Flexible, consistent system works at all power levels and uUpdates the world of Glorantha, maintaining flavor. Social skills are at least as important as combat skills. Runequest players may be disappointed, as the system is very different. Some skills/abilities are vague.

Runequest was one of the first RPGs that I played. It was a rich world with a simple game system. It even had a built-in goal of Heroquest - following in the footsteps of a favored God or Hero, trying to emuate them. The problem was that a system geared for normal adventuring generally does not function well at Heroic levels. Like Golcanda in Vampire, it was a goal that could not be attained. A Heroic supplement was promised, but never appeared, and Runequest went the way of the Apple ][. Last year, Isaries has released HeroQuest, which rewrote Hero Wars (a Heroic game set in Glorantha) rules to make them more comprehensible and playable. Along with those rules comes the ability to use the same system to play Gods as to play beginning characters. Good luck, but you can try!

The game system defines characters not by skills or levels, but by keywords. A character can use any ability that falls under the the keyword terms, and improve specific skils once used. Higher level skills gain mastery, which means that you are as good failing your roll as a normal person is succeeding. Successful use is as good as a critical is on normal rolls. Higher mastery allows you to reduce the successes of your opponent. Using a skill is a contest between your ability and an opponent or default. Multiple magic systems use the same rules.

HeroQuest retains the flavor of Glorantha, but with a flexible skill system that allows what the name promises. It is well worth the purchase and the read. Although the mechanisms of Runequest (one of my favorite games of my misspent youth) are gone, the spirit of Glorantha lives on. Take a look at HeroQuest and trace the paths of Gods, Demi-Gods and Heroes!