Don't get me wrong, I have. I'm constantly making crap up. I have to; I've got my group (a bunch of Heortling refugees) tromping around Prax prior to the Lunar invasion. :) It's just that once a month I run into a circumstance where I feel left hanging and unsupported.
> The helpful version :
> (1) There is never going to be any more of a mythic basis than we
have for
> 99% of feats. Most are generalised abilities based on the myths -
Humakt
> thus gets "sword help", "shield breaker", "decapitate foe". These
aren't
> specific "here's a myth where the god did this, and you can do
exactly the
> same thing" they are broader "here's the kind of powers you can
pray to
> your god for".
Yup, and these are usually just fine. Sword Help typically has lightings running down the blade, etc. I usually flounder with Decapitate Foe, but that's more my problem. I think one thing that is really hurting here, for the abilities well-supported by the mechanics (jumping, final action-ish abilities, etc.) is with poor headings and lack to table of contents/index, it's hard to find the support in the book (so I'm usually relegated to winging the mechanics completely). I know this bit's being fixed, though.
> A few are, admittedly, poetic, but given that the single
> largest culprit (still no one has suggested another!) has been
illustrated
> by Greg with a myth supporting half a dozen or so different
approaches to
> its meaning, I don't see that as a big problem.
Wind Above and Wind Below. I've found a few references for them, but they're outside the main book. Snarl Darkness. My main contention is that feat name as description is fine as long as there's sufficient support in the god's description to get a handle on it.
> (2) Myths vary even within a Glorantha. The Poss do everything
wrong - they
> don't know the correct myths, they use their feats wrong, they
worship
> wrong. As Nick once said, that's why they're always scratching.
Given the
> existence of clan generators and such, I don't see Greg coming
along any
> time and saying "Here's every form of every myth as told by every
clan".
> He'd be stupid to even try.
This I'm willing to acknowledge as a personal taste issue (and not endemic to Hero Wars), and I think it's partially a source of my frustration. I feel that even with five different versions of a myth there should be some truth. But this is purely personal preference.
One gripe that I do have, though, is that things do suddenly change. To take my current game as an example, I started with just the original HW box. I had a player that wanted to play a healer, but didn't want to be a pacifist. So, that meant Bevara instead of Chalana Arroy. Check the description, yup, his character can be male, as there's no mention. Then, Thunder Rebels comes out and Bevara is now a sub-cult of Ernalda, and as such requires that the character should be female. Yeah, there's the 85% rule, and I dealt with it. I just didn't like the curve ball.
> (4) How can you run a game without risking being retconned?
I know that. I've been playing games long enough to know that. It's just that sometimes Glorantha feels like a retcon minefield (but, that's not really a Hero Wars issue).
> I didn't comment on your thoughts at all. Don't take things quite
so
> personally.
It's just been very frustrating. What started my "rant" was my frustration with the stock "it does what you want it to" answer. Generally, when I come to the point of asking one of those questions (I know I wasn't asking this time), I'm looking for some guidance. "It does what you want" isn't guidance. This discussion, on the other hand (barring the diversions into insults and low grade flames), has been very helpful. I'm feeling more positive about HeroQuest now.
> In case I haven't been clear enough, I'd love to see more myths,
more
> examples, more ideas. But I suspect that however much we get won't
satisfy
> some people, and I know it will never be enough to cover every feat
out there.
The most important thing in all these, I think is to keep the information as accessible as possible. The other part of my on-going frustration is that at times playing in Glorantha feels like an exercise in anthropology and mythology rather than a game.
Mike Ryan
Powered by hypermail