BRP Monograph 327
Michael Moorcock's Hawkmoon - Adventures in the Tragic Millennium

A Multiverse of Hawkmoon Games
The Author
Introducing Hawkmoon
Granbretan - The Dark Empire
    The Beast Orders
Hawkmoon's World
The World Beyond
Adventuring in the Tragic Millennium
The Runestaff
Sorcerer-Science
Personalities
Scenarios
    Welcome to the Machine
    Smoke and Mirrors
    All Roads Lead to Londra
    The Dogs of Straw
    Sons of the Desert
Conclusion

A Multiverse of Hawkmoon Games

In reviewing this monograph, it seems appropriate to mention Hawkmoon BRP relatives. These are the versions or adaptations that I am aware of and understand to be BRP descendants or relatives:

• Chaosium Hawkmoon (published 1986)
• Darcsyde Corum (published 2001) (Hawkmoon adjacent)
• BRP Monograph 327 (published 2005)
• Mongoose Hawkmoon (published 2007)

I think that the publication of BRP-related Hawkmoon is one chapter in the larger saga of licensing, companies/corporate entities, and intellectual property issues involving (but not limited to? I don't know):

• Chaosium
• Issaries
• Mongoose Publishing
• Moon Design Publications
• The Design Mechanism
• Darcsyde

I haven't asked and don't personally know anyone involved, and I've just done some cursory searching for things like publication dates and authors. So - I could be wrong about that context.

Not meaning to criticize the authors or anyone else involved, Chaosium's Hawkmoon feels like a quick-and-dirty re-skin of their 1st or 2nd edition Stormbringer. Don't get me wrong about this: I dig all of the 80s/90s/00s BRP variants. I wouldn't change a thing about them.

I haven't read Darcsyde's Corum.

Mongoose's Hawkmoon seems to be consistent with much of Mongoose's content: detailed and well written.

Based only on the timeline and author, I would hazard a guess that Monograph 327 saw a second life as material or inspiration for Mongoose's Hawkmoon.

There's a lovely "Final Words of Thanks" section at the end that suggests Monograph 327 was a labor of love and fun that was taken up and put down many times, and involved Chaosium, Darcsyde, the Tentacles Convention (now THE KRAKEN), and the author's personal gaming group.

I can't not mention that the word millennium is misspelled in the title and throughout the monograph (it's spelled correctly throughout as well). The same is true of Chaosium's Hawkmoon, but not Mongoose's Hawkmoon.

Monograph 327 is published under the University of Cadsandria imprint.

The Author

The author of Monograph 327 is Lawrence Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker is also (often with Peter Nash):

• An author of Runequest II, published by Mongoose (which became Mongoose's Legend)
• An author of much of Mongoose's Legend
• A founder of The Design Mechanism (TDM)
• An author of Runequest 6 (which became TDM's Mythras)
• An author of much of TDM's Mythras
• An author of Mongoose's Castle Brass sourcebook
• Credited for "Additional Editorial Advice" in Darcsyde's Corum
• Credited for contributions to many, many other RPG publications

I didn't know who Mr. Whitaker was before doing this review. Now, it seems to me that he's a pivotal figure in RuneQuest and many BRP relatives, perhaps as influential as writers I'm more familiar with such as Sandy Petersen. I should point out again that I don't personally know anyone involved - this is my subjective assessment.

Introducing Hawkmoon

Like most adaptations of Moorcock's settings, this includes a discussion of the Eternal Champion, the Multiverse, and where this fits, along with the requisite listing of specific books and compare/contrast with Elric/Stormbringer stories. It's not bad.

The discussion of the Tragic Millennium is entertaining and nicely brief.

Granbretan - The Dark Empire

Well written, and given how long it's been since I read the Runestaff novels, a nice review for me.

This paragraph struck me as interesting in the wake of Brexit:

"Granbretanians do not consider themselves European and look upon the continent with disdain, seeing only potential enemies occupying lands that should belong to the nation with the most power. It is no wonder that Europeans consider all Granbretanians to be mad, and all Granbretanians consider Europe ripe for conquest."

The Jewel in the Skull was published in 1967; the UK joined the European Union in 1973 and exited it on Dec 31 2020¹. I find Moorcock's picture of the UK (Granbretan) as summarized or paraphrased in the quoted paragraph to be thought provoking in light of the UK's recent history with the EU.

The section on Granbretan (and how Moorcock apparently thought of the UK then) will be familiar to readers of other Eternal Champion books; e.g., Melnibone as a caricature of the UK during the Cold War or post WW2.

It also reminds me as I read it (and I recall the same feeling many years ago when reading the 1986 Chaosium Hawkmoon) of TSR's² Gamma World. The notion of wastelands populated by bandits, mutants, and monsters has that Gamma World vibe - if perhaps better written and designed than Gamma World.

