heroquesting

From: Richard, Jeff <Jeff.Richard_at_metrokc.gov>
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 16:36:04 -0700


Andrew Joelson wrote to my comment:

>> 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. <snip>
>Fine, if you want to re-enact the marraige of Orlanth and Ernalda.
>Not to good if you want to re-enact the Baths of Neliot. This is sup-
>posed to be so tough that even Heroes don't have a good chance of
>succeeding. Just because a god did it, doesn't mean a mortal can....

Why do you assume that Super Runequest stats or Conan the Barbarian could re-enact the Baths of Neliot? What if the Baths test something other than sheer physical toughness - like perhaps Justice or Purity of Cause or other such stuff? Harmast re-enacted the Baths of Neliot, but I suspect that he never succeeded in the Wooing of Ernalda (although maybe the seduction of Huraya).

Heroquesting is fundamentally a magical "re-enactment of a divine or heroic act". If you know the essential steps Orlanth took to perform a task and you re-enact them correctly you will also perform the task. Of course, you always run the risk that Third-Party Actors will not allow you to correctly re-enact the steps - but that is part of what makes heroquesting difficult. More importantly is knowing the essential steps to accomplish a mythic goal.

Jeff

Jeff


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