ElfQuest TTRPG Returns For New Printing

Chaosium is bringing back the ElfQuest roleplaying game. Today, Chaosium announced that it would produce a "classic reissue" of ElfQuest: The Official Roleplaying Game, which was originally released in 1984. The game is an official adaptation of the popular fantasy indie comic created by Wendy and Richard Pini. A Kickstarter for the RPG will launch in October 2024, with plans to publish the game in its original box edition format, with later supplements included. The Kickstarter will help fund new printings of all the 1984 publications.

ElfQuest is a culturally significant comic first published in 1978. The Pinis chose to self-publish the original series, although it was later reprinted by Marvel and DC, with Dark Horse publishing a follow-up series called The Final Quest. ElfQuest was one of the first "indie" comic successes, bridging the divide between the underground comics movement and the later explosion of indie comics during the 1980s and 1990s.

The ElfQuest TTRPG uses Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying System and was originally written by Steve Perrin, Sandy Petersen, and Yurek Chodak. Chaosium president Rick Meints will lead the Chaosium team working on the new reprint, with Meints also having led the Call of Cthulhu Classic and RuneQuest Classic reprints. The Pinis will work with Chaosium on the new ElfQuest RPG's development and presentation.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Didn't the game introduce dolphin-riding elves, which -- at least at the time -- hadn't appeared in the comics?

Yes. All the supplements are part of the package. As far as I can tell only the 2nd edition single volume core book isn't part of this, which (predictably) already has some folks complaining about how that's what they really wanted.

Me, I hope it does well. Not only do I retain some fondness for the original series (although I haven't kept up with it) every profitable venture like this slightly increases the possibility of an updated 2nd edition Ringworld before Niven dies and the license winds up behind the lawyers of his estate, or even Moorcock suddenly deciding to license his stuff for a reasonable rate again - even straight nostalgia reprints of Stormbringer or Hawkmoon would be nice to see.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Not much different, honestly. The big thing is the use of the Resistance Table (which I honestly dislike quite a bit).

Doesn't EQ use strike ranks as well? I don't think that's in CoC 7th either.

 

[Mortus]

Yes. All the supplements are part of the package. As far as I can tell only the 2nd edition single volume core book isn't part of this, which (predictably) already has some folks complaining about how that's what they really wanted.

Me, I hope it does well. Not only do I retain some fondness for the original series (although I haven't kept up with it) every profitable venture like this slightly increases the possibility of an updated 2nd edition Ringworld before Niven dies and the license winds up behind the lawyers of his estate, or even Moorcock suddenly deciding to license his stuff for a reasonable rate again - even straight nostalgia reprints of Stormbringer or Hawkmoon would be nice to see.

I have Elfquest 2nd Edition - it looks like it’s just a compilation of the Elfbook and Worldbook from the 1e boxed set plus the Companion supplement and the map attached in the back.

I read it back in the day but never played it. I could not think of a better story than the original quest. I’m getting this and now I know I can just play smaller plots and personal quests.

I really hope they reprint all of the Elric rpg books!

 

[CleverNickName]

This news made my week!

 

[Keldryn]

One of these days, I need to get around to finishing at least the original storyline. (I gather the later stuff was a big step down in quality.) I feel like I only got as far as them reaching the elves who had the first hints of space stuff going on and stopped there.

The first two sequel miniseries (Siege at Blue Mountain and Kings of the Broken Wheel) maintained the same quality. In the early and mid 90s, they branched out into multiple monthly series (in color!) and brought on new artists and writers. The quality did vary a fair bit IMO, and the brand felt a bit diluted. After a few years, they suddenly switched everything back to black & white and then to a single larger monthly series that contained 4-5 of the storylines. That was where my interest dropped off for a long while.

I still haven't purchased or read Final Quest, but my daughter really got into these over the last couple of years, so I've been meaning to acquire them.

Original quest through Kings of the Broken Wheel is definitely worth your time. It gets harder to follow after that, as characters split up into parallel storylines (Hidden Years and Shards carry on the main story threads).

 

[Mannahnin]

The first two sequel miniseries (Siege at Blue Mountain and Kings of the Broken Wheel) maintained the same quality. In the early and mid 90s, they branched out into multiple monthly series (in color!) and brought on new artists and writers. The quality did vary a fair bit IMO, and the brand felt a bit diluted. After a few years, they suddenly switched everything back to black & white and then to a single larger monthly series that contained 4-5 of the storylines. That was where my interest dropped off for a long while.

I still haven't purchased or read Final Quest, but my daughter really got into these over the last couple of years, so I've been meaning to acquire them.

Original quest through Kings of the Broken Wheel is definitely worth your time. It gets harder to follow after that, as characters split up into parallel storylines (Hidden Years and Shards carry on the main story threads).

This.

Also, for anyone curious about the origins and history and massive significance of ElfQuest to the independent comics movement, matttt on YouTube did a great video essay earlier this year.

 

[Mannahnin]

I have Elfquest 2nd Edition - it looks like it’s just a compilation of the Elfbook and Worldbook from the 1e boxed set plus the Companion supplement and the map attached in the back.

I read it back in the day but never played it. I could not think of a better story than the original quest. I’m getting this and now I know I can just play smaller plots and personal quests.

I have my original copies of the game and supplements from back in the day but had the same issue. Maybe I'll try noodling some concepts...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I saw that Dark Horse is reprinting the series in color (which they incorrectly describe as being in color "for the first time") next spring. Seems like a good time for me to jump back onto ElfQuest next year.

 

[Mannahnin]

I saw that Dark Horse is reprinting the series in color (which they incorrectly describe as being in color "for the first time") next spring. Seems like a good time for me to jump back onto ElfQuest next year.

At least if you prefer to read physical copies rather than getting them free online.

 

[jdrakeh]

Doesn't EQ use strike ranks as well? I don't think that's in CoC 7th either.

Possibly. As I noted, I never played it, only owned it (and that was over 22 years ago).