Good thought. Examples are probably a good thing -- especially really illustrative ones like this.
> Quick bit of background:
>
> A Hero in my game is a Vingan warrior, about whom there is a
prophecy that she
> will "bring death to the clan". Worried by this, and hoping to
fulfil the
Ah, prophecy. A wonderful narrator tool. A very (ahem) two edged sword.
> prophecy without destroying the clan or something, the player came
up with the
> idea of doing the Sword That Is Death heroquest to "borrow" Death.
Hence the
> following write up. As Vingans can, she emulated Orlanth in the
heroquest...
> I based the myth and the heroquest on the version shown in King of
Dragon Pass,
> though I was going with the Orlanthi viewpoint rather than the
Humakti one that
> is used there. (I've left out the number-crunching on carryover from
these
Good idea. Since she's not bringing back Death itself, its probably easier than confronting Humakt himself in all his glory.
> STATION ONE - CROSSING TO THE OTHER SIDE
(snip)
> Failure here will mean that the heroquest never even gets going, and
will be
> very bad for clan morale.
And the failure will probably also affect the clan's combat magics as well. Certainly its a terrible omen.
> STATION TWO - "PERSUADING EURMAL"
> The Hero encounters "Eurmal" on the road (in my game this was the
trickster
> from a neighbouring clan) and must get the information out of him
that Humakt
> now has death (having taken it from Eurmal). The Hero could do this
by beating
> "Eurmal" up, by flattering him, getting him drunk or whatever.
This is a nice 'flip side' of the Trickster station -- its almost wiser to bring your own Trickster along.
> STATION THREE - FIRST MEETING WITH HUMAKT
> The Hero travels to Humakt's stead, where she finds "Humakt" (in my
game this
> was a warrior who lay dying on a battlefield and had been drawn into
the quest
> as a "near death experience" sort of thing - he turned up later in
the game to
> reclaim Death from the Hero). Of course, his stead is dark and cold
now that he
Ah, that's something I'd not have considered. In this case, your friend was getting an item -- Death. Since the hero was getting a specific toy rather than learning, I'd not use my carryover=HP variant. That's just for when the hero is pumping himself up. (I might have done 'sword named death' as an ability or a death affinity and then let the carryover = hp spent on it.
> It is worth noting that, at this point, Humakt has not severed
himself from his
> kin, so still bears Storm Tribe tattoos/insignia.
> The Hero can "do as Orlanth did" and command Humakt to give up the
sword
> (contest using Leadership, or Command or whatever). Alternative
approaches
> could be to persuade/offer gifts, or even to just try to beat him up
for it.
> Assuming that Humakt does not give up the sword, and Heroes (and
Orlanth!)
> being what they are, violence could follow.
> If the Hero fails here, she will actually get positive carryover, as
that is
> what is "supposed to happen" in the myth.
Actually I'd treat it as a reversed encounter (for carry over) or maybe with a hefty shift in the difficulty -- if you've got Death, you've got Death. But you've also lost the chance to do anything in the further stages like make a friend in Humakt and possibly gain other ablities.
> STATION FOUR - SECOND MEETING WITH HUMAKT
> The Hero retreats to sulk and/or lick her wounds before returning to
try to get
> the Sword That Is Death again.
Hospitality -- the cardinal virtue. Nice touch.
> As before, this "should" fail and the Hero is forced to retreat and
reconsider,
> possibly after another fight.
This could be very hard on the hero, who is presuably alone or just
with a small band.
>
> STATION FIVE - SECOND MEETING WITH HUMAKT
> The Hero makes "Orlanth's" 3rd and final attempt to get the Sword
That Is
> Death.
> As before, the attempt to get the Sword "should" fail.
> that case, I would suggest that the Hero succeeds at getting Death
and the
> quest ends here, but she will have much less carryover than if she
had done it
> "properly" (i.e., according to the myth) and therefore less benefit
from the
> quest (see Narrator's Book p39).
Ah, okay. That's a very good way of working it. And if the Hero has 'succeded' too early, the heroquest will actually be a _FAILURE_ adn probably irk all the Humakti.
> STATION SIX - ENEMIES
> The scene between Humakt and Orlanth is interrupted by the attack of
a mutual
> enemy. This should be something relevant to the Hero attempting the
quest. In
> my game, it was "Ragnaglar" (represented by a band of broo) as the
heroes' clan
> had been having trouble with broo raiders. Humakt and Orlanth must
unite to
> defeat them (perhaps a test of the Hero's personality traits such as
Common
> Sense, whatever, is in order).
Heroic Fight Scene. =)
> STATION SEVEN - RECONCILIATION
> Once the enemies are defeated, Orlanth and Humakt should be somewhat
> reconciled. "As Orlanth did", the Hero should now ask to BORROW the
sword,
> offering in return a place in Orlanth's warband to Humakt.
> This can be played as a test of "Persuasive", "Generous",
"Forgiving" or
Generous, wise, Relathionship to Clan (maybe) but certainly Leader.
> Success here will mean that the character gets the Sword and the
quest ends.
> Hurrah!
>
> I made sure that the"gods" and enemies encountered in the quest were
> represented by people who already were or would soon be linked to
the Hero in
> some way.
That's a good method. And one way of representing what happens when the Humakti who played Death comes back looking for his sword.
> Depending on how the Hero goes about solving problems, the Narrator
could use
> the carryover from the quest to give directed HP awards (as in Jeff
Kyer's post
> from yesterday) to personality traits like Violent or Calm, or to
Abilities
> like Peace-maker, Persuasive or whatever.
In this case, I'd put it into the Quest Object, if it was going just to a single person. Sword Named Death ability at 12 + Carryover (one for one). Big risks should give big rewards.
> In my game, the Hero "borrowed" the Humakti's Death affinity for a
time, using
> it to strike down a Yelm-worshipping Lunar army officer who she had
vowed to
> kill. Unfortunately, this has kicked off a rebellion which looks set
to doom
> the clan. Ah well, you can't escape fate...
And thus brought Death, yessss. A truly nice touch.
> If she had failed, she might have been killed (if she had lost while
fighting),
> or lost her Initiate of Vinga trait (if she had failed while talking
to Humakt,
> she might have returned from the quest as an initiate of Humakt
instead - this
> has happened to me in King of Dragon Pass).
Yes, thesewould all be products of bad carryover. Its pretty much up to the narrator -- but those who helped her should suffer too, especially if they were Extraordianrily supporting.
> Special complications to put into the quest could include:
>
> Enemies disrupting the heroquest by "ambushing" the Hero en route to
Humakt's
> stead, or posing as Eurmal to point the character in the wrong
direction.
Eurmal tricksters are a menace anyways. The 'common foe' could be drawn in to be this enemy.
> Yanafal Tarnils worshippers could even take the place of Humakt and
try to kill
> the Hero before the quest can be completed.
Yike. I'd do soemthing like that the 3rd or fourth go-round on that. Having your quest land-mine like that would be very dangerous -- possibly impossible to complete.
> I hope this helps out. These were intended to be brief notes, but it
all seems
> to have got out of hand. My own notes have more descriptions,
adjectives,
> numbers, etc.
>
> Regards,
>
> Bruce
I like it.
I'd be happy to see this attached to the Herowars files section. You might want to consider fixing it up a abit and sending it to Nils.
Thanks,
Jeff
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