> Does anybody out there have any ideas about how to run a CA heroquest?
>It seems to me that the question is sort of messy from a game standpoint
>(apart from the general lack of suitable myths for her)
We remedied this last somewhat in King of Dragon Pass, which includes a heroquestable myth!
> 1) What sort of conflict or test can you offer a CA in this situation
>which don't simply involve healing something? One could conjure any number
>of heroquests wherein something like this happens:
> GM: You seea man lying on the ground, bleeding profusely from a horrible
>wound.
> CA: I go over and heal him.
> GM: Okay. That was exciting. Next station.
An obvious conflict is between loyalty and duty. The person to be healed should be somebody who is opposed to her community, or a personal enemy.
And there are plenty of opportunities for healing that doesn't involve rolling a typical healing feat:
Narrator: You see a man lying on the ground because he has no legs. He says, "A horrible monster just stole my legs!"
The healer would have to find the monster and bargain to get them back. Or steal them. Or somehow make new legs.
> 2) CAs have no combat abilities, except perhaps the odd Parry or such.
>How do you put them into situations that involve some real danger and
>tension without completely overwhelming and slaughtering them? I suppose
>you could allow some Orlanthi warriors to come along on the hq, but somehow
>I doubt that CA heroquests would work well if there was a lot of slaughter
>occurring around her (although the LBQ seems to be an exception to that).
Healers cannot parry, according to Hero Wars (p. 50) They would have to use say their Sleep feat to defend themselves. Or presumably could dodge (though oddly this isn't listed as an ability).
Of course, spirits and magicians don't necessarily attack via bloodshed...
There is also a race against time. Someone lies bleeding, and it's obvious that he will bleed to death if you can't heal him.
Heck, there could even be tension in a contest against another healer - -- perhaps Bevara or Dovilda or Xiola Umbar shows up and wants the credit for healing someone.
> 3) How do you make it interesting for the non-CA's in the gaming group
>to at least watch, if not participate in.
It does seem likely that they would have to defend her from enemies while she is healing. Bonus points if they can do this in a non-violent way. Or in the example above, they could help retrieve the legs.
> This last point is a general problem with heroquests, so far as I see.
Quests should involve companions, not specific companions. Or the companions are specified as roles. Here's an example from our game: "Kerad appointed Ellena Finehair as Healer, Kerenath as Speaker, Kjarr as Riddler, Aslandar Mistwalker as Scout, Maniski Head-taker as Knowing Companion, and Lekengor as Watchman. He appointed himself as Chief." See also the lists of companions in King of Sartar -- these don't correspond directly to any deity.
David Dunham <mailto:dunham_at_pensee.com> Glorantha/HW/RQ page: <http://www.pensee.com/dunham/glorantha.html> Imagination is more important than knowledge. -- Albert Einstein
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