This happiness did not last. Man burned his homeworld in a great war. Earth was no more and so it was that Jorune became the second home for the human race. But on his second home, man saw that they did not have the land they needed to live and took that which was not theirs from the natives. The shantha were angry and when man would not return the land attacked the thieves and struck them down with strange energies. Man looked and saw that they would die on their new home.
But one man did not so, and the saviour of man, known as Carl Bomoveris, brought down a plague upon the shantha and many died. But the damage was enough and now man was spread far and wide across the world and had abandoned the things that he had brought with him from across the stars. They left the land where their brothers had died and went out to work the land for their food.
Another man, Iscin, did not give up the ways of Earth and he worked to save the animals that man had brought as his companions. He took each of them and made them walk on two legs where they had walked on four and gave them voices where they had nought but guttural sounds so that they may speak to him and each other and greatest of all he gave them the power to think as he did. The races of Iscin to this day revere their maker.
Legends say of how Bomoveris found the home of Iscin and killed one of his creations, but Iscin did not punish Bomoveris for he was pleased to see his brother. But the brothers of the one who had died, called crugar, were angry and it was they who struck down Iscin and Bomoveris. In their shock at the death of their creator, the crugar enslaved all the creations of Iscin, but to this day, all the Iscin races blame the crugar for the death of their creator.
After a time, the enslaved races of Iscin, the woffen, the bronth, and the tologra rose up against the second of Iscin's races and broke their bonds. Their exodus lead them far across Jorune and in time they found places to settle. Travelling furthest of all were the tologra, the youngest of Iscin's children. Only in recent times have they returned from their long journey to walk again in the realms of man.
As man came to live as part of the natural order of things, he began to change. Some grew tall and strong and they came to be known as the boccord. Some did not grow as high as man and found they could use the powers of the shantha. The muadra became wise in the ways of natural energy of the planet and grew to master this "Isho". Some say they will be as powerful one day as the shantha in such ways . . .
Skyrealms of Jorune is a fantasy role-playing game unlike any other, heavily infused with elements of with science that hark back to the game system it was based upon. Andrew Leker and Miles Teves created their campaign using TSR's Metamorphosis Alpha game, but went on to publish it as Skyrealms of Jorune in 1984.
The game appears to be very much a swords and sorcery game, but it is the rationale behind the concepts that makes it science fantasy. Magic is more like a form of psionics involving as it does the manipulation of energy native to Jorune as it flows wind-like around the planet. Many of the races found on Jorune are aliens or the result of genetic manipulation and mutation. And there still remains caches of hi-tech weapons and equipment left hidden by the original colonists.
The depth and originality of Jorune has caused parallels to be made with Empire of the Petal Throne. There are major differences though, not least that Jorune lacks the oppressive society to be found on Tékumel. It remains, like EPT, a game with a devoted following. Currently in its third edition, its future is uncertain and the purpose of this conversion is to spread the word . . .
Your enjoyment of this article will be helped immensely by the possession of these fine books:
GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition, Revised (B)
GURPS Fantasy Folk, Second Edition (FF)
GURPS Compendium I (CI)
Skyrealms of Jorune, Third Edition (SoJ)
When a page reference is shown like this "p. B45", it means see page 45 of the GURPS Basic Set.
Disclaimer: GURPS is copyright © 1994 Steve Jackson Games Incorporated and is used without their consent. Skyrealms of Jorune is copyright © 1992 SkyRealms Publishing, Inc. and is used without their consent. No infringement of their rights is intended.
The information contained here is intended for informational purposes only and not for sale or profit. It is copyright © 1996 Søren Petersen and Matthew Pook. Permission is granted for the free distribution of the information herein as long all copyright notices remain.
These rules are Version 4.2 of the GURPS Jorune adaptation. Last updated Wednesday, January 8th, 1997.
Finally if you have any comments to make about the material here, feel free to E-mail us.
Søren Petersen: S_Petersen@ie.ibm.com and Matthew Pook: Pookie@Falmouth.ac.uk