HeroQuest is the epitome of Gloranthan roleplaying, the interaction between myth and legend, with the mortal inhabitants of the lozenge. HeroQuest, seemingly, is not only a game about myth but is also a myth itself. Since it's tentative announcement of publication over a dozen years ago in issues of Wyrms Footprints, it is now seemingly relegated to nothing more than a sidebar in Rick Meint's MIG. From the word go it was advertised as the coming revolution of the gaming world. But the impossible never arrived - after all, to run a HeroQuest required not only a framework of rules to write around, but a thorough knowledge of the nature of myth and philosophy, a complete and total grasp of Gloranthan lore and the ability to create a startling adventure bristling with mythical resonance and awe inspiring brilliance. And RuneQuest didn't cut it. If Glorantha was to find itself being written today it would more likely be modelled after the games of Storyteller, Amber or Everway than AD&D and Chivalry and Sorcery. To run a HeroQuest using RuneQuest required off-the-cuff creation and general superhuman knowledge of Glorantha, and combined with Greg Stafford's annoying tendencies to refuse to pin himself down on any details to do with HeroQuesting (and change his mind even if he did) HeroQuest, the Gloranthan equivalent of science's TOE (Theory of Everything), seemed utterly impossible.
But, for the fortune of RPGer's everywhere, roleplayers love a challenge - after all, overcoming the impossible and achieving the 1-in-a-million chance nine times out of ten was why most of us all started playing. The appearance of HeroQuest systems kicked off with little more than the oft-told tale of Alebard's Quest (found everywhere), Waha's Quest (reprinted in Book of Drastic Resolutions #2) and Steve Marsh's selection of rules and Quests. What followed was a hoard of house variations and ideas, from Steve Maurer to Simon Phipp, from Pendragon Pass to YAHQS. From Super RuneQuest to mythical enhancement, none of them quite filled the requirements I needed for HeroQuesting in Glorantha, though some came close.
So, after collecting my material together, I decided to try. The best attempt at HeroQuest was Nils Weinander's YAHQS, so good that I helped develop bits of it and wrote Quests for it - but excellent as it was, it missed two vital components - it wasn't RuneQuest and it wasn't mine. So here it is, even playtested in parts as part of an ongoing campaign, so that I know that some parts - at least - work fine. All comments are muchly appreciated. And I do mean all comments, feel free to e-mail me at nikk@MailAndNews.com.
This system assumes basic knowledge of what a HeroQuest is, how to go about getting to do one, what you might actually get in return for doing one and so on. If you are in the dark on the whole HeroQuesting business, then this rule system will make little or no sense. Try the following links to find out more and return here once you have a better model of HeroQuesting:
This section details the changes and additions that need to be made to best handle HeroQuesting with the RuneQuest system. It is not, as many sets of HeroQuest rules are, merely a selection of House Rules - it is designed to be compatible with everyone's set of House Rules.
Skills
On the HeroPlane, skills can be handled differently. On some HeroQuests, skills remain unchanged and work as normal. On others, the skills are divided by 5, and on the most powerful the skills are divided by 10. For instance, a simple pilgrimage or Practice Run Quest is unaffected. However, most HeroQuests involving the more powerful denziens, such as demons and immortals, would be played where every skill is divided by 5. So someone with a weapon attack of 55% is reduced to 11% on the HeroPlane, someone with a Listen of 89% becomes a mere 18% on the HeroPlane. Magic that increases skills is likewise reduced by a factor of 5, so every point of Silence adds a mere 3% to Sneak, and every point of Bludgeon adds only 1% to attack. On the truly powerful Quests involving Gods and Demigods, the skills may well be divided by 10, so an attack of 200% becomes only 20%!!!! While this dividing factor varies form Quest to Quest, it remains constant throughout - so no Quests have Stations where skills are unaffected, with the next station having skills divided by 10.
Damage and statistics are unaffected. However, on the HeroPlane, in the realm of myth and abundant magic, statistics are greatly increased - especially POW and INT. Many wield special bizarre powers (so a hellhound may breath fire, or a Humakti cult guard may have a permanent truesword).
The chance to cast magical spells, maximum levels of manipulation and the chance of success on the resistance table are all unaffected by this rule.
When the character returns to the Mundane Plane, they have an increased chance of gaining an experience roll due to this effect. The amount of experience and the chance of getting the experience increases. A Quest where skills are unaffected, so is the increase roll. The roll to see if experience is gained is based on a reduced score. When making an experience roll, roll 1d100 and add the appropriate skill category modifier divided by either 5 or 10, depending upon the skill division of the quest, and if it is over the skill divided by five or ten then the roll succeeds. In turn the experience gained is multiplied by either five or ten, depending upon what level of skill division the Quest was set at.
Example: A character has completed a HeroQuest where all skills were divided by 5. They have a tick in Scan which is, on the Mundane Plane, 104%. This means on the HeroPlane it is 21%. She has a Perception modifier of +9.
When the character makes the roll, she rolls 1d100, and adds 2% (her perception modifier divided by five). If it is over 21% she succeeds. She rolls 20%, without the modifier, and so just passes the Experience roll.
She rolls 5d6 and rolls a 14 taking her Scan skill up to 128%.
Magic
Magic is altered somewhat on the HeroPlane. Since not all HeroQuests take place on the HeroPlane and not all HeroQuesting magics transport someone to the HeroPlane, then not all these rules apply. Once past the curtain of Time, all spells work differently.
Firstly, any spell cast while on the HeroPlane lasts until dispelled (or until Presence is no longer devoted to it) - there is no duration on the HeroPlane. Instead, it lasts until the Quest ends and the Mundane Plane is re-entered or until it is magically dispelled. In the case of Sorcery, the spell lapses as per usual when Presence is no longer devoted to it. Conversely, magic points do not regenerate over a period of time. Instead, Magic Points only regenerate at appropriate points - for instance, when the players stop to rest at a holy site.
A particular feature of all HeroQuests is to do with portraying the deity. Someone who is taking the part of their own deity should be able to do more than case one of two spells. This part of the system occurs on all HeroQuests, and not just on Quests that take place solely on the HeroPlane. It allows characters to cast magic again and again, without having to repray for it - the more experienced the HeroQuester the easier this becomes.
( Sorcery and spirit magic are not affected by Passions as they are not enhanced when a character portrays a god. The magic of the Gods is Rune magic and so that is what is influenced. When the Quester casts a Rune Spell they may make a Passion roll (see the next section). If the character rolls underneath the appropriate Passion score on 1d100 and the spell was re-usable then the spell counts as not having been cast, although magic points are still expended. The spell need not be reprayed for to be used again. If the spell was one-use then while it counts as having been cast, it can be reprayed for upon return back to the Mundane Plane.
The Passion which should be rolled against is, obviously, determined by the situation. If the character was casting a Fear spell on a broo then Hate(Chaos) would be applicable, if they were casting Heal Body on their fallen husband then Love(Husband) would be applicable. If the Quester is on a cult Quest, and is casting a cult spell, then the appropiate Piety Passion may always be substituted. Sometimes no Passion is applicable, in which case the spell is cast as normal.
