The following comes from Hwaet's rulebook more or less verbatim, and it's about how to play with epic heroes.

Making Epic Heroes

Hwaet doesn't have a defined setting. The main inspiration for Hwaet is The Mere Wife (affiliate link) by Maria Dahvana Headley, which is a no-less epic retelling of Beowulf, but set in the modern day and focusing on the character of Grendel's mother as the primary protagonist (in so much as she is able to be one).

However, epic heroes do have some requirements to exist in stories, so you need to consider a few things that go into storytelling as you choose a setting for a game of Hwaet.

Epic storytelling relies on conveying cosmic conflicts. It is not a question merely of existing in a fantasy world; the writers of the Odyssey, Beowulf, and Gilgamesh weren't thinking about creating some fantastical mythos (though, in each of these cases, they succeeded in doing so).

Rather, they were operating in liminal spaces, places where there is no border between our world and the unknown world.

These unknown worlds can be anything you want them to be. You can incorporate fantastical elements and places that are unexplored, or keep the setting realistic by focusing on the complexity of the mind and the perceptions of the characters.

In Joseph Campbell's monomyth, he describes the Hero's Journey in part as a process of entering an unknown world.

An epic hero enters an unknown world that nobody else has entered before. They find things on the other side of the threshold that are primordial, chaotic, and unknown. Jung describes the archetypal notions of day and night as a representation of order and chaos; an echo of the Chinese philosophy of yin and yang, and it is in the chaotic night that the epic hero earns their stripes.

In the darkness, the only thing that an epic hero can know is themselves.

Difficulties of Epic Storytelling

One of the challenges with epic storytelling involves remembering that it's not necessarily about how strong a character is, but about how they enter the unknown. Beowulf slays monsters and a dragon (though the latter ultimately kills him), but it is the niche that he carves out for himself, the ability to leave the rest of humanity behind, that makes him epic.

Hwaet is, however, designed to be played with a group of people. We recommend a smaller group (3-4 players, plus a GM), but this isn't necessarily a requirement if you're doing everything right.

The problem with the unknown world as a driver of epic storytelling is that it ceases to be unknown when the known enters into it. The epic hero testing themselves is a key part of the journey, but five epic heroes in the same place removes any element of suspense.

Wyrd

In Hwaet, we rely on the Resistance Toolbox's systems and expand upon them to help keep characters epic. Each character has a Role that determines how they get Refreshes, which restore a character's Resistances. If a character doesn't act in accordance with their Role, they can still get stuff done, but it will eventually crush them.

It is also sometimes difficult to encourage people to take risks, and this is where our wyrd (pronounced as either "weird" or "word") mechanic comes from.

Wyrd is a form of destiny; it is a personal fate that every epic hero must confront. Beowulf must fight monsters, Odysseus must find his way home, and Gilgamesh quests after immortality.

Wyrd is a power source and a weakness; each character has a unique wyrd, and they may have special abilities that allow them to align themselves to their own wyrd or others'.

The Three Act Structure

Hwaet is set up to tell stories in three acts. At the end of each act, characters refresh, and time passes (how much time is up to the GM and the players).

The first act introduces characters and lets us learn who they are and who they will become. This is important because you can establish each character. This is the place where the hero gets their wyrd.

The second act takes place in the unknown world, and presents challenges and opportunities for the heroes. The actions they take here earn them Advances, but they run the risk of abandoning their destiny and meeting their doom.

The third act involves the hero confronting their wyrd, typically back in the ordinary world. At the end of this act, they will triumph or perish.

Not all characters have to be in the same state at the same time, but they should move through the acts. Consider having one session be the first act for all characters, then a few sessions where players are just establishing themselves in the world. Once this is done, you can weave in the final acts of heroes' lives as needed.

A hero does not necessarily need to vanish when the third act comes to pass. They may continue to assist their allies, or become recurring characters that oppose their allies.

However, during their third act, a hero must face their challenges alone.