Barntar and Heroquesting

From: Jeff Richard <jrichard_at_cnw.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 23:13:27 -0700


Frederic Ferro, in the on-going discussion about a new rules system, wrote:
>If the new rules are more adapted to Heroquest, they should have
>to be more heroic, won't they? I don't see anything wrong in
>allowing PCs to be superior to the average Barntar initiate
>(if they are not infantile "munchkins").

First off, I wish to loudly state that I pity the poor adventuring fool who mocks Barntar. Good way to get killed by folk like Boranthos Ring-Giver (or is that King-Kin Slayer) or Illig Steadburner. Even better way to starve. Second, the heroic flavor of a campaign is not based on the rules system or the inflated statistics of PCs. It is determined by the style and tempo of the campaign. The "average man" can be just as "heroic" as Onslaught - if that is the style of the campaign.

Finally, as for heroquesting - I want to warn y'all, heroquesting is not Super Runequest or Conan the Barbarian material. It is a magical "re-enactment of a divine or heroic act. If done properly, the ceremony would reproduce the effects of the original action. In this way successful actions were remembered, reproduced, and refined." A rules system should enable this to be reproduced by the players - but at the core is still the re-enactment of a divine/heroic act, or, in the case of the truly adventurous, a cosmological Gloranthan truth.

Jeff


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