|
FEATURE STORY
HeroQuest
revives Glorantha legacy
Creator Greg Stafford explains the evolution
of his world
By Matt Snyder
In the history of role-playing games, there have been a few
imaginative places that have truly stood the test of time.
Like aging siblings, legacy game-related settings like Greyhawk,
Tekumel, and Glorantha have become the grandfathers and great
uncles of fantasy role-playing games.
Greyhawk is, of course, the long-lasting realm in which countless
Dungeons & Dragons adventures have taken place. With the
release of the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Greyhawk
became the "default" setting, and it has been recast
and rekindled as a fan favorite.
Tekumel, that baroque, bizarre realm world imagined in games
and writings by M.A.R. Barker, persists in an online site
(www.tekumel.com) and
in the hearts and minds of dedicated fans and collectors.
And, Guardians of Order promises a new Tekumel role-playing
game in December 2003.
And then there is Glorantha. It is the creation of Greg Stafford,
a living legend of the role-playing game community. Glorantha
began, in the public eye, with the relase of the board game
White Bear, Red Moon in 1975. Stafford explains Glorantha
existed well before that in his writings and imagination.
After another board game called Nomad Gods, Glorantha became
the setting for fantasy role-playing game RuneQuest. RuneQuest
was a very popular game for a young hobby. The game developed
a fan base that continues to play the game today, despite
the fact that the 3rd edition of the game was published in
in 1985.
In 1998, Stafford split from Chaosium, with whom he published
RuneQuest and other remakable games like Pendragon and Prince
Valiant, as well as working on classics like Call of Cthulhu
and Thieves World. He formed Issaries, Inc., and put together
the publication of a new game set in Glorantha called Hero
Wars.
Hero Wars experienced problems in production, and the product
was difficult to read and use. However, it contained an innovative
system, designed by Robin Laws, that broadened the scope and
story of Glorantha. The game developed a dedicated following
of fans, and it changed the way players interacted with Glorantha,
urging more mythic stories and heroic struggles.
HeroQuest is an outstanding game. It employs a single, simple
mechanic to model conflicts of all kinds. The system scales
beautifully, allowing conflicts among everything from peasants
to demigods. The game emphasizes the value of community and
relationships more so than the might of a solitary hero as
other fantasy games so often do. Characters can overcome challenges
using their personal relationships in exactly the same way
as they would use their own ability with a sword. This emphasis
on community and truly makes the game and its well-developed
world shine. The result is a game system that practically
begs players to craft powerful, meaningful myths on their
own.
In short, HeroQuest is a milemarker for role-playing games.
Greg Stafford and company have, at long last, achieved a great
accomplishment with the game. It is one that will hopefully
encourage years of enjoyment among gamers and one that inspires
future designs to live up to its legacy.
Glorantha realized
Greg Stafford agreed to answer some questions from Daedalus
to shed some light on the creation myth of Glorantha and HeroQuest.
Q:
I understand HeroQuest is, for you, the ultimate realization
of Glorantha?
A: Perhaps not the "ultimate,"
but certainly the best to date.
Q: Can
you explain what about this specific game really makes it
all "come home" for you?
A: I've been writing
about Glorantha since 1966. I've been making games set
there since 1975. I've made or helped to make two board
games, two roleplaying games and a computer game set here.
During that time it has always been a growing thing, and each
game has helped to clarify Glorantha for me. That is, it's
an ongoing process where I learn something new about the word
and attmept to put it into shape as a game.
Then the game provokes all kinds of comments from other people
that in turn cause me to consider, reconsider and discover
new things. Thus, this game is the culmination of 28 years
of creativity. It has been fun, but also hard work. I spent
almost a whole year doing little else but write HeroQuest,
but as a result I feel it really does bring it home this time.
I feel like HeroQuest captures the vison, the color and the
excitement of Glorantha in a form that is the most accessible
yet. Robin Laws created a slick and dynamic system that makes
storytelling more important than rules lawyering, so Glorantha
is now quite accessible.
Q: Has
Glorantha changed in its latest iteration? How so?
A: Glorantha has always been
changing. However, I don't feel that is has changed radically.
With each game I've just added more detail and interesting
depth.
But, this time some changes feel larger than others. For
instance, this is the first time that I've had the clarity
of vison to definitely state that the three Otherworlds of
magic are absolutely separate from each other, except where
they overlap in the human world. But the lands and peoples
have remained essentially the same from the first game, the
gods and goddesses are the same and so on.
Q: Where
is Glorantha going from here?
A: To the End of the World.
