 1977 second printing cover by Steve Swenston | |
| Other names | Dragon Pass |
|---|---|
| Designers | Greg Stafford |
| Publishers | Chaosium, Avalon Hill |
| Publication | 1975, 1981, 1983- |
| Genres | Board wargame, fantasy |
| Players | 1-3 |
| Playing time | 90-120 minutes |
White Bear and Red Moon is a fantasy board wargame set in the world of Glorantha, created by Greg Stafford and published in 1975. Stafford first tried to sell the game to established publishers, but despite being accepted by three different game companies, each attempt ended in failure; eventually he founded his own game company in 1974, the influential Chaosium, to produce and market the game.[1]
The game depicts the wars between the mighty Lunar Empire and the barbarian nation of Sartar, led by Prince Argrath, with many smaller countries and individuals available as allies to either side. Like other games of the board wargame genre, it has a hex map, many cardstock unit counters, and a number of rules themes.
White Bear and Red Moon went through three printings with minor differences. It was substantially revised and republished in 1981 under the name Dragon Pass, first by Chaosium and then in a nearly identical reprint from the Avalon Hill Game Company in 1983. The main differences in the reprint are a few streamlined rules and a notable improvement in the quality of the components. In particular, the paper map was replaced by a full-color game board. All editions are now out of print, and moderately valuable to a collector. A French-language edition was published by Oriflam under license from Chaosium under the name La Guerre des Héros in 1993. A Japanese-language edition was published by Hobby Japan.
Nomad Gods is another Chaosium board game that shares many rules in common, is set in a neighboring region of Glorantha, and can be regarded as a sequel of sorts. A planned third game in the series was never produced.
- ^ Shannon Appelcline (September 4, 2006). "Brief History of the Game #3". RPGnet. Retrieved September 14, 2007.