[HeroQuest 2] New GM Advice...
Grognard:
Hello everyone,
I will be using Law's HeroQuest 2 game to introduce a D&D4E group to something a bit more abstract and lighter on rules. I want to keep things relatively close feeling wise to D&D so I'm using a Pathfinder adventure Path for this. I picked up the Ye Old book but it left a lot to be desired.
I've read through a few posts here about HQ2 and really liked what I saw. Anyone have any thoughts or advice on running a HQ2 game in the vein of D&D? And anyone have any advice for a first time HQ2 GM? Any pitfalls, traps, or rules to be especially careful about?
Thanks.
Chris_Chinn:
Hi,
I've played a bit of Hero Wars and Heroquest 1, so I'll point out the things that apply to HQ2, as well.
Player-defined Traits
This is a pretty big jump for folks coming from games with pre-defined attributes, skills, etc. You're going to want to sit down as a group and talk about what fits and what doesn't fit as traits.
There's a chance someone will put down, "Be Awesome At Everything", and you'll have to explain why that's not going to work. (pg. 52 in HQ2, under "Stretches" is a good place to point to).
Putting that aside, the next one to worry about is when players put down a trait that is vague or can be interpreted multiple ways. "What's 'Connected'? Do you mean connected with the nobility and ruling class? Connected with criminals? Having a lot of family or guild contacts around the world? What?"
Have a discussion, ask questions. "Tell me how you'd use this ability, as an example" is a good way to go. You may have this come up a few times after you start playing, but doing this early on teaches the group that this is a negotiation, not a shut down, but also that they're expected to be responsible in communicating as well.
Also let players know that defining their abilities the same way D&D did is just fine- "I've got Monk 17" - that a keyword. Players can take abilities named after Feats and Class Abilities - "I've got Flurry at 16 and Power Attack at 2W" etc.
Describe what you do
Getting the players to remember to describe, what they're doing and how they're doing it during a contest is useful. Remind them that it makes the difference between getting negative and positive modifiers. "Situational Modifiers" on pg. 53 is a small paragraph, but a huge one in terms of how you should be using it.
Always give explanations of why something is or isn't working and give them the option of changing their mind, "That's going to give you a big penalty? Are you sure that's how you want to do it?".
If you don't get this habit going, what happens is players solely focus on the stats of the abilities, and they end up falling into using the same 3-4 abilities over and over, rather than branching out to a variety of abilities. This is the HQ equivalent of "I roll to hit. I miss. He doesn't get through my AC. I attack. I hit. 3 damage. Yawn."
Story logic
For the Herowars/HeroQuest games, it's pretty important to point out how much the logic of stories affects the rules. Stuff like having a relationship at a rating seems weird until you point out that it gives Augments and such just like when a character in a movie has a flashback to a friend or loved one, grits their teeth and says, "This time, it matters!" and puts in their all.
This is also going to be a crucial thing to cover with regards to resolution points- the box on pg. 36 with "What Scores Represents" will be useful to go over.
Also, unlike D&D, it's not like the players need to "level up" to meet certain monsters- you should omit or skip repetitious battles - "You go down the hall, and it's MORE skeletons" is boring - get straight to the interesting and fun encounters, and be sure to play up advantages for doing stunts and using the environment- pushing foes into bonfires, pulling curtains over their heads, etc.
Chris
Grognard:
Thanks for the tips, Chris.
I had the same thought about the vagaries of abilities so I'm starting by just "converting" their characters over to HQ2 for them. I'm also going to give them 2-3 abilities they can write down during play so they feel a bit of ownership instead of me just handing them characters.
I think the biggest hurdle for them will be the description. I tried before to introduce a Exalted style stunt mechanic where they got a bonus for describing their action but it just didn't take. One guy used the hell out of it but none of the others bothered with it. I'm thinking a more pared down declaration, say just goal, tactics, ability and augment will be a good start. For example: "I want kill the kobold by crushing him with my Giant Sword (augment) and my Fighter keyword." I'm not expecting miracles our first time out. I know a few of them will get into the spirit a bit more quickly than others and narrate a bit more than they should, but it'll be fun.
As for description, I'm working on that one the most. We're going to have maps and minis for fights (20+ year D&D vets who love them some minis), so the positional stuff should be covered, but I want to play up narrating the RPs as much as possible. I'm more of an improv style GM and a bit of an English major type, so hopefully it won't be too bad from my end.
I do have another question, for you or anyone else. I really like the way exchanges are set up, in extended contests the PCs square off against a target and go at it, with the PCs declaring their goal/tactics, we roll, and I narrate the outcome... but, other than when the PCs lose an exchange, when can the opponents be proactive? I want to do stuff like taking a hostage or whatever during an extended contest, but it looks like the only time I could is when the PCs lose an exchange. Yes, asymmetrical exchanges, but if the PC wins that exchange, the opponent doesn't get what they want. Anyone else spot this issue, or am I missing something?
Chris_Chinn:
Hi,
Well, the book describes Extended contest rounds as a series of Simple Contests - and that Simple Contests can be "defensive in nature" - preventing an action, such as hostage taking. HQ2 is pretty loose with it, so I'm guessing the assumption is that sometimes the GM will make the enemies proactive as part of framing the scene. Given that this is loose and fudgey, it might feel like cheating to some players.
On the bigger picture:
Quote
I think the biggest hurdle for them will be the description. I tried before to introduce a Exalted style stunt mechanic where they got a bonus for describing their action but it just didn't take
Is the group, as a whole, actually excited and interested in playing HQ2? Because if they're not really, then maybe this isn't the game to run with them. If they are, they should be putting in some effort towards the game, and description is pretty much a core part of it, as much as tracking Feats and AoO's are part of D&D 3.X systems.
A good system is like a good flavor of ice cream - it's great for the people who want that flavor/type of game, and for everyone else, it doesn't matter how good it is- it's just not what they're into, no matter how much they try it.
Chris
Grognard:
The group has been playing D&D4E for a year-and-a-half and most of us are becoming dissatisfied with the system for various reasons. One guy doesn't like how fiddly the combat system is and wants something looser, another player is young and new to gaming so she want to befriend the monsters at times, another is bored with our sessions being pure combat all night and only getting 10 minutes of non-combat every 3rd session or so, and another is nostalgic for 5 minute character creation and an entire character on an index card... there's more to it than that, of course, but those are the broad strokes.
They're not excited about HQ2 per se, more that we're growing dissatisfied with D&D. We're more casual so not everyone is going to read the rules before we play, we're a trusting group, so if someone wants to try something, it's a go for it kinda vibe. I think HQ2 will cure most/all of these complaints with D&D.
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