I have always had a perception that I wanted to create the
world, show how it worked, crank it up and then send the machine
towards it logical end, which is the self destruction that
precedes a new creation. HeroQuest is the game for it. It
shows how the world is, sets the mechanics to make it work
and also provides the tools to break it. So Glorantha is going
to end.
Reaching out
Q: Who
is the primary target audience of this game? Is it existing
Glorantha fans, or do you aim to capture new fans? What is
Issaries marketing target, and how does the game strive to
that goal?
A: This is aimed at new comers.
I am really happy that I've finally managed to make the
depth and compexity of Glorantha into a feature instead of
a bug. This game is designed from the ground up to be accessible
to newbies. It always bugged me no end that people were intimidated
by the game and the world. So this time I wrote it so that
everything needed to play was concise and simple and made
it clear that playing the game would reveal other things,
but all you need to start is right there.
So, a new player really has to read two pages to make a new
character. Since the game is based on verbal storytelling
with a very simple rule system it's easy to get into
without reading a hundred pages of complex rules.
Q: How
well do you think HeroQuest serves people new to Glorantha?
A: Very well. It has a simple
rule system and is written to start small and go larger if
you wish. It stresses "This is all you need to know."
The new comers I have communicated with have found it to be
so.
Q: Do
you think the dizzying amount of material and even things
like potentially confusing game titles are an obstacle for
them?
A: No, not if they actually look at what is there. Think
of it this way. Does a couple of million books about World
War II make it harder for someone to learn to play their first
war game? Not if the game is simple! Same for Glorantha. Ignore
whatever you don't know, take what is there and play.
Q: What
can you suggest to these people as the best way to "getting
into" the game?
A: Start small. Not even
the Narrator has to know everything about the world. No one
has to know all the gods, cults and magical spells. Just use
what you need. And the narrator needs to always remember the
two main principles of the game:
YGWV: Your Glorantha Will Vary. Even I don't
know everything, so be confident that whatever you want to
make up is OK; and
MGF: Maximum Game Fun. If there is a conflict betwseen
a "known fact" and fun, then go for the fun!
By the way, neither of these abbreviations were made up by
me. I got them off the lists.
Q: What
about people who've loved Glorantha for years--how
does the game serve them? Do they lose anything in this edition?
A: I don't think so.
Most of the comments that I have heard in person or read on
the lists are extremely positive. Most of them express satisfaction
that so many of their previous questions have been answered.
The only thing lost is a lot of dizzying detail for such odious
things as hours-long hand-to-hand combat and limitless spell
lists. But now we have a good presentation of what HeroQuesting
is and how it works. People can take their characters into
the worlds of the gods and spirits now, and participate in
the great myths.
Issaries' stance on third-party
publishing
Q: I
recently read a post describing the HeroQuest rules as "narrative
GURPS," meaning that it is a fantastic rules set for
creating stories of many kinds, Glorantha or otherwise.
A: Thank you. We feel the
same.
Q:
So, I'm interested in hearing what Issaries stance is on development
of supplemental materials for HeroQuest. I see two prongs
here: Gloranthan support materials (clearly, there's already
a thriving Glorantha fan following) and non-Gloranthan materials.
Can you explain your company's position on people creating
supplemental material and/or conversions of the HeroQuest
engine for other settings? Does Issaries support this? What
about for-profit materials? Have you considered any kind of
program or licensure for such development?
A: As for Glorantha, we have
a program underway to update known material and also, more
excitingly, to publish a lot of new material about the unpublished
regions of Glorantha. We are going to concentrate on expanding
knowledge of the Lunar Empire first, but we are also preparing
supplements for other regions of the world.
Fans have the liberty to do what they wish with their own
games of course, and we support their publications as long
as they are not for profit. We don't especially feel
obligated to agree with fan publications, of course, but then,
YGWV. That said, we often draw official material from the
fan material. We urge anyone with a finished manuscript to
submit it to us first.
As for non-Gloranthan materials, we have some items in the
long-term works that will take the game system and expand
it to other settings. I think it's counter productive
to talk about them in detail at this date. I have just too
much experience of letting a single sentence slip out and
then be plagued by people for years who want to see it and
are so often disappointed when I haven't lived up to
their desires. We are a small company and have a plan for
the next couple of years to make sure that Glorantha is properly
supported. Then we will see about the next stage.
As for licensing the system to someone else, we would be
more than happy to entertain any offers. But we are a professional
company, and we expect to work with professionals. But, I
want to repeat: If someone has an idea or a new setting, contact
us first!
We have no interest in doing an open license thing, either.
And on that subject, let me say here that we have no plans
to use the d20 license for Glorantha. Glorantha is bigger
than d20. I would, frankly, licence it for the right amount,
paid up front. But the number is such that I doubt anyone
would want to pay it.
