After an absence from the RPG industry, The Avalon Hill Game Company planned a sequel to its RuneQuest roleplaying system in 1998. The company purchased the name from Chaosium, while Chaosium kept the setting (Glorantha) and original BRP game system.

Redesigned from the ground up, RuneQuest: Slayers was meant to be first in a series of sword and sorcery roleplaying games that tread the line between storytelling, heroic character development, and epic battles.

In RuneQuest: Slayers, characters are warriors who seek adventure, fortune, and the mystical glyphs given to their clans. As glyphs are obtained, the warriors gain the feats of their ancestors through various runes and runic abilities.

RuneQuest: Slayers was scheduled for release at Gencon 1998. Several supplements were planned to follow:

Glyphs - A play-aid of heavy cardboard rune counters for glyphs and runes.

WarClans: The Lost and the Ancient - Ten new Warclans, focusing on the WarClans of the Elves and Dwarves.

RuneQuest GMs Screen - A GM screen.

Glacier Rifts Adventures - The first volume of adventures focusing on the windswept Glacier Rifts.

When Hasbro purchased Avalon Hill in 1998, RuneQuest: Slayers, though nearly complete, was cancelled. The rights to the written material reverted back to J.C. Connors and Christopher Lawrence, who decided to .pdf the project and put it up on the web for people to enjoy.

That game is now known as RuneSlayer!