IronDuck

Sorry, the overlaying of myth into the world to create a HeroQuest is not new. The success at various points in a HeroQuest to gain magical effects isn't new. It's how HeroQuests are supposed to work. The opposite is usually mentioned more with failing to gain the benefit from one part of a HeroQuest will affect the rest of the HeroQuest plays out. Using HeroQuests to counter HeroQuests has been a thing written about for years. The classic example are Lunar heroes screwing with various Orlanthi HeroQuests. Heroic casting of RuneMagic proves my point. You're needing to adjust the system to perform HeroQuests. First, I didn't say you had a create whole new game system. You just can't use the base system as is (speaking from a BRP viewpoint) for HeroQuests as that generally doesn't work. Any competent character would breeze through HeroQuests way too easily. You need a HeroQuest system that can do the following: Allows a character like Harmast, a former simple farmer, to not only rediscover the LightBringer Quest (one of the hardest HeroQuests), but to do it successfully twice. Allows a very skilled person like Kallyr Starbrow to fail at it (along with many other people that fail at doing the LBQ). Are not too dangerous that people can use them for coming of age HeroQuests where massive casualties aren't expected or wanted. Are dangerous enough that incredible skilled people like Arkat are wounded and even more powerful and skilled groups like the God Learners suffer massive casualties when trying to force HeroQuests. A BRP based system that meets those criteria doesn't exist yet. A position I hold is that character's skill and power cannot be the only variables in play. We are missing parts that would allow us to better emulate the HeroQuests. Speaking of skill, what constitutes a heroic or super-heroic character? There might be as many answers to that as there are GMs. Is your game like 1%-100% for normals, 100%-200% for heroic and 200%-300% super-heroic? Or does super-heroic start at 500%-700%? A system that would challenge the first group would be a cake walk to the second, and a system that would challenge the second group would be a impossible task to the first. So, a one-size-fits-all solution may be impossible anyway. "Building HeroQuests" Was my version of the document outdated? Was the table of contents wrong? Was the index wrong? Let me search for "building"... Six hits and none of them have to deal with building HeroQuests. Or do I have to do a HeroQuest to see those parts of the book? 😉 There is a part involving the Crimson Bat, but I think that example is pretty bad and really wouldn't even be a HeroQuest in itself. It's 3/10 book. Most of its good ideas are merely regurgitated from other books, but the work is sadly marred by its incomplete and bad ideas. A person is going to read it once and stick it on a shelf where it will sit as there is really no reason to ever consult it again.

Sadly, the only secret contained in Secrets of HeroQuesting is that it contains no secrets. It's just a summation of mostly flavor text about HeroQuesting from other books. If you looking for a system to build and run HeroQuests, then you are in the same boat as the rest of us - build your own system.

Bits of Glorantha I ignore... Hmmm, the timeline post 1615.

