New players for HeroQuest and spreading the Gloranthan word [long]
Hi All,
Last night I narrated a game of Heroquest with a bunch of newbies and I thought that I would tell you about it as some interesting points were made.
After talking about my gaming experiences at RPG conventions several colleagues from work expressed an interest in what I was doing. One also bemoaned the fact that she read fantasy books but would love to be part of one. I had the very thing ;-)
So I scheduled a game for last night for seven of my staff and colleagues from work, some are management while others are sound/light technicians [I work at a multi-purpose venue in Derby, UK]. Four of the group are female. None have ever played in Glorantha before, one had played D&D once and only one had played any role-playing regularly, long ago. The age range of them all is 27 for the youngest to 40 for the oldest. An interesting mix of people and a challenge to try to get into role-playing.

I decided to do one of my tournament games, ‘Dark Heart of the Dragon Lands’, fresh from ‘GenConUK’ and ‘Beer & Pretzels’ using the pre-generated characters I had used there. This is also one of the games I’ll be running at Tentacles.
Check out:
http://www.tentacles-convention.de/
However I tweaked them a little, updated them to the ‘Heroquest’ rules I had learnt from playtesting, and changed some of the characters’ gender to match each of the player’s. Each of the characters had a brief paraphrased description of their god on the front page along with their 100 words. This certainly helped with play, especially as I had played up the rivalries between some of the gods.
We all met up at one of theirs house with beer and munches, for I wanted to try to keep it as informal as possible. I then learnt that one of the couples couldn’t attend regrettably but I still had five players. I was a little overwhelmed by the enthusiasm the others had shown for they had made some prop’s to use [comes from working in theatre-land I suppose]; they made swords, spears and axes made of cardboard and silver foil!

I started by explaining the basics of role-playing, giving them some simple tips in playing their characters. I then explained some of the core rules to them, telling them that there is only one dice, a d20, the target number for each ability and the different degrees of success when rolling it. They grasped that very quickly and they did like the fact that abilities [and flaws and personality] can cover roughly what it says it does; there are no hard and fast rules limiting the scope of what they can try to do. They also liked the ambiguous abilities and items, understanding that they have almost a free reign in deciding what each one does.
One thing they did stubble on though is the concept of the mastery. It may have been the way I tried to describe it but I think we actually started the game with them not completely sure of how it worked. However with a few played out examples they got it in the end.
I also described the Orlanthi culture to them and the importance of their chosen gods role in society. They did like that I had made them all part of the same clan, so they had common goals and aims.

I started the scenario in the moot hall, celebrating with the tribal king. I got them to introduce themselves as their characters as if boasting before the king that helped to break the ice somewhat. Then they were told the news that would start them on their mission for the king. They really got into the intrigue and politics of the tribal moot and were seeing plots and schemes in action even though I hadn’t even written them in [not that it stopped me using them later ;-) ].

When the characters went into the Dragonewt wildlands they were utilising appropriate abilities off their keywords. And when I explained about auto-augments, using other skills to boost their main ability, they really ran with that idea. They were coming up with some very valid reasons why ‘x’ can be used with ‘w’, ‘y’, and ‘z’.
And when it came to use their magic they were surprised with how easy it was to use. “What there is no limit on how many times I can use this feat?” “Yep, just do not get boring with it,” was my reply.

The one thing that astounded me was they used their contacts a lot to try to get information. And I was giving them mythical reasons why certain things were happening and they were taking it in. They really got the handle on their gods that they worshipped and were exploiting that for filling out their heroes. I passed on the Gloranthan quirkiness to them and they went with it, asking lots of questions wanting to know why he is like that and why did he do that to him? Getting away with telling them about the Spike exploding, Death let loose on the world, and the nature of Gloranthan time without boring them is definitely one of the things I was pleased with.

They also stopped and had discussions with each other about what they should do, what option to take and were even discussing the consequences and likely outcomes of their actions. That was all done in character and all I had to do is sit back while they tried to work out what to do next. The game was carrying on without any further input from me. A good thing me thinks?

The only thing I didn’t do was to give them any combat. All the contests were with non-combat related abilities. That means I didn’t give them an extended contest as I thought that might confuse them more than help them understand the rules and the game. However next time I will do one and see how they do.

So in conclusion, for newbies to role-playing they did very well. They enjoyed themselves getting into character and were pleased with finishing the episode well. Some of them were baffled on the more complex mechanics of the rules somewhat but that may be due more to my explanations then the actual rules. They certainly grasped the basics of role-playing and ‘Heroquest’ and liked the freeform nature of the rules. They did like the situation I gave them and did like playing Orlanthi heroes against a larger Lunar Empire. It is the British’s love of the underdog and the historical analogies with Anglo-Saxons and Normans or Ancient Britons and Romans.
And to top it all they are keen to play again, and are trying to schedule another game with the same characters after I come back from Tentacles.

Hi Darran,

Excellent post. I'd just like to say that the concept of a story, or narrative, is ingrained into all of us by the time we're 6 or 7. Its usually dysfunctional roleplaying habits that "undo" this ability in gaming. I've typically found that newbies hop right into doing stuff like this without any problems:

They also stopped and had discussions with each other about what they should do, what option to take and were even discussing the consequences and likely outcomes of their actions. That was all done in character and all I had to do is sit back while they tried to work out what to do next. The game was carrying on without any further input from me. A good thing me thinks?

Congratulations on your game!

I am eagerly awaiting the day when I meet role-players whose first games ever were Sorcerer, Hero Quest, InSpectres, or similar games. I'll hold off regarding what I think such a generation will do for (and to) the hobby.

Best,
Ron

Ron Edwards wrote:

I am eagerly awaiting the day when I meet role-players whose first games ever were Sorcerer, Hero Quest, InSpectres, or similar games. I'll hold off regarding what I think such a generation will do for (and to) the hobby.

Bankuei wrote:
Excellent post. I'd just like to say that the concept of a story, or narrative, is ingrained into all of us by the time we're 6 or 7. Its usually dysfunctional roleplaying habits that "undo" this ability in gaming. I've typically found that newbies hop right into doing stuff like this without any problems