''Hawkmoon'' is a

science fantasy Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction that simultaneously draws upon or combines tropes and elements from both science fiction and fantasy. In a conventional science fiction story, the world is presented as being scientif ...

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include '' Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', RuneQuest Glorantha'', ''Pendragon'' ...

in 1986.

Description

''Hawkmoon'' is a science fantasy game based on

Michael Moorcock Michael John Moorcock (born 18 December 1939) is an English writer, best-known for science fiction and fantasy, who has published a number of well-received literary novels as well as comic thrillers, graphic novels and non-fiction. He has work ...

's ''

The History of the Runestaff ''The History of the Runestaff'' is an omnibus collection of four fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock, consisting of '' The Jewel in the Skull'', '' The Mad God's Amulet'', '' The Sword of the Dawn'', and '' The Runestaff''. Charting the adventur ...

'' novels. It is linked to the ''

Stormbringer Stormbringer is a magic sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. It is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes, created by the forces of Chaos with its own will. It is wielded by the doo ...

'' game in the "Eternal Champion" series. The rules are a variation of the standard Chaosium skill-based system from ''

Basic Role-Playing ''Basic Role-Playing'' (''BRP'') is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in the ''RuneQuest'' fantasy role-playing game. Chaosium released the ''BRP'' standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of ''RuneQu ...

''. The "Players Book" (52 pages) describes Europe in the "Tragic Millennium," an age in which a loathsome magico-technic empire gradually brings the world under its control. The book also covers character creation, skills, weapons, and combat. The "Science Book" (16 pages) covers the history of the Tragic Millennium, technological items, and mutations. The "Gamemaster Book" (48 pages) explains how to run the game and also includes monsters and NPCs, treasures, statistics for the main characters from the novels, sample character record sheets, and two introductory miniscenarios.

Publication history

''Hawkmoon'' was designed by Kerie Campbell-Robson with a cover by

Frank Brunner Frank Brunner (born February 21, 1949) is an American comics artist and illustrator best known for his work at Marvel Comics in the 1970s. Early life Brunner attended Manhattan's High School of Art and Design. He was in the same graduating class ...

and was published in 1986 by

as a

boxed set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

that included a 52-page book, a 48-page book, a 16-page book, a map, a pamphlet, and dice. One adventure was published for this edition, '' The Shattered Isle''. The ''Hawkmoon'' game became popular in France, where it was translated into French for the first time in 1988, and a third French edition was published in 2009.The ''Hawkmoon'' role-playing game as described in ''Le Grog'', a French role-playing game specialized website
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Reception

Peter Green reviewed ''Hawkmoon'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: its mass is comparable to the Sun's, while its volume is comparable to the Earth's. A white dwarf's faint luminosity comes fro ...

'' #86 saying, "There are a few problems with it, but fans of Michael Moorcock will be more than pleased to defend the Kamarg, or to battle in Londra to overthrow the Dark Empire for all time, or at least until other 'alternate realities' affect the outcome."

References

{{reflist Basic Role-Playing System Chaosium games Fantasy role-playing games Michael Moorcock's Multiverse Role-playing games based on novels Role-playing games introduced in 1986 Science fantasy role-playing games