Skyrealms of Jorune

Skyrealms of Jorune is a science-fantasy role-playing game. It is set among the Skyrealms – floating "islands" of earth levitated by mysterious crystals in the crust of an alien planet. Three editions of the game were published from 1984 until 1992, but all are currently out of print. The buildings, races, and bizarre creatures of Jorune were brought to life by the realistic artwork of illustrator Miles Teves.

Jorune
Cover of the first edition
Publisher(s)SkyRealms Publishing, later Chessex
Publication date1984 (1st edition)

1985 (2nd edition)

1992 (3rd edition)
Genre(s)Science fiction, Science fantasy

Setting
Main article: Jorune

Skyrealms of Jorune was based on a science-fantasy background (of the planetary romance subtype) created by Andrew Leker, initially for a high school writing assignment. The setting was somewhat comparable to the Barsoom of the John Carter novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs, in that it was a barbaric fantasy world populated by sword-wielding heroes who encountered strange alien beings and technologies. It also has elements of the intricate fantasy worlds of Jack Vance.

Books and sourcebooks
  • First Edition (Skyrealms Publishing)
    • Jorune, Core Manual, 1984
    • Maustin Caji, Adventure, 1984
  • Second Edition (Skyrealms Publishing)
    • Skyrealms of Jorune, Boxed set with core rules, 1985
    • Companion Jorune: Burdoth, Sourcebook, 1986
    • Companion Jorune: Ardoth, Sourcebook, 1987
    • Earth-Tec Jorune, Sourcebook, 1988
    • Pre-release versions of two additional sourcebooks, Playing the Iscin Races and Shanthas of Jorune were made available at conventions in 1989 and 1990, respectively, but were never published by Skyrealms.
  • Third Edition (Chessex)
    • Skyrealms of Jorune: The RolePlaying Game, Core Manual, 1992, ISBN 1-883240-00-X
    • The Innocents of Gauss, Beginning adventure, 1993, ISBN 1-883240-01-8
    • The Sobayid Atlas, Sourcebook, 1994, ISBN 1-883240-03-4
    • The Sholari Pack, Sourcebook, Adventure, Screen, 1994, ISBN 1-883240-02-6
    • The Gire of Sillipus, Sourcebook, 1994, ISBN 1-883240-04-2

Spinoffs
  • Alien Logic: A Skyrealms of Jorune Adventure, a DOS based RPG published in 1994, is based in the Skyrealms game-universe.
  • Sarceen's Knowledge, fanzine from UK by Alex Blair.
  • Sholari, fanzine from US by Joseph K. Adams aka Joe Coleman.
  • Bokelby's Folly, fanzine from UK by Ray Gilliam.
  • Danstead's Traveler, webzine by Danstead Traveler (defunct).
  • Journal of the Tansoor Historical Society, fanzine from US by Joseph K. Adams.
  • Gomo Guide to Thoneport, fanzine from US by Joseph K. Adams.'

Reception

In the December 1987 edition of Dragon (Issue 128), Ken Rolston admired this game, saying, "Boy is this good, and it's different from most other [fantasy role-playing games]." However, Rolston found the rules imprecise and badly organized, and the combat mechanics "involved and clunky." He also noted the lack of pre-generated characters, and found tips for gamemasters to be inadequate. Rolston did like the magic systems and campaign background, and called the illustrations "superb". He concluded with a strong recommendation, saying "Skyrealms of Jorune is a wonderfully original and inspiring FRPG campaign setting. On that basis alone, it is certainly a worthwhile purchase."[1]

In a 1996 readers' poll conducted by Arcane magazine to determine the 50 most popular roleplaying games of all time, Skyrealms of Jorune was ranked 30th. Editor Paul Pettengale commented: "Bonkers. Okay, so it is a good game in terms of atmosphere, system structure, presentation and the depth of the background, but it's bonkers."[2]

Reviews
gollark: See, this is the problem, you shouldn't say you'll do things in 10 minutes.
gollark: It is illegal to mute me.
gollark: Denied.
gollark: I mean, by some definitions of instruction, there are zero instruction ones.
gollark: "These days"? What was it *before*?

References
  1. Rolston, Ken (December 1987). "Role-playing reviews". Dragon. TSR, Inc. (128): 22–23.
  2. Pettengale, Paul (Christmas 1996). "Arcane Presents the Top 50 Roleplaying Games 1996". Arcane. Future Publishing (14): 25–35.
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