>"How does one cheat at *a* heroquest". :-)
As it happens, I've just been writing a heroquest today - the first I've done in a formal format. Looking back at it, there are several ways that you could avoid part or all of some of the challenges you are supposed to face, or at least make them less dangerous. Indeed, I specifically discussed some of these options when I wrote it, and I'm sure that many players could come up with ones I hadn't thought of! That's players for you :)
And this, it seems to me, is cheating at a heroquest (from an in-game point of view - its not cheating for the *players* to try it).
The thing is, doing any of this would be really dim. Because the whole *point* of this particular quest is to test your virtues, and cope well with adversity. For instance, there's a part of the quest where you have to do something really painful and damaging, just because somebody tells you to. Technically, you could 'cheat' by avoiding that station altogether, or by coming up with some far less painful way of acheiving the station's end result. But as soon as you do that, you're being Disobedient, which (given that this is a Rokari quest) is about as bad as a Humakti running away from a combat encounter sobbing like a schoolgirl without even drawing his sword. The being you are emulating did this extremly painful and largely ineffective thing because he was told to - so if you want to get the proper result from the heroquest, you'd better do it, too. If you cheat, you're not emulating your god, and if you're not emulating your god, your chances of getting the benefits of the quest aren't looking too rosy.
Now, if you are a very powerful heroquester, of the sort that is willing to do experimental quests to forge your own hero path to godhood, or something, then sure. In that circumstance, 'cheating' at a heroquest could be part of the point. Its very dangerous, very difficult, and its not usually obvious in advance what, if anything, you'll get out of it (except that it won't be what the quest would normally give you), but it can be done.
-- Trotsky Gamer and Skeptic ------------------------------------------------------ Trotsky's RPG website: http://www.ttrotsky.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
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