Sun County (RQ) with HeroQuest Glorantha rules

[David Scott]

4 minutes ago, Aprewett said:

But what I think the HQ version of Glorantha needs is a better char gen for total novices to the setting.

My new Gloranthan players had no real problem choosing stuff. We streamlined the HQG system from HeroQuest2 and the Sartar & Pavis books - cutting down on points to allocate for example. If you are running a Sun Dome game with templars, you are automatically limiting the generation even further.

Using the as-you-go on page HQG p34

1. Choose your distinguishing characteristic. Your occupation is Warrior (Heavy Infantry).

2. Cultural Keyword is Sun Domer 13

3. Choose a community from one on the Sun County Map in the RQ book or from the location of militia units on SC p43 that's set at 13

4. Occupational Keyword is Warrior (Heavy Infantry) 17

5. Three runes Fire 1M, Truth and choose one. Last two choose 17 or 13.

6. Add your distinguishing characteristic as an ability. It starts at 17 (unless it is a breakout from another keyword).

7. Choose your name

8. Pick a geas from either Pavis GtA or roll it from Sun County

------- I  Stop here and start the game -------

8. Pick 5 breakouts or abilities

9. Spend up to 12 additional points on keywords, Runes, additional abilities, or supporting characters. Keep track of any unspent points. You cannot spend more than 10 points on any one ability.

10. Describe up to 3 flaws. One can be a distinguishing characteristic if you want.

------

So, the seven steps I use would mean that you just need choose a community, choose 1 rune and decide is it 13 or 17, a distinguishing characteristic and your name (possibly pick a geas, but I'd let them roll).

All the other stuff can be done in game. This is the basic model I use when running HQG with new players. It's the model I use with the Praxian playtest (except they get to pick 5 charms)

 

[Yelm's Light]

I was never a fan of the as-you-go generation anyway.  It rewards players for having no idea for their character.

[Oracle]

7 hours ago, Yelm's Light said:

I was never a fan of the as-you-go generation anyway.  It rewards players for having no idea for their character.

But that is exactly, what happens, if you have players new to the game system and/or especially Glorantha. So I have no issue in making it easy for them. I still can put the screws on them, if they are more experienced ...

[David Scott]

19 hours ago, Yelm's Light said:

It rewards players for having no idea for their character.

I've run a gaming club for the last 30 years. We still play a large range of games old and new with on average three different game s running at a time. Players join games based on the interest that they have in that particular game. Rarely do new players have any idea of what they want for their character (as they don't own the rules). An an as you go system is ideal to ease them into a system rather than making choices they don't understand. I've just had the same experience myself in playing Iron Kingdoms - no idea of the system so I'm forced to make character choices I don't understand. Likewise I'm playing in a game of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play - never played it before and have no idea of how it works. Template systems, play as you go systems and even pre-gens are great for newcomers. Experienced players can be treated differently if needed. I'd never penalise a player who didn't know what kind of character they wanted to play.

Edited February 19, 2018 by David Scott

[JonL]

15 hours ago, Yelm's Light said:

I was never a fan of the as-you-go generation anyway.  It rewards players for having no idea for their character.

It's a big help for players unfamilliar with a given setting and how their players fit within it. 

[Yelm's Light]

5 hours ago, David Scott said:

I've run a gaming club for the last 30 years. We still play a large range of games old and new with on average three different game s running at a time. Players join games based on the interest that they have in that particular game. Rarely do new players have any idea of what they want for their character (as they don't own the rules). An an as you go system is ideal to ease them into a system rather than making choices they don't understand. I've just had the same experience myself in playing Iron Kingdoms - no idea of the system so I'm forced to make character choices I don't understand. Likewise I'm playing in a game of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play - never played it before and have no idea of how it works. Template systems, play as you go systems and even pre-gens are great for newcomers. Experienced players can be treated differently if needed. I'd never penalise a play who didn't know what kind of character they wanted to play.

