RQ - The Gateway Bestiary, Wizard's Images

The Gateway Bestiary was published by Chaosium in 1980. It was  designed for use with RuneQuest. It beasrs the Gateway name though  to indicate that it is not tied directly with Glorantha. This  allowed the inclusion of entries that would not be appropriate for  a campaign using Glorantha as the setting. I am not sure why this  was deemed necessary but I am sure it was important.

The Bestiary includes what the advertising says is 99 new monsters  for the GM to use in their campaign. I counted the list but did  not come up with that exact number but I am sure there are  variations and a few not on the list. Each of the entries has  statistics that the GM will need to run the creatures that are  described. The entries except in a few instances do not have any  images though. The book says complete with illustrations but they  are used very sparingly. The ones used vary in quality but in  some cases are nicely done. For me the cover has always been one  that I liked and it evoked a a gaming feel more than some other  covers I have seen.

The creatures provided are broken down into seven different  categories. Some of these will be more useful than others as some  are very specific in the niche that they fill. Legendary beings  are a very much Greek/Roman in flavor and the Celtic Horrors will  best fit into a campaign using that type of setting. The most  specific will the the H.P. Lovecraft Creations entries. They avoid  the big baddies but still have some nasty very specific in flavor  entries included. The full list of sections is:

Giant Anthropods
Legendary Beings
Celtic Horrors
H.P. Lovecraft Creations
Natural Animals
Dinosaurs
Miscellaneous Types

In the end the book was a nice addition at its time. I am not sure  how many of it's entries have been adopted to later editions  through out the years though. I have seen this go for a fair  amount at times so it might take some waiting or luck to find it  cheap enough to warrant purchasing by the non collector. I would  still suggest at least find a copy to at least look over if you  can at some point.

From the back of the book:

Expand the horizons of your RuneQuest campaign with the exotic  creatures in this book. All new, they can be used to create  numerous interesting encounters.This book contains 99 new monsters  from a variety of sources, presented in the clear and concise  format of RuneQuest, complete with illustrations. This is the  first of our Gateway products, which are designed to aid the  referee who desires to run a RuneQuest campaign without the  restrictions of the limited flora and fauna of Glorantha.

GIANT ANTHROPODS - This section includes your favorite insects in  human size forms such as giant ants, spiders, or wasps capable of  carrying a rider.

LEGENDARY BEINGS - Provides monsters from terrestrial mythos, such  as the hydra, gorgon, lamia, or sphinx.

CELTIC HORRORS - Contains terrifying creations of the Gaelic mind.  These include kelpies, voughs, and more.

H. P. LOVECRAFT CREATIONS - These are the otherworld nightmares of  Lovecraftian mythos such as the rmi-go, nightgaunt, or shoggoth.

NATURAL ANIMALS - This section fills the more obvious omissions of  the original RuneQuest rules by including stats on frightening  carnivores like lions or bears, and the smaller animals useful as  familiars, such as owls or monkeys.

DINOSAURS - Here are the giant prehistoric creatures... from the  bulky sauropods that are likely to crush an adventuring party by  accident to the terrifying carnosaurs which should make any batch  of Rune level characters turn and run.

MISCELLANEOUS TYPES - These include the whimsical creations of  Lewis Carroll to the fatal anthropophage from a well-known science  fiction movie.

Complete statistics are provided, just roll them up and see the  players try to figure out what they're up against!


Spell:

Wizard's Images

Level: Third
Range: 3"
Duration: Special
Ares of Effect: One Item
Components: V,S
Casting Time: One Round
Saving Throw: None

When this spell is cat the magic user will cause the selected item  the spell is being cast on to vanish. At the same time a lifelike  image of the item will appear on the caster's body. The image will  appear where the caster desires so it may or may not be visible.

The image that appears will be the actual item that vanished. The  energies of the spell have converted the item to an image that  will allow the caster to carry items with them that they might not  normally have been able to carry. The item must be non living and  can also not be undead.

The item that can be copies will need to be one that would  normally be considered a single item. A raging bonfire or the  corpse of a fallen comrade could be copied but a pile of gold  coins or a dragons hoard could not. The image of the item copied  to the casters body can be increased or decreased in size by a  factor of up to ten. This will not affect the item's size when it  is restored. The caster can restore an item at will simply by  willing the item to be restored.

Items copied in this manner can remain on the body of the caster  for an extended period of time. There is a limit on the magics  involved though. There is a five percent cumulative chance per  week after one initial week that the magic will fail and the item  will become locked on the casters body. The caster may also only  have one item per every two levels, up to a maximum of eight, on  their body at any given time. Items which have become locked onto  the caster will count against these.

Disclaimer: The spells that you will see, for how ever long the  write ups last, were all written up or conceived of back in the  80's so the terminology may not appropriate for anything other  than 1e and depending on how well I did back then it may be  slightly off for that as well. If there is any duplication of  spells that exist now it is most likely I wrote mine first :)  Please feel free to comment on them but try not to be too hard on  me. If anyone wishes to use these in anything they print please  let me know in advance and all I ask is proper credit.