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godsmonkey

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Everything posted by godsmonkey

  1. It's like waiting for Cyberpunk 2077. Hopefully the end results are better.
  2. Will they? Those books were published when the game was called "Hero Wars". Does it fall under the copywrite agreement of HeroQuest?
  3. I am thinking of running an at least single one-off of a D&D style game session, and I have a player who's only wish is a character that can cast fireball. My desire is to use the AP wagering as the extended contest method since I feel it adds drama, and the betting element adds tactical tension to the game. However, since a fireball is traditionally an area effect, how would I best handle a situation where for example, the player is in an extended contest with a single opponent, and then a group of orcs for example come rushing in the room, and he wishes to fireball the group? My first thought is to break out of the current extended contest, resolve the fireball tossed at the orks running up the corridor as a simple contest, then resume the extended contest. Are there better ways to accomplish this? Thanks
  4. 5.3.13 Edges and Handicaps Your GM may want rules to represent opponents who strike rarely but with great effect or who strike often but with little impact per blow. The first quality can be represented with an edge; the second, with a handicap. Edges and handicaps are designated using ^ (^5, for example), handicaps with a minus sign (–^5). Edges and handicaps affect only the advantage points bid in an extended contest. Your edge is added to your AP bid when your opponent must lose or transfer APs. Your handicap is subtracted from your bid when your opponent loses or transfers APs. A contestant’s edge or handicap never affects his AP when he defends, only when he is attacking. Most GMs find edges and handicaps more trouble than they’re worth, and depict these phenomena with description alone. Earlier books made more extensive use of edges and handicaps to represent the quality of equipment carried by the PCs. For example, your suit for chainmail might be ^4 and your sword ^3. In games where restricted access to equipment is a significant part of the setting and your GM wants to use extended contests it may make sense to use them, otherwise we recommend ignoring them. OK, so I get that certain edges or handicaps effect the AP bid. For example, the sword adding 3 AP to the bid. Easy. However, why wouldn't Chain mail lower the AP bid on a loss? If I allowed that would it break things? Also, is the edge added before or after the AP bid calculation? For example, both sides roll a success, with the PC winning the contest. The result is "Worse roll loses 1/2 bid" Say the PC bid 10 AP. Do I add the swords ^3 to the bid, then divide, or divide, then add it? Thanks in advance.
  5. This was the first I have seen of the game rules, but it was laid out easy enough to understand, and even use as the basis of another game. All that's needed is to change "coin" to D2 (unless you want to keep coins to establish mood in the game) Make a few changes to skills to fit the mood (For example firearms for a modern setting) and add any ornamental rules to flesh out the new game. The core mechanics are nothing more than a dice pool system, Im guessing the first of its kind in RPGs? Even more evidence of the legacy of Greg Stafford.
  6. Someone did just that: https://www.thealexandrian.net/creations/misc/prince-valiant-cheat-sheet.pdf
  7. I assume youre looking to GM? How are you thinking of doing this? Roll20, Fantasy Grounds or some such? Skype? Google Hangouts? My only HQ experience is a one off of ShadowRun I did using the HQ rules. Im not even sure I fully grokked it, but my players seemed to enjoy it. I am however somewhat versed in Glorantha, and have been gaming for many years, so depending on how you plan to proceed, I'd be interested. Im EST so only an hour ahead of you, so time wont be a big factor.
  8. GMTA! I was brainstorming something like this myself. The idea of a D20 totally front-facing game holds some appeal to me. It has a fairly high HQ feel with some Dungeon World added in. That would have really been the case with a 2D6 resolution. I was thinking for extended contests, each bump of 5 (say marginal victory to minor victory), would inflict one "wound". I typically play all my games using a "Mooks, Minions and Majors" house rule. Mopks take one "hit" to beat, Minions, 3, and Majors 5. that translates nicely to a 1/3/5 extended contest. If you want a more variable resolution, you can use the old HeroWars or HQ1 idea of AP. In those rules, the atarting AP was equal to the skill you begin the contest with. That would not work with your game. So you would need to determine starting AP some other way. Perhaps 10 + 3x the starting skill, plus modifiers? The player then wagers a number of AP, and rolls D20 losing or gaining AP: Complete Defeat: Lose 4X AP bid Major Defeat: Lose 2X AP bid Minor Defeat: Lose AP bid Marginal Defeat: Lose 1/2 AP bid Marginal Victory: Opponent loses 1/2 AP bid Minor Victory: Opponent loses AP Bid Major Victory: Opponent loses 2x AP bid Complete Victory: Opponent loses 4X AP bid. Roll of natural 1: automatic failure. Opponent GAINS the AP bid and adds to their AP pool. Roll natural 20: Character gains the base AP bid, adding it to the AP pool. Thanks for this post, and indulging my brain-storm ideas.
  9. If as game master, you feel killing the party is the best outcome for the narrative, then do it. The threat of character death should be ever present, at least in my opinion.