Example: A village HeroQuester with Loyalty(family) 20 engages in a Dara Happan rite to beat back a plague devouring his people. When he faces the Mistress of Plague he casts a Sunspear at her. Since he is on a Quest for his family, he may use his Loyalty Passion throughout the Quest. He rolls a 27. The spell is cast as normal. The next round, he casts a Firespear 4. This time he rolls a 14 - the spell is cast but when he returns he may repray for it even though he is only an initiate.
Example: A Thanatari Priest is on a HeroQuest to devour the Primal Book. He has the Passion of Hate(Lhankor Mhy) 50. When he arrives at the gate to the sacred site where the book is stored, he meets a Humakti guardian - he casts a Sever Spirit. Since his Passion does not apply here, he cannot use it. However, since he is on a Thanatari Quest he may substitute Piety(Thanatar), which is only 10. He rolls a 47 and fails.
When he finally gets to the Book and casts Devour Book he may use his Hate(Lhankor Mhy) Passion. He rolls 23, and does not expend the spell - he can cast it as many times as he likes without having to repray until he rolls over a 50.
Example: To help the crops, an Ernaldan Priest uses a HeroQuest to bless the earth. She has only Bless Crops 4, but has a Loyalty(Clan) rating of 20. This means that everytime she casts Bless Crops she has a 20% chance of being able to cast it again. This can greatly increase her potential. Especially if she is lucky.
Other Magical Systems
Other magics, such as Saints etc..., are affected:
Draconic: Dragon Magic is unaffected, but should be combined with the new Passions rules (see Appendix to be added at a later date).
Lunar: On the HeroPlane, unless the Red Moon is in the Sky, all magic cast is as if it were Black Moon. This limits many Lunar HeroQuesters, as the Red Moon only appears in a handful of Dara Happan myth, and most myths within the Third Age. To compensate, Lunar Magicians do give excellent cult support and also sometimes make use of portable Glowspots.
Saints: Wherever a worshipper of the Saints walk, they take the light of the Creator with them. Saints Blessings work as per usual on the HeroPlane - even if the Blessing grants Divine Intervention (as in the case of the Blessing of Sedalp Heptad).
Ki: Eastern Ki powers work as follows; if the skills are unaffected on the Quest, so is this power. If the skill is divided by either 5 or 10 then so is the Ki power. Other than that, it works as per usual.
Mysticism: A Mystic lowers their mysticism skill by a value equal to their highest Passion to show how the fetters of the Material and Divine World prohibit the Mystic from advancing. Certain Passions are exempt, such as Piety (Metsyla) or other such mystical, transcendent Passions.
Other Magical Details
Divine Intervention is useless on all HeroQuests. Since the character is taking on the part of their god then they may not call on their deity.
Death is also affected on the HeroPlane. On Quests into the realm of myth, into the Primal Godplane itself, Death does not exist as it does on the Mundane Plane. Instead, unless the creature uses Death Magic (such as Sever Spirit) or has a weapon imbued with a copy of Death or other such power to force the character's spirit to depart, then the character's corpse is merely left, battered and beaten. A character can bleed down to -10hp, and no further. They can then be healed up as per usual. In some areas Death has not yet been released, and therefore no-one dies. Unfortunately, on the HeroPlane there are many fates worse than Death, from enslavement to perpetual soul agony or even worse fiendish evils. See below for more details on Death and the HeroPlane.
Passions are the lifeblood of all storytelling. No story can be complete without passionate, virile characters to thwart the evil King, rescue his wife for love or an evil princess to devour the villagers out of pure hate. Passion is fuel, and fuel is life.
When HeroQuesting, Passions become real, passions become powerful. A Man is the sum of his parts, as they say.
While many people might prefer to use PenDragon Pass as an approach to this, here are the rules that are used in this version of HeroQuesting. No element of re-writing your normal RuneQuest rules is necessary, although powerful HeroQuesters do derive benefit from them upon the Mundane Plane.
Caculating Passions
Before a character takes upon themselves the burdens of HeroQuesting, their Passions must first be figured out. Passions are additional statistics used in HeroQuesting, they are rated from 0 upwards, although a value of above 75 would be quite amazing.
What follows is a list of Major Passions, these are the Passions that are most likely going to come into play:
Hate: Towards a particulary group, class, culture or cult. For instance, you may possess Hate(Chaos), Hate(Lunar) or Hate(Thieves). Hate towards a particular person such as Hate(Jar-Eel) would be considered a minor passion (see below). This Passion applies whenever the Hero comes into an aggressive situation (not necessarily violent) with the appropriate group.
Love: This applies to a group of people, such as Love(Family). If you have it towards one person in particular, such as Love(Husband), then it is considered a minor passion. Love is often held in conjunction with Loyalty. It applies in any situation involving the defence of the group/person.
Loyalty: This is Loyalty to a certain group or person. For instance, you may have Loyalty(Lord), Loyalty(Family) or Loyalty(High Priest). This Passion applies whenever the hero is serving the named group, so a character on a Quest for his Family would receive bonuses for Loyalty(Family).
Lust: Not only in the sexual sense (though this is a legitimate version of this Passion) but of objects. A character may have Lust(sex), Lust(Money) or Lust(Knowledge). This Passion applies in any situation where the character is attempting to gain the appropriate substance, so a character who encounters a treasure room may use his Lust(Money) Passion to increase his skills against it's guardian. Lust for a specific person, such as Lust(Husband) is a minor passion.
Fear: Against anything, although normally a group or class of people. While it may be thought of as purely negative, for instance a character would suffer in combat if they had to fight broo and possessed the Fear(Chaos) Passion, it can also benefit. For instance, running away from Chaos would be aided by the Passion Fear(Chaos).
Grief: A rare Passion, and always very low. The Gamesmaster must think carefully before allowing characters to have this. Those with the Grief Passion suffer from some awful pain that cannot easily be healed, from the death of a lved one to the death of many loved ones. Driven by Grief, the Passion is always in effect the round after any success, and always applied as a negative the round after a failure.
Example: A character has the Grief passion at 15. She encounters a Jack O'Bear. In the first round of combat, there is no modifier. Her skill is 27 on the HeroPlane and she rolls a 51. A failure - therefore the 15 is applied as a negative. Her skill is merely 12 in the next round. She rolls a 06! The Jack O'Bear survives and she attacks again, this time with a plus 15 bonus. She rolls a 30 and kills it.
In rounds where multiple rolls are made, only one success is needed for the bonus to apply.
If the character ever has a Grief score over 25, they constantly charge into suicidal situations or merely kill themselves.
Piety: A powerful Passion applied to one cult/god. The Passion applies whenever the Quester is upholding their cult strictures - thusly, Piety(Chalana Arroy) applies whenever First Aid is used, Piety(Orlanth) applies whenever fighting a chaos demon and Piety(Humakt) applies in virtually all combat situations. A character who acts against cult strictures, or no embodying the god, has this passion applied as a penalty, so a Quester with Piety Yelmalio 15 who tries to defeat Zorak Zoran and not be defeated by him, has all skills at -15%.