This originally had to do with skill rolls while heroquesting. I was experimenting around with certain ideas and whether to use a completely different skill system for heroquesting or modify existing skill system. I wanted it to be harder and it kind of grew from there. I also wanted to involve the community in the heroquest too. Not all heroquesters are solo affairs and there should be an incentive for getting community support. Then I wanted to also create an explanation on why some heroquesters end up destroying themselves or their entire countries if they persist. So, I decided to toss it up here for comments to see if I missed anything obvious. Augmenting Augmenting skills as per the rules. Sacrifice For some tests, PCs may have the opportunity to offer something as a sacrifice to augment their roll or allow a separate roll if they are otherwise stuck. Eligible items must be prized possessions such as magic items, any accompanying livestock (usually horses and similar beasts for nomadic heroquesters) or even one or more members of the heroquest if they are desperate enough. For example, PCs that fail fighting a giant at a certain stage of the heroquest may instead offer it a prized sword as a gift in return for their safe passage through a mountain pass. The bonus to their roll or the chance of the separate roll is the POW of the item x5 that they want to sacrifice. Any sacrificed item is lost on the heroplane and can only be returned to the mortal plane by heroquesting. Experimental. Community Support Community size that is willing to support the heroquesters. Oratory and other skills along with gifts and favors to gain supporters. Population Number of shifts 1 0 10 1 100 2 1,000 3 10,000 4 100,000 5 1,000,000 6 These points can be used to shift results of any skill check by one rank e.g., from fumble to failure, from failure to success, from success to special success and from special success to critical success. This can only be done once per skill check. Communities supporting heroquesters share in the rewards and well in the failures.* Lunar Empire's large number of dedicated supporters is one reason why their heroquesters are so dangerous to face. On the other hand, solo heroquesters avoid risking others, but are at an obvious disadvantage. This aid appears to heroquesters as members of community that appear in minor roles, e.g. a young woman from the village that appears at one of serving girls at the feast of Orlanth that guides the struggling heroquesters to choosing the right gift to present to Orlanth, another is a man that appears as a young warrior in a fight that takes a fatal blow meant for the heroquesters and dies on the heroplane as well as the mortal plane. Difficulty Difficult of the Heroquest Difficulty Skill penalty Easy 0 Normal -10 Difficult -20 Hard -30 GLBQ -50 (Go through the list heroquests and assign difficulty to each. KoDP might have a good starting list. Heroquesting is rarely safe. So the easiest of quest carries a chance of risk.) Affinity How much affinity do players and the current situation have with the heroquest? Affinity Skill penalty God Time repeated 0 Close -10 None -20** Counter -30** Sacrilege -50** Most communities view their heroquests as sacred and will perform them at the appropriate times, for the appropriate reasons, with the appropriate members and for the appropriate outcomes. To do otherwise is a risk to everyone. So, they will normally use the first rank with some heroquests being some dropping a rank when the heroquest is forced such as Starbrow's GLBQ. While Arkat generally did try to show respect for the heroquests he performed, he did also experiment with them and his affinity probably dropped as low as none. Godlearners on the other hand cared little for the heroquests they plundered and most of their heroquesting occurred at the lowest two ranks which was the cause for their high rate of failures and deaths. Failures during heroquests with no affinity or lower will often dump heroquesters out of the heroquest back somewhere into the mortal world. The skill penalties are still in work. Making a mockery of something like the GLBQ and doing it without community support should be fairly suicidal for even the most powerful of heroquesters. Otherwise the Godlearners would have successfully performed it. Minor heroquests should carry some small amount of risk where heroquesters could possibly fail based on their normal skill chances. *This is hopefully a short example of shared blessings. Two PCs, a human and elf, who are deeply in love want to marry and have a child. Normally, this is something that would be impossible. However, the Satarite recalls a story of his youth about Orlanth's wooing of Ernalda. "In the realm of the gods, anything is possible," they both muse. So, they travel back to his village of around 1,500 people and start petitioning his chieftain and priestess to grant them the leading roles in this year's heroquest. The chieftain defers to his ring as this request involves everyone. The ring informs them that they have a few months before the event and they will make a decision in four weeks. So, the PCs begin to sway the tribe to their side. To friendly members of his tribe, he makes rousing speeches of his love for this strange elf and she charms the women of his tribe with her beauty and grace even if it is slightly alien. To more recalcitrant members of his tribe, he presents gifts of cattle as well as treasure that they have found in their travels. For other families who may have lost young kin in wars, they carry out a series of tasks and minor quests. However, there are some members of the tribe that resist as they were expecting that some of their own would take the roles of Orlanth and Ernalda. In four weeks, they have two thirds of the tribe supporting them and they gain the ring's approval and with it the chieftain's and priestess' support as well. The day of the heroquest arrives. The two PCs perform it without blemish as they are skilled adventurers with the support of the majority of their tribe. The curtain closes that night to Orlanth's and Ernalda's room and in the morning the young, glowing elf awakens back in the mortal plane knowing that she bears a child. The PCs have gotten what they wanted and maybe an additional bonus to skill checks when they are close together along with the more common heroquesting rewards. To their supporters in the tribe, lovers find their match, new marriages are blessed and existing marriages are refreshed with happiness. While children may not have been specifically a part of the original heroquest, perhaps the PCs have inadvertently shifted the heroquest slightly and caused a small baby boom in the region. What about those members of the tribe that abstained? They would not have been at risk had the heroquest failed. (They might have still been affected if the heroquest disastrously failed.) However, they do not share in any of the rewards and will need to hide their jealously of other people's happiness behind fake smiles until next year. **Using heroquests to accomplish tasks that no relationship to the heroquest builds up chaotic/divine/cosmic backlash for any heroquesters along with any communities supporting them. This backlash builds with every success in the heroquest and lingers until released. Enough backlash can maim heroquesters, e.g. Arkat's affliction; and over time can even destroy nations, e.g. the Godlearners. The results of the backlash are permanent and can only be undone with another heroquest if at all.

I don't think we need an official answer as he is obviously either a very powerful demi-god and/or someone standing in as a replacement for OOO. However, I don't know why anyone would say that he is not coming back for the Hero Wars. He is a very tempting target of the LightBringer heroquest by a group of Satar PCs. Rivalry with themselves as representative of Satar? Check. His death brought chaos and uncertainty? Check. His return to help fight a greater enemy i.e., the Lunar Empire? Check. Plus, I would imagine bringing Belintar back would be much easier and saner than trucking with Sheng Seleris.