Re: Speaking of Heler...

From: Andrew Larsen <aelarsen_at_mac.com>
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 14:51:04 -0500

Thanks to all for the good thoughts so far. To go into more detail:

1. He lost his Water Rune doing the Lawstaff quest scenario. They performed the Summons of Evil before hand, and I decided that their hidden enemy was going to be Delecti, who in my campaign is the Thing with Many Bodies, the clan's Ancient Enemy and someone they've confronted indirectly a couple times. The players did a pretty good job of preparing, went into the quest with good support, and basically did everything right until the Helerite hit the Heroquest challenge without knowing that he was confronting Delecti. He wagered his entire Water Rune (this was not the first quest they had done, but they hadn't tried to wager anything in the previous one, so they weren't sure just how risky that was--a reason I'm willing to give him an opportunity to get it back). Obviously against Delecti he had some big penalties, but he had some bonuses, including the clan's support, and a couple of hero points. But his dice completely crapped out. He rolled three fumbles during the contest, which burned through all his hero points just to convert them to failures, and most of his other rolls were almost as awful. So he lost pretty big, mostly through no fault of his own (other than taking a big risk).
2. The player has been remarkably good about the whole thing. He took the loss well, hasn't complained, and has changed his role-playing to reflect that his personality is now less about water and more about mobility. So again, I want to reward him with a chance to get it back.
3. He's serious about being a Helerite. His character is a shepherd and a fair number of sheep-themed things have happened to him (including once impregnating a sheep during a sheep raid--one of the weirdest things I've ever had to narrate).

Andrew E. Larsen
On Oct 20, 2013, at 11:39 AM, hcarteau_at_free.fr wrote:

> That's an interesting one, and a good opportunity for self-discovery. This player is in for a deep ride.
>
> I'd begin by askind him/her a few questions, with the aim of knowing whether he's "just" sore to have lost his main power (perfectly understandable) or he/she actually FEELS something about losing his/her Water rune. If he's just a normal player whining about power loss, I'd try to manipulate him into better, deeper roleplay.
>
> Once we have gotten there, I'd tempt the player with offers for Power from a Water ennemy: Fire comes to mind, or Valind (ice). Like "hey, Water flowed away from you, Heler laughes at you. I can give you Great Power (new rune, same rating or even better as Water). All you have to do is... (do something that flies against everything the character stood for until now). Of course, you must provide a possible way out, with the player vainquishing the corruptor.
>
> Now an important question is: WHO / WHAT took the player's Water Rune exactly? How did it happen? Because that's where his power is, and he can choose to go claim it back. I love recurring villains!
>
> ----- Mail original -----
> De: "Andrew Larsen" <aelarsen_at_mac.com>
> À: WorldofGlorantha_at_yahoogroups.com
> Envoyé: Mardi 15 Octobre 2013 18:10:43
> Objet: Speaking of Heler...
>
> All this talk about Heler has come at an interesting moment for me. Recently, the Heler PC in my campaign wound up losing his Water rune. He did a Heroquest, wagered his entire Water rune during the HQ Challenge, and then lost through a run of terrible die rolls that his hero points couldn't compensate for.
> So now he's a Heleri without a water rune. He badly wants to get his Water rune back somehow, which seems likely to require another Heroquest. Does anyone have any ideas about a myth he could use for that? I thought about Orlanth and Aroka , but without Air rune magic, that might be pretty tricky.
>
> Andrew E. Larsen
>
>