March 2012

Dear All

Sorry to anyone who has been trying to get in contact with us via the land line, it's been out of operation whilst we've been moving offices again - hopefully for the last time!!!

Our new postal address is

Unit 42A/6
Morelands Trading Estate
Bristol Road
Gloucester
GL15RZ

Big thanks to all those who came and helped with the move

In 2011 we ran some fantastic events, continuing in the grand tradition of Heroquest over the years, and the aim is to continue this into 2012 and beyond.

We’d like to thank all those who continue to support our club in whichever fashion suits, from those who give up their time to referee and monster, to those who come and enjoy the events themselves.  Heroquest couldn’t continue without everyone’s involvement

We all know that it has been a challenging year financially for everyone, and the continued support means a lot.

To that end, we have made some decisions concerning how we move forward with Heroquest.

For many years Heroqeust was SFB’s business, and then came under the banner of Otherways, but it is now its own entity. Although registered as a business, we wish to run Heroquest as a Live Role Playing club, for the benefit of those who come along.

So we have have reviewed the costs involved, and have reduced them all as much as possible, whilst still wishing to put on the type and style of events that people want, with the features that people have come to expect.

What this means is that from April 2012, we are reducing prices of events

Adventure Weekends will be £100

Special Events will be £200 – saving £50

5 days will be £400 – saving £100

These prices are still all inclusive – covering catering and site hire

We had tried for a couple for a couple of years to run membership schemes, but due to the variety of choices people made, it just seemed to overcomplicate things, so instead we have gone for the reduced price option to all those who come along and support the club.

What we ask for in return though, is for people to still pay by monthly standing order, as cash flow itself is our greatest financial challenge.

Al the bottom of this mail is the details of all our events up to March 2013, so please have a look and let us know which events you’d like to do, or you can see the events on the website - http://www.heroquest-larp.co.uk/larp-events/events-calendar.html

For those that don’t know, after 25 years, SFB is taking an extended break from Heroquest, and in October, Rick & JB ran their last Heroquest event Vortex – bringing some of the longest plot threads in Heroquest to a conclusion.

We’d like to offer them a huge thank you for all the efforts they had put into Heroquest over the years, and this has helped Heroquest become the fantastic club that it is today.

So this year starts with the Valley being under threat from the Kalid again, after their attempt to destroy it at Requiem, and only through the actions of the combined membership of the Valley working together were we saved, even if some of the residences were no longer available.

There have been some changes to the structure of the Tower and its leadership, but the adventurers of the Valley continue to shine bright in the activities, and have now been recognised for the sacrifices and actions they take.

All the details can be found on the website - http://www.heroquest-larp.co.uk/whats-it-all-about/campaign-world/inside-the-tower.html , which we will continue to update this year as details get revealed.

The first mission of the year 26-29 January, at Blackwells, see’s a group returning to the area of Wolfhold, to recover anything that may have been left during the passage to Fortunes Keep.

Thanks from all at Heroquest

Open Letter to all at Heroquest

Dear All

As the new year dawns, I thought it would be nice to give you an update on Heroquest in 2010 and talk about the future in 2011/12.
In several ways 2010 has been a more difficult year for our club, with a number of challenging things happening, in particular real life casting its shadow!!
We have had a number of events last year where we have had to change the referee’s at quite short notice. People’s jobs, illness, marriages, pregnancies and other commitments have all contributed and put a strain on running our events smoothly. However despite all this I think we have succeeded in producing the type of event we all wanted on the vast majority of occasions. This has been in no small part due to a number of individuals who have stepped up to get involved and help out – thanks.
2010 has also seen a number of our key people making changes in their lives:

SFB, who has driven Heroquest for 25 years, is having 2011 off from Live Role Playing totally. Feel free to contact him on a social level, but please direct all HQ conversations to me!

Mike has run his last Heroquest event – Brown Ops, in November. Huge thanks to Mike for all his efforts for Heroquest over the last decade or so.

Sarah got married – congratulations Sarah

Fraser is having a baby – congratulations Fraser


In 2010 we have also seen Heroquest start to exist for the first time ever in its own right. It is no longer a trading name for SFB or a sub-part of the Otherways business but its own independent thing. As part of that process we have moved out of SFB’s house to a small unit in Gloucester (more about that when I talk about the future). I am now the main point of contact for Heroquest though I have assistance from a number of people to keep things running.
Despite these challenges, we have had many successes this year and have run a splendid set of events which have generated some very positive feedback.
We have had really great support and help from all of our players, monsters and referee’s, without who’s time and effort, none of Heroquest would be possible, and so from myself, SFB, Pete, Pat & Rick, we’d like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has given of their time and energies to Heroquest.
We seem to send more and more kit to each event as well, so I know that we create a great visual spectacle to go along with our plot.

I am convinced that our events have continued to be some of the best Live Role Playing events in the country. We have moved back to a main central campaign driven plot this year, although it may not seem like it at times due to the diverse and rich tapestry of sub plots that we have to go along with it!
And so to the future.
Heroquest has always been an unusual operation, part-business, part- hobby club, with the success of its events relying more on the many unpaid volunteers than the small number of people paid to administer the mainly logistical side of things.