A character with a Passion spirit should add the spirit's POW/5 (rounded up) to the appropriate Passion. If possessed by multiple spirits of the same Passion, only apply the one with the Highest POW.
Minor Passion
A minor Passion is a more directed Passion, normally towards one person instead of one group. They work as normal, but when points are allocated they count for double the amount.
Example: A character puts 5 points into Lust(Zarner the Centaur), a minor passion, which becomes Lust 10 rather than 5.
Firstly, all characters receive Passions for being in their cult. The higher in the cult a character is, the more like their deity they become. All characters will have one or more Passions from their deities, modified by their cult level. The exact details are given in Appendix One, later Finally, the character has the choice of doing any one of the following:
In all cases, there is a maximum of 20 on any Passion for beginning HeroQuesters unless the Gamesmaster rules otherwise. If you are playing a well established campaign, with Heros already, then this may well be advised. Under my character generation system the character may have a maximum of 20/20/30/50, and characters get 1/1/2/3 options from the above table to select the passions (in other words, someone generating a powerful Hero can increase two Passions by ten and another three by upto five). A GM should be careful in allowing characters to take either the Piety or the Grief Passion.
Remember, minor Passions count double. A player may only increase a Passion they do not have at the GM's discretion. The HeroQuester has now been designed.
Using Passions
A character may use Passions to gain additional magic as described in the Systems chapter. They may also use it in another way. On any HeroQuest, the character adds their Passion score to any skill used in a situation where the Passion applies.
Example: A Healer with the Passion Love(close friends) 20 gains a bonus of 20% on any skill when she attempts to aid her close friends (the other PC's). This might well be in healing skills like First Aid, casting a spell or adding it to his climb roll when he urgently needs to reach his allies.
Example: A character with the Passion, Loyalty(Family) 25 gains a bonus of 25% on all skills if engaged on a HeroQuest for the benefit of his/her family.
However, if the character is in a situation where they must act against that Passion, for instance a character with Piety(Humakt) is asked to assassinate someone, a character with Hate(Lunars) is asked to flee from them or a character with Loyalty(Clan) is asked to do something detrimental to their clan, then the rating of the Passion is applied as a negative to all skills to do with that situation. The exception is piety, if a character should diverge from the HeroPath of their God then for the rest of the Quest, Piety is applied as a negative.
In all cases, the Passion modifier is applied after adjustments have been made to the skill for being on the HeroPlane.
Example: On a Quest to slay Aroka, the Quester has 120% attack - this is divided by five because they are on a Quest, so it is reduced to 24%. But, the Quester has Hate(Dragons) 25, so his attack is increased to 49%.
Example: In the example HeroQuest from above, if the Quest had no modifiers to skills - perhaps because it was only the Practice Run version - then the bonus would still only be 25, increasing his attack from 120% to 145%.
Example: If the Quester had chosen to engage in a deep level Godplane Quest to slay Aroka, where their skill is divided by ten, then his final attack would be 120/10=12 plus 25=37%.
Passions are sometimes used in other situations. For instance, to enter into the Palace of the King Finias, they must have Lust(Money) of at least 25. To enter into Uleria's Domain a Quester must possess no Hate Passions. To pass the Fires of Ehilm one must roll underneath their Piety(Orlanth) Passion on 1d100.
Increasing Passions
Passions do not increase via experience ticks like a skill. Instead, they are gained through increasing in cult rank, succeeding in HeroQuests and GM intervention.
In the first case, increasing or decreasing in cult status affects Passions - as the character becomes more or less like a god then their Passions will alter. See the Appendix for more details.
In the second case, success on HeroQuests, at the end of most HeroQuests a modifier of up to 5 will be applied to a character's Passions. These cannot be refused. The more a character HeroQuests, the more they become like their deity, losing free will and becoming more emotive.
Example: A Storm Bull Quest to slay the Devil increases your Hate(Chaos) Passion by 5.
Example: The Enthronement Rites of Dara Happa increase Loyalty(Dara Happa) by 5.
Example: Completing a minor cult HeroQuest will most likely increase the appropriate Piety Passion by a point or two.
Conversely, failing a HeroQuest decreases Passions, although they have a minimum value of zero. Failing cult HeroQuests often reduces the Piety Passion. Usually the amount lost for failure is not as large as the amount gained for success. Some Quests are reversed, for instance failing a Quest against Chaos may increase the Fear(Chaos) Passion!
Lastly, the GM may decide that roleplaying and events, whether on a HeroQuest or in normal play, should increase a Passion. For instance, a character who falls in love with the Queen should gain both the Passions Loyalty and Love. This is purely at the GM's decision and should be reserved only when superior roleplaying is used.
Illuminates, lacking in morals in the main, have the option not to have Passions. They may refuse the Passions gained from joining Cults, and may refuse the Passions lost or gained from failing or succeeding in HeroQuests. This gives them effectively infinite Free Will, but likewise limits their power. Some Illuminates, however, go into the rituals with zeal, and thusly gain Passions as normal.
Passions Above 20
When a Quester has accumulated enough points in a Passion to raise it above 20, it becomes so powerful that it begins to take over their life.
Firstly, a character with a Passion above 20 also becomes more susceptible to Passion Spirits of the appropriate types - they gain the Passion Rating as a bonus on the resistance table in spirit combat.
This has a two fold effect. Firstly, the Passion begins having an effect on the Mundane Plane. Any Hero with a Passion greater than 20 can use that Passion in normal life, exactly as they can on the HeroPlane! They can use it to save Magic, and increase skills etc.... They have become so much like their deity they are like a walking incarnate of their god!
Example: The Storm Bull worshipper on the Quest to slay the Devil returns with 20 in his Hate(Chaos) Passion. While not HeroQuesting there is no benefit or penalty. If he returned with 30 then whenever he met chaos he would gain a bonus of 30% on all skills, and could retain his rune magic by rolling underneath 30 on 1d100.
However, the Passion begins to consume the Quester. Whenever a situation appears where the character wishes to act against his Passion, for instance someone with a Piety(Humakt) of 40 attempts to lie, or use poison, or someone with Hate(Lunars) 35 tries to work with them, or not kill them, then they must roll 1d100. If the roll is underneath twice the Passion, the character acts in accordance with the Passion, so in the above examples the Humakti would tell the truth and the Lunar hater would draw his newly sharpened sword. This occurs no matter how dangerous the situation (A pious Humakti will stand there and happily say "Yes officer, I am the murderer who killed the Red Emperor."), and no matter how much the player wants to do something else. Passions also transcend common sense, the person with Hate(Lunar) would attack there and then, not decide to return later. Such is the price of Herodom, the loss of Free Will.
If a character has a Passion of 50 or more then it starts to possess their life, and they will dedicate all of their time and energy to this Passion. So, Ralzarkark's concubines - whom are all enchanted to have Lust(Ralzakark) of 60 - will spend their entire time attempting to please the Unicorn Emperor. Someone with Hate(Chaos) 51 will spend every waking moment searching for chaos nests and destruction.