What you end up with are characters that are situation-based.  Need to make that persuasion test?  Oop, new ability.  We need someone who speaks <insert language here>.  New ability.

And then there's that ludicrous origami-folding character from HQ1.

[David Scott]

54 minutes ago, Yelm's Light said:

What you end up with are characters that are situation-based.  Need to make that persuasion test?  Oop, new ability.  We need someone who speaks <insert language here>.  New ability.

That's certainly not my experience of playing or players. May happen occasionally but usually players avoid doing that for exactly the reason you specify.

1 hour ago, Yelm's Light said:

And then there's that ludicrous origami-folding character from HQ1.

We had a player who did cat's cradle spirit magic based on that idea. Worked really well. They were An excellent example of YGMV, fitted in well with the guidelines in the rules too:

Quote

As narrator, your job is to entertain and be entertained. You will find yourself in many situations where your story will be interesting precisely because someone breaks the rules, like Aeolians using veneration to worship gods; or because something exists that “should not be,” like an origami-folding woman riding a shell deer,

I've also had quite a few players who never spend their remaining points and abilities, or only finally do so after 2 or 3 years of playing. 

[g33k]

3 hours ago, Yelm's Light said:

What you end up with are characters that are situation-based.  Need to make that persuasion test?  Oop, new ability.  We need someone who speaks <insert language here>.  New ability.

I recall playing with players who would do that... but it has been decades since I have done so!

The closest I've seen recently is someone who would do such a situational/convenience ability-spend, but only for something they expected would be a sound long-term character-development choice, NOT something that would result in a PC made up of a patchwork of seldom-use abilities.

To an extent, I'd rely on the GM to Do This Right.  Not throw in a key encounter that involves a language-barrier unless having a language-barrier is important to the encounter, and THEN require the PC to not spend their Ability on "I trump the encounter with my shiny new Ability".

YGMV

[Yelm's Light]

Heh it's been decades since I GM'ed a newbie.  Benefits of being in a big city...the hobby store I went to had a group of about 30 RP'ing regulars, many of which could be roped into a campaign if they liked the game.  Also, odds were good that someone would take on the hot new RPG as a pet project and run a game for the rest of us.  I ran most of the BRP games (except for Ringworld; I couldn't drum up enough interest in it), RQ, and Champions.  The latter two turned into long campaigns, but none of the others did except for CoC, which somebody else ran.

There was a large complement of RP'ers in SCA that might be open for a game, too, a few of whom were regulars at the hobby store (how I got involved in SCA in the first place).

With a half-dozen experienced RP'ers and GM around them, I wouldn't think there'd be much difficulty in guiding newbs.  (Besides, none of my games started 'cold;' there was always a background session to kick off the game, so that people had some idea of what they were doing, the setting, etc.)

[JonL]

On 2/19/2018 at 9:07 PM, Yelm's Light said:

With a half-dozen experienced RP'ers and GM around them, I wouldn't think there'd be much difficulty in guiding newbs.  (Besides, none of my games started 'cold;' there was always a background session to kick off the game, so that people had some idea of what they were doing, the setting, etc.)

I can see where the approach is less of a good fit for that use case. I'm glad to have it in the toolbox when it does make sense though.

I once ran a session at a con where, thanks to a terse description on a scheduling whiteboard, half of the players thought they had signed-up to play the Milton Bradley game, among which two had never played a tabletop RPG before. 

I handed them what I call "half-baked" characters - basically unfinished pregens. They have an essential concept and enough meat on their bones to start playing, but with some room for the players to customize and develop to their liking once they get their feet wet. Having fewer things on the sheet to take-in at first also helps a newcomer absorb what's there. 

I keep meaning to share the half-bakes on the Cult-of-Chaos forum, but they're all just hand-written at present. I've got two Gloranthan sets (one for Dragon Pass, one for Pavis) and a set of super-heroes. Each group contains some characters with personal/familial/professional connections to others in the party, which also helps an ad-hoc player group at a con or demo game gel.