In 2010 we had been faced with tough questions about its future (it will probably end the financial year in debt come April 2011), however all those involved in running Heroquest are involved primarily because they love the club (no Director has ever been paid for being such) and it is this great fondness for what we have all enjoyed in the past which continues to drive us to see if we can make it work for 2011 and beyond.

Over the last few years we have been getting Heroquest into a place where it can operate without SFB (or his house). This has included a new office cum- kit store, a new web site, annual membership arrangements and of course a very small number of paid part-time people such as myself to handle the admin/bookings, catering for events and kit/weapons packing and maintenance etc. Of course all these things require money to fund them and Heroquest is not a big operation (with a total turnover of something in the region of £30,000 - £35,000 per year at most).

We are well aware that Heroquest events are not cheap compared to many other live role playing clubs but we remain convinced that things such as the quality and volume of both kit and sites used, the full catering on events, the website, the ease of booking etc are all key to producing the type of quality events we are used to.

As organisers we have done, and are doing, all we can to make the operations and administration of Heroquest as smooth and sustainable as possible. But the future of Heroquest is in the balance and the next 18 months will decide whether, and in what form, it can continue. What would really help us is knowing what demand for events there are over this period so we can plan accordingly and it is partly with this in mind that we have produced a new set of membership deals which we believe will not only help us plan but also deliver really good value to our members.

Events

We are keeping the event prices static for another year: Adventure Weekends £100, Specials £250 and 5 Days £500 .
Please note, 5 days are just our new term for the events we ran this year called ‘Heroquests’ and so they will remain in exactly the same format.
Also, Adventure Weekends will continue to be a 2 party 36 hour event, with some crossover between the parties, and after the success of our Yule event, with a return to more plot and action driven event, we will be doing this again in the future, although as it is Christmas, then the event will still have its traditional high level of jollity!!

Memberships

We have streamlined our membership schemes, introducing benefits for those who come along and monster our events as well. We have seven options, listed below, and we are running this next membership scheme from 1 Jan 2011 until 31 March 2012 (15 months). This just helps me with the admin!!

Book on 3 events in the period 1 Jan 2011 to 31 March 2012, 1 of these events you can monster, pay monthly by direct debit, and you gain an additional Adventure Weekend Free. (So you get to go on 4 events, 1 of which you may monster)

Book on 6 events in the period 1 Jan 2011 to 31 March 2012, 2 of these events you can monster, pay monthly by direct debit, and you gain an additional Special Event and Adventure Weekend Free. (So you get to go on 8 events, 2 of which you may monster)

Book on 9 events in the period 1 Jan 2011 to 31 March 2012, 3 of these events you can monster, pay monthly by direct debit, and you gain an additional 2 Special Events and 1 Adventure Weekend Free. (So you get to go on 12 events, 3 of which you may monster)

Book on 12 events in the period 1 Jan 2011 to 31 March 2012, 4 of these events you can monster, monthly pay by direct debit, and you gain an additional 3 Special Events Free. (So you get to go on all 15 events, 4 of which you may monster)

Book on 6 events in the period 1 Jan 2011 to 31 March 2012, 4 of these events you can monster, pay monthly by direct debit, and you gain an additional 2 Adventure Weekends Free. (So you get to go on 8 events, 4 of which you may monster)

Book on 9 events in the period 1 Jan 2011 to 31 March 2012, 6 of these events you can monster, pay monthly by direct debit, and you gain an additional 3 Adventure Weekends Free. (So you get to go on 12 events, 6 of which you may monster)

Book on 11 events in the period 1 Jan 2011 to 31 March 2012, 7 of these events you can monster, monthly pay by direct debit, and you gain an additional 4 Adventure Weekends Free. (So you get to go on all 15 events, 7 of which you may monster)

Heroquests Best Ever Offer

If, during the next 15 months, you take membership deal 1 and book on to play 3 adventure weekends and monster 1 other event of any type, you pay less than £13 per month. Only £200 for 3 adventure weekends 1 of which could be the 25th year celebration at a plush peak district hotel .


I know that there will be a few people who have questions, or have deals that currently run into next year, don’t worry, we’ll just have a chat and sort it out!
I hope this update was informative and useful. In any event if you have any queries please feel free to get in touch and I’ll look forward to seeing you all this year.

Cheers

Paul

07870 536840
01452 504666

December 2010

TRAVEL TO BLACKWELLS

November 2010

Hi All,

We have now finalised our membership schemes for next year. These will be slightly different from those we have had in the past.

This scheme will run from January 2011 until the end of March 2012 - so 15 months.

We have re-organised them to benefit all of those who come along to help Heroquest continue.

Find the details here on our membership scheme page - Membership Schemes

Paul

07870536840

01452 504666

October 2010

Having had to cancel the event last week, there are a number of items to clarify:-

The October HQ was to be a direct follow on from the September Adventure Weekend, in game terms, and thus we had not published anything from the September Adevnture Weekend.

The Shadowsfall announced a Time of Reckoning within 1 week of the September Adevture Weekend. In real terms this means at the end of the second week of October. We will make an In Character Announcement concerning this.

We will make an In Character Announcement concerning the characters who were "waiting in the mists" - the Low / Mid level party members of the September Adventure Weekend, who were going to go on the October HQ.