This section can be ignored by those who believe Runes are a failed, false God Learner deception. For those of you who favour the RQII feel of Runic Links, here they are.
Every individual has a link to one or more of the primal powers of the universe. Whether the culture recognises these links as Runes or not, their connection to these powers still exist. The Runes are merely the title that the God Learners gave to this powers when they quantified them. By chance, they also make a convincing game mechanic to show how HeroQuesters can become connected to various powers. The more powerful one becomes, the more connected to various runes they become. However, they again lose their ability to act in certain ways - a Wizard with a high Fire Rune rating becomes incapable of casting darkness, then water, based magic. Eventually, the character's mystical potential becomes consumed by the Rune itself. It devours their soul! Some gods are so connected to a rune it has consumed them.
The Infinity Rune is an exception - you either have it or you don't, and it is discussed in detail and at length later on in this text.
No Hero can have two opposite Runic Links that add up to more than 100. For instance, if you have Darkness 65, you may have no more than 45 in Fire. If you have 70 in Death, you are limited to 30 in Fertility and Harmony.
Caculating Runic Links
Runes are based on a scale of 0-100, with the additional existence of severed runes - effectively a negative value. Runic Links are, at first, based upon two factors - a character's Cult and a character's race. Both are described in the appendices. Since very few non-HeroQuesters begin with values of over 20 in any runes, it has no effect upon HeroQuesting whatsoever. Direct Contact with a Rune is explained in this section.
The Effects of Runic Links
Runic Links only matter at levels above 20, at which point they can become quite important. What follows only applies when runes are increased above 20, and applies equally on the mundane plane as the HeroPlane.
Firstly, on the downside, some magics become more difficult to use. When the HeroQuester tries to cast magic in opposition to the Rune which is above 20, for instance a Priest of Fire trying to cast Counterchaos, Blinding or Command Shade, then the chance to cast it is reduced by the rating the HeroQuester has in the rune.
Example: A Yelmic HeroQuester has Fire Rune 27% and tries to use a Darkness Creature's matrix to cast Command Shade. Normally, after all modifications for magic bonus and ENC, the chance to cast is 100%. Because his rune in Fire is 27%, his chance to cast is reduced by 27%! This gives him only a 73% chance of casting the spell. Secondly, at levels above 90, an extremely rare occasion indeed, a Quester applies this penalty to all spells not connected to his/her rune!! This makes those in direct contact with a rune very limited.
The character does, however, gain two benefits. Firstly, all spells cast in connection to his/her rune have their casting chance increased by double the amount of the rune.
Example: Back to the Rune Priest of Yelm, his chance to cast Sunspear goes from being 100% to becoming 127%. This does mean that at higher levels of ENC he still has an amazingly high chance to cast magic.
Secondly, when sufficient power in the runes has been amassed it can be used to generate magical effects. The rules I use for this are transplanted from Sandy Petersen's HeroQuest rules and, unfortunately, I do not have permission to put them up on the Net, so this will have the above information will have to suffice.
Increasing Runic Links
Besides joining multiple cults, and increasing your resevoir of Rune Magic, there are other ways of increasing Runic Links. A Hero can increase their links by making bonds and oaths to their gods, who instill them with power in their respective runes, or by devouring their foes on the HeroPlane. For instance, when Zorak Zoran devoured Yelmalio's Liver his Fire Rune increased, and reduced Yelmalio to his Light Rune. Heros can also gain it by gaining followers (see Hero Cults).
Direct Contact
When the rating is high enough, the Hero is considered to be in Direct contact with the Rune, having no need to worship a god or deity to channel the Primordial Powers. This level is achieved when the Runic Link reaches 90. It does allow the Quester to begin to form their own Quests and substitue powers - this is beyond discussion in this section. Refer to Steve Marsh's Rules for a more detailed description of Direct Contact.
Severing A Rune
Severing Runes is quite a difficult task. the Death Rune can be used to Sever Runes if, and only if, the Quester is in Direct Contact with it. Those gods who are the current owner or source of the rune have the ability to remove it from people can do this, as can those gods who are in opposition to a particular Rune (such as Chalana Arroy to Death, or Yelm to Darkness).
When the Rune has been severed, the powers of that rune no longer affect you. Those severed from Death no longer die, suffer from disrupt or can be injured by direct spells. Those severed from Harmony no longer heal, nor be ressurected. On the downside, you cannot use powers of that Rune - those severed from Death cannot use Sever Spirit, and those severed from Chaos cannot use chaotic magics.
Often the severance is enacted in return for a gain in an opposite rune. A character may be severed from Harmony by Humakt in return for an increase in the Death Rune.
Equally often, a severed rune is unwanted - who wants to be forcibly severed from Mastery and become a vegetable for the rest of their lives?
Death on the HeroPlane is a totally different affair than it is on the Mundane Plane. Death does not naturally occur to those who are reduced to a point of incapacitation. In fact, with proper care and expertise, a Hero chopped into twenty slices can even be brought back to the land of the living. Just as easily, however, death can be made permanent.
Death does not occur naturally on the HeroPlane as it is a natural function of nature. Being in the Lands of Myth makes you exempt from the Laws of nature. Therefore, magic must be used. This magic comes in many forms, but is jus generally known as the Power of Death. Any who have a copy of Death have the power of Death, many Hero items are capable of bestowing it, and there are HeroQuests to give you Mastery of Death.
As is explained in "Systems" you can bleed down to minus ten hit points, but normal healing can still bring you back. However, if the body has taken massive damage, such as someone has sliced you into twenty portions, every bone in your body has been crushed, or your body has been mangled beyond mortal recognition, then it is difficult to heal. After all, a peasant armed with a Heal spell still has no idea how to line up a spinal cord so that it heals correctly. To heal such a corpse requires a successful First Aid roll. On a quest where skills are divided by five, or by ten, the increased difficulty reflects the sheer severity of the damage inflicted by the instigator of the Questers condition. If the First Aid is failed, the magic points used in the healing spell are lost and while another person may attempt the same process, the person who has just attempted it may not try again on the same injuries. Often mangled HeroQuesters are brought back from the HeroPlane to be healed up. A Heal Body does not need a First Aid roll to succeed.
To kill someone you either need the Power of Death, gained through a HeroQuest or a natural ability of many HeroPlane entities, or you cast a Sever Spirit upon the corpse. The Power of Death confers no additional ability other than to allow you (or your weapon if that is what is blessed with the Power of Death) to kill someone once they reach 0 hit points and are not healed within 10 SR. Not everyone on the HeroPlane have the Power of Death - no-one did before it was released in the Godtime. Obviously different cultures place this release of death at different times and blame it on different gods, Humakt being the most popular but far from universal. Followers of a Death God often have the Power of Death.
