<< To those worrying about the "literary" model of Hero Wars, I think the
worry is unnecessary. Just as you can run plot-oriented games in RQ, you can
run character-oriented ones in HW. It's the flow of action which follows
book/movie conventions,
not (necessarily) the plot/campaign development. >>
The fact that the flow of action follows book/movie conventions can, in itself, be something of a worry, since it can potentially give the wrong 'atmosphere' to a game session. However, I have come to the conclusion that this not likely to be a serious concern in the case of Hero Wars, although admittedly its too early to know for sure one way or the other. I don't personally think the action point system is too 'book/movie' like, and it seems as good - although no better - than the combat system in RQ. Those rules that do go too far (unopposed attacks and bonus levels of success against normal folks have both been mentioned and seem like really bad ideas to me) are easy to excise and do without, so while it may require a little work to get the system working to suit a given GM, it should be nothing back-breaking.
Of course, the character generation system might also be geared towards producing 'heroic' level characters who are predominantly Storm Voices, Wind Lords and so on right from the beginning. I don't really know if this is so, but if it is, that would be a fairly serious failing IMO. However, assuming the system doesn't break down or provide only very limited character options at low levels of ability (and I gather it doesn't) then that shouldn't be too hard to overcome either.
So, in summary, the worst case scenario seems to be that GMs with a lowfantasy style may have to put in some work to get the game to work well, but that it shouldn't be completely beyond them. If this kind of work were required on our part, but in return we have a game that would appeal more to the currently non-Gloranthaphile gamers, with all that that would imply for its long term survival, that seems a price worth paying to me.
And that's a worst case scenario; there could well be even less problems than that.
Forward the glorious Red Army!
Trotsky
End of The Glorantha Digest V5 #655
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