jajagappa

Actually 6, one player is running 2 characters. But I run play-by-post, so that's manageable. In the days when I ran face-to-face, 4-5 was typical, but did have as many as 7-8 at peak (and often players running 2 characters as there were some extended quests, e.g. to Giant Land).

My current RQG campaign started with Broken Tower (and used the pre-gens). Two of the players from that continued on, and stayed with the pregens (Harmast and Sorola). To that we added: a Balazaring mercenary (in the employ of the Ernaldori chieftain), a Grazer entertainer (with connection via mother to the Colymar), a Colymar Storm Bull initiate, a Colymar Babeester Gor initiate, and an impala rider shaman (who came to Dragon Pass to pursue some spirit-related tasks). The centerpoint is that they all are supporting Queen Leika of the Colymar - Harmast has been raised now to a tribal thane, and the rest serve as personal assistants to see to tasks for the queen. They are working together fine - there's some odds and ends of background connections, but not strongly emphasized. I've not added too many restrictions - mostly there needs to be a reasonable reason for being part of the Colymar, and assisting them.

They are shown in the video in the OP.

But, in answering the question about what questions exist, I figured it was useful to provide the content available in CoT and GS, which do have specific answers noted (and formal answers referenced).

Assuming the Riddler is Illuminated, they will likely realize whether the response from the individual has helped the answerer along the path or not. They are not in essence conducting an exam, but prodding and prompting the other with puzzles to continue exploring.

Etyries is the Lunar goddess of Trade. She's a daughter of Issaries. All the trader-related cults (Issaries, Etyries, Lokarnos) manage to work out mutually beneficial arrangements for the transport and sale of goods, despite cultural hostilities.

Don't think they want to try that in Elz Ast, or even Yuthuppa during Darkseason (think Duluth, MN for former; Minneapolis, Montreal, or Moscow for the latter).

Apparently the Lunar schools thought so. However, it seems equally likely that there are multiple "correct" answers.

That's a reaction to becoming Illuminated (i.e. you think you can now do whatever you wish).

HQG p.203 notes: Each Nysalorean Riddle consists of a formal question and a formal answer, and is generally accompanied by extensive commentary. The questions, answers, and commentary are believed to have been handed down orally through the periodic Second and Third Age suppression of the Nysalor cult. Though still transmitted orally in many places, a number of written versions are studied in the Lunar Empire. The most common version lists 133 Riddles; other versions list as few as 117 and as many as 144. The only two I recall are these two: Cults of Terror p.85: Move Quietly riddle: "What is the difference between a Silent Movement?" A: "The sound of a man dying." HQG p.203: Riddle 19: "What is the difference between virtuous intention and virtuous action?" A: "Power" [Since it's HQG, it's not explicitly linked to a skill.]

I seem to remember him doing so! 😉 (And I suspect we can find the documentation to prove it - just another turn on Eonistaran's Wheel!)

Are you asking about the order or sequence of the Runes? If so, then I don't believe it particularly matters as those are just his Runes. But maybe you are asking something else?

As Zzabur is the pre-eminent sorcerer, and sorcery is built on sound logical and 'scientific' principles (such as classification of the elements, etc.), it would make sense that Zzabur's spell followed some sequence of logical steps and classifications that clearly defined what would be swept off the Seas and what would close the Oceans (or potentially some converse of these such as making Brithos inaccessible to non-Brithini). Both ships and Waertagi sea-dragons were affected. So, they represent the same "Class" of object. Dormal likely had to keep tinkering to figure out how to make a 'ship' that was NOT of said "Class". I doubt he built a specific time limit into it, though could see that he might have cast it at a certain "Intensity" and that Duration finally came to an end. Yet it seems like the ending ties more into the rise of the Boat Planet suggesting an end condition rather than a time condition.

Which perhaps makes sense then. If they did the First Voyage and thought that it was the "this is not a ship" trick that got them through, then used the "let my 'not ships' through again" on the Second Voyage, then they may have concluded that that was the correct approach. But it wasn't, so the Third Voyage failed and they had to rethink what it was that actually allowed them to pass the first time. Once they figured that out, they were better prepared and succeeded with the Fourth Voyage.

Yes, a future product that Jeff has noted. I don't have more details to share though.

Yes, and that's one reason you screen those who seek to be initiated - they have to pass the tests. Also, quests can fail. Investing your clan or community's power if there is a good probably of failure is not something to lightly undertake. If Hermione fails, and the trolls catch her and break her legs during a heroquest, that will literally "cripple" the clan in some capacity. Maybe a plague of trollkin eat the crops shortly before harvest. Or a dark blight kills the crops. Or the clan Rune magics are weak or fail when they are confronting creatures of darkness. Or everyone in the clan in struck with a Fear (darkness) passion. Lots of options, some could just be one-time, some could be lingering - the more you invest in the quest, the greater the consequences if defeated. Or the trolls may heroquest to regain the Sandals, or steal something else that the clan treasures (e.g. the sacred idol of the Earth Queen). And that's a whole new storyline.

