HeroQuest demos

[Peter Nordstrand]

Hello,

I have recently submitted three HeroQuest scenarios to my local convention, and I would like to hear your input. I haven't written the scenarios yet, but the deadlines were last week, so here's what I submitted (very quickly translated from Swedish, so it may look strange in places):

The Assassin
On the surface, everyone got along well

Iwis imBulith is married to Rosaria and has a successful career as a translator at the Chamber of Commerce in Boldhome. Their lives are typical for well-adjusted citizens in the provinces, except for one little detail--during his  entire married life, Iwis has covertly been working as an assassin for the authorities.

Their son, Filion, has recently begun a promising career in the army. Little does he suspect that his stunningly beautiful mistress is his fathers next victim...[/list:u]Note: The "authorities" can be representatives for the Lunar Empire, or Prince Temertain's government. Anyway, the imBulith family is obviously of Lunar origin.

The Prodigal Son
The enemy kidnapped Hallarax when he was a little boy. Now, fifteen years later, he finally returns to his family and his village. But things are not quite right. The young man has converted to the enemy. He worships false gods, and now he is here to convert the rest of the clan. His younger brother, Tarkalos, is a traditionalist and religious fanatic who has dedicated his life to fighting the enemy. Both brothers have many allies.

Who do you support in the fight that threatens to rip your clan to pieces? [/list:u]Note: The 'enemy' is the Lunars, of course, and the clan is a Heortling clan, probably of the Aranwyth Tribe.

Machine City
You couldn't pay your debts. That's why you are here.

Everybody wants to leave Machine City, but few have the opportunity. Only those who pay are allowed to  board the ships. Now, an object has turned up, something so valuable that it will easily pay for a trip back to the mainland.

Machine City is the ruined remains of the ungodly empire of Zistor. Here was once a terrible city which mass produced magic items. many gods sent their followers to destroy the heretic activities. Mechanical traps, unusual diseases, and horrifying monsters await the overly curious.

How far are you willing to go to get out of there?[/list:u] Note: A Casablanca rip-off. I stole the idea of transplanting the setup to Machine City from Peter Metcalfe.

What I need help with
I would like to demonstrate the features of HeroQuest and Glorantha that I am particularly fond of. I have yet to make any final decisions regarding these scenarios. Essentially I've lied to the convention staff, since there are no scenarios yet, only the texts above. Before taking on these scenarios one by one (I am planning to make each scenario a separate thread), I'd very much appreciate your input. At this stage, I am mostly interested in general feedback. A more specific question is this:

What would you do to make the scenarios different from each other; to make them focus on a different aspects of both the HeroQuest rules and Glorantha?[/list:u]Other things I have been thinking about...

Communities and Relationships--Naturally, all of the scenarios focus on relationships, but at least one of them should involve larger groups. Communities are often overlooked , and I have yet to see a scenario that utilizes the full potential of HeroQuest in this regard.

Magic--largely HeroQuest is about the exploration of magic. That ought to show in the scenarios.

I will post more about this--I do have some ideas, but I'd like to hear what you folks have to say first, if anything. The con is not going to be held until April next year, so I'm not in a hurry. Nor do I ever want to be. It would be nice to get it right, for once... ;-)

What you need to know
In order for any input to be meaningful, you should know that there are subjects which are not up for discussion. Sure, you can discuss them, but please do so in a separate thread.

The purpose of the scenarios are to demonstrate the HeroQuest rules, as well as the world of Glorantha. (As a side note, there is always a fair share of old RuneQuest buffs showing up at these events--in its heyday, RQ was probably the most popular fantasy RPG in Sweden. Everybody above 25 have at least heard of it. Everybody over 30 has played it.)

Power levels and "game balance" are not a concern. (Nevertheless, powerful heroes tend to become rather complex, which is probably a reason to keep them at a more beginner-friendly level.)

I never ever fudge die rolls in HeroQuest. In fact, all die rolls will be made in public, so that the players can see exactly what is going on.

There will be no plot and no mission for the players to complete. For example, the objective of the Machine City scenario is not, not, NOT for the heroes to get out of town. The purpose of play is, is, IS for each player/hero to make decisions that answer questions like these: How far are you willing to go to get out of the Machine City? What are you willing to sacrifice in the process? Are there values that matter more than getting out, such as friendship, love, or saving someone else's life?

