With all the talk about heroquesting and heroquest systems lately, I've finally decided to rouse myself and speak up. I run a RQ3 campaign set in Genertela. It began in southern Tarsh, and has wended its way hither and yon throughout the Dragon Pass region, Prax, the Wastes, and the Holy Country. It's a bit of a road movie. My player characters are all very competent (one has achieved rune level) citizens of the Empire, on a quest to find the standard of a lost legion, and bring it home. Anyway, to the point: I think that the currently accepted definition of heroquesting is right, as far as it goes. But I also think it's too narrow.
Generally speaking, a heroquest is the embarkation upon a previously trodden path with the intention of recreating heroic events from the mythic history of the person's society for the purpose of personal or (more likely) cultural gain. By walking in the footsteps of their heroic ancestors and deities, people gain deeper insights into the mysteries of their cults or societies, and reap spiritual, and sometimes physical, rewards. Embarking on a quest is fraught with ritual, and is not without risk. Understanding what must be done (ie: knowing your myths well) is necessary for success. I'm sure you all get the idea.
Now, it seems to me, that this is really just one form of heroquest. Gloranthan lore is full of examples of people (or gods) performing actions so significant that they become the myths that future generations heroquest to recreate. The Lightbringers' quest, or the creation of the Red Moon are the most obvious examples. These were both instances in which a journey was undertaken in order to perform a specific Glorantha-altering task, without any footprints to walk in. Harrek's murder of the White Bear, or Prince Snodal's quest, are further examples.
IMHO, Glorantha's nature is such that any action taken whose objective is the alteration of the physical or spiritual world is a heroquest. I know that there is a difference between the mundane plane, the spirit plane, and the hero plane, but I would suggest that the distinctions are often blurry. Travel from the mundane to the hero often requires knowledge of the proper rituals, but I think it probably also happens sometimes without people even knowing that they've crossed over. I think that, since Glorantha is magic, and not ruled by RW physical reality, many actions that we might consider mundane are in fact heroic. In the RW, for example, if you need to alter the course of a river, you dam it, and its course is altered. In Glorantha, the river is a god, so damming it might alter it's course, but in doing so, will have altered the god, who now slakes the thirst of different earth than before. The river god's relationship with those around him has been altered. The world has been changed. This moment will become part of the mythic lore of the river god's worshippers. I think that the act of altering the river's course must have taken place on the hero plane, since the ramifications can hardly be called mundane.
I'll admit that the above example might seem to be stretching a point, and I'll probably be accused of god-learnerism, but I'd like to know what the rest of you think about this.
About heroquest systems: I would like to see a heroquest system that doesn't require a player to keep two character sheets. Why do we really need a heroquest system anyway?
Eric Hansen
PS: Here's one I heard for all you would be illuminates out there.
If, when your arm is cut off in battle, and you say "well, here's me and my arm", and if, when your leg is cut off you say "well, here's me and my arm and my leg", what do you say when your head's cut off?
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