First Hero Wars Session Questions from Andrew Dawson on 2000-04-12 (HeroQuest-Rules)

From: Andrew Dawson <asmpd_at_...>
Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 00:05:12 -0400

Well, I ran my first Hero Wars game on Saturday and I have some questions (directed at Roderick and the other writers, though any input is welcome):

I assumed that starting spirit-talkers had the same fetishes as starting animist culture members and I see that that was a good assumption, but the player wanted to list integrated spirits in his list of ten things during character creation.

1a. Since an integrated spirit is worth two fetishes, do you think that each line in the ten items list counts as 1 integrated spirit or 2 fetishes, 1/2 integrated spirit or 1 fetish, or something else?

1b. Does it seem logical that a starting shaman will only have one-use fetishes? I allowed one to be 3/day and another to be 1/day.

1c. Are there any guidelines for the starting might of fetishes/integrated spirits gotten as a result of being in list of ten things? I used the value of 13 in this case.

1d. It seems that integrated spirit abilities are a lot less useful if using Might/10 (1.3 for the ones in 1c. above). Does this seem right? My solution was to allow integrated spirit abilities to be bought at target number 13 during list of ten character creation, just like any other listed abilities. Any comments?

2. Is it appropriate for characters to list feats from other keywords in their list of ten things? I tend to say no, but what about the Bevara devotee who wants to magically cure disease a la Chalana Arroy? Any suggestions?

3. What is the Hero Wars canonical availability of iron items? The Humakti player listed iron weapons and armor and I let him, but I was unsure of how "kosher" this was.

3a. Is this iron unenchanted? Is unenchanted iron currently part of the Glorantha setting?

3b. Is there any thought given to the ability of unenchanted iron to more easily penetrate lesser armor, etc.?

4. If a player lists Initiate of (Second God) in the list of ten things, does this mean that he gains those affinities as well? The example is a Devotee of Humakt who also wants to be an Initiate of Orlanth Adventurous.

5. (More a comment) The Kolating player pointed out that the Spirit-Talker keyword almost completely overlapped the Kolat keyword in terms of abilities. (I think that he felt shortchanged.) I theorized that the general Spirit-Talker keyword would also fit with other animistic Keywords that didn't overlap so much. What is the true explanation for this overlap?

That's it for the first round of questions from the game. Maybe tomorrow I'll send my long list of questions from the Player's Book.

Thanks,
Andy