Re: Re: Who else is a Newbie? And other thoughts...

From: Paul Chapman <estarriol_at_...>
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 19:31:57 +0100


Hi James,

Congrats on a wise purchase.

Trying to keep the tips to the immediately relevant:-

  1. Glorantha is peerless, in my opinion, when it comes to emotive depth, spiritual realism and overall quality as a fantasy world. As a side effect of this, it is huge, deep and complex. Were the real world a game world that was foreign to us, we would not expect people to intimately know the flow of world politics, economics, religion and culture quickly - few of us achieve such an understanding in a full mortal life. Imagine Glorantha were a real world and get to know it slowly. Be OK with this, lest its greatness swamp you.
  2. We Are All Us. Don't be afraid to ask questions, as people are generally quite free with their insights and knowledge. Do not assume that the question is stupid, as it may simply not have been covered before. As a counter to this, try not to take it personally if another Gloranthaphile is perhaps not as civil and understanding as they should be. Sometimes people can forget to play nice, even in such a community as this.
  3. The world, and the game system serves you, even moreso than usual. Heroquest is both a storytelling system, but also simulationist on the level of myth and culture. Nonetheless, it is all there to help you have maximum fun, and a quality emotive experience if that's what you're there for. You may notice that Greg starts each post with "YGWV", this stands for "Your Glorantha Will Vary", and is an acknowledgement that our imaginative Gloranthas cannot, will not and should not be identical. Use what works for you, ignore the rest. The counterpoint to this is - understand that you may feel one of your ideas is obviously superior and should be the way it is, but that won't necessarily wash with other people, whose Gloranthas are varying too.
  4. An awful lot of good material about Glorantha - both in a background and rules sense - is hard to find. Fortunately the situation is better than it has been for years, with various reprints that have happened, but if the deep Gloranthan lore grabs you, be prepared to have to go to lengths to obtain the best sources. Please don't be disheartened by any of this - what is readily available is bloody excellent.

Hope that helps and hasn't put you off. :-)

Paul C

James Knevitt wrote:
> Hey all,
>
> Here's the story. While I've gamed for over a decade, I've never
> really heard more than a little about HeroQuest and knew even less.
> Therefore, in a fit of ennui, I decided to do some poking around last
> night.
>
> I didn't get through the first review before I decided I wanted this
> thing, and the second review just completely sold me on it. I'm out to
> pick up HeroQuest today.
>
> What advice/info/tips can you give someone who's just getting into HQ?
> It seems to have a strong community vibe, and the cultural flavor is
> obvious. What else?
>
>
>
> James
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
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>
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