Comrades!
As people may or may not have noticed, Issaries has licensed the
HeroQuest game engine to me to produce a standalone game set in
Mythic Russia, which with startling originality, I am
calling 'Mythic Russia' -- the initial press release is _at_
http://www.heroquest-rpg.com/news/pr_04_01.html and the home of
Firebird Productions, which will publish the game, is _at_
http://www.firebird-productions.com
The reason I'm posting here is that while the basic HQ game engine
will be used, there will be some inevitable tweaks to reflect my own
preferences and also the different context of Russia and its myths
(just after the battle of Kulikovo in 1380, if anyone's interested,
as Muscovy begins to assert itself and throw off the Tatar Yoke).
I'd be interested in comments on a few which I already intend to
include and also would like to hear any suggestions you may have. A
few quick caveats:
- tweaks are not the same as rules revisions. MR and HQ will remain
compatible.
- just because I plan to do something a little differently in MR,
it doesn't mean that I think it's wrong in HQ: Glorantha is not
Russia, and different settings and styles of game mean different
requirements.
- please understand and excuse me if I don't get into much
discussion myself over suggestions. I will be reading and
considering everything people post, but I see the purpose of the
exercise to be about seeing what everyone else thinks, not expouding
my own views.
Anyway, here is a first batch of proposals:
- Linking to the current discussion, all abilities taken during
chargen start at 17 (not just keyword, also those in narratives --
which will be the default start method, the others being considered
options)
- Repeated abilities from overlapping keywords get a +2 per
repetition. So if Rural Survival is in all three of your keywords,
you get it at 1W.
- No cap on increasing starting abilities. Mythic Russian heroes
are truly larger than life characters. If you want to burn 10 of
your starting points to begin with Strong 7W, you can. There will,
however, be extensive narrators' notes on how to handle such heroes
and ensure that their relative lack of other strengths also acts as
a real penalty.
- Scaling up the envisaged ranges for personality traits and
relationships, to give them a greater role (so it is not ridiculous
to have Love Family 1W2), again at the same time providing more
explicit guidance on when this should and should not be allowed for
augments and the penalties/pitfalls, so it is not abused.
- No common magic as such, but far more scope for using the Natural
Magic rules for odd knacks. This is one of the definite differences
between Glorantha and Russia: I don't want ordinary peasants having
active magic, although they can still pray for protection and even
miracles and use their piety as 'magic resistance.' Likewise, odd
little knacks such as herbal cures or the like can either be normal
abilities or Natural Magic.
- Remove the options and fix it that initiative in an extended goes
to the highest bidder, to encourage high bids and outrageous
manouvres.
- Mooks are dead, KO or otherwise definitely out of action at 0 AP
- The theist rules will be used as standard, even for animists and
wizards (although the former will mainly be Mongols etc and the
latter Teutonic Knights and the like) rather than the separate magic
systems. There will be some rules differences to give the animists
and wizards a slightly different feel, but I don't think that at
present the different systems are worth the complexity. I would
rather create different cultural constructs for different magics
rather than rules.
- Most gods, saints, etc offer a single affinity, so it is quite
usual for a hero to assemble multiples, such as his home city's
patron saint, one linked with his profession and a third relating to
his personality.
- No hero bands; this is really a Gloranthan construct, and I'd
rather give guidance on how you can get group or individual powers
and protectors
- No heroquesting; I don't think this really fits the Russian
model. Instead, I'd propose that by 'crossing over' instead you come
to the parallel otherworlds ('the thrice-ninth kingdom' et al) into
which you can adventure, but not necessarily following
the 'tramline' approach of a heroquest. This is the one I am still
most unsure about.
My thinking was that it was appropriate to post here, because
through discussion of the HQ game engine, we can all enrish our
understanding of the game as a whole. That said, I appreciate that
this is not set in Glorantha, so if the moderators have any qualms
with this thread, obviously I will withdraw it without any demur.
All the best
Mark