Skyrealms of Jorune

Science fantasy role playing game

Skyrealms of Jorune is a science fantasy role playing game that was first published in 1984 through SkyRealms Publishing. The game is set on the fictional alien planet of Jorune above which float levitating islands. The second edition was published in 1986 as a boxed set, and a third edition was published by Chessex in 1992. The computer game Alien Logic: A Skyrealms of Jorune Adventure was published in 1994. The various editions received positive reviews in game periodicals including Casus Belli, White Dwarf, White Wolf, Different Worlds, Dragon, Polyhedron, The Games Machine, and Challenge.

Jorune is the fictional planet used as a setting for the Skyrealms of Jorune role playing game. The Skyrealms are the game's main setting floating "islands" levitated by mysterious crystals in the crust of an alien planet. Following the evolution of the native life forms ("Jorune creatures") and the sentient indigenous Shanthas, Jorune was colonized by successive waves of space faring immigrants, including the insectoid Cleash, the bizarre Thriddle, and the broadly humanoid Ramian; the final colonization was by humans. Following an unexpected and permanent severing of communication with Earth, misunderstandings between the "stranded" human colonists and the Shanthas resulted in a devastating war that eventually reduced all societies on the planet to an Iron Age level. By the time gameplay begins, more than 3000 years after the Human Shanthic War, the human race has evolved into three subspecies differentiated by size and facility with Isho (the magic like energy of the setting): regular humans; the small, Isho adept Muadra; and the large, Isho resistant Boccord. (Players can also choose to be one of four additional races: the Blount, Crugar, Bronth, and Woffen, all bipedal, genetically engineered descendants of Earth animals — toads, cougars, bears, and wolves, respectively.) The role playing game is based on a science fantasy background (of the planetary romance subtype) created by Andrew Leker, and is quite different from other role playing games of the time. However, as reviewer Edwin King noted, it has some features in common with Tekumel, the setting of Empire of the Petal Throne, notably the idea of humans colonizing a distant planet and subsequently losing contact with the rest of humanity (a dimensional rift in Tekumel's case, civil war in Jorune's) leading to the regression of the colonists' society and war against the planet's native inhabitants. Later the same year, Skyrealms produced the 46 page adventure Maustin Caji.