Ok here we go onto the nuts and bolts of the system, starting with character generation

The chapter starts up with a overview of the sort of Parameters (Setting, Mode, and Premise) that a Narrator can use to set up a game of HeroQuest. This is so the players are on the same page of as the Narrator and also to show the sort of games that HeroQuest can deal with. It might be teaching old hands to suck eggs, but for new players and narrators coming to the game from a more combat orientated game such as D&D it does give considerable food for thought. (more…)

At last after months of procrastinating on my part, here’s the second part of my HeroQuest 2 preview. Was it really back in October when I wrote the Introduction? My how time flies

I’ve now got the final laid out with art Pdf courtesy of Jeff Richard from Moon Design.  This is the version that if you are going to Tentacles you’ll be able to pick up and will be available world wide July 1st.  I’m still going to still with this being a preview.  I find HeroQuest 2 is a complex beast and what I’m trying to do here is give you a quick run down of what’s in store. I’m going to try keep personal opinion to a minimum, but it may bleed out since I’m quite an opinionated guy

The basics

A Colour cover (by Jon Hodgson), black and white interior, 130 pages long

Contents of the book (taken directly from Tentacles Pdf with page numbers left in)

Introduction 5
Creating your Character 9
Character Creation Methods 15
Overcoming Obstacles 21
Modifiers 51
Hero Points 57
Relationships 60
Playing Stories 67
Narrating 77
Running Contests 79
Community Resources and Support 87
Gaming in Glorantha 107
Quick Reference 123
Index 127

Layout and presentation: Clear throughout and an easy read as a result.

Art: A mix of Gloranthan and generic art, mainly fantasy.

The main thing about HeroQuest 2 and how you see it is your expectations of what it is.  I struggled with this for a long time and it did colour my opinion of it initially, since depending on what I wanted out of the book on a particular day (us Newts are moody creatures you know) coloured how I viewed the book.

(more…)

Just in case you wondered I’ve moved the Hearts in Glorantha blog to my d101games.co.uk domain. This is what triggered the resending of all the comments and posts by feedburner.com for those of you subscribed via email.

If you are viewing this by rss feed you shouldn’t have any disruption to service, since the feed has always been redirected via feedburner.com (a lovely free service you should look into if you run a blog).

Just for completeness the blog is now hosted at

http://heartsinglorantha.d101games.co.uk

Stay tuned part 1 of the HeroQuest 2 preview any second now.

If you are going to Tentacles and want a copy of either the HQ 2 book or Sartar book, pop over to the Moon Designs blog and let Jeff Richard know via a comment.

Lots of info coming out of Moon Designs, publishers of HeroQuest 2.

First off the big one. HeroQuest 2 has a world wide release date of July 1st. If you are going to Tentacles, or have a friend who is, you can pick up a copy there.

Second. The Sartar book has been submitted for editing. This 375 page monster of a book covers everything you want to know about the Orlanthi of the Kingdom of Sartar and even finds room for an epic 100 page adventure (which would probably be 200 pages if it didn’t use the new HQ2 statless approach). The author Jeff Richard has very kindly sent me a copy so I’ll be doing a preview here once I’ve digested its contents.

Third. You’ll never be short of updates on Moon Designs’ activity, since its new Creative Director Jeff Richard has started up a Live Journal. Lots more news on what is in the pipeline for HQ2 Glorantha can be found there

Moon Designs Live Journal