Dragon Pass is by
Robert Corbett and Greg Stafford; Nomad Gods is by Robert Corbett,
Greg Stafford and Stephen Martin. Dragon Pass, Nomad Gods
and ``Issaries, Inc´´ are the trademarks of Issaries, Inc, and are used with their
permission.Here are a few notes concerning Dragon Pass and Nomad Gods, 2 of the finest board wargames (i e, the kind you play on a map divided into hexagons, with 100´s of cardboard counters to represent the units in conflict) that you are likely to find.
Dragon Pass is available from Issaries, Inc; Nomad Gods is only available in a French edition (Les Dieux Nomades) from Oriflam, 132 Rue de Marly, 57157 Montigny-les-Metz, France, phone +33 387 639 669, and rules in English from Issaries, Inc. (They also do a French edition of Dragon Pass (La Guerre des Héros), if you like to have a matching set.)
Dragon Pass and Nomad Gods were first published in the late 1970´s under the names White Bear & Red Moon and Nomad Gods, respectively. (These used odds-based combat results tables which have now been superseded by the current system, which is shared between the 2 games.) Originally, the 3rd game was to be Masters of Luck & Death, followed by Shadows Dance (this was in 1978!). There are rumours of a development version of Shadows Dance, but no sightings.
| Combat rules summary for Dragon Pass and Nomad Gods |
| Alternative rules for casualties |
| The Scorpion Men of Dragon Pass |
| New rules and units |
| Some house rules |
| The Chimæra |
| The Elves of Stinking Forest |
There is a mailing list for discussion of these games: send a ``subscribe´´ message to gloranthaboard-request@issaries.com.au, which also has an online archive.
The world of Dragon Pass and Nomad Gods is Glorantha, a richly imagined fantasy world in its own right, and probably the only one to reject the dull ``realist´´ interpretation of myth that is found in the vast majority of genre fantasy, in favour of a modern understanding of the rôle of mythology in the lives of real people, as explicated, for example, in the works of Joseph Campbell. I also see parallels in the New Gods work of Jack Kirby as well, but I´m probably the only one :-)
For more Gloranthan links, see Kim Englund´s link page.
Dragon Pass is by
Robert Corbett and Greg Stafford; Nomad Gods is by Robert Corbett,
Greg Stafford and Stephen Martin. Dragon Pass, Nomad Gods
and ``Issaries, Inc´´ are the trademarks of Issaries, Inc, and are used with their
permission.
Jonathan Coxhead, 20 Aug 1998