Seems like a reasonable way to phrase it. @soltakss provided some good thoughts above. Let's take the example of the Cattle Raid from the RQ Adventures book. It's a mundane event. Cattle get lost, get taken by the Malani, and now you have to get them back. Simple story, no myth involved, no heroquest involved. It's just something you do day-to-day. Looking at these three examples, they are all simple stories where someone sets off to steal the magic item from the trolls. It's when you layer a myth onto the event that it becomes a heroquest. What does that practically mean? The myth has characters/participants. One myth that could be used is the Sandals of Darkness. Orlanth was the quester. He went into the Underworld to steal the sandals from Kyger Litor. She has guards at her chamber to ensure no one disturbs her while sleeping. That the Sandals are magical is part of the myth too. So, instead of Hermione (or whichever), setting off and sneaking into the troll caves, she gets the blessing of the clan to perform this as a quest. The clan is investing its power in Hermione, and it expects some reward out of it should she succeed. Why does the clan do so? Perhaps it's to keep trollkin from sneaking into the tula. Perhaps it is to enable the clan to raid the Malani more effectively. So they back her effort. That means she takes part in a Worship service where she is Identified with Orlanth/Vinga - she is probably dressed to specifically look like them (perhaps painted in woad so she can "be the wind"), takes on ritual objects, etc. Magic is cast, she is blessed, and she heads off in the correct "ritual direction". She is still in the mundane world - it's a this-world heroquest. For the most part, the quest to the troll caves is no different than the simple quest to steal the magic item. Except that she is ritually Orlanth/Vinga. The events/encounters that happen on the way become tied to the myth. When she arrives at the caves, if she is seen, she is seen as Orlanth/Vinga. The guards she faces are dark trolls, but they are also Gore and Gash. Sneaking past them is critical, otherwise they break her legs, and then ransom her. Stealing the Sandals is obviously critical, too, and then getting away with them. If she succeeds in the quest, as Orlanth did, she's brought back more than just the magical sandals - she's also stolen a power from the troll clan. Her clan gains a magical benefit from the deed - maybe all their cattle raiders can now learn the Dark Walk spell (maybe one-use as this is a small, this-world quest). And that's really the difference - the gain is not just the magical item, but what the magical item provides to the larger community.

Since I play both HQG and RQG, I tend to think of the opposition "level" in somewhat relative terms in relation to the PC's on the quest, e.g. Low, Moderate, High/Hard, Very High/Hard, Nearly Impossible. (While you can add more gradients, these 5 are good to illustrate how you might approach in RQG.) I start with two key points in the quest - what you might term the center point or turning point (a critical obstacle that is likely to defeat or block them) and the final climax/resolution. The centerpoint should be Nearly Impossible either because the questers aren't ready, don't have the tools, or it's critical that they fail here. Whether this is a physical barrier (the Iron Door, the Stairway to Heaven) or a particular guardian (Death, Arkat, the Black Eater, the Mother of Monsters), the opposition is at least a "mastery" higher. If the PC's are at 100%, then the opposition is 200% (effectively bumping the PC skill down to 5%); if the Humakti can buff himself up with inspiration and magic to 200%, the opposition is 300% (effectively bumping the PC skill down to 5%). The odds of the PC achieving a sufficient difference in whatever the contest is to overcome the obstacle is very low: 1% for critical/special. The final climax may be the same level, but only in certain specific directions (e.g. if you're fighting Humakt to claim the Sword Death, then Humakt, who is Death, will still be a mastery above you in Swordfighting). The difference though is that in the quest, you've gained something that allows you to potentially succeed and gain the reward (i.e. instead of being Nearly Impossible, the difficulty is Very High instead). Perhaps you now know the Song of Grief. You sing it, and must overcome Humakt's Separation from Life (perhaps you must overcome his Death Rune, which is might be 100 or 125 or 150% as he is "cold-hearted") - probably something like half a mastery, or 50% above the skill you're using. You succeed, and Humakt is overcome by Grief for the truth and reality that must be Death. He allows you to claim Death, and carry it honorably and truthfully in His name to "deliver the blow that must be dealt". From there, you can work out a scale that works for you. Moderate is likely equal to your skill - 50% chance to win/lose, more or less. With Very High at roughly half a mastery above you, that puts High somewhere in-between - so maybe the key opposition skill is 33% better than yours in whatever it is that you need to accomplish (e.g. sneak past the troll guard to get the Sandals of Darkness may mean the guard's Listen and Darksense: Search are that much better than your Hide and Move Quietly). You can figure POW in a similar manner.

Yes, I would expect so. One effect might be that a Spirit of Disease (as is "dis"-ease) might manifest somewhere within the community as the deities withdraw their protection due to their displeasure/anger. Investigating the cause/manifestation/source leads back to those who fail to comply, but it also requires a communal effort to "close the door", so to speak.