  10. I feel like Benjamin Button in that I went from RQII in the 80s and am just now getting into playing HeroQuest. But really, the smart thing to do is make the New material RQ friendly. I'm just glad Glorantha is seeing a new golden age
  11. When you can, I'd be interested in seeing your house rules.
  12. Agree on the first point, not so much the second. But Like YGMV, YHQMV. For me, and my players, I like the variability of the AP wagers. It seems like the players got far more involved that the more abstract RP system. However, I can see instances where a simple contest is too macro, and AP bidding would take too long for the level of importance. So maybe, use all three methods?
  13. Like you, I'm new to these rules, and am trying to treat how to use them. The first to five extended contest just doesn't fire my imagination. I did really enjoy the AP wagering system and am going to use it. I do kind of feel that by making the system so flexible, it's lost some edge. It makes me wonder why they switched from the wager system, to an even more abstract extended contest system.
  14. I found a copy from a third party seller on Amazon, but you can find them on eBay as well I also found the hero wars books. The two systems are similar, but there are differences in character generation especially. However, I went with hq2 on character generation, because it's more streamlined.
  15. So, a follow up. (I mentioned this in the thread about extended contests as well) I bought both copies of Hero Wars, and first addition HeroQuest. I was able to run my normal RQ:G group with quickly converted characters, and used a few house rules (most notably, a flat 20 AP monitor for everyone.) Using a combination of chained contests, and AP wagering. Atgxtg asked if there was a reasons for wanting those copies... well, after running the game, and especially once players started using AP bids instead of just the chained contest results, combat got FAR more interesting. I have spent the early part of today finding used or NOS copies of several of the books,and am now planning on running a first edition HeroQuest game. It's fast, its fun, and there is just the *right* amount of crunch for my players and I.
  16. Earlier in the thread I made mention of an alternate system I was considering for extended contests, since like the OP players, I felt the HQ2 extended contests were a bit boring, and lacked strategy, or even risk/reward since everything is boiled down to an opposed D20. Last night, I convinced my regular RQ group to try out my idea of chained contests, and a condition monitor of 20 Action Points. I used the Edge and Handicap rules, and then at the last minute, gave the option of bidding AP, or just using chained contests. Chained contests, while perfectly usable, gave a bit of a feel of sameness. It was always the same point outcomes. Then one player FINALLY decided to risk big, while engaged with the two leading officers of the war band they were fighting. So the Humakti warrior player bet 10 AP, and rolled a Crit! ( use high roll, with the actual number being the Crit number) The opponent failed, resulting in a huge AP transfer, and took out the officer who had been slowly getting whittled down. I am now a solid believer in AP wagering. It certainly adds drama to the contests, and makes every character decision more important than just rolling the dice in a first to five, or chained contests. Im not sure if Im going to continue to use the condition monitor I created, or use the HQ1 AP system (2 times starting ability) But, I AM going to try to convince the group to convert to HQ1, with elements of HQ2, instead of RQG. Its a faster paced game, and from a GM standpoint much easier to run, since there are far fewer stats to track. Corvantir, You may want to look into the HQ1 extended contests, and AP bidding. That MAY be the trick your players are looking for.
  17. Neither HeroQuest 1 nor Hero Wars had a condition monitor. that's me adding it to the game because I think I'm more like your players in that the idea of having some means of telling how close to defeated I am and engages me more that just a number of resolution points that reset every time I engage a new foe. Thinking about what your players are looking for, maybe the HQ1 extended contest would be to the groups liking: 1. State what your hero is trying to do and which ability he uses for his first action. 2. Figure your starting AP total using the target number plus any source of additional AP you may have. Advantage points (AP) measure how well a hero is doing against his opponent in an extended contest. Each contestant’s starting advantage point total equals the target number of the ability he uses in his first round of the contest, including all modifiers and augments. The AP include +20 for each level of mastery, and can also be increased by followers. 3. The narrator selects the resistance and figures its starting AP total. Advantage Points and Combat HeroQuest combat is modeled on popular fictional sources. You rarely see or read about fighters delivering a succession of permanent wounds to each other until one of them finally keels over. Instead, they jockey for a favorable position, ducking, dodging, knocking each other over, tossing each other around, and smashing up the furniture. Up until the final blow, they generally deal out only minor bruises and cuts. Advantage points thus reflect much more than the contestants’ physical condition: o Advantage points measure a fighter’s position: Is he upright, or has he been thrown to the ground? Does he have his balance? Does he have the advantage of high ground, or is he fighting from below? Is he on even, uncluttered ground and therefore able to move easily, or is he encumbered by hazards such as clinging vegetation, broken flooring, sucking mud, or cliff edges? Does he have his weapon in hand? If not, is he close to objects that make for impressive and entertaining impromptu weapons or shields? o Advantage points also measure a character’s emotional state. Is he ready and willing to fight, or has the instinctive fear response that impels us to run from danger taken over? Is he clear-headed enough to make splitsecond decisions, or is he dominated by anger, a thirst for violence, or concern for his reputation? o Advantage points eventually determine if the hero is wounded, but they are not “hit points.” Until a character drops to 0 or fewer advantage points, any wounds will be superficial. They may well cause considerable pain, ruining his concentration and slowing him down, and even heroes that are never hit will begin to tire as they fight through their third or fourth round. But in the end, if a hero finishes the fight with a positive AP total, he is not wounded. The last sentence gives me pause from using the old HQ1 rules. If you have positive action points at the end of a contest, you are NOT wounded. Using the idea of a condition monitor, and chained contests, there is a possibility of lingering effects/wounds. I have my RQ:G group playing on Sunday, maybe I can convince them to give my house ruled HQ2 extended contests a go, and report back.
