From: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu (Shannon Appel)
Subject: Stormbringer Reviews
System: Elric!

With the release of Elric!, some of you might be interested in knowing what Young Kingdom supplements are already out there. There are currently four items still in print (Rogue Mistress, Sorcerers of Pan Tang, Perils of the Young Kingdoms and Sea Kings of the Purple Towns).
I'll leave it for others to comment on these. Here, I have put down my thoughts on the many out of print Stormbringer supplements (as a sort of companion to my 'Pendragon First Edition Reviews' in V2.6 of the digest).

Stormbringer First Edition    (2006-X)
Stormbringer Second Edition    (2101-X)
Stormbringer Third Edition    (2109-H)

The first three editions of Stormbringer were all essentially the same. There were no major changes in the rules, although the organization changed in each version. First edition was a deep box with one square-bound book, while the second edition was a shallow box containing three books. The third edition was a very nice looking hard cover book produced by Games Workshop. Besides the rules, it also contained the Stormbringer Companion (2102).

The original editions of Stormbringer aren't really worth getting, except for historical curiosity. The rules in the fourth edition and Elric! are much more mature. If you do want to pick up one, try and find the GW hardcover. It's definitely the prettiest, worth the price in that alone.

Stormbringer Companion        (2102)

This was a fun companion, useful in its time. It has new creatures, many of which are not in Elric!, notes on exotic treasures and several adventures. The adventures were all short and easy to introduce into a game; I found them useful last time I ran a Stormbringer game. The Companion was entirely reprinted in the Third edition of Stormbringer and mostly reprinted in the Fourth (minus two solos). If you just have the Fourth edition, all of the good stuff is there.

Demon Magic            (2103)

Demon Magic (The Second Stormbringer Companion) was one of the best two supplements done for the original Stormbringer. A few of the items are no longer relevent (such as the demon special abilities). However, Demon Magic also contained notes on magic items and creatures which are still quite useful and two adventures (one of which, The Velvet Circle, I'd rate as superb).

Stealer of Souls        (2104)
Black Sword            (2105)

This was an adventure done in two parts that I never found too appealing. It does an excellent job of fitting in with the timeline of the Elric stories (in fact, Elric is one of the prime movers of the tale). However, I found it too large and felt that the adventurers were too overshadowed. The supplements do have a small amount of useful information. Stealer of Souls gives some info on Bakshaan while Black Sword provides some notes on Nasdokor and Org. The adventure, however, forms the majority of the supplements.

Hawkmoon            (2106-X)

Hawkmoon was really presented as a new game, not a supplement to Stormbringer. It's an fair depiction of the Tragic Millenium Earth that Michael Moorcock describes in his seven books about Hawkmoon. When the Hawkmoon! supplement for Elric! is released, it will no doubt be a really good game. For now though, this is the game to buy.

The Shattered Isle        (2107)

The Shattered Isle has some interesting notes on the Hawkmoon world, including some new rules, some new technology, and notes on the Orders
of Granbretan. The two adventures in TSI were fairly good. I actually thought they were more true to the original Hawkmoon series than the game itself. Probably worth picking up.

White Wolf            (2108)

This supplement was the other Stormbringer book that I'd rate as one of the best. It contains useful scenerios on three different temples of the Young Kingdoms (temples to Mabelrode, Kakatal and Donblas), all in a standard easy-to-reference format. There are also good ship rules for the Eternal Champion games (with stats for lots of Young Kingdom ships, including the Battle Barge) and a somewhat interesting adventure. Like Demon Magic, you should get this book if you see it.

Stormbringer Fourth Edition    (2110)

The Fourth Edition of Stormbringer, a square bound book, fixes many problems of the original editions. Still, it's not as good of a game as Elric! Grab it if you want the artwork or the adventures. Otherwise, it's not terribly useful.

Although they are no longer being distributed, Sam says that Chaosium still has a few copies of the following books available directly:

White Wolf, Shattered Isle, Stealer of Souls, Stormbringer Companion

If you liked Elric! and are interested in older stuff, you might want to give them a call (or check out the four Stormbringer books that are still in print).

Shannon