As for Questers from the Mundane Plane, they must either settle for not killing anyone, or getting hold of the Powers of Death. For cults like Yanafal Tarnils, Humakt, Zorak Zoran and Than, Sever Spirit will work just as well. All cults with the Death Rune have a Practice Run Quest that allows one to get hold of a cult weapon blessed with the Powers of Death. Sometimes, but not always, they have other abilities, but they are able to slay people on a HeroQuest. For Humakti they must travel to Hell and back with Eurmal, defeating Vivamort and avoiding the guardians along the way. For Babeester Gor they must undergo a rite whereby they defeat Zorak Zoran and claim their axe. As this is a Practice Run, and does not take place on the HeroPlane, they meet Mundane representations of the people on the Quest (a Death Lord instead of Zorak Zoran for instance). Most cults with the Death Rune also have full HeroQuests for you to personally gain the Powers of Death for yourself.
Death on the HeroPlane is bad. Really bad. And as Death is not really considered a good thing in the first place, this is saying something. Ressurection is described in one of the appendices and is not the same as what is discussed here. Those who die are forced onto the Path of the Dead, they do not remain for seven days to have their chance at ressurection. All Questers who die on the HeroPlane are beyond Ressurection and Divine Intervention, they usually don't even make it as far as their afterlife, being ambushed along the way by some hideous chaos creatures, or enemy cultists searching for spirit slaves. Only another HeroQuest can recover a lost comrade from the HeroPlane. Those with Magic Sight will merely see the soul start heading off on the Spirit Plane towards the Gates of Dusk. Foolish people try to stop the soul, but this causes the soul to become both a ghost (ressurection and divine intervention is still ineffective) and call down the wrath of the Death Gods. Dying on the HeroPlane is generally considered a bad thing.
Grisly Portions
The Grisly Portions refers to a certain type of ritual to kill Immortals. In ancient times it was possible to use magics in such a way that while the Immortal was not dead, they were severed into many parts that required other rituals to be performed to bring them back to life. As Immortals are almost always immune to natural death and some are immune to even magical death, the Grisly Portions rite can be useful to learn. It comes in two forms, a ritual that is quite common in those cults that teach it (generally troll cults, chaos cults and Lunar cults, but other sects in other cultures know of it), or an ability to harm immortals with unhealable wounds. The ritual is generally not learnt, after all most people have no need to know how to incapacitate Immortals. Using the rite on mortals is useless. The rite is normally a sorcery or rune magic ceremony spell taking about an hour to perform. The ability is a skill that can only be learnt on powerful HeroQuests to certain cults, especially Zorak Zoran.
Grisly Portions
Magical Skill
Base(00%)
This skill can only be learnt on a HeroQuest. It can only be increased by experience and training. It takes one round to use this skill, during which a weapon is used to cut the Immortal into portions. Obviously, unless restrained or incapacitated, this skill cannot be used. If used successfully the Immortal cannot heal himself until a proper healing rite is performed. If the character fails with the skill, they may attempt it again next round.
To be brought back to life the pieces of the Immortal must be reassembled and another ritual used over them so that they can be healed. This rite is normally taught by Healing Cults and certain Death Cults (such as Ty Kora Tek).
Both Gbaji and the Red Goddess are among those who were cut into Grisly Portions.
The Path of the Dead
Those who die, both on the Mundane Plane and the HeroPlane, can break away from the Path of the Dead. Either through a special ability (including the Infinity Rune) or by sheer willpower, the character can choose not to go down the Path of the Dead, and can try and escape the guardians of the Path, flee into the Underworld and take their chances in Hell. Sometimes, they even manage to make it back to the Surface World and carry on living.
Obviously this is a HeroQuest in itself. The special ability to escape the Path of the Dead can only be gained via HeroQuesting. However, those characters with enough force of will can choose to depart the Path of the Dead. This is represented by a roll mdae on their highest Passion minus 50. A chance of zero or less means a roll cannot be made. Obviously, Passions such as Piety (Humakt) or Love (Death) do not count, and in fact count as penalties to the roll. If successful the character can break away from the Path of the Dead.
One of the most important parts of any HeroQuest is the entourage that the Quester has supporting him/her. These Supporters participate in pray, aid, sacrifices etc... at the local temple whilst the Quester is on the HeroQuest. Spiritually powerful supporters are, obviously, more useful than weak, drained or indifferent Supporters.
Upon the HeroPlane, the Hero becomes the focus of the Supporters - in effect, he becomes his community. If he does something on the HeroPlane then his community is affected by it directly. In turn he is affected by them. If a Humakti tries to gain support from Chalana Arroy Healers then he will find himself at a distinct disadvantage if he attempted a Humakti Quest. Supporters are more than human sized Duracell batteries.
The aid that the Supporters give comes in the form increased Passions, increased magical resources and mundane support before hand (such as lending the HeroQuester crystals, binding enchantments etc...). In return, the Supporters gain the benefit of the successes of the Hero, and also his failures. Therefore, a Hero takes upon himself responsibility for his followers.
The Community
To use Supporters properly, the GM must figure out the "statistics" of the Community. For instance, a collection of hand picked Humakti Rune Lords will be more suitable to support a HeroQuester embarking on the Lead Cross Quest than a collection of rag tag peasants whose interests include wenching, drinking and going to bed before sundown.
There are two things that determine how powerful a communities support actually is, it's size and it's "spiritual quality". The community grants Support Points, and how they are used is described below.
A community, be it a temple, a nation, or a village, grants one Support Point if there is one hundred of them, two Support Points if there are one thousand, three Support Points if there are ten thousand, and so on, increasing by one Support Point for every multiple of ten additional to this.
This is then modified by the spiritual quality of the community. If your supporters are hand picked rune lords and priests, they are going to benefit you more than a group of drunkards and alcoholics. Modify the number of Support Points gained by looking at the following table:
Support Points
Support Points are used in two ways. Once used they are used, they do not return until the HeroQuest ends and the Supporters get a chance to recuperate. Firstly, whilst on the HeroQuest, and while Support is being given, the Quester receives additional POW equal to the square of the Support Points given. Just in case you are confused, if you receive 2 Support Points you get 4 extra POW (2*2), if you receive 4 Support Points you receive 16 extra POW, if you receive 7 Support Points you get an extra 49 POW! This POW vanishes after the HeroQuest, so if you have 10 POW and gain 16 from Support, go on a HeroQuest and lose 5 POW then when you return you will have only 5 POW, not 10 still. This could feasibly kill the Quester, if he had been tapped for 11 POW or more then when he returned he would have negative POW and die instantly. The POW can be used for magic points, is used on resistance rolls etc...
Secondly, the Support Points can be spent whilst on the HeroQuest. They can be spent before a roll is made, and once spent increase the level of success by one, so that a normal success becomes a special success, a special success becomes a critical success and so on. If a group of HeroQuesters go on a HeroQuest they receive the Support Points between the characters, not each.
The Supporters and the Quest
The Supporters share in all the victories and failures of the Quester. For instance, if a group of Yelmalions were to engage in Supporting a Quester on the Hill of Gold Quest and the Quester suceeds, then the Supporters might gain a chance to sacrifice for one-use Sunspear, Command Salamander and Summon Salamander. If the Quester failed, then the Supporters might well lose access to the spells Sunbright, Light and Lightwall as the Quester gambles away his Light powers. A Quester who is defeated by the Lions of Nambran Gate may find his temple being invaded by a plague of lions, or forever be branded as cowards as their courage is stolen.
