On the one true path approach to HQ.
>Probably not, no. Most myths would have different local variations,
>however slight (though in some cases, considerable). Even if there's
>a high degree of "acceptance" of one version (That's The Way We've
>Always Done It), that doesn't mean no other path is _possible_.
I'll buy that but I suspect regional variation will be sacrificed to expediency when publishing time comes.
>I think most quests have a "depth" they're "usually" performed at; but
>that isn't to say it's necessarily _impossible_ to perform them either
>more swallowly (practice HQs, as it were), or more deeply (a hidden
>quest based on lost portions of the myth).
I like this but is there a level at which someone cannot benefit from a HQ due to their stature or is that level only reached by uber-uber-characters?
>What I had in mind was much more on the lines of: write up one version,
>the "main line", as it were, and have people ad lib variations thereupon,
>either entirely off the cuff, or on the basis of "hints" about alternate
>versions. This helps avoid the oft-repeated complaint that HQs are
>"ultra-linear adventures writ large", for one thing.
Seems reasonable but if you're supposed to be duplicating the actions of the gods aren't you pretty restricted to a linear approach. If A then B, no A well you're out of luck? I thought a non-linear approach to HQ's would be what the Lunars and the Godlearners did. Or are you just suggesting a IF A then B or if C then D sort of approach?
Oliver
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