Tuesday, August 16, 2011
The Ads of Dragon: Jorune
Issue #87 (July 1984) had the following ad in its pages:
While not nearly as evocative as later advertisements for Jorune, this one was nevertheless quite effective in getting me to wonder, "What the heck is Jorune?" Of course, since I didn't attend GenCon 17, I never got the chance to see a copy of the game itself, a situation I wasn't able to rectify until quite some years after it was published, by which point my initial fascination with it had subsided. Having finally read Jorune (or Skyrealms of Jorune, as it's actually titled), I'm not sure I'd have ever played the game back in the day even if I had been able to obtain a copy in 1984, but I'd have enjoyed reading it back then, too. It's a unique and fascinating setting for a "fantasy" RPG -- indeed one of the best.
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Ah, the infamous Chodi Dichi Coven (sp?), ramian villain and all-round bad news dude.
ReplyDeleteKeep in mind this ad was for the single-booklet 1984 1st edition of the game, which is exceedingly rare and incredibly difficult to obtain at any price, not the 1985 boxed set. The Dragons "Windows on Jorune" ads in the '90s+ range of issues were for the 2nd ed.
I for one love the setting, and as anyone who has read any edition can attest, the game exemplifies the "old school" hobbyist approach. And of course, Mile Teves' artwork is genius.
It is a great setting. It really shows the advantage of a strong and distinct visual style.
ReplyDeleteWe had one group member who loved this game - and who cleared the boards at a convention quiz where one round was on Jorune.
ReplyDeleteWhen we actually played it your comment "What the heck is Jorune?" was accurate, it was incomprehensible, as if he was running the game in French. I went away with a conviction that I should never play it again and a lasting memory of the flying islands, like something out of a Philip José Farmer novel - or a recent, quite good but rather over hyped film.
It is definitely a Marmite game, one you either love or hate with no middle ground.
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love the setting and the art. The rules left me scratching my head, though.
ReplyDeleteI loved the art - never found the game available where i was. I remember the No-faced aliens clustered around some sort of 'microscope' and I included it in one of my D&D games. I called them the Astronomers.
ReplyDeleteThey could use their 'observatory' to look through any eye.