The Supporters may give normal support, or total support. In the case of normal support, the supporters gain approximately 1/10th of the reward the Quester earns, so if George Missinghands is blessed with +100% sword attack, his Supporters gain 10%. They also gain comparatively little chance of major disabilities if the Quester fails.
On total Support, the Supporters gain about 3/10ths the reward of the Quester, but stand to lose more as well. In the case of the Lions of Nambran Gate, total supporters might die if the Quester is defeated!!
Obviously, some numerical values cannot be applied, what is 1/10th the reward of the Sandals of Darkness. Normally the exact reward is given in the Quest.
Some Supporters may choose only to Support the Quester on part of the Quest. This on the Lightbringer's Quest, the Orlanthi Quester may find a group of Humakti who agree to support him on only when he is in Hell, and nowhere else. In this case, the group can only gain benefits from the part they support, but in turn only suffer from the failures of the part they support. So if the Humakti agree to give support only when Orlanth is in Hell, but not when he confronts the Devil, then if he dies fighting the Devil they are safe. If he dies whilst in Hell, however, they suffer the same penalties as everyone else. The Supporters must decide which stations of the Quest they will Support before the Quests begins.
If a Quester should start doing something against the Supporters wishes, they cannot choose to stop supporting the Quester. If the Storm Bull support an Illuminate on a Quest against the Devil and suddenly the Illuminate starts to try and make friends with him, they can do nothing until the Quest is over. At which point they will most likely kill him.
General Losses
This mystical support is very draining and time consuming. In most cases, a HeroQuest will last a maximum of one week, maybe a bit more. In this case, the Supporters spend all of their time devoted to the Quester in pray and mystical aid. All Supporters lose one magic point an hour for engaging in Support, and double the amount of Fatigue. If, for some exterior reason, the Supporters are disturbed, for instance the enemy raids them, then the Supporters can no longer give Support!! One example of cult support is from King Of Sartar, where Orlanth should have been destroyed during the Requirement of Proof but calls upon those who loved him.
In the case of the much rarer, much longer Quests, such as Argrath's Lightbringer Quest in King Of Sartar, the Supporters normally devote about one day a week, and can act normal otherwise. All the Supporters do not even have to lend their Support on the same day! However, in this case, the Supporters must also devote permanent POW - they spend 1 POW per year of the Quest. Some Quests can last many, many years. Usually this Support consists of giving prays of hope to the Quester.
Continual Support
All HeroQuesters continually have some measure of continual support. Even though their supporters aren't at the temple lighting fires, singing, praying and making sacrifices, there is still some element of support. The Quester still knows that his cult/family/wife and children still love him and in doing so, even though he may suddenly find himself on the HeroPlane, he still has this support.
Looking at Tales of the Reaching Moon #7 this would be what David Hall describes as the "Intimate friends... who might call on Divine Intervention for the character. Such friends and kin are the character's supporters, who provide spiritual aide on the Hero Plane..." (p. 34).
This is nowhere near as useful as actually preparing for a HeroQuest, and having organised Support ceremonies, and neither is it as powerful as a Hero Cult, but it is still there.
For every Piety, Love or Loyalty Passion that a character has above 20, the character receives one Support Point. The high passion level demonstrates the characters close relationship with the supporters, be they family or cultists. However, these point do not add to POW, but they can be spent to increase success levels, just like normal Support Points.
The amount added is not cumulative with that gained from an organised preparation, so it is only useful if the Quester accidentally stumbles into a HeroQuest, especially when they are forced into involuntary HeroQuests (see later). So if a character has three Love passions above 20 and they gain support from only 1000 worshippers they only have 3 Support Points, not 5.
Returning to Tales of the Reaching Moon #7, one of the ideas introduced into HeroQuesting is the idea of Divine Qualities, of "special cards". These are powers that the Quester has, and can invoke them against other people - they are gained by HeroQuesting. For instance, an Orlanthi may be able to summon a Hurricane, or a Zorak Zorani could summon Gore and Gash. An perfect example of this is from King of Sartar p. 236-8 where Harmast Barefoot Invokes the HeroQuests of Orlanth and Aroka to prepare for battle against Dragons. In my opinion, you can invoke a HeroQuest anywhere, whether you are on a HeroQuest or not. I use a system almost entirely similar to Simon Phipp's idea of Invoked Powers (so give him the thanks : )
When a character sacrifices for a HeroQuest spell, say the Hill of Gold HeroQuest, they sacrifice the appropriate POW. They can then use that spell, casting it as a ritual ceremony, to send characters to the HeroPlane or on practice run versions of the Quest. Simple. However, in addition, at the end of every Quest there is a list of Invoked Powers (well, at the end of the Quests I've written at the very least : ), the HeroQuest spell can be cast, just as if it was a normal Rune Spell, and one of these Invoked Powers can be selected. To use the Invoked Powers again the spell has to be reprayed for, as normal, unless the character only has it one-use (normally, unless noted, HeroQuest spells are reusable).
Example: A Yelmalion HeroQuester with the HeroQuest spell of the Hill of Gold meets a Zorak Zorani. The Hill of Gold spell has a special power for Zorak Zorani, and so the Yelmalion casts the Hill of Gold Quest and invokes that power. It costs him 5 magic points as it is a 5 point rune spell. For the period of that combat, the Yelmalion can now take their POW extra to their general hit points before dying, but are unable to score criticals upon the Zorak Zorani. This reflects how Yelmalio survived the conflict with Zorak Zoran, but did not defeat him. The Yelmalion cannot Invoke any more powers until they return to their temple and spend five days in pray to regain the Hill of Gold spell.
These benefits cannot be dispelled except by another HeroQuest spell. HeroQuest spells are often Invoked to summon aid while on the HeroPlane, as Divine Intervention is ineffective.
Invoking HeroQuests carry with it certain unwritten penalties. It tends to bring with it the actions of the rest of the Quest. For instance, a Zorak Zorani knows the Hill of Gold Quest and Invokes it to steal the magic from a defeated foe. However, as Zorak Zoran faced Chaos of great power on the Hill of Gold Quest, a short period of time later this chaos shows up to fight the Invoker - summoned by the use of HeroQuest magics. Sometimes it is not chaos, but Orlanthi, sometimes nothing happens. As a guideline, if the character is Invoking Quests willy-nilly use these side effects against him, if he is using them at mythically appropiate times then refrain from indulging in their use. However, Questers should always be careful of Invoking HeroQuests.
Lastly, a character who has sacrificed for just individual stations of a Quest gets the Invoked Power connected to that station, and nothing else. Other than that it works as normal. So a Yelmalion who has sacrificed for the Zorak Zoran station of the Quest can Invoke it to gain powers against the Zorak Zorani, but not against Inora worshippers, Orlanthi, or to summon aid.
Hero Cults are sometimes thought of as being the true mark of the Hero. A Hero Cult is a collection of individuals worshipping somebody.
