i'm not scoffing - for a start i think you're going to have a ball, and your son will love you for ever.
> So ... while I have a pile of the old materials and the current
stuff, I'm
> eager for suggestions on how to bridge the gap between RQ style
and HQ
> style GM'ing. Clearly the narration needs to focus more on
dramatic action
> and less on the mechanics of fighting and spell casting. But what
are the
> tricks and techniques to keep the players excited and motivated
about their
> own characters? In RQ, everyone was sitting with the same skills,
albeit
> at different levels; everyone had a chance to be the one who heard
the
> troll ambush, or spot the buried treasure, or get the critical hit
that
> turned the tide in battle. HQ feels a bit more focused (and with
good
> reason); it doesn't make sense for the aspiring lawspeaker to
suddenly be
> the scout.
well, just my 2p, but i don't think this is such a big issue. sure in RQ everyone had a Track ability at.. what was it? 15% or something? anyway, in HW everyone has Track at the 'usual' level (6), so at the very least they can all augment the main tracker with that. or your lawspeaker can question passers-by, or divine the truth using magics, or whatever the player can think up and you will permit. for me this has been one of the best bits about the HW system, trying to work out how to adopt my hero's abilities to the problem at hand - this has kept me motivated about playing & exploring my character.
this does require you as a narrator to be a little more flexible in interpreting action than you have probably been used to in RQ. frex, so there's a great big scrap for all the fighter-type heroes - what does the weedy lawspeaker do? well, you could encourage him to question the geneaology of the opposing warriors ('Your father was a hamster & your mother...' etc) in order to shame/enrage/whatever them. or when faced with wierd monsters he could try to remember obscure facts about their weak spots allowing him to assist the burly fighters - the idea is, whatever you think is fun, works. the beauty of an abstracted contest resolution system is that you can take it however you like, & each hero can probably find something to do if the situation has been set up right.
of course, being 10-12 year olds they may not have much experience of role-playing, and you may find difficulty in getting the balance right between 'open' and 'closed' action. there is probably a reason that most of us started out with simulationist games, tabletop minatures & loads of dice, and that it took narrative games more time to evolve. so start simple & get them used to the idea that convincing someone their interpretation of the law is flawed, or whatever, can be just as damaging as hitting them with a sword.
> Any thoughts? I'm certain I can run Sartar cattle raids and clan
> skirmishes fairly easily. But how would you do something like
adapt Apple
> Lane for HQ?
see http://www.glorantha.com/hw/scenario_applelane.html for the conversion to hero wars, which will answer your question.
try to find a copy of the Black Spear of the Colymar. i can't remember where this comes from/can be found/who wrote it, but it was the introductory HW scenario i played and, damn, it was good. i think it would be an excellent introductory game for your kids.
erm.. i've been wibbling again. hope this was helpful...
cheers
guy
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