Elric of Melnibone Companion.pdf

Credits

Contents

Credits & Contents 1

Introduction 2

Pawns of Fate 4

Insanity 20

Elwher and Elsewhere 24

Seas of Fate 46

Personalities of the Young

Kingdoms 57

Denizens of the Million Spheres 72

Demons Detailed 93

Battle Scars 99

She Dreams of Empires - Scenario 109

Index

Author

Lawrence Whitaker

Editor

Charlotte Law

Cover Art

Pascal Quidault

Logo & Map

Iordanis Lazaridis

Proofreading

Ron Bedison

Interior

Illustrations

Chad Sergesketter,

German Ponce, Jesse

Mohn, Leonardo

Borazio, Nathan

Furman, Phil Renne

& Robin Bowles.

Playtesters

Mark Billanie, Jason

Denton, Daniel

Haslam, Mark Howe,

Thomas Howe, Alan

Moore, Michael J

Young, Ralf Franz,

Boris Raeschler,

Michael Kutschan,

Carsten Strasen,

Christian Einsporn,

Andreas Pittelkow,

Jon R White, James

Biltclifffe. Joanne

Gonsalves, Simon

Hall, Ian White, Colin

Driver, Darren Driver,

Pete Nash, John

Hutchinson, Nathan

Baron & Simon Bray

Special Thanks

Michael Moorcock,

Pete Nash, Charles

Green, John R White,

Colin Driver & Pittel

Additional

Thanks

Ian Kaufman

Map

130

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Publishing. All signiﬁ cant characters, names, places and items featured in Elric of Melnibone; Companion the distinctive likenesses

thereof and related elements are trademarks of Michael Moorcock and Multiverse Inc.

This game product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form without written

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This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United Kingdom. This product is a work of ﬁ ction. Any similarity to

actual people, organisations, places or events is purely coincidental.

132

INTRODUCTION

‘I knew because I know you, Elric of Melniboné— just as I

know Erekosë there—for I travel in many ages and on many

planes. That is why I am sometimes called Companion to

Champions. I must ﬁ nd my sword and my sack—also my hat.

Doubtless all are in Voilodion’s vault with his other loot.’

What is in this Book?

The Elric of Melniboné Companion contains a plethora of

useful information, arranged into the following chapters.

Chapter One – Pawns of Fate

A discussion of the key themes of the Elric Saga, including

an overview of the Multiverse and ways of generating new

planes of the Million Spheres.

- Jhary-a-Conel; The Vanishing Tower

All heroes require a companion and just as Elric requires

Moonglum or Smiorgan Baldhead or even Jhary-a-Conel,

so does the Elric of Melniboné Games Master – and was

there ever a more heroic breed than they? A companion

offers friendship, advice and support. He travels with you

– not all the way, perhaps but the journey is always more

enjoyable for his presence – and amuses you. Sometimes he

frustrates you but as always, you are glad of the companion’s

company. So we hope it is with this book. Within its pages

you will ﬁ nd a wealth of additional material for use in Elric of

Melniboné or any of the Eternal Champion, games; material

that complements and expands upon that presented in the

main Elric of Melniboné rulebook.

Chapter Two – Insanity

Rules for introducing insanity – a staple of Michael

Moorcock’s writing – into Elric of Melniboné stories.

Chapter Three – Elwher

and Elsewhere: the

Unknown East

Expanding Elric’s world to take into account the Unknown

East and including the creation of Unknown East

adventurers.

Chapter Four – Seas of Fate

Ships of the Young Kingdoms and a table of sailing times

between the major ports.

The aim of compiling this book has been to present material

that simply would not ﬁ t into the main rules, to take some

of the rich material found throughout the Elric saga and

present it in a game language that can be used during play.

There is much conjecture and extrapolation in these pages

but all of it is based on references or examples from the Elric

saga itself. Thus, you will ﬁ nd additional creatures drawn

from the pages of the Elric novels, rules for introducing

insanity into Elric of Melniboné games, descriptions of new

lands, short essays regarding essential themes of the saga

and to round out the book, a scenario.