The Hero of the Hero Cult must be worshipped for some reason - people will only worship somebody for nothing if they are slave worshippers, which is something else entirely. Usually the Hero has a power, ability or spell discovered on the HeroPlane and taught to the Cult through him. Because most powers/skills etc... can already be accessed by other Hero Cults, only HeroQuesters who have discovered new powers have Hero Cults.
One example Greg Stafford gave was Mike the Yelmalion who won the powers of Fire back from Zorak Zoran at the Hill of Gold. Rather than every Yelmalion gaining access to these powers, it was only those who joined Mike's Hero Cult. If, eventually, Mike's Hero Cult was so widespread everyone always joined it, then Yelmalio would have his Fire powers back. See the RQ Con Compendium.
Sometimes a Hero Cult is formed out of reverence of a previous act, or out of a desire to lend more power to the Hero to help him in his course. In such a case worshippers gain no power but their only reward is what their Hero does. For instance, Sartar is worshipped for founding his country, while Argrath might be worshipped as Destroyer of the Lunar Empire - those who worship him gain no power but know their investment will result in the destruction of an awesome foe.
Creating a Hero Cult
The forging of a Hero Cult primarily involves a Hero creating a mystical link between himself and those who wish to worship him - much the same as the Link between a God and his initiates. In doing so, however, the Hero's free will becomes limited as they're cult controls them and their existence.
To create this mystic link is not too difficult if the Hero intends to make their Hero Cult a sub-cult of another God. Take the Hero Cult of Gerak-Kag, which is a sub-cult of Kyger Litor. All the Hero has to do is HeroQuest to their god's current residence on the Godplane. Once there (and it can easily be a difficult task) the Hero must teach their God their new ability. Then, when the Hero returns he can form his cult and grant his power via a Rune Spell or Spirit Magic Spell. Alternatively, when the Hero Cult does not need to teach a new power (such as Argrath or Ralzakark), a simple spell can be used - such as the 4 point spell The Enthronement of Orlanth which re-enacts Orlanth taking Umath's position.
There are two problems to this approach, though. Firstly, it may be undesirable for the god to accept the Hero's Power. For instance, trying to Illuminate Urox or teaching Ressurect to Humakt. Secondly, the Hero Cult is still subject to the parent cult and only worshippers of the parent cult may join. Plus, the God may demand that the Hero Cult is subject to some special condition, such as requiring a particular skill, possess piety or take an appropriate geas. For instance, only worshipers of Kyger Litor may join the Hero Cult of Gerak Kag.
Another approach is available, especially if a Hero worships no god, a dead god, a weak god or a god that has no wish to accept the power the Hero offers. While it has less restrictions, it is far more difficult. The Hero himself must devise some way to create the mystical link. This is a very freeform activity, it requires a large amount of research, aquire a large amount of magical energy (primarily through supporters) and then engage in a HeroQuest spell of the HeroQuester's own devising. The amount of magical energy necessary for this would run into thousands of magic points. Very few Heros have achieved this level of power - Sir Ethilrist is one, the Pharaoh is another.
An example HeroQuest to become a Hero is the Path of Thed, where a Quester travels to the home of the broo mother, rapes here and gains power. Another example Hero Cult might be a troll who manage to retrieve the Sandal's of Darkness and return them back. His cult would then be part of Kyger Litor.
Not every Hero who dies, apotheosises. In fact, very few do. Most go and join their gods in their respective domains and receive worship through their Hero Cults. Only Heros who make special preparation become Gods. Post humous worship in the Malkioni lands converts a dead soul into a Saint, and a Hero. This requires the entire support of the Church responsible for the Saint.
Benefits
Firstly, the benefits that Quester would have for having the Support of his Hero Cult are permanent, he always has their Support Points when he goes to the HeroPlane, and the POW gain is permanent. The POW gain also increases maximum POW, so a character who has an extra 9 POW has a maximum POW of 30. This makes Heroes with large Hero Cults very powerful individuals (such as the Exarchs or Godunya, or Moonson).
Secondly, by having a large Hero Cult the Hero creates an intrinsic connection between himself and the cultists, his free will is limited the same way that a gods actions are limited by his having worshippers. In HeroQuest terms, the Passions of the character are altered. The extent to which they are altered is easily calculated, take the Support Points granted by the Hero Cult and multiply them by the Passions indicative of that cult. What is meant by this, is that a Hero with mainly Orlanth worshippers in his Hero Cult takes the amount of Support Points granted, say 4, and multiplies them by the Passions an initiate would have. So, the passions of Orlanth are Hate trolls 3, Hate Chaos 5, Hate Fire Worshippers 2, Love Family 3, and Loyalty Family 4. Therefore the Hero gains 12 points in Hate Trolls, 20 points in Hate Chaos, 8 points in Hate Fire Worshippers, 12 points in Love Family and 16 points in Loyalty Family.
The Hero cannot refuse these Passions, even if they are illuminated or really, really don't want them.
If the Hero Cult is not composed of people from another cult, and is instead just a motley collection of people following the hero for reasons other than religious affiliation, you will have to award your own Passions to the cult. For instance, a Hero who has a Hero Cult and is dedicated to killing Lunars and destroying the Empire, but is worshipped by a wide variety of people, might be said to have a Hate Lunar Worshippers passion.
Penalties
The loss of Free Will due to Passion gains is what hinders most Heroes. Also, having a cult makes it more likely that they will be sucked onto the HeroPlane from time to time. If a Hero defeated Zorak Zoran and regained Fire, he will continually find himself having to battle to keep it - and the larger his cult, the more often he appears.
HeroPaths
A HeroPath is a HeroQuest that is based on the actions of what a Hero did to change an established myth. For example, in the original Well of Wisdom myth, Orlanth faces the challenge of the Baths of Nelat as one of his tests. Harmast Barefoot's HeroPath for the Well of Wisdom, which any sane Orlanthi would use instead of the original Quest as it is impossible to survive the Baths, has the Quester face the Fires of Ehilm instead. Harmast established a Heropath on the HeroPlane that others could follow at a later date. HeroPaths are only formed if a Quester enacts a deep HeroQuest on the Godplane itself (an Other Side Quest) where the change can be made. Generally, as these Quests are the "divided by ten" type, where everything met is exceedingly difficult, HeroPaths are not a vastly common thing. Most Heroes who grant Hero Powers through a Hero Cult have HeroPaths. For instance, Gerak Kag of the cult of Kyger Litor has a HeroPath that allows you to learn how to jump just like he did. Sir Ethilrist has a HeroPath that allows his followers to go and get a Black Steed.
All Heroes have HeroPaths. They can be sacrificed for as Rune Spells in certain circumstances. In these cases only members of the Hero Cult can sacrifice for the spell, which is generally the same cost as the HeroQuest that has been altered. If the Hero enacted a previously unknown HeroQuest, rather than merely altering an old one, the Gamesmaster should determine the cost.
Apotheosis is one of the possible paths a Hero can take. Apotheosis covers a wide range of fates, some desirable, others not. Before I begin, I must point out that I do not believe that Apotheosis is forced upon powerful individuals as there is no Gloranthan precedent. Loosing Free Will is punishment enough for being powerful.
