> From: Graham Robinson <gjr_at_thestableyard.net>
> Subject: Heroquesting queries
>
> Hi all,
>
> Its been a hectic week so I've only just found time to ask some questions
> that came up in my game last week. Basically, the characters found
> themselves on a ship bound for Teshnos when they realised their pressing
> need to return to Dragon Pass. Now, after a little bit of discussion they
> hit on the idea of using a heroquest to speed travel. So far, so
> good. However...
>
> The first quest they thought of trying went the wrong way, so they thought
> about trying to run it backwards. This leads to the questions.
>
> 1. Can you run a heroquest backwards?
> 2. If so, how?
> 3. What would be the result of such an action?
>
> Since none of us had the vaguest idea what the answers where, they decided
> not to try it. Which is kind of surprising - I've never found anything
> else that terrified them that much before...
Wow. Heroquesting backwards sounds like an outrageously bad idea to
me. If it was even possible, I would imagine that it would result in a
proliferation of whatever problem the quest had addressed.
One device that I use to think about heroquesting is to compare it to RW
activities that parallel it, especially Church Rituals. In the Philipines
nowadays, expecially devout Catholics actually undergo crucifixion on Good
Friday to recreate Christ's Passion, while many Christians walk the Via
Dolorosa in Jerusalem. Within that religious context, doing a ritual like
the Passion backwards would suggest that Christ had never died and therefore
not atoned for anyone's sin.
By parallel, doing the LBQ backwards would presumably disorder the
universe.
Andrew E. Larsen