On March 29, 2007 03:58 am, Gary Sturgess wrote:
> This has undoubtedly been discussed before, and there are even
> websites that showcase HQs potential as a supers game.
The one I'm thinking of is down, though. Are there others?
> Here are some of the reasons:
> - Duplicating heroes. I couldn't see any real way to do this in HQ,
> without some sort of mega handwave augment. There is a similar issue
> with transforming heroes.
I'm not sure what you meant here. Duplicating heroes as in "creating heroes already around"? or as in "heroes that make multiple copies of themselves?"
> - HQ doesn't seem to handle ranged combat particularly well, and much
> of the supers genre contains ranged combat.
I think it handles ranged combat fine, but then it depends on how you handle it and requires a bit of a mind-shift. As someone pointed out, there's an article on the hq site about it. (Interestingly, how you handle it in an extended contest might depend on whether you view AP exchange as having mechanical effect or not.)
Definitely something that takes some getting used to, though, so I can see it as a hurdle if you're just starting with the system.
> - Some concepts (the equivalent of a Hero System Variable Power Pool)
> actively encourage the worst sort of abuses in HeroQuest (as in "get
> one really big ability, and default everything to it").
Not really. Get one big ability, default everything to it with situational modifiers. I happen to think the affinity idea from Theism works really well for modeling certain powers. (With Feats as specific "power stunts".) (Animism and Wizardry less so)
> It just seemed to me that my players (powergamers all, just like me)
> would push and break HeroQuest too easily. But then again, my
> knowledge of HeroQuest barely even qualifies as "novice", so I'd
> really like to hear anyone who has tried using it to run a four-colour
> supers game, and what experiences they had. There are many aspects of
> HQ that seem ideally suited to the genre... but it looks to me like
> the devil is in the details.
The devil always is in the details. :) (Silly devil, he could be in the pub.)
Hopefully you will get someone who has specifically played 4-colour who will answer you.
I think it would depend on what parts of the genre you want to focus on. The conflict-based resolution of HQ makes for a great way to deal with supers stuff IMHO - you can frame contests in for dramatic potential. Personality and loyalty come into play in the mechanics.
It may well require some genre-specific tweaks, of course. (I remain curious as to how QuestWorlds will address the idea of genre-specific tailoring.) IT certainly won't do "blow-by-blow supers fight" simulation really well. (I hit you, you hit me.) You will have to figure out what the supers fight is trying to accomplish, but I actually think that makes things better. The AP system in particular is nice as you can get knocked around and it only really matters when the fight is won.
LC
(who would still love to hear from anyone who has actually run a game with it)
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