The Char-Un, or Sons Of Kargzant, are a nomadic horse tribe who live in a land created from the action of the Skyburn, a rain heavenly fire known brought down by their founding Great Chief, upon an Elven forest. It is a land that even without the ghosts of the slain Elves is intentionally harsh and testing, where only the strong survive.
In my opinion this is the best Gloranthan book in years. On one hand
it is dripping with detail to keep even the most ardent
Gloranthaphile
happy, while being clearly written and self contained so that a
newcomer can pick up and play.
The presentation throughout is clear and nice. The colour cover is evocative, and the back cover is a full cover map of the Char-Un's bleak homeland Erigia. The interior artwork although rendered in black and white varies from superb to good and complements the words precisely. Through the art you really get to see the characters and situations in the text come alive. Although like the text there is a strong Mongol influence, it has enough of its own character to give you the feeling that you are looking through a window to another world. Overall I like the progression that this and other recent Gloranthan releases follow, that imagination is now being used to create art that is not merely real world analogies adorned with Gloranthan runes.
The 64-page book is split into three sections.
'The Char-Un' gives thirty pages of background material. After a
quick introduction, which neatly sums up their history and outlook on
life, ten articles give information on the Char-Un's outlook on
Nation,War,Funeral rites, and Language as well as the 'What my Father
told me' section which old fans of Glorantha will doubtless be
familiar with. Personal highlights are the Erigia Gazetteer which
breathes life into the harsh homelands of these nomads, and the
Tribal
politics section which detail the Great Chief (the Ur-Pan), a once
great warrior gone to seed due to Lunar debauchery, and his scheming
sons. This section sets up enough internal power struggles to play
out
against the backdrop of the stark and dramatic locations that the
gazetteer provides.
'Char-Un Heroes' gives seventeen pages of character generation
information. Often Gloranthan source books overwhelm their readers
with in character background, with out stepping back and answering
the player's question, 'how do I play this?' SoK doesn't make this
mistake. It starts off with a section appropriately called 'Your
First Char-Hero', an out of character guide to the possibilities of
this character culture, before launching into all you need to
generate
one of these fierce characters. The Char-Un are spirit worshippers,
and a thirteen page section details their three spirit traditions.
The
Path of Fire, traditionally followed by the warlike males, the Path
of
Earth, the female tradition that is no less formidable, and the Path
of Dawn and Dusk, followed by the Enaree the InBetweeners. Not only
does this section give background and flavour, but also it
comprehensively gives all the magic and myth that you need for the
setting.
'Adventure with the Char-Un!' rounds off the book. Playability is a
theme that runs through the book, and this section of Adventure
resources, a short adventure, a clan, how to run travelling Char-un
and a Bestiary, ties it all together. My favourite section is the
'Char-Un Aboard' which explains how they behave, or not, as
travelling soldiers of the Lunar Empire, of which they are part
tenuously. This extends the value of the book. Although very strongly
tempted to run a short story arc in their bleak homeland, I can
easily
have my players encounter them in my current Lunar Empire campaign.
They can also be the bane of the lives of overconfident Sartarite
warriors, since they make an appearance in Dragon Pass as part of the
Lunar Army.
Two overall factors about this book make me strongly recommend this book to players of HeroQuest, especially new players who are still struggling to get into Glorantha.
The material is fun. Upon reading the book I got an immediate buzz that this would be a fun setting to play in. Like the Char-Un themselves the book is written in a style that is practical and straightforward. Also extra value is gained since the Char-un travel widely, so could be used in other settings.
Apart from references to the core HeroQuest book, and Anaxial?s Rooster (the Monster book) SoK is self-contained. Glorantha is notorious for spreading material across multiple supplements and assuming the Narrator has read and taken in all the pieces that makes up the whole. SoK avoids this, making it ideal for starting Narrator.
This SoK gives me everything I want from a game book. It's a fun and easy read. It details characters, situations and locations that keep on playing across my imagination. Most importantly it gives me the overwhelming desire to actually get out and game with the material within the covers.
Congratulations to all those involved in creating this wonderful book !!!
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