> and I've been running a HW game with non-Gloranthaphiles for years.
My
> approach to running HW for newbies is too set the culture
(Heortlings so
> far), then have them select an "adventuring" profession, then give
them a
> one-sentence summary of the various deities, and then let them
figure out
> high abilities (5w, 2 x 1w) and a list of 10 new abilities during
play.
Your group sounds very similar to mine, Andy. About half of them opted to use the narrative method for creating their characters (one even did it as a poem, and one, deliberately, sounded like a car commercial). The ones that went with the list method, however, tended to be a bit heavy on personality traits (try as I might). In general, I've found that narrative characters tend to hang together a bit better than list characters, and are well within the ability of new players.
> My
> approach to explaining Glorantha to newbies who are gamers--all
I've had so
> far--is to emphasize that magic is not separate from mundane
(plowing is
> worshipping and partaking of the nature of the plow god, etc.). All
of the
> political situations and the interaction of worshippers of various
types is
> given out in asides during play on an as-needed--or, rarely, as
> requested--basis. In my long-term game, the players can (and some
have)
> change characters later.
Mmm... yes, similar here. One thing that I did that drove home the reality of religion was the first 3/4 of the first session took place in a dream on the hero plane. They were leaping over rivers and climbing mountains like hills as they chased a kite (this was inspired by Jeff's "Chasing Kites" scenario) east into Prax. The final cementing element of the reality of it all was the presence of physical remenants from their dream -- strange mud on their boots, a previously unowned spear, etc. This was then reinforced when the clan ring didn't treat it as odd or unbelievable.
Mike Ryan
Powered by hypermail