Chapter Five –

Personalties of the

Young Kingdoms

Game statistics for the key characters of the Elric saga.

Chapter Six – Denizens of

the Young Kingdoms

So, retrieve your sword, your sack and especially, your hat and

turn the page. Welcome to the Elric of Melniboné Companion.

Details of additional creatures, foes and monsters with

which to populate Elric of Melniboné stories.

Chapter Seven –

Demons Detailed

An expanded table of demon Chaotic Features, plus an

additional way of determining demons’ appearance.

Finding an answer to this question leads the adventurers

into dream realms and the very heart of a plot to subjugate

the Young Kingdoms.

What Else Might

You Need?

The Companion tries to offer as much advice and help

as he can but sometimes even he needs to call upon other

resources. In addition to the Elric of Melniboné rules, the

Magic of the Young Kingdoms book along with Bright Shadows

will undoubtedly prove useful. In many places throughout

the Elric of Melniboné Companion there are references to

Runes and Rune Magic: the rules for the use of the Rune

Magic can be found within Magic of the Young Kingdoms.

Chapter Eight – Battle

Scars

Mass combat rules for Elric of Melniboné , allowing you to

simulate the mighty clashes of the saga and involve Elric

adventurers in the thick of the action.

Chapter Nine - She

Dreams of Empires

A full scenario set in the Jharkorian city of Sequaloris. What

is it that has brought distress to the young Princess Ahmayn?

PAWNS OF FATE

This chapter explores the common themes running

throughout the Elric saga. As Michael Moorcock has

expanded Elric’s story over the course of 45 years, he

has focused on a variety of different themes, in different

ways and at different stages of the saga. However, he has

always made sure that the themes explored are linked,

consistent and coherent. The Elric stories are no mere ‘pulp’

entertainments –though Moorcock has always maintained

that they are, still, entertainments – but quite often

deliberate attempts to subvert the Sword and Sorcery genre

that was gaining considerable popularity during the 1960s

and early 1970s. Later, Moorcock introduced a more mythic

approach to Elric’s saga, exploring the power of dreams and

the way mythology inﬂ uences and is inﬂ uenced by, the

power of individual dreams. The novel ‘The Skrayling Tree’

examines mythical signiﬁ cance in precisely this way and is

an example of how Moorcock’s approach has matured and

reﬁ ned over the years.

centred on more traditional fantasy themes but for veracity

– and for a feel quite different to other fantasy roleplaying

games – incorporating the elements discussed in this chapter

is highly recommended.

At the heart of all Moorcock’s works is the concept of the

Eternal Champion. A soul forced to ﬁ ght through a million

incarnations, bringing order to the Multiverse and challenging

the schemes of the forces of Law and Chaos, each of which,

unchecked, results in destruction. Sometimes the Champion

is aware of his fate; sometimes he is not. Sometimes he cares

deeply for his struggle and at times he rejects it totally. Elric

is the most powerful incarnation of the Eternal Champion

and Moorcock’s declared favourite character. Throughout

his story Elric goes through all the acceptances, ignorance

and denials of his fate, becoming a tortured, isolated mixture

of idealist and fatalist in the process. People are drawn to

Elric because they recognise something of themselves in

the moody albino but also because the themes Moorcock

explores through Elric are universal: why are we here? Is there

a god or gods? What have they planned for us? How do I

become a better person?

Reversing

Traditional

Fantasy Themes

Throughout the Elric saga, the traditional tropes of epic

fantasy are challenged and reversed. Elric’s world was not

created by a benevolent god or gods; it was forged by Chaos

as an act of creativity and has had to struggle to stave-off

destruction from that point forward. The Young Kingdoms

is not a sweeping world accurately mapped and described;

its details sometimes change, contradict each other and

even merge together.

They appeal, of course, because, ﬁ rst and foremost, the

Elric tales are simply superb stories, superbly told, by a

master of his craft.

In building an Elric of Melniboné campaign the themes

explored in this section should be considered and where

appropriate, included in the adventurers’ backgrounds

as well as in scenarios. Of course, it is quite possible and

enjoyable to have a Young Kingdoms campaign that is

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