiously maintaining all of their numerical section heads, resulting in the numbers running 1/2/3/4/7/8/5/6). In addition, the complete Stormbringer Companion is also included. The book is printed in a mixture of full-color and black & white. This book also features a US ISBN and stock, though they both seem to be wrong. The ISBN is 0-933633-43-5 (which wasn't actually Chaosium's ISBN code at the time, which should have been 933635) and the stock number is the rather mysterious 43 (which should have been #2109-H according to Chaosium catalogs of the time)." 

Now while it may not seem like it a fellow blogger has provided a very handy chart for converting between the BRP system from Chaosium ie Stormbringer, Adventurer,Conqeuror, King Rpg , and other OSR systems. This also brings into focus some of the optional  adventures, articles, etc. for the third edition Stormbringer rpg. Alesmiter also has a number of articles on the type of riff raff that asssociate with out erm adventurer in his blog post 'Round up the Usual Suspects! - And how to become one'.

Make no mistake after thumbing through the '87  Games Workshop 'Stormbringer' its obvious that Elric & co. were considered scum of the Earth by most of the Young Kingdoms. This makes the presentation of Elric as NPC in the original Stormbringer set up all the more interesting because of the twist up of him in the Games Workshop third edition. 

Is there room in the OSR for a Stormbringer game!?! Possibly but there's a ton of differences between the way that Stormbringer works & say traditional Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition even though conversion is entirely possible. But the tone of the AD&D Deities & Demigods Elric material verus third edition Stormbringer is day & night. 

The Games Workshop Stormbringer rpg is far more clear & outlines the Moorcock mythos far more in a straight forward & obvious method. The player's PC's almost have a destiny to play in the game or so it seems from the world background system. 

The Games Workshop Stormbringer feels like a campanion piece to an unreleased Elric fantasy wargame that never saw the light of day. This is only a feeling on my part & in the past I've owned a complete Pan Tang chaos army made up of the classic Games Workshop figures. 

OSR Commentary On Chaosium's 'Terror From The Stars' Early '86 Call of Cthlhu adventure by Scott Aniolowski (Author)

"The Pits of Bendal-Dolum: The investigators travel to tiny British Honduras in search of a lost archaeological expedition, but find evil beyond their worst nightmares."



"The Temple of the Moon: adventure and intrigue in Peru. An investigator receives a gold artifact through the mails from Peru, pitting him and his friends against a ring of international art thieves and perhaps against more sinister foes."

When it comes to adapting older modules there's nothing like the early Call of Cthulhu rpg. Thumbing through White Dwarf (Issue 79 - Jul 1986) we came across an early review of Terror From The Stars. Terror From The Stars is one of the  Scott Aniolowski (Author) efforts. And its a great module to adapt to an OSR Modern  or Sword & Sorcery campaign. Especially "The Field Manual of the Theron Marks Society: the Theron Marks Sociaty is an underground group of organized Cthulhu investigators. This manual explains all the investigative techniques and tricks theu have learned. The Theron Marks Manual is designed to be fit into any campaign" 

The early scenarios could easily be adapted into a modern OSR campaign using two different sources. Realms of Crawling Chaos has all of the stats for these monsters already within them or if you really want to go old school then Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first editons  Dieties & Demigods manual. 

'Terror From The Stars' is really a polarizing module because its more like a CoC  module kit then an actual module unto itself. Phil Frances in   White Dwarf (Issue 79 - Jul 1986) pretty much nails it; "Phil Frances reviewed Terror from the Stars for White Dwarf #79, and stated that "Terror From The Stars stands up well against other releases of its type (The Asylum, or Curse of the Chthonians for example), and the added advantage of a lower price means you can't really go wrong with this one.""

But some of the interesting bits of Lisa Cohen's review from  Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer No. 77. give away a major adventure plot point;"

Cohen commented that "The whole package is ideal, expecially with the manual it makes it well worth the price. I would recommend this module to avid Cthulhu players. Remember, when playing the scenarios, have a happy voyage and don't drink the water!"" Thanks very much Lisa. But the real gem for me as a dungeon master is the inclusion of The Field Manual of the Theron Marks Society. The idea of a group of investigators or adventurers who are 'fighting' the mythos isn't new but one with a very detailed background & history is in '86. 

This is very much in keeping with some of the themes that have recently cropped up in Dark Albion's Cults of Chaos. The society with a detailed build up,history, background, & shared universe of historical  fictional detail. 

'Terror From The Stars' is a relic of its times & one that fits within the early patheon of Chaosium adventures. The mythos elements make it easily reverse dungeon engineered into even modorn OSR game. 

What really makes this adventure stick is the thread of mysterious temples in South America & its lead in across the adventures. All in all its a good adventure book but it could have used a bit more Lovecraftian padding. But Terror from the Stars is a good example of the tool box approach of early  Call of Cthulhu  adventueres for now keep em rolling.