On the World of Glorantha List, Paolo Guccione wrote:
...
> HeroQuest 2: core system
...
> I do not think it will appeal to
> 90% of the players, who are less experienced than the average
> Gloranthaphile, and certainly the necessity to "figure all the
> details by yourself" could scare people away from it. Good grief, it
> doesn't even have a pre-made character sheet! I know that most of us
> make up our own sheets, but at least put in an example!
>
> I know that the official answer to this is "Jeff's group is made
> entirely of newbies and they are oh-so-fond of it", but this is due
> to Jeff's ability to narrate rather than to the system.
...
> Would you recommend it to an
> unexperienced GM: no! Would you recommend to play it with an
> unexperienced GM: too horrible to even think of it!
...
At various times, various people have claimed that HQ is easy for
newbies, and others have claimed it is difficult for newbies. So what is
it? Does anyone have any good evidence either way?
At Continuum 2008, some games were played with complete newbies. How did
they fare? A few weeks ago the D&Ders in our game club joined us in
playing HQ for a couple of weeks; they picked it up without difficulty.
FWIW, it seems to me that the people who claim it is difficult tend to
be experienced, but armchair, players who are speculating. Whereas the
people claiming it is easy tend to be reporting actual experiences with
newbies. I'd say the evidence (such as it is) tends to support the
assertion that it is easy for newbies.
It has been claimed several times (and I believe it to be true, although
again the evidence is weak) that what experienced players find difficult
is unlearning various habits of play that are either unnecessary or
disruptive to the HQ2 style of pay.
- Paolo talks about the need to "figure all the details". What details?
Why do you need details at all? It is possible to play an RPG with no
details figured out at all; that is, there are RPGs (for example, the
favourite in our game group, In a Wicked Age) that require no
preparation before play.
- Paolo talks about the need for a "Character Sheet". Of course you have
to have a proper Character Sheet. Everyone knows that, right? Or perhaps
we experienced RPGers are just so used to them that we can't imagine
simply writing down the information on a plain sheet of paper. Crazy talk!