Orlanth (the storm) slays Yelm (the sun) is one of the fundamental Gloranthan myths. It explains: 1) why the Sun does not stay in the Sky; and 2) why the storm blocks sunlight. It also establishes certain symbolism that is used in other tales. You could read other meanings into it, or potentially develop allegories from it, but basically the myth defines how the world got to be the way it is.

No, myths are not meant as allegories. You could have a quest that ends up as an allegory, where the figures you encounter are symbolic representations of a moral or ethical quality (common in Arthurian literature, if I recall correctly), and you can have myths that encounter symbolic representations. Plato's Cave, for instance, is an allegory. Parables are allegories. Myths tell the story of how a culture came to be, of how the heroes of the culture overcame trials and obstacles to return with the treasures of that culture.

Yes! To all the above. I think there's a tendency to equate Heroquesting with "Superworld" where you suddenly can go to 300% broadsword so that you can fight the Dragon with the 50 point armor. This may be something of a legacy/heritage from D&D and the idea of "leveling up". Yes, there are powerful entities and terrifying obstacles in the Otherworld, if you quest there, and there are approaches towards those entities and obstacles that are "Nearly Impossible" to achieve (using the HQG term). But there are other approaches that just may work to achieve the goal - and they don't require super powers to do so, but may require use of Runes, Passions, dancing, singing, and any number of skills to achieve. She accepted the Duke of Disorder's offer to join his Feast, and eventually spotted the Harp that was playing in plain view. However, to escape the feast she had to offend the host. (If you wish to read her quest into Snakepipe Hollow, it's in Wyrms Footnotes #14 - which you can get as pdf now at the Chaosium site.) I believe that is correct. However, the Gods/Cults book will have a broad range of myths, and those should all be usable to help frame Heroquests. While the Gods book will help some in providing a broad range of gods from all the pantheons, and can read the summaries of the myths, they will probably not give you more than you have seen in other cults books. For two of the pantheons (Storm and Sun) you can can a broader range of myths (with more of the details of the stories) now: Heortling Mythology and Glorious ReAscent of Yelm (both in the Stafford Library series). Having those in hand may help provide some framework, but more important in Heroquesting is understanding the mythic cycle. There's a nice summary of that in the Jonstown Compendium work, Six Seasons in Sartar, but it's almost always derived in some way from Joseph Campbell's Hero with a 1000 Faces as well as typical fairytale motif. They usually are undefined, and there's not usually any underlying meaning to the name. They are no different in that sense from the Enchanted Wood, the Well at the World's End, Faraway, etc. Myths are not usually allegories, so the point of the name is that it is "somewhere else".

While Arcane Lore has fragments of ideas, as well as ideas for Heroquests, I never found it had enough workable components from a rules standpoint. HQG, on the other hand, I found fully usable for Heroquesting. And I ended up using its core ideas for Heroquesting when I started my RQG campaign. And really have not had to introduce any other rules into my game in order to Heroquest to this point. I just use a Ritual (successful Worship + MP sacrifice) to achieve the Crossover, but beyond that nothing special needed. (May not be much help, but its worked fine in my games so far.)

Yes, I think that's likely excessive,... unless your chieftain thinks you were a fool for committing it and bringing the clans close to a feud. Yes! Also, that it might matter what the person was doing when it happened - e.g. killing a priestess during a ritual is clearly a very bad thing. (And hope that the goddess doesn't bring down a curse as well!)

Thunder Rebels (p.42) had a list of "body fines": If the wound be not serious, there is no need for justice. If a high priestess be slain in her words, or a chieftain in his rites, a noble, a serdrodosi in her fits, a white woman, a kolating in his leaps, a juror in her pledging, or a champion by cowardice, one hundred cows be the price, or outlawry, or both; if they be maimed, then fifty cows. And ten cows to the gods in either case, and two white bulls for cleansing. If a thane be slain, or a hearthmistress, or one of the Ring, then fifty cows be the price, and five hands of seasons outlawry, or both; if he be maimed, then twice five hands of cows. And five fine cows to the gods in either case, and a pair of gelded horses for cleansing. If a carl be slain, or any godi, or the head of a bloodline, or a bride before her rites, then twenty-five cows be the price, and three hands of seasons outlawry if the act be planned; if he be maimed, then ten cows. If a cottar be slain, or a stickpicker or other beggar, then ten cows. If a guest of the stead be killed or maimed, then the price of the host. If an alynx, a bull or cow, a ram or ewe, a stallion or mare, or a boar or sow be slain, that was blessed by the gods, then a cottar’s or a carl’s price, as the casting stones say. If an alynx queen be struck down, or interfered with that she lose her kits, then two cows. There be no price for the death of a stranger, or an outlaw, or a trickster outside the bond, for there is no honor without honor, and no justice without kin.. . . .