The Beast Orders

This subsection is a survey of selected Beast Orders - it's good motivational material for scenarios, NPCs, even characters.

Comparing it to Chaosium's 1986 Hawkmoon, it's much better; Chaosium's Beast Order content is mostly limited to the Granbretan section of character generation.

Comparing it to Mongoose's 2007 Hawkmoon (the Granbretan sourcebook), one will find that the Mongoose sourcebook is more detailed (not uniformly; there are places that Monograph 327 is superior in my opinion), providing material that would be helpful to those wanting to build Granbretanian characters.

While Monograph 327 doesn't include e.g. skill specialization for Beast Orders, there's enough expository discussion that one could homebrew Beast Order character generation without much trouble.

Hawkmoon's World

At about 33 pages, this is the largest section of Monograph 327. It's a nice contrast to the perfunctory region descriptions in Chaosium Hawkmoon's character creation section. It compares favorably to the Gazeteer section in Mongoose Hawkmoon's core rulebook.

This section is written as Huillam D'Averc's report to King Emperor Huon - essentially, an audit of continental Europe's various nation-states' resilience or weakness to conquest. It's a fun perspective to read from (for some definitions of "fun", given the grim subject matter; I liked it).

The various countries, nation-states, provinces, etc., are given reasonably detailed write ups - high level as one would expect given the breadth of the subject, but at the same time with enough detail about personalities, regional relationships, and history to help motivate adventures.

The "Things My Father Told Me" block quotations in each major regional section are clever, appropriately dark or humorous, and complement the "Notes Concerning..." sections at the end of each regional description, which help to guide character building.

About "Notes Concerning...": Given that there's currently rather more sensitivity about culture and differences than there's been in the past, the stereotypical descriptions (French are "passionate", Germanians are "legalistic"/"unthinking rule followers") might rub some the wrong way. I'm not suggesting they are racial caricatures or truly offensive stereotypes, but if one were overly sensitive one might be offended. I'm not, but some could be.

The section on France is about 13 pages. I would say that generally, it's the most detailed region. Plenty of fodder for someone planning a campaign or scenarios in, around, or involving France.

The section on Germania is about 8 pages; it's also got a nice amount of detail to motivate adventure material.

The sections on the rest of Europe are given the same treatment: witty, thoughtful and with enough meat to include them in or build a campaign or scenario around. It's well written, and it's thorough given what's available in the source material. But...

But. The problem I have with "the rest of Europe" is the same problem I have with the Young Kingdoms in Stormbringer: other than Pan Tang, Purple Towns, and one or two others, who really wants to play characters from those regions? A merchant from Filkhar? A hunter from Ilmiora? (Certain professions or backgrounds are also questionable, but that's another topic.) This is no criticism of the author or contributors. As I've taken pains to note, it's well written.

Throughout, there are interesting notes and hints about science, artifice, magic, and the like. The Runestaff and the Mad God's Amulet are among them.

The World Beyond

In character for this setting, there's some interesting things to be found outside of Europe, but not that many things, and they're not that interesting. Amarekh, Asiacommunista, and Garathorm get brief write ups.

Adventuring in the Tragic Millennium

This section provides guidelines for creating and playing characters in the Europe of the Tragic Millennium, using either Stormbringer 5th Edition or BRP rules.

In the guidelines for using BRP rules, the Basic Roleplaying Players' Book and Basic Roleplaying Magic Book are referenced, referring to the Players' rulebook as a monograph. Apparently prior to the BGB (the Big Gold Book, as the combined BRP rules are known), BRP was published in separate Players', Game Masters', and Magic rule books, with monograph numbers. I thus believe that the Game Master rulebook is Monograph 372 Basic Gamemaster, and the Magic rulebook is Monograph 370 Basic Magic. I have been unable to locate a reference to the Players' rulebook monograph. However, I was able to find a forum posting from 2006 that asserts that the (Avalon Hill) RuneQuest 3rd Edition rule books are the same as the BRP Monograph rule books³.

To help map from Stormbringer or BRP rules, suggestions are provided for character professions and cultural backgrounds to aid in determining appropriate skills and abilities. There are subsections about money, equipment, weapons, and technology.

There's a subsection on playing Granbretanians; reasonably, this is mostly a list of caveats about playing inherently amoral and insane characters.

The Runestaff

The black sword is an iconic and influential entity in the Young Kingdoms, and in Tragic Millennium Europe, the Runestaff is instrumental in ensuring the Cosmic Balance is maintained. This section explores how the Runestaff could become entwined in the fortunes of Hawkmoon characters. It's largely color, motivation, and hooks for a Game Runner to use in creating adventures.

