Without going too much into individual players and their backgrounds, the thing that really stands out to me is that, in selecting a dragonewt human, your player faces a very, very difficult path. **Especially** if this is his introduction to Glorantha.
Its a solitary and counter-intuitive path, and will often go against the paths and goals of other members of the party.
The mastery of traits progression for dragonewts (and, by extension your dragonewt human) were thought up in Runequest days, but was more descriptive than intended for player-characters. There is a long, strong line of recommendations AGAINST playing dragonewts - they are inexplicable, a-logical, with different motivations and cognitive structures to humans. In my two decades of gaming in Glorantha, I have never met someone who played a dragonewt for more than a few sessions. Granted, a dragonewt human is a **terrific** concept, but its a very demanding challenge.
For instance, your friend is discouraged by the fact that one becomes more like a dragon by **not** using draconic magics. This is because use of magical power further entangles one with the world, and away from utilising the energies for the transformations needed to ascend. This is great for understanding philosophy and motivation, but is very difficult for a player character, let alone a GM. For instance, will you award hero points for the character **not** doing things?
Glorantha is broad and sturdy enough to foster many different types of campaigns - I've played or run romance, slapstick, broobash, philosophical, 'turnip and cow turd' (stickpicker), merchant, and kingmaking, campaigns and modules, and even one which was largely sitting round the campfire telling stories in character.
The key to the success or failure of all of these was how the characters
interacted as a group, and I think this is even more important in
HeroQuest. Having characters who worship disparate pantheons or who are
from different races can work in a nitty-gritty lowlife type RQ campaign,
where rivalry and low level concept can be contained and mined for
entertainment - we joke about the traditional "a duck, a trollkin, an
uroxi, two humakti and a Malkoni sorcerer named Bruce - but it becomes more
difficult as your characters become powerful and start deciding the fates
of clans, tribes and even nations. Different cult outlooks and motivations
(and its difficult to think of anything more different than dragonewts and
humans) can be difficult to direct to similar goals.
How will your dragonewt human's goal stand against with the goals of other players in the party?
I'm not saying it would be impossible, but do think that to run such a character would be incredibly challenging. My suggestion would be to chose something simpler and more 'human' for a first Gloranthan excursion.
How about suggesting some alternatives: perhaps a human who is helping an
NPC dragonewt ascend to dragonhood? A human who is trapped in an old EWF
temple, and who is taught by powers the ancient way to speak and think like
a dragon, and so becomes a prophet of a new cult of Orlanth Dragonfriend.
(This second story seed is one I suggested in 'Barbarian Adventures', and
it is one that will resonate LOTS as the Hero Wars arc develops.
You don't need esoteric characters to appreciate the richness and life of Glorantha. Even 'vanilla' humans with mainstream cults can, if they wish, develop in unique and unexpected ways. I think the stories will weave together if the goals, motivations and emotions of your characters can be understood and shared. For this reason, I'd personally advise against attempting a draconic-type character for a first Glorantha experience.
Just a personal perspective, hope it might be helpful.
Cheers
John
Phone (02) 6125 0649
Visit CAEPR on the web at http://www.anu.edu.au/caepr/
Powered by hypermail