Did I say that there must not be, and will not be anything even vaguely resembling a mission or plot?

----

More later...

Cheers,

/Peter N

[bluegargantua]

Hi Peter,

 I think the Prodigal Son potentially has a very cool idea that might show off a lot of things at once:

 So the Prodigal Son returns and he's trying to convert the Heortlings to the Lunar Way.  The Loyal Son is trying to prevent this.  The community is getting split between converts and tradtionalists.  So you're highlighting a community in transitional crisis.

 So what do we do?  We have a HeroQuest.

 Turns out there's this well-known, but not-widely-publicized myth where a Great Spirit is terrorizing the world and Orlanth and Yelm are forced to work together to eradicate it from the world.  Now, if you're a Lunar, Yelm does most of the work and gets all of the credit.  If you're a Heortling, your man Orlanth saves the world.  But either way, it's one of the few instances where you see Heorting and Lunar deities actively working together. So here is an opportunity for heroes on both sides of the conflict to enter the Hero Plane together and determine once and for all whose magic is superior.

 Now, here's your first big ethical choice:  Is the situation so grave that we're actually going to risk using a Heroquest to try and resolve it?  It might be one thing if there were actually some hostile spirit attacking the community but there isn't.  This may be a big exercise in hubris.  The community is, at best, neutral on the subject.  Each side would like to show up the other but they aren't sure if they're ready to commit to a Heroquest.  So if the heroes decide to go for it, they have to whip up a frenzy of support -- this may come back to huant them if the heroquest goes poorly.

 If they choose to avoid the Heroquest, they'll have to figure out something else.  You might want to suggest another magical contest of some kind or perhaps each party could undertake a separate, smaller heroquest to gain some sort of benefit for the community -- bigger benefit wins.

 If they do go for the co-operative heroquest, then let 'em go.  It'll wind up with them trekking out into the Spirit World for a final showdown on an alien plane and finding out that Yelm and Orlanth had to depend on each other a lot more than their respective myths let on.  I admit that Heroquests are a little more scripted than other things, but each station will offer another chance to sift through choices and make decisions.

 That's just what jumps out at me.  All the scenarios have a lot of potential though.

Hope that helps,
Tom

[Peter Nordstrand]

Hi Tom,

Thank you for your input. Most helpful, indeed. You are right that the Prodigal Son setup takes the cosmic conflict that sparks the Hero Wars and makes it personal. It is simultaneously about the clash between cultures changing the cosmos and causing the end of the world as we know it, and the tensions in a family forcing change and/or destruction of their clan. This  Hero Wars angle is probably the best way to approach the scenario. However, 'shall we go on a heroquest?' is hardly a moral question in its own right. One obvious solution would be to ignore the foreplay, so to speak, and make the quest itself the focus of the game. In this case, the important moral decisions will be made during the heroquest itself. Hm ... I'm still just brainstorming, folks.
As for the myth about Orlanth and the Evil Emperor agreeing to work together to prevent the destruction of the universe, I believe that there is only one such myth-- the Lightbringer's Quest. It scares me to introduce such a magnificent quest, even though it would probably be possible 1) to perform only the final part, with Orlanth and Yelm in the Underworld, and 2) to perform the quest in the mundane world, i.e. as ritual magic. Hm ... I need to give this some more thought.

SUMMARY
The focus of the Prodigal Son will probably be:

the Hero Wars
macrocosm mirrored in the microcosm
the otherside, ritual magic, heroquests[/list:u]

Cheers
/Peter N

[Peter Nordstrand]

Here are some early brainstorming regarding The Assassin. So far, it is just unstructured thoughts.

Boldhome is a city with a lot of potential. Many cool groups are gathered in this walled capital in the mountaintops. So I am considering making The Assassin a scenario about the interaction of communities.

Prince Temertain's Telmori bodyguard. I've always been intrigued by them. One hundred animist warrior shapeshangers, all raised in a hunter and gatherer society. While they aren't loyal to the idiot prince per se, they are loyal to the kingdom, which I find amazing. I'd love to get these guys involved somehow.

On the surface, The Assassin is another 'family affair' scenario. To make the blurb in my first post fit the concept of emphasizing community interaction, I'll make the imBulith family the nexus of a larger conflict. This is easy. Just answer three questions, and the rest will write itself... ;-)

Who is Iwis imBulith working for?
He is working for an agency within the Lunar Empire (see Imperial Lunar Handbook, page 11, for ideas).