Creating by collaboration
Q: Glorantha
is your creation, an yet it is obviously a world made by a
number of people. Was there a point at which you had to "let
go" and let others color the world and its myths, regardless
of what they did fit some nascent vision you once held? How
have you approached that over the years, and how has it shaped
your own view of a world you created?
A: It has been a struggle.
Obviously I have and have had a lot invested in Glorantha,
and I used to be horribly possessive about it. I regret my
attitude from years ago where I turned off some very creative
individuals and forfeited their contributions. But part of
the appeal of Glorantha has always been its internal consistancy,
and I don't regret holding that vision.
One of the virtues of HeroQuest is that it really does set
the frame, the macro-structure, to such an extent that I am
confident people will be able to work within it without me
peering over their shoulders.
That said, it was only within the last decade that I rally
began to loosen up. My attitude used to be that everything
had to match my preconceptions, and if I didn't have
preconceptions then I'd spend time working those out,
often to the detrtiment of potential contributors. It was
as if, "If it isn't mine, it doesn't work."
There have always been exceptions, of course. Sandy Petersen
was one person in particular who could perfectly anticipate
my own vision. But I have changed that old attitude. I have
always wanted Glorantha it to be a group effort, and so now
I have converted to the practice that, "if it isn't
wrong, it is ok."
From Hero Wars to HeroQuest
Q: How
did the rules system emerge? That is, how did you work with
Robin Laws to create this system for Hero Wars, and what input
did you have on the design? I'm interested in the thought
process and the objectives for creating this rules system
as seen in Hero Wars and now HeroQuest.
A: I struggled for years
with HeroQuest. I wrote hundreds of pages, dozens of rules
and systems to try to make it work. I never could. Fianally
I decided to try to find someone else to help out. Rob Heinsoo
told me one day that Robin Laws was a Glorantha fan and I
went right to him to ask for his input. I had admired Robin's
skill for some time, but didn't know he was a Glorantha
fan. If I had I probably would have asked him to collaborate
earlier. I was ecstatic when he agreed to do it.
We spent a lot of time in conversation and email with me
outlining and detailing my ideas and needs, and with Robin
asking his own questions, pumping me for details. He was astute
in his questions, even bringing me to clarify things that
I'd not considered. And he was absolutely sensitive to
my desires. As a result he came out with a system that worked.
He even did things that I insisted on that he didn't
really want, like the edges and handicaps.
He submitted his manuscript on time. We tweaked the system
a bit. For instance, Shannon Applecline convinced me that
the numbers in the original resolution system were backward,
and so we reversed them. But most of the system remained intact.
Then I began to fill in the details, ran out of money and
published the then-current result as the incomplete game called
Hero Wars.
Q: Incomplete?
Care to explain what you mean by that?
A: Sure. I'd been publishing
games for decades as Chaosium, but we owners and debtors broke
the company up in 1999 or so. I got what I had begun with:
Glorantha and its products.
But I needed money to finish the game and publish it, so
I asked the fans if they could help out to make the new game.
They responded generously and I exceeded my mark of $50,000.
Well, that seems like a lot of money but it was really just
a tad compared to what we needed.
It wasn't enough, so I reached the point where I had
just enough money left to print the game up. I had a choice
of either publishing it as it was or never dong it at all.
Since I'd made a promise to the contributors to release
a game I printed Hero Wars. I was never happy with the result.
It was unprofessional, full of typos and misspellings. I always
thought it was an embarassment, and that my world and Robin's
game system deserved better.
If I had had the assistance of my loyal sidekick Stephen
Martin at that time it would have been much better, but he
was busy having a baby and tending to his wife. Nonetheless,
the established fans took to it, and it sold out. So, we could
gather enough new funds in and work some more, then print
the finished version that is HeroQuest.
Q: What
about in HeroQuest--what roles did you and Robin (and
others?) play in terms of game system for this new iteration
of the game?
A: The biggest changes are
in the presentation. HeroQuest makes it accessible, presented
in digestible bites instead of a massive feast.
If there are faults, I take most of the blame for them. Robin
had met his obligations and didn't do much for the new
version, for HeroQuest. His contribution was and is the graceful
game system and for asking the questions that brought out
the details in Glorantha.
For the second version I'd been playing it for some
time, and I had decided to take some of the confusing game
system parts out, like edges and handicaps that I had originally
insisted on. As I said, Robin had put them in at my insistance,
but they were bad rules, just gumming up a sleek system. So
now they are supplemental or optional rules.
