QuestWorlds is coming—who else is hyped?

This is the 1st time I've heard of it as well, although I am a fan of Chaosium owning all the CoC7 core books, Basic Roleplaying UGE and the new Pendragon 6e. The description at chaosium.com and drivethru tell me next to nothing about the core play mechanics - no preview at DTRPG and the one at Chaosium is just the ToC.

So, what is the core play mechanic for this system?

It's advertised as being setting agnostic, so I'm assuming it's targeted at homebrewers like me. But for homebewing, I already have BRP, Mythras, Savage Worlds, Fate Core, Cepheus Engine, Cortex Prime and True20. Does QuestWorlds deliver something new to the brewery that I don't already have?
Here’s a bit more info. Looks like there’s a livestream Q&A coming on the 18th:

 

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To see the difference with HQ Revised, you have the full SRD available on GitHub - ChaosiumInc/QuestWorlds: Files for the Quesworlds SRD

I have been using it for two years now, so I have kinda forgotten the differences with the precedent. Besides that the silly hyper narrativiste thing of fudging difficult levels to be sure that players succeed and fails at certain moments had disappeared, I detested that part of HQR....

The rules are solid, really open to describe any setting, and flexible enough to adapt, to be tweaked and enhanced.

It's like a more flexible Fate
 


Is this the system of opposed d20 rolls? If so that's a lot of dice rolling, which could make gameplay very "dramatic".

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One thing I'll say, as one of the folks who helped push QuestWorlds out of the door, is that in practice it's not that many rolls.

The traditional TTRPG approach is that there's a story obstacle, and to get around it the players must roll lots of discrete tasks. Roll this task with this skill, then roll that task with that skill, then another, then another. And any failed roll leads to complications that can extend the number of tasks even further. Whole sessions can be spent negotiating all these task rolls.

By contrast, QuestWorlds wraps the whole story obstacle up in a single roll. Perhaps a roll based on a key moment in the events that highlights your PC's skill. So, succeed or fail you rapidly move past the story obstacle onto either the next bit of story, or to the consequences of failure.

It's a style of play that's very different to traditional games such as those using the BRP system. Perhaps it's not for all people.
On the downside you lose all the detailed task resolution that I know some players like. Combat is resolved much faster and gets you to the aftermath quicker, but I know some people enjoy the wargaming aspect of combat, so this might not scratch that itch as thoroughly.

Also on the downside, GMs will burn through their story faster. That might seem scary for some GMs, but this should also lead to more time and opportunities for roleplay.

On the plus side the story progresses much more rapidly. You can get through whole campaigns in non-geological time. It keeps everyone more engaged and focused on the story. It also suits epic, pulp action, and keeping the excitement and energy levels high. The emphasis is more on the GM and players jointly telling their stories.

So it's a case of choose your poison.
 
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How is this version different (if at all) from HeroQuest Revised?

For me, one of the notable changes is the way that success and failure are figured. The clumsy look-up charts of HeroQuest are gone. Instead you just count up the number of successes on each side.

So, if you roll a success and have a mastery, that's two successes. If your opponent rolls a single success, and there's no Masteries to boost their score, they get one success which is beaten by your two.

It's really simple and for me basically means there are no more tables or charts worth remembering. Also, it doesn't really change the way the game plays at all. It's a nifty streamlining of something that could occasionally make me stop in my tracks.
 

The new QuestWorlds is 'setting agnostic' and encourages the creation of 'genre packs' - or world settings for QW.

To this end, I hope people don't mind me briefly plugging my own QuestWorlds genre pack, Spec-ops Magica Crisis. This is an anime-themed world setting in which you play high-school students at a magical school, becoming involved with espionage and counterterrorism.

I'll post more on this on the promotional threads, but you can learn more about it here: Spec-ops Magica Crisis

SMC_Cover_Thumbnail.jpg
 


I fully agree that QuestWorlds being ORC licensed and setting agnostic, it encourages the creation of genre packs. With the release of the core book, I’ve decided to resurrect my old blog, Playtesting.org, and use it as a space to share and develop a brand-new genre pack, Perseverance.

Perseverance is space western setting inspired by classics like Firefly, Cowboy Bebop, and The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers. It’s a frontier world on the edge of the Terran Commonwealth, where law is thin, fortunes are won or lost in the dust, and survival depends on grit, wits, and the speed of your draw.

I have just published the first post, Perseverance: a space western setting for QuestWorlds.
 
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HeroQuest 2E was a fantastic game. I haven't been keeping track of this one, but I'm looking forward to learning more. Though my interest is diminished quite a bit due to Chaosium's continued use of overly restrictive 3PP licenses.
They finally came around on that, thankfully, abandoning their awful in-house licenses and getting on board the ORC train for both QuestWorlds & BRP.
 

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