Sorcerer-Science

This section explores pre-Tragic Millennium science and technology - but not by attempting to provide any concrete explanations for how things work. Indeed, care is taken to point out that unlikely devices and effects make for better play if they're mysterious and often indistinguishable from magic.

There's some discussion about how uncommon technology is and how it's often hoarded or coveted by the powerful. This provides some decent adventure hooks.

A subsection details some examples of scientific or technological artifacts. Examples of devices for transportation, weapons, defence and communication are listed. As with the rest of this monograph, it's well thought out and reflects consideration for how such things could affect play.

Subsections on Granbretanian and Soryandum sorcery-science provide some fun examples, including a discussion of the infamous Black Jewel.

The section concludes by touching on actual magic in the Hawkmoon world. As this is a world of the Multiverse governed mainly by Law, it's noted that true magic is quite rare. It's also noted that the barriers between Tragic Millennium Earth and planes more ruled by Chaos are not robust, and that Chaos and magic can and do intrude.

Personalities

Some of the more pivotal figures in the world of Hawkmoon are discussed, both good guys and bad guys. Statistics are not provided, although for some you can find statistics in Chaosium's or Mongoose's Hawkmoons. The following personalities are explored, listed here in alphabetical order (by name or title):

Baron Kalan of Vitall, Grand Constable of the Order of the Serpent
Baron Meliadus of Kroiden, Grand Constable of the Order of the Wolf
Bowgentle, advisor to Count Brass
Count Brass, Guardian of the Kamarg
Countess Flana Mikosevar of Kanbery, cousin of King Emperor Huon
Duke Dorian Hawkmoon von Koln, Eternal Champion
King Emperor Huon, big baddie
Oladahn, Giant of the Bulgar Mountains, Companion of the Eternal Champion
Orland Fank, servant of the Runestaff
Sir Huillam D'Averc, French mercenary and spy for Granbretan
The Warrior in Jet and Gold, servant of the Runestaff
Yisselda, daughter of Count Brass, wife of Dorian Hawkmoon

The descriptions shore up some plot points, personal or regional motivations, and political machinations in the novels. They also help map out relationships between the characters of the novels.

Scenarios

Monograph 327 generously gives the reader five scenarios over 20 pages. I'm not going to review each of them in detail; I don't wish to ruin this for potential players, so teasers with no spoilers will have to suffice.

It's noted that stats and mechanics are not provided in the scenarios - a Game Runner is expected to do that homework themselves using Stormbringer or BRP rules. I think that's a fair decision given the liminal space this monograph inhabits. It's not truly system agnostic, but it's BRP relative⁴ agnostic.

Welcome to the Machine

This scenario is intended for Young Kingdoms characters - but takes place in Tragic Millennium Europe. Visiting this world of Law comes as something of a surprise.

Smoke and Mirrors

Have you met Dorian Hawkmoon? Meet Dorian Hawkmoon!

All Roads Lead to Londra

The adventurers are bystanders while the drama of Empire unfolds. A smart person would mind their own business, but sometimes you have to take a stand.

The Dogs of Straw

You think you're tough enough to run with the big dogs? Prove it.

Sons of the Desert

Everyone loves a romp through the Afrikan desert. Right?

Conclusion

When I set out to review this monograph, I didn't think it was going to start with having to puzzle out publishing timelines and performing mini-reviews of other Hawkmoon gaming adaptations. At times, I was bouncing between several versions for comparison. It was entertaining, and I feel that I've learned more about BRP, world building, and gaming in the process.

Given how well written Monograph 327 is, I anticipate that the benchmark for quality is set too high. There's almost 30 other monographs that I intend to review (not counting two adventure sourcebooks); I don't know how many of them were crafted by professionals like Lawrence Whitaker but I am somewhat apprehensive. I suppose I'll find out.

Before starting, I wasn't planning to use this material in my games. Now though, I am planning at least one campaign or perhaps a set of scenarios that use at minimum the first scenario in this monograph. I think that, more than any kind of score or quality assessment, indicates how good this material is.

Elric of Melnibone, the Young Kingdoms, and Stormbringer are familiar to more readers of fantasy than Dorian Hawkmoon, Tragic Millennium Europe, and the Runestaff. So it goes with the popularity or success of the Stormbringer RPGs in comparison to the Hawkmoon RPGs; when it comes to Eternal Champion or Multiverse settings, Stormbringer is simply more popular. The sheer number of sourcebooks, adventures, supplements, and versions of Stormbringer in comparison to those for Hawkmoon makes that clear.

I think therefore that we're lucky Mr. Whitaker and Chaosium turned their attention to this incarnation of the Eternal Champion; I'm only disappointed that Monograph 327 didn't get the full production and publishing attention I think it deserves.

The reviews on this site are Copyright © 2022 Robert Prince unless otherwise noted.

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