A Little Time-Line Magic

RuneQuest Revisited
In anticipation of playing in a RuneQuest Classic game soon, I was reading the reprint edition and noted the editors have changed some of the text near the front of the box.  RuneQuest 2, currently called RuneQuest Classic by publisher Chaosium, is an older game dating back to the late 1970's. As such, it has some history as a game, having passed through a number of publishers and at least six (official) editions. Through most editions, RuneQuest has been closely tied to a default setting, Glorantha, one of the hobby's seminal game worlds. Glorantha is a dynamic setting used for HeroWars, HeroQuest and a couple boardgames. As new Glorantha material is released to story progresses to a degree. Therefore RuneQuest Classic includes an introduction to Glorantha which differs slightly from that found in the older printing. One difference that attracted my attention is the timeline.
The timeline included in RuneQuest 2nd Edition took the history of Dragon Pass through the year 1613 when Starbrow leads an unsuccessful Sartarite rebellion against the Lunar occupiers. That is the last entry and for the past 40 years, the beginning of the adventure. The Heortling warriors were scattered, many heading toward the colony at New Pavis, in order to improve their skills through adventure and to ready themselves for the next rebellion.
RuneQuest Classic continues the timeline through 1627 when Argrath becomes Prince of Sartar. There are a number of events which take place along the way and are recorded thus:

1613 Kallyr Starbrow leads another Sartarite rebellion, quickly
crushed by the Empire.
1616 God-King of the Holy Country disappears and the Masters
of Luck and Death fail to bring forth a new incarnation.
1619 Lunar Empire invades Heortland.
1621 Whitewall falls to Lunar Empire.
1624 Lunar Empire defeated in Esrolia by Harrek the Berserk.
1625 True Dragon devours new Lunar Temple in Sartar.
1626 Sartarites repel Lunar invasion but Kallyr Starbrow is
killed in battle.
1627 Argrath becomes Prince of Sartar.

These events cover 14 years of game-time and 40 years of gaming for those of us who started our campaigns in 1613. The "official" history is not exactly how it played out for me, but there are more than one way to remember events. One of the challenges when playing in a published campaign is the "official canon" may not coincide with events as they occur at your table. Most of my play has involved side-plots and historically insignificant characters, so it isn't a big deal, but it got me thinking. A timeline is an invitation to adventure!
Take an establish timeline, historic or fictional, grab a few years off the timeline and let your imagination set the stage for playing out "the rest of the story" - the details that don't make it onto the timeline. During those 14 years on the Dragon Pass timeline, countless groups have played for the past 40 years. The stories that happened at our table are "real" to us. They are part of our memories. How they relate to the "official" history is a matter we can speculate upon as players. That is part of the imaginary fun of it all.
Rather than be put-off by a timeline that tells what has already happened, I have found that with properties such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth, the timeline is a good way to begin imagining. You may feel some obligation to make sure the One Ring gets to Mount Doom, but there are a whole lot of stories going on in a wide world such as Middle Earth, stories that can be created at your gaming table. If a relatively less well known period on the timeline is chosen, then a feeling of playing second to the main action can even be avoided.
So take the year 1616 above. The God-King of the Holy Country disappears. What happens to him? The Masters of Luck and Death fail to bring forth a new incarnation. Why? There is a lot of room for adventure in this one entry. Involve the players in the story and the mysteries will be revealed. What happened, why and how will become part of the memories of the group and yes, I think there is a little magic in that.