RuneQuest will return this Christmas with its first new edition in five years, Roleplaying in Glorantha

RuneQuest is back! The storied fantasy RPG series is getting its first new edition since 2012 later this year, publisher Chaosium has confirmed.

The new edition will simply be called RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha – dropping the numbered format used in Mongoose’s sixth edition, which was the last major update to the modern game.

"Fans had been referring to the new rules variously as 'RQ4' and 'RQ7'," creative director Jeff Richard explained. "But our new game is simply not a layer atop the Avalon Hill edition (RQ3) or the Mongoose variants that came after that. Nor is it built from the version Design Mechanism produced under license (RQ6). So, rather than try to give the new edition a number, calling it 'RQG' neatly avoids any confusion."

Roleplaying in Glorantha will be based on the 1980 second edition of the game, making it compatible with revival RuneQuest Classic, which was crowdfunded and released last year after Chaosium regained the rights to the game and its setting of Glorantha in 2015.

Unlike RuneQuest Classic, the new edition’s core rulebook won’t be crowdfunded, but will launch this Christmas alongside a bestiary and scenarios book. Future releases are planned every few months afterwards.

"We are building up a RQ product pipeline that will release six products per year, at a pace of a book every other month on average,” detailed Chaosium president Rick Meints.

“If we Kickstarted the new RQ, the campaign wouldn't be able to be launched until September at the earliest, and if there had been stretch goals the first books would probably not be out until the middle of 2018. In our new timeline we'll have three RQG titles out by the end of the year, followed by additional items every month or two after that."