In my last blog post I mentioned an unusual Facebook message asking me to contact an Ian Thomson about a Runequest scenario I’d written called The Ever-Burning Torches which I didn’t remember being published in the first place!
My family tracked down a copy of this publication, Tradetalk #17, on eBay and it’s now sitting on a shelf next to my Runequest Starter Set because I can’t think of anywhere else to put it.
The published scenario inside Tradetalk is actually a Heroquest conversion of my original scenario. It even includes my own plans of a troll castle which I seem to remember drafting on my old Amiga 1200. It also includes a typo, with my surname spelled as ‘Pays’ as opposed to ‘Pay.’ Mispellings of my surname are actually quite common though it’s usually ‘Paye’ or ‘Payne.’ (I think some people feel sorry for my lack of letters and kindly donate 1 or 2 extras. Thank you. It’s much appreciated!)
I still have no idea how this Glorantha-based Runequest scenario came to pass along its winding path from being written, then played with my group back in the 1990s, through a Heroquest conversion and into publication.
This would have been my first paper publication! I would have been extremely excited at the time. I’m still excited, of course, to find it now. I used to buy Tradetalk magazine and I must have walked past countless other copies so many times at gaming conventions. The world is a rather chaotic place!
This is also a reminder that I should always keep an eye on submissions and emails. Writing isn’t just about mashing the keyboard. There’s admin as well!
Craig Pay 