Editing Glorantha (section)

===In role-playing games (late 1970s – 1990s)===
The first edition of the role-playing game ''[[RuneQuest]]'' was released in 1978. Here, the world was referred to as "''Glorontha''". Several later editions were made; the second edition ("RuneQuest 2") in 1979 introduced many sophisticated game aids, such as ''[[Cults of Prax]]'' and ''[[Cults of Terror]]'', and polished campaign packs such as ''[[Griffin Mountain]]''. Using materials such as ''Cults of Prax'', players aligned their characters with any of a number of religions, grounding those characters in the political, cultural, and metaphysical conflicts of the setting. Each religion offered a distinct worldview and cultural outlook, none of which considered objectively correct out-of-character. This approach of offering competing mythical histories and value systems continues in current Glorantha material. ''Cults of Terror'' focused on the worship of evil gods and adversaries, such as Vivamort, a [[vampire]] cult, and Lunar and Chaos cults.

In 1993, Stafford published his first major expansion of Gloranthan mythology, the novel ''[[King of Sartar]]''.<ref name="King of Sartar 1" /> This was a departure from previous Gloranthan material, which had all been targeted at a [[tabletop role-playing game]] audience.

In an attempt to leverage the power of a much bigger gaming company, a third edition of ''RuneQuest'',<ref name="RQ3ed">{{cite book |last1=Perrin |first1=Steve |author-link1=Steve Perrin |last2=Stafford |first2=Greg |author-link2=Greg Stafford (game designer) |last3=Henderson |first3=Steve |last4=Willis |first4=Lynn |last5=Sandy |first5=Petersen |author-link5=Sandy Petersen |last6=Rolston |first6=Ken |author-link6=Ken Rolston |last7=Krank |first7=Charlie |author-link7=Charlie Krank |last8=Turney |first8=Raymond |title=RuneQuest |date=1984 |publisher=Avalon Hill |location=Baltimore, Maryland|edition=3}}</ref> was published with [[Avalon Hill]] in 1984. The default setting for this edition was given as the "Dark Ages of fantasy Europe",<ref name="RQ3ed" /> but it also included a booklet allowing use in Glorantha. Later supplements such as ''[[Gods of Glorantha]]'' expanded religious aspects, while ''[[Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of the Hero Wars]]'' did the same for culture and geography.

In the mid-1990s, Avalon Hill began work on a fourth edition of ''RuneQuest'', subtitled ''Adventures in Glorantha''. Stafford did not approve of the project and it was canceled. ''RuneQuest'' did not prosper with its association with Avalon Hill, and the relationship between Chaosium, who held the rights to Glorantha, and Avalon Hill, who held the rights to ''RuneQuest'', broke down completely in 1995. Following the break with Chaosium, Avalon Hill began to assert their trademark to the RuneQuest name, began work on ''[[RuneQuest: Slayers]]''. This was unrelated to Glorantha and the third edition rules. The project was canceled just before printing in 1998.

During this period of breakdown, Glorantha continued to evolve. The advent of the Internet caused a boom in fan creations for Glorantha. This was supported by several unofficial business ventures, such as Reaching Moon Megacorp, and a lively convention scene.  Loren Miller proposed his [[Maximum Game Fun]] principle as a basis for gaming in Glorantha; this soon became a game system in its own right. David Dunham proposed his ''[[PenDragon Pass]]'' system, a nearly freeform game system, and several ambitious [[Freeform role-playing game|freeform]] games were played at conventions. One such game, ''Home of the Bold'', hosted up to eighty participants.

The [[video game]] ''[[King of Dragon Pass]]'' was released by [[A Sharp (company)|A Sharp]] in 1999. The player assumes the role of an Orlanthi hero who seeks to unite the clans and tribes of Dragon Pass into a single kingdom. The game features exceptional depth of coverage of the area of Dragon Pass, and featured the first compelling public view of Stafford's ideas about the hero's quest. Stafford was also self publishing additional material at this time about the history and mythology of Glorantha in non-game form in ''The Glorious (Re)Ascent of Yelm''.