Other people also helpd to improve and finish the system
and details. I am especially indebted to Stephen Martin, Mark
Galeotti and Roderick Robertson who filled in spell and feat
lists and so on. I also owe a huge debt to Jonathan Geere
who oversaw the manuscript at a critical juncture and both
made suggestions and filled in some details. And there is
a host of others, whose credits are in the game. If I listed
them all it would fill up a page.
Q: What
do you see as the most significant changes in HeroQuest versus
Hero Wars in terms of system?
A: The most significent changes are not really to the system
at all, but to the way they are presented. The biggest change
is that now the rules insist that people tell the narrator
what they want to do, then the numbers are figured out. In
Hero Wars the numbers came first, but that was awfuly clumsy
and got in the way of the story. I owe that insight to my
friend Fergie who used to play in my game and say, "Look,
Greg, I don't care about the numbers. I just want to
jump on his head and push my spear through its eyes."
Personal myths
Q: How
much of you is in this game? How much of your own philosophies
have colored both Glorantha as a fantastic place, and HeroQuest
as a workable game?
A: I have been working on Glorantha for more than half my
life, so of course it has a lot of me in it. It is my primary
artistic expression. I love mythology, both as a subject of
study and a personal practice, and so of course that is expressed
in this game. But I don't try to use it as a propaganda
tool for either politics or religion.
Q: Are you making a statement with HeroQuest, and if so can
you explain that?
A: If I am making a statement it is that we are still beings
with a mythological part deep within us. The modern Western
world pretends that it fosters a superior way of thinking.
It insists on a scientific, rational perspecive and has dismissed
spirituality and consciousness as being just superstition
and primitive nonsense. This is of course bunk. I certainly
believe in science and rationality, but don't believe
that they hold the secrets of meaning that so many people
seek. Except for health, science hasn't made people happier.
Sure, it has given us computers, let us fly around the world
and talk with each other on the internet. Big deal. Science
hasn't done much to let people learn more about each
other, to find love, or to remove the barriers of fear, jealousy,
and prejudice. Those are things that live within us all, and
it is mythology and spirituality that can change us inside.
Of course, I am not promoting irrationality of blind belief,
either. We must struggle to live with our need for both rationality
and irrationality.
Q: Do
you have any hope that what you're "saying" with
this game will have an effect on people who buy and play the
game?
A: I don't really hope
that the game will change people. That isn't part of
my program. I want to provide this game to have fun. I do
believe that it provokes and feeds, in a positive way, the
mythological selves that we all have. I also feel that feeding
those parts of ourselves is a good thing. But the game isn't
going to solve the terrors of life, fill someone with love,
or help them find the right mate. It doesn't teach magic.
It just feeds our spirit.
Q: HeroQuest
has a three-pronged approach to magic, and each is defined
by worship or deification, even the type of magic labeled
wizardry. While this may be more fitting considering the historical
nature of magic and myth in actual cultures, it is contrary
to the "secular" magic found so commonly in RPGs.
Can you explain this a bit, and comment on why you've included
no "secular magic?" Do you see it in any way as
a "correction" for a hobby trend that demystified
the nature of magic, ritual and worship in human history?
A: Of course, it isn't
the hobby that has secularized the idea of magic. Everything
in our Western way of life has done that and the majority
of game designers don't have real experience with magic,
so they just mimic the "common knowledge" and treat
magic as if it was another technology. But it isn't.
Magic comes from the place where poetry and psychology meet,
which is in our souls. I don't try to proselityze with
my games, but I do try to provide soul food, in the form of
fun, creativity and group communication. So I guess you could
say this is a sort of "correction" for the erroneous
methodologies that are promoted in other games and in our
culture at large.
Teacher's pet
Q: For
you, and perhaps your own group, are there any particular
regions or myths that you've found special affection
for using the new game?
A: I have always had affection
for the stormy mythologies, but this is just a reflection
of my own tumultous spirit. That is, I think, the source of
my long-standing development of the Heortlings, the Orlanth-worshipping
people of Dragon Pass. At the same time I have developed a
deep understanding for the reflective values that manage to
reconcile the contradictions of life This has come about more
recently, hence the development of the multi-faceted Lunar
Empire. Nonetheless, all of the aspects of Glorantha are a
part of my love of mythology in its many, many masks. I have
deep attachments to all of it. If I had enough time I would
eventually develop the subtleties, strengths and weaknessess
of the rest of Glorantha as well. As it is, I am extremely
happy to have the assistance of so many others who have had
their own imaginations and creativity provoked to contribute
to the world. I am happy to have such a team of people helping
out. I am happy to have fed so many minds and spirits, and
look forward to this continuing. •
|
