Re: Practice quests (mainly)

From: Ian Cooper <ian_hammond_cooper_at_...>
Date: Sun, 05 Feb 2006 22:50:08 -0000

>In fact it seems to me that Practice quests are much more useful for
>gaming than the ones that go to the HeroPlane/Gods(and others) War.
I am definitely fond of them, though I wonder if they are practice for narrator as well as hero ;-)

>They're at opposition levels where the players have a good chance of
>success.

Agreed.

>You can have all the fun of catching your opposition. You can meet
your >traditional enemies as they get "sucked in". You can have accidental >effects on the mundane world, since you're still in it (if
>glowing a bit).

Indeed the knock-on effects in the real-world are great for tying it into a game (it also explains why HeroQuests are dangerous, you may end up attracting nasty foes to your home). Additionally I tend to run normal life in amidst them, so that character interaction, which is what really drives story, happens as normal and the HeroQuest is a goal, a sought framework. I think there is a lot of substitution going on in a practice quest, which makes it great for tying into other game events.

Communal quests are also overlooked. Arcane Lore is great for understanding these, because, for Orlanthi anyway it has a couple of examples of where you do the 'peform the action try to get the benefit moment' Communal quests can be used to deliver mythology in bite sized chunks and give the players some goodies.

All of these, communal and practice, likely to be in play in Red Cow tomorrow.