  18. That was my logic with the condition monitor. One thing that bugs me, Rules as Written is if I defeat one opponent, then engage another, it FEELS like I have suddenly healed up the RP scored against me in the prior contest. ( I know that you determine results at the end, and I could be a walking corpse.) With a condition tracker, all RPs scored are kept track of so while I took out opponent A & B pretty easy, when a fresh opponent C comes along, I am worse for wear, not starting with a fresh monitor. Another option is to keep all penalties from chained contests when engaging the new foe. So even though your RP track against the foe starts fresh, you enter the contest with penalties. I know it adds a bit of crunch, just sharing my thoughts.
  19. If I'm following right, this is a half way point between chained contests with penalties after each contest (0 -3,-6,-9, -12) and the contest ends when a contestant reaches 5 RP against a foe? That would certainly make combat feel more deadly, and would introduce something of a death spiral, but not add too much bulk to record keeping. I'm not sure if that fixes your players original concern: But as others have mentioned, adding modifiers for tactics, terrain and such, might do the trick. Using the equipment modifiers to the roll, and not the result as I suggested might also give them more of a feeling of tactics ("Oh, my dagger gives a +1, but my broadsword a +2? I draw my sword!" "I duck behind that rock for cover from the archers, how much of a penalty that give them?" and so on ... )
  20. I have very VERY little experience with HeroQuest. Im an old Grognard simulationist, who has only recently returned to playing RPGS I'm running an RQ:G campaign right now. With that disclaimer, I love the Idea of HQ, but like your engineer players, just cant *quite* wrap my head around the level of abstraction of the rules as written. My only experience is a few test runs, and I ported over ShadowRun to the HQ2 system and ran it as chained events. It worked pretty well, and was fast. Maybe too fast as giving penalties added up quickly. Sadly, that was a one off, but I have been mulling the idea of running HQ since then. But, I still like hit point, hit locations and armor points. Then while reading a copy of HeroQuest 1, I read about armor and weapons augments: Armor, Weapons, and Tools High-quality equipment aids any task, from climbing a wall to the grisly job of killing. Your hero is assumed to have appropriate gear from his homeland and know how to use it. A complete suit of armor or a particular weapon or tool can give modifiers. Light Armor: +1 (hardened leather, tough skin or fur). Medium Armor: +3 (chainmail, lamellar, scale armor). Heavy Armor: +5 (plate armor, chainmail made by a true master armorer). Shield: +1 (note that use of two-handed weapons precludes use of shield at the same time). Light Weapon or Tool: +1 (cudgel, dagger, dart, rock, self bow, throwing axe, whip; hammer and pins, short or flimsy rope). Average Weapon or Tool: +3 (1-handed spear, battleaxe, crossbow, javelin, long bow, mace, sling, sword; crowbar, excellent rope). Heavy Weapon or Tool: +5 (2-handed spear, great axe, greatsword, lance, maul, siege crossbow; lockpicks, metal cable). You could also use augments in non combat situations. For example, evidence in a trial (or a strong alibi as defense) or a crowd of supporters. Whatever. The idea is the augments dont add to the roll, but afterwards to affect the contest results. So now I am toying with the idea of using a variation of the old HW/HQ1 Action Points, but limiting it to say 20 points. (instead of 2x the skill) Use the Chained contest idea from HQ1, where levels of success incurs higher penalties, as points against the condition. (I used 1/3/6/10 in the ShadowQuest game I ran) Weapons add to the points, armor subtracts, (See above) with a minimum of 1 point regardless of the adjusted number. However instead of using the penalties as lingering effects, I created a damage chart. The first 5 points are no penalty.the next is a "hurt" with a -3 penalty, then a -6 Impaired and -10 injured. This is to limit the "death spiral" that so many mentioned on here with chained contests. It also (hopefully as its still untested) does a good job of restoring some of the simulationist feel that I and my players like while keeping the bookkeeping and rules light. Also, all the 1 point results will dissipate after the contest, being described as general fatigue, or other scrapes bruises, or non lingering conditions. Hope that makes sense, and you find it useful. I also welcome input on the idea. Thanks
  21. Well crap. Let's hope you get it soon.
  22. Try entering the number into google. It works with USPS, UPS and FED EX services in the States. It might work for you.
  23. If you know the carrier, try imputing it into their website or do a google search. That's assuming the mail service offers live tracking.
  24. Not sure who is shipping yours, but on mine, there was an active link in the : Home My Account Order Status View Order Details
  25. That didn't take long. Sadly my camera stopped recording, but still wanted to share.
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