It has come to my attention that there’s a few important RuneQuest works I’ve not actually reviewed on this site.
I mentioned this in passing—and in bafflement—in my review of Sacred Earth, Sacred Water. Somehow, I’ve not actually managed to discuss the excellent Cups of Clearwine and Dregs of Clearwine by Beer With Teeth (BWT). Upon further investigation I found that I had, at least, given Cups a short review on DriveThruRPG. This fortunately explained why I kept thinking I’d discussed the Clearwine books more generally.
Is this a review, though? No. It’s closer to an ode, I suppose. I want to celebrate not just the Clearwine books but also how BWT really nails creating RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha (RQG) products.
Disclaimer: This article may contain spoilers for BWT’s adventures. Also, an angry Humakti named Berra has threatened to leave a purse badger on my porch if I didn’t get around to talking about the Clearwine books. This article is written under duress—please send a shaman with Control Badger to 123 Library Street in Jonstown ASAP.
Who is BWT?
Beer With Teeth is an RPG or RQG collective in the same basic tradition as an artist collective. The members work and game together to create their publications. Some aspects of a book are produced primarily by one member (such as the art), while other aspects are decidedly a joint venture (such as the plot). In particular one of their members is an archaeologist, which strengthens the realistic grounding present throughout the collective’s work.
Throughout, I view BWT’s publications as exactly that: the collective’s publications. These works are a joint artistic venture, which is indeed one of their strengths.
If you’re interested in learning more about BWT’s stuff go check out what they say on their own site—the group summarizes it much better than I can. Plus, there’s lots of cool articles, musings, scribblings, etc. worth browsing.
And why are they Awesome?
To my mind, BWT’s excellence boils down to three factors:
- Wild ideas
- Cautious presentation
- Attention to detail
Gleefully chaotic ideas run throughout BWT’s works. From a river’s egg in Cups of Clearwine to horrifying toddler scorpionmen in Stone and Bone, their creative work continues to surprise and delight me. (Especially as a gamemaster—if I was on the other side of the GM’s Screen … yikes!)
Yet as most people who have tried to create a work of substance know, ideas are kind of a dime a dozen. Sticking within our sphere, there’s loads of stuff on the Jonstown Compendium which has excellent ideas. That doesn’t mean they’re all excellent books! If I typed out all of the ideas in my scribble journals or uploaded my notes documents straight to DriveThruRPG, they’d be pretty crap books. It’s not too hard to figure out an idea which can work face-to-face over a physical or virtual tabletop. Putting that idea into a form someone else can use and digest is the most challenging part.
This does not undermine the creative quality of BWT’s works. They’re a standout RuneQuest publisher because they have great ideas and then combine them with great execution.
Speaking as someone who thrives on chaos brain and chasing ideas, I am absolutely flabbergasted at the restraint present throughout BWT’s books. I didn’t include “cautious presentation” as a joke up above (though I’ll admit it might not be the best descriptive phrase). BWT consistently succeeds at providing exactly enough text to inform, engage, or instruct the reader as is appropriate for the passage. Their gamemaster directions are clear, their deep-dive sidebars are precise, and their creativity peeks through at just the right times. High-quality visual presentation isn’t “easy,” but it is in my opinion fairly straightforward. Text of BWT’s quality is, in my opinion, incredibly difficult to achieve.
Text quality for BWT’s work goes deeper than “are there any typos?” And y’all know I’m a bit obsessive about those. The quality of BWT’s higher-order textual elements routinely impresses me. This kind of stuff is practically invisible unless you’re looking for it. Cutting a redundant sentence, an unnecessary paragraph or sidebar. Almost every single sidebar in Cups of Clearwine could easily be a full page of detail, and most Jonstown Compendium readers wouldn’t blink twice. More detail, more good, right? Not always, and BWT knows it. Their restraint in not gushing to heart’s content is one reason their work—and the Clearwine books in particular—are really brilliant.
This higher-order attention is indeed combined with high-quality proofing on a more mundane level. The typohunting, the layout, the use of headings or sidebars, and so on. Cumulatively I truly do feel that BWT understands that a beautiful book also requires beautiful text. Their use of detail is especially refined, often focusing on just one or two key descriptions to evoke the scene.
Attention to detail also spreads to their use of RuneQuest mechanics to tell the story. This is especially near and dear to my heart because, frankly, if a work isn’t intersecting with the game system I find it difficult to understand why I ought to use it. BWT sets a good example of utilizing RQG mechanics to tell the story without being encumbered by them. They present mechanical detail while cutting it when possible. Why does including mechanical detail matter? Well, it’s the game’s rules; they should be used. If you don’t want to use RQG‘s rules there’s lots of other excellent games to work with (like OpenQuest from D101 Games or Mythras from Design Mechanism). BWT’s adventures understand that an adventure is a game, not just a narrative. They capture that magic and messy blend of fluid roleplay and structured rules which makes an RPG so delightful.
Interested in exploring the weirdness of Glorantha’s past? Treasures of Glorantha 2 is your essential guide to the lost magics of the Imperial Age. The book contains 30 new magic items allowing players and gamemasters alike to explore the secrets of a dragon-worshiping empire and the powers stolen by god-manipulating sorcerers. Get it in PDF or Print on Demand!
What can we Learn from BWT?
Looking in from the outside, I think my most important takeaway from BWT’s continued success is the power of collaboration. Obviously working together with people of varied backgrounds and interests will increase the diversity of ideas which go into an artistic work. More subtly, however, BWT’s strengths seem to come from mutual restraint. Encouraging one another to employ caution and achieve that precise economy found in their text seems to be another benefit of working as a collective.
I’d not call myself a stranger to collaboration, but the core ideas in Akhelas books are very often my ideas. I enjoy collaboration because it explores facets of Glorantha that I’d never consider. Contributors also add delightfully odd stuff to my own work. Indeed, my most frequent collaborating writer is probably Diana Probst of BWT infamy (Air Toads! is my personal favorite). This extends to editing, too, where I’ve had several helpful and productive relationships with excellent editors.
Yet in the end as the person making “publisher” decisions for anything released under “Akhelas,” my RQG releases remain very much within my own vision. Sometimes this is beneficial, I’m sure. Other times, I probably did need someone to smack me upside the head and tell me to write fewer snarky footnotes or weird sidebars. As BWT’s restrained detail shows, Glorantha’s weirdness is sometimes best portrayed through particular gems rather than splattered all across the pages. Combining creativity with control of the pen consistently results in the best books the Jonstown Compendium has to offer.
Addition: Want to see what BWT has been up to lately? They dropped a new adventure this week! The Gate of Dusk is an adventure filled with “violence, lies, stew, and angry beast-women” set in Sartar’s tumultuously divided Locaem Tribe. Check it out here!
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