The plot is great, it's been going for 20 years and is internally consistent over that whole period. Which means you do meet people both players and NPC's who lend a weight of real history to every event.

The system itself appeals to be greatly.  With the current fashion in LRP for low-hits, simple combat systems I enjoy HQ because it is exactly the opposite. When fights can last upwards of 2 hours during Heroquests and other high level events you get a great sense of Epic battles that I've just never found with 3 global hits or 1 hit per location.  The game is high fantasy designed around Heros doing heroic stuff which means lots of big gnarly powers. However you don't have to worry too much about needing to work it out on the fly, that's what the player-ref is for (you need to keep a general idea mid-fight but battleboards resolve everything in the end).  Yes there is the ever present danger of power-gamers in any system so complicated (but come-one character "optimisation" is a guilty pleasure for most people harking back to the D&D days) however the system has checks and balances against that.  No-one is immune to everything no matter how hard they get, and most have a common weakness that can be exploited but the main limitation really is - no PVP!.  It's a team game where a group of heros chop up bad-guys and save the world on a semi-regular basis and it's a blast doing it.  If you have some mates with great spell or skill combinations it just gives you a better chance against the enemies arrayed against you.

I've played, monsterd and reffered HQ for 16 years now (yikes!) and will continue to do so as much as I possibly can (although life, work and the wife are starting to get in the way!) as it was my introduction to LRP and still one of the best ways I know to spend a weekend away (or a week!).

If you've never tried it I'd recommend it to anyone

Cheers

Shaun

i.e. -

An Elven Warrior might want to join the Crusaders (a warrior guild) to learn some fancy sword attacks (disarm and stun) which will also let him learn armour masteries making him physically tougher.  He then might choose to join the "Grey School of Magic" which teaches metal based combat magic which lets him enhance his physical skills (Strength, stronger blows) and also allow him to cast a high level spell making him immune to lower level spells. 

So you end up with a warrior very good against physical and magical beasties.  However if a creature based on Power (Gribbly Undead are the classic example) happens to catch him the dark he'll be in trouble and he has no specific offensive or defensive capability against power.

Basically it's all down to how you spend a) your points (earnt off each adventure) and b) your status (a measure of your social standing in the towers used to learn spells and skillsm limited to the guilds you join).  As no-one has unlimited amounts of anything there will always be some area that a character hasn't developed into very far.  Couple this with the vast array of spells, invocations and skills mean that you can usually find something in the bag to sort anyone out if you need to.  There are also some restrictions (although not many) on the guild combinations you can join.  You are not allowed (for example) to join both the Druids sect and the Necromancers sect, nor are you allowed to simultaneously be a Raving Barbarian warrior who happens to spend time contemplating inner mysteries in the Monastary.

In terms of "Monsters" or NPCs (which often do not use the standard player rules for simplicities sake, although major NPCs are often pointed up as characters of the appropriate level to check the reasonableness of their skill selections) the referee responsible for the event will usually sit down with SFB to go through the his or her plans and at that point anything unreasonable will usually get resolved before it rampages through the party murdering them all out of hand.  Of course it might not seem like that on a cold wet field when you are trying to work out what you havn't tried but I can safely say that I have never met anything on a Heroquest event that was immune to everything.

Just in case that didn't cover it.  In terms of the no PvP aspect of the game that is handled IC by the fact that every player is from the Valley and it's against the Law, any transgressions punished appropriately and OOC by convention and mutual agreement (and by SFB telling you to play nice!).  It works within the setting again because it is all about Heros and Heros don't stab their mates in the back, might not suit everyone but what does?

Shaun.

There are many reasons for this and here are just a few -

The longer a character stays alive the more history and richer background they develop.

If players know their character will have longevity they will put more effort into a decent costume.

The adventures we run are hard, the monsters are dangerous and plentiful and the plots involved often with twists. The players are hard put to complete and survive these as a team, if they had to worry about being stabbed in the back by fellow adventurers.

Its just too easy to kill other players and whilst some people might enjoy this the person who is killed most often doesn't. If you get your kicks out of killing other peoples characters and ruining their fun then dont come to Heroquest.

All booty treasure etc that comes of events is shared fairly between all players. Plus everyone gets money which they can use to buy items.

The Heroquest website was designed by the players for the players. It is not currently a marketing tool and new players to HQ sometimes are put of by the 1000 pages of information, rules, campaign etc that are there. We will changing this soon to easily enable non heroquesters to see what it is we do and we people have been coming back for over 20 years.

Hope that answers your question

Mark Roberts (SFB)

http://www.heroquest-larp.co.uk/index.htm

I've been part of Heroquest for 6 years now!

I play and crew events and really enjoy myself! I've played other systems and after the long battles and moshes of the HQ fights - I feel left wanting more in the lower hit systems.

Its taken me a while to grasp the rules ( though I am no rules wiz) but the refs and other players are really helpful. The events are full of intrigue, plot and have 20+ years of history which is a fantastic resource. As the adventerours go out they write up tales of thier journeys and they are kept inn a library - so if a faction of a legion arrive and talk to you - you are able to research into it further and find out snipets of information for your characterto arm themselves with for the next event.

I enjoy the fact that you are 'time in' from Friday evening with only short break for battle boards ( also gives the monsters chance to get set up for the next encounter!) the adventure leads on into the night where the darkness hides your enemies ( and I often sit with the little red mage on guard duty getting worked up about the noises in the wood). The role playing is of a high standard with all players and monsters - they are fully briefed when monstering to make sure the monsters know what theyre doing it also give opportunity for the monster to put their own twist on the NPC and makes it more real.

I'm also signed up for the Herofest - looking at setting up a Dymwan faction ( naughty Necromancers muhaha) so I'm looking for people who like to be a little bit evil and like having an air of mystery about their characters.

If you want info PM me or email  SFB and he can pass on my email

Meda Spirit Talker of the ...... Tribe

"Guns don't kill people poisons do"

With the greatest respect to your game Mark (and lets face it, it deserves that respect entirely), the premise you describe is absolutely the opposite of the game I tend to play, write and/or the live roleplaying that I enjoy.

I can see your reasons - in that you see the players as Heroes and the format an adventure - hence - "Heroquest", but many games work on the premise of neither being integral and people still have a great time.

If the answer to the question at the top is better to be on the Herofest thread, I'll ask it there, depends on what you'd prefer.