Post originally by Captain Spaulding at 2003-10-20 02:31:47
Converted from Phorums BB System

Nice essay, Scripty!

Yeah, HeroQuest does facilitate several things particularly well:

1. Relationship-heavy games, where the PCs' connections to the communities and individuals around them are important. As Scripty says, this can mean that the stereotypical rootless wanderer-type adventurers can work out less well. But it's worth considering that relationships in HQ can track things like contacts, people you do work for, how well-disposed local temples feel about you, etc. There are still plenty of relationships that these type of people can have so you can exploit this aspect of the game.

I'm preparing a short HQ game set in the Forgotten Realms for a friend who *really* wants to play a game there. I've refused to use D&D - there's nothing *wrong* with playing D&D, it's just not to my taste. He's not roleplayed for some years, and it's interesting to see what he's baulked at in HQ:

* He doesn't like the idea of followers at all. "Surely only very powerful characters should have followers".
* He's a bit flummoxed by not counting every gold piece.
* His character idea is an orphaned rootless wanderer, even though I tried to encourage him to, y'know, have a family and stuff.

We haven't started play yet, but it'll be interesting to see how he takes to things as play goes on (I'm not sure how he'll react if I tell him the game doesn't have an actual combat chapter). Particularly in light of:


2. HeroQuest is great at encouraging "non-standard" solutions.
Rather than just having to hit the monster, you can find other ways around it and use abilities in creative ways. This is what really makes me like HQ. It makes a wider variety of characters interesting and effective in play.