Why is Filion's mistress targeted for assassination?
Someone in Iwis' agency has come up with a plan to kill Prince Temertain of Sartar. This would destabilize the region even more, which would benefit the agency for whatever reason ... I'll think of something.

Complication: The commander of a rival intelligence agency (also Lunars) found out what was going on and has threatened to expose the plan to the Assiday Family, who has their entire fortune riding on another important project: the construction of a Reaching Moon Temple in the Storm Mountains (Orlanth is Dead, page 45). The Assiday Family wants and needs stability, not a destructive outburst of guerilla warfare, or worse.

Now we have one Lunar intelligence agency blackmailing the other. Filion's new girlfriend is obviously tied to the rival agency in one way or the other. Perhaps she is just another agent, or maybe the daughter of the commander of the rival group, I don't know. Whatever works best.

What is the player heroes' part in this?
They are the leaders of the Telmori bodyguard! Nobody trusts them (they are werewolf savages, after all), nobody even listens to them, and everyone fear them. Not even Temertain likes or trusts them. Will they stop the plot?[/list:u]POSSIBLE GROUPS TO INVOLVE
Temertain's Telmori bodyguard
Non-werewolf bodyguard (wh obviously dislikes and distrusts the Telmori like everyone else)
Iwis' agency (The Bearers of Good News?)
Rival agency (Spoken Word?)
The Assiday Family

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS
Prince Temertain & Estal Donge--I think that this pair (esp. the prince) has lost all touch with reality. I'm thinking Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette here. Temertain is a nobody with a fancy title.

Cheers,

/Peter N

[bluegargantua]

This  Hero Wars angle is probably the best way to approach the scenario. However, 'shall we go on a heroquest?' is hardly a moral question in its own right.

 I think there could be.  The question is:  "How far am I willing to go to prove the superiority of my position?"  In this scenario, you're literally putting the gods to the test.  The consequences will be dire.  Should the quest fail completely, the community could really suffer.  On the other hand, this is the ultimate appeal and if you're so convinced you're right, you'll completely knock out the other guy.

 So you have to decide if this is going to be the best thing to do and if so, you'll need to drum up a lot of support.  Also, with so much riding on it, the PCs will be agonizing over every decision they make on the quest.

As for the myth about Orlanth and the Evil Emperor agreeing to work together to prevent the destruction of the universe, I believe that there is only one such myth-- the Lightbringer's Quest.

Well, yeah.  And that's probably a bit too big for the demo I agree.  But frankly, I'd just make up my own myth and go with it.  I mean, it's a demo.  So even if you wouldn't normally have any Orlanth/Emperor stories besides Lightbringers in a full game, there's no reason not to have one here for a one-shot.  Plus, by making up your own story, you can tailor the events to set up more meaningful choices.  You can even pull up some stuff on the fly based on things the PCs do before they actually go on the heroquest.  You're not looking to showcase Official Gloranthian Mythology -- you want to show off heroquests.  So just make up something cool to do that (besides, who wouldn't want to play the part of Yelm or Orlanth their very own selves?).

later
Tom

[pete_darby]

My problem is that I can't see either of the participants in the Prodigal Son scenario willingly going into a quest to compromise; the way the conflict is set, their vested interest is to kick the other one and his mates out of the clan.

Now, a situation that forces them into even considering the reconciliation of Orlanth & Yelm quest would be solid gold, but I'm not seeing it yet. What I am seeing is another test of the Kinstrife = Chaos weakness at the heart of Heortling culture... and, similarly, a test of the We Are All Us doctrine of the Lunars.

Taking an idea from the Barbarian Adventures book, why not make the prodigal the archetypal "good guy" lunar, protecting the tribe from the more fanatical Dara Happan tax farmer?

The "traditional" attitude to strife within a clan is for the chief to say to the members of the faction "live with it or bugger off." So you'll need a reason for that not to be an option to keep the pressure on: maybe the clan's already depleted, and splitting would destroy it. Maybe the chief's lost his nerve (his mastery rune connection magically severed?) and so doesn't have authority any more (who severed that connection and how? My money's on rebel boy. Or Black oaks ;-))

I'd set it up with the whole thing at pressure cooker ready to burst level, with big kinstrife, death of the tribe, and a HQ neither side likes the look of all options.

Hell, it's growing on me the more I type...