I've been following the rampaging debate about the merits, pros and cons of Hero Wars with some interest.
I've seen Hero Wars demonstrated at three cons now, and along with the vast majority, like what I've seen so far. The game system's got a great Gloranthan *feel* to it, certainly much more than RQ ever had, and features such as the clan generation are going to help novice Gloranthans pick up a sense of history and place far more easily than ever before. The character generation system is innovative and interesting, more akin to the MGF-style stuff I've been mucking about with than the clunky mechanics of RQ. Robin has done a brilliant job so far, and I don't think anyone's got anything to fear about the eventual game not being authentically "Gloranthan". Hero Wars is the most exciting development for Glorantha in years, and I hope it will be wildly successful.
That said, I do have some concerns. I actually agree with pretty much everything Robert Wolfe said recently about his disappointments of the past leading to a lack of faith in the future: I'm just a little more optimistic that *this time*, Chaosium are gonna get it right, and unlike Robert, I am prepared to risk some of my money when (if?) Issaries offer their shares. IMO, Robert's list of things necessary for HW to succeed are right on the money:
>1. A game system that's at least as good as RQ (which didn't die
> because it sucked, but because it was starved to death from
> lack of support).
I think HW is this, and a whole lot more. I don't think the game system will be the problem.
>2. Frequent supplements, including a high quantity of playable
> out-of-the-box scenarios for the munchkins and lazy old
> bastards like me who don't have time to write their own
> scenarios anymore.
An absolute must. And I hope (despite what I hear) that the initial rules set will feature a top-notch introductory scenario to get everyone playing from day one. There's no better way to help new readers get an understanding of the system, unless you can arrange for them all to be personally visited by Robin Laws or Greg Stafford.
>3. High-quality presentation and packaging. Professional
> illustrations.
I don't see this as a problem either. While many of AH's RQ products 1985 - 1994 were shoddy, a look at the stuff Chaosium themselves produced during this period (eg. Pendragon, CoC supplements) shows they can meet the mark.
>4. A regular, reliable publishing schedule.
This is the kicker! HW seems to have an extraordinarily ambitious publication schedule, and I hope that the "top people" Chaosium are going to have write them all aren't as ephemeral as those at the end of "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Rick Meints's MiG is full of RQ products that were mooted, but never came to pass. It won't take too many missed deadlines for similar cynicism about HW to set in.
Robert's specific, constructive suggestions in a later digest (V6 #104) are also highly cogent: "don't alienate the long-time RQ players", "produce lots of scenarios", "keep number of core books small (and bring 'em out fast)", "the ironclad consistancy of the monomyth will help keep newbies unconfused". Shit, the Elmal business confused the hell out me, and still does!
Of the game itself, there are perhaps two main concerns I have based on things I enjoyed about gaming in Glorantha using RQ.
I like the way Hero Wars places a much greater emphasis on non-combat interactions, but I still want a game system that, like RQ, meant - just as in real life (and not necessarily in "Xena") - even the mighty could fall from a jab by the third spear carrier on the left, a lucky blow from the meanest peasant, or a knife in the arras. Darvall summarized this aptly when responding to Eric Rowe and others :
>Eric Rowe:
><snip>
>why waste a bunch of time with dozens of rolls to defeat the town
>beggar?
><snip>
>Ruric Runespear:
>"It's only a trollkin."
Touche Mr Darvall! I don't it should require "dozens of rolls", but take this element of the game away, and I fear we're heading back to 9th level Paladins vs 0 level peasants.
This leads directly to my other concern, that the players seem to begin the game where RQ left off - at "rune level" ability, or at least a cut above the hoi polloi. I think the system should be robust enough to have characters begin across the spectrum: a lot of people enjoy starting out as raw kids/food trollkin/green rookies and watching their characters grow. This to me seems to be an essential element of a RPG *campaign*, as opposed to just getting together to roleplay an assortment of characters once in a while. Even Pendragon PCs start out as squires on the cusp of knighthood and work their way up to the Round Table. A campaign where everyone snaps back to type at the end of the episode is gonna quickly pall for me: I like putting an emotional investment in my long-term characters, and watching them succeed, fail, learn and grow by their experiences, and maybe even die somewhere along the way. I'm sure HW will offer this, but I want a game where I can start on the bench of the Second XI, not opening batsman for the Firsts.
Cheers,
MOB
9 Parker Street, Richmond 3121, Victoria, Australia Home Telephone: +61-3-9428-9048
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