Apotheosis can be either voluntary ascension as the head of a Hero cult to the HeroPlane or a Hero seeking out his rightful place among the gods as a god and not some petty figure head of some two-bit sub-cult. A mention must be made here of individuals who seek out paradises on the HeroPlane and hide out there, for eternity, in bliss. Not actually apotheosis as they have no divine status, but certainly a nice end for a Hero.
Apotheosis to the Head of a Hero Cult means retiring to the HeroPlane before you die, or making preparations so that upon your death you can still be worshipped by cultists. In both cases the god to whom your Hero Cult belongs to is sought out on the GodPlane and must be convinced of the desire to give the Hero a permanent place in their God Palace. As most Heroes have already sought out their gods to actually make a Hero Cult in the first place, they usually encounter little problems in apotheosising to the HeroPlane as the head of a Hero Cult for the God. A Hero who dies without such preparation for their Death can no longer be worshipped for power. Their cult dies out with no-one to initiate new members and the HeroPaths the Hero made fade away.
The more stereotypical meaning of apotheosis is to ascend as an actual Gloranthan God, i.e. Sartar, Red Goddess, Argrath. Here the Hero must assemble their power and forces and meet all of the Gods on a HeroQuest, and demand the right, and fight for the right, to be worshipped as a God, no longer under the watchful eye of another deity. Two obvious examples come to mind, Sartar and the Red Goddess. The Red Goddess was a seriously powerful individual who managed to find the assembled gods at Castle Blue and rightfully fought for her place in the Cosmos. Sartar, while not as powerful as the Red Goddess, had the backing of Orlanth and the Lightbringers, who would have spoken for his right to ascend. Any being who wishes to ascend as a god in their own right must find a place to exist upon the GodPlane, one is never provided. This must be sought before acceptance as a god. Upon acceptance as a god the Hero ascends and can now be worshipped across Glorantha, grant Divine Intervention and can now only be affected by powerful HeroQuests.
As a side note, not all apotheosises have been voluntary. Many gods have fooled others into exchanging their positions in life, so the God can regain their lost freedom and return to the mundane world. Generally this only occurs with weaker gods, as the stronger ones have so little free will.
The Infinity Rune is "the mark of the gods... it implies total control of the power flow around the user, making him invulnerable to all magic, among other abilities" (RuneQuestII p.54). It is the binding Rune of the Cosmos, it rules and commands all other Runes. In the same way the world is made up of interactions involving the Runes, the Runes are made up of interactions involving the Infinity Rune. It is the "modus operandi" of the Universe. All superheroes, dragons and some gods have the infinity rune.
The Infinity Rune is a sign of connection, permanent connection, with the macrocosmic world. With the Infinity Rune you gain a better understanding of the Cosmos. It connects you to the world of the Transcendent, the "unknowable and changeless world" (RQCONII Book p.70) that goes beyond the normal world, the spiritual plane and the magical realm - into the all embracing nature of the Universe. The owner of this rune finally understands the workings of the mystical world and can manipulate the powers of magic like a sorceror can manipulate the physical world with magic. Those in contact with Infinity gain an amazing understanding of the Gloranthan universe - why be afraid of death and an afterlife if you control Death? If there is no need for an afterlife, the majority of religions have suddenly become obsolete - the Infinity rune brings greater freedom.
Illumination is a specific extension of the Infinity Rune. Not all gods have the rune, some are too caught up in the tangible world of magic and men. For instance, Storm Bull is interested only in killing, not the transcendent, as is Orlanth Adventurous and Aranea, while gods like Arachne Solara and the Red Goddess are different. A player is in contact with the Infinity rune, but not as much as the Gamesmaster :)
The Infinity Rune is usually owned in partnership with another rune, and is tied to it. For instance, Jar-Eel has Harmony and Infinity, whereas Arkat Humaktsson has Death and Infinity. Unlike normal Runic Links, Infinity is either owned, or not, there is no gradual progression.
Gaining the Infinity Rune primarily involves a long and involved HeroQuest. Anyone who gains it is considered to be a Superhero - although all True Dragons possess it. One can become a Superhero by reconstructing an old Superhero and incarnating them - thereby gaining the Infinity Rune. Once gained, it grants a variety of powerful benefits. Another method of gaining it is to follow the path of another Superhero to gain the Infinity Rune as they did. For instance, Harrek followed the same path as Elmale, Jar-Eel probably followed the same path as one of the Lunar Gods.
Firstly, the infinity rune relieves the Hero from the downside of the Runic Link the Infinity Rune is held in conjunction with, so Harrek no longer suffers casting penalties for having 100 in his Death Rune Link. Secondly, all spells that are connected the rune that infinity is held in connection with can be cast as Heroic Castings, in other words can be cast without having to be reprayed for, so Jar-Eel has access to an infinite number of Heal Body spells as Heal Body is connected to Harmony, which is the rune she combines with Infinity. Lastly, the magic flow can be completely controlled by the Superhero. They have access to an effective infinite reservoir of magic points, have infinite magic points for resisting spells, and can dismiss magic - or even stop it from being cast - by resisting their POW against the number of magic points in the spell. They can even stop HeroPowers and Divine Intervention if they succeed in a POW vs. POW with the user. Most mortals, however, can concentrate on a maximum of one effect at a time, and can channel their infinity rune against only one spell or HeroPower a round.
Note that even in the HeroWars, there are only three Superheros, Jar-Eel, Harrek and Androgenous. Before this there have only been a handful more, Elamle in the Second Age, Arkat in the First Age and a few in Godtime, like Tada.
Involuntary HeroQuesting only applies when a HeroQuester has undergone one or more mythical re-enactment quests. Normally, it has no effect until the Quester has been on more than five or six HeroQuests, so a campaign will be well underway when these rules come into effect. Until such a time, you can ignore them more or less.
Questers who engage in any form of mythical re-enactment quests (ritual, practice run, otherworld etc...) have an increasing chance ot be "sucked" onto the same HeroQuest at a later date as their connection to the myth increases.
There are two types of Involuntary HeroQuesting, deliberate and accidental. Deliberate is where an enemy HeroQuester delibaretly makes you the target of a HeroQuest spell to bring you onto his HeroQuest. Accidental is when a Quester is just summoned noto the HeroPlane, as it were. An example of the former is a Death Lord of Zorak Zoran going on a practice run of the Hill of Gold Quest and using the ritual to ensure that Euglyptus the Lightedsoul, enemy Yelmalion Rune Lord, appears at the correct point. An example of the latter is a Death Lord who decides to go on the Hill of Gold Quest - as a Yelmalion is required, the laws of myth will provide a subject. The more you enact a specific myth, the more likely you are to be that subject.
Everytime a Hero interacts with a specific myth, such as by going on a HeroQuest or invoking a HeroQuest spell, they become inimically connected with it. The GM should keep a list of all HeroQuests the Quester has been on (players could do it, but it is probably just easier all round if the GM does it). Each HQ has a number, indicating how connected you are to a myth. This is added to the character's total in that myth, or Quest Rating. The more times they enac ta particular myth, the higher their Quest Rating gets. The Quest Rating in one myth does not affect another.