Re: Re: Heroic Actions [Rant, OT]

From: Benedict Adamson <yahoo_at_...>
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 18:31:34 +0000


miker19036 wrote:

...

> [The information that HW directly and indirectly provides for each Feat]

> doesn't help for those feats that appear to come out of
> left field, like Sunset Leap and Snarl Darkness. It also doesn't
> really help with feats/spirits that seem rather specific, like Wind
> Above and Wind Below.

...

The majority of Feats have adequate information for play. Ambiguous Feat names are a springboard for inventive play, and are a good thing rather than a bad thing.

A few Feats are too ambiguous, providing too little to develop (a tabla rasa could become any book, but usually becomes none at all). The complaint has been made often enough for Issaries Inc. to be aware of it, yet they have dug their heals in, which suggests we can not expect this aspect of HW/HQ to change.

It would be wrong to dismiss HW (and HQ) on the basis of a few small flaws. Demanding perfection is unreasonable. If a handful of Feats are too vague for your game use, you could simply elide them from your Glorantha. Perhaps with time you will be able to reintroduce them. But if you can't, its no great loss.

 > I still contend as to how "beginner friendly" HeroQuest can be with  > this philosophy, but I'm willing to wait and see.

HW often appears impractical to armchair critics, but works well enough in practice. I recommend playing the game for a bit, using the rules straight, without any house rules to 'fix problems'.

Not all beginners are alike. Most people new to RPGs are used to games that have a few rules that are uniformly applied, rather than consulting voluminous rule books that provide special cases for each situation. A beginner who has played a traditional RPG may find their existing knowledge of RPGs a hindrance rather than a help. Perhaps Issaries Inc. has a particular market in mind? They originally planned to sell the game through bookstores in addition to game shops.

Whether the game is 'beginner friendly' might be more a matter of exposition of the principles of the rules, rather than the principles themselves. Issaries Inc. seem to believe this (they promise better examples in HQ than HW), so HQ should be easier for beginners than HW.

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