There are two sets of questions:
1. What rules system do I use when my players are on a heroquest?
This one is easy. Use the RuneQuest rules. They have characteristics, abilities, Runes, spells, allied spirits, bound spirits, allies, and the rest. They interact with entities, spirits, and the like – just like in RuneQuest.
So for example, when your players interact with Broadblade Blue, the Nuckelavee, the Lunars on the Cradle, or Yerezum Storn, you are already doing it.
2. How do I generate my own heroquest?
This one is harder. This is pretty much like asking for rules to generate your own adventures. And given that there are plenty of mythic quests, it covers a lot of area!
For example, do you want to be high-powered gonzo weirdness like Queen of the Demonweb Pits? Or do you want it something surreal and Jungian like the Mayan hero twins quest into Xibalba? Or do you want something like the Twelve Labors of Heracles?
What is key is that ALL of these are right. You want to let the characters arm themselves with the tools and secrets that might let them survive their quest – just like you do for any adventure.
But at the same time, when your characters go to Xibalba, we need to make sure that the deadly trials feel new, like it is being done for the first time, even if the Hero Twins had already shown the path. Kind of how Orpheus followed Heracles path into Hades, using the same entrance (a cave by Cape Taenarum), and the same path – but had to overcome those obstacles differently as Orpheus was not Heracles.
So the answer is more here are some ideas rather than a mechanical structure. Want the characters to free range around the hero plane (a common heroquest)? Use those Mythic Maps and let the characters learn secrets about those ages and places from libraries, cult secrets, and more. Want to have them summoned by their priests to steal the game ball from the Red Goddess? Find a way to get to the Moon and use that Moon Map in the Lunar Book and find the ball and fly back home.
One thing that we likely need to get our head wrapped around is the scope of heroquests. Don’t start from the position that the heroquest should be big cosmological events like the Lightbringers Quest or the Goddess Quest of the Red Goddess. Harmast pulled that off, where everyone else so far has failed. He did it twice, but that’s because he had done it once already. And nobody since her has pulled that off. Sure those are possible, but it is more likely going to have a result like playing Tomb of the Lizard King with 5th level party.
And that AD&D reference is intentional – those old modules were meat grinders. And so are those quests.
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