Originally, I wasn't going to write anything about this game here, for perhaps obvious reasons. But it's what I'm running at the moment, and Calithena asked for more prac stuff.

So, how does one prep for Burning Wheel? This is my first attempt at it, and I had read much about people's triumphs and struggles. I posted a thread on the BW forum to make sure I was on the right track, and got advice that confirmed I was.

But wait, you say. Haven't you run fantasy games till they come dripping out your ears? Don't you know how to prep a game after 25 years? What sort of GM are you?

Well, BW is a slightly unusual game in several ways. It runs on the Beliefs, Instincts and Traits of the PCs. From what I'd read it wasn't going to be a good game for throwing freshly generated PCs into some previously worked-up adventure. The economy of the game tends to push players into chasing after their BITs (and derailing prepped adventures). Ergo, one needs to prep towards those BITs for a solid game.

This meant that a pregame chargen session was essential. But just to make matters harder for myself, I decided to go the full BW-freak route and generate the setting at the same time.

Between posts on the group's private forum and a dinner at my place, we thrashed out the details. Uh, after I'd sold the group on the idea that they were going to be helping to build the setting, that is. That was a bit tricky, but it worked out. The main problem (from my point of view) was that one of the players had a great distaste for the idea of generic fantasy, and kept suggesting existing properties like LotR or Lankhmar.

We settled on a compromise--the setting would be ancient Rome, more or less. I said up front that I was going to play fast and loose with history if I had to, and it didn't raise an objection, so that's what we ended up with. I was pretty happy with it; though to be frank, after years of running historical games and the quirky fantasy of Glorantha, I'd have preferred the full vanilla fantasy treatment for my first run. But that's life and roleplaying.

NEXT: But what about the characters?

So, the gang (3 guys and me) gathered at my house for dinner, beers and chargen.

BW is the crunchiest game I've dealt with for some time. I haven't counted the lifepaths in the Character Burner, but there are certainly several hundred. Amazingly, every one of us had a copy of the two-book rules, so that was all right. Having to pass them around would have been a bore.

It gets quicker with experience, as I've found the last couple of weeks, but that night there was an awful lot of silent page-flipping as we looked up various things.

We kept it to four lifepaths, but discovered that even that can create a wide diversity in character age and abilities. The characters ended up ranging from 23 to 32, with quite distinct personalities. Looking good.

We settled on all the chrs being related, and somewhere or other the idea of a crime family got into the mix. The game was beginning to take shape right in front of our eyes. A bit of Sopranoes, a bit of Godfather, a bit of Goodfellas--in ancient Rome. About this stage I was beginning to get some strong ideas, but I knew I had to push them back until we got the details of the chrs worked out.

As GM, I was kind of like the conductor here. I had to keep the orchestra playing at the right tempo and rhythm, give cues and so on. I was the one with the general overview of how this piece was supposed to play.

I'll post the chrs with their BITs in separate posts.

Tertius
Lusty Brawler

Age: 23
Lifepaths: (City-Born)> City Dweller-->(Outcast)> Thug-->(Soldier) Foot Soldier>Foot Soldier.

Beliefs

The gods guide us and we are slaves to fate, so I will square things with Mars by killing Marcus.

Life is short, and to be enjoyed, so I will free my brothers from their endless drudgery by stealing enough money for us to live in luxury.

Women will only lead to heartbreak, so I will make sure Calliope is married to a good husband, even though I love her myself.

Instincts

If I have money, I should spend it.

Always laugh off insults.

If my opponent draws a knife, draw a bigger knife and kill him.

Traits

Cold-Blooded

Drunk

Thick-Skinned

droog have you got any adventures in mind or is it going to be an improv kind of thing?

Regards,
David R

Appius
Seductive Gangster

Age: 28
Lifepaths: (City-born) City Dweller --> (Outcast) Urchin --> Prostitute --> (City-born) Criminal.

Beliefs

Blood is thicker than water. I will use my criminal contacts to protect and enrich our family.

When I was very young things were good. When our sister disappeared they turned dark. When we find our sister innocent goodness will return.

Those who hurt who I love, I will take revenge on. Gnaeus and his organisation will be destroyed.

Instincts

I become blissfully intoxicated in the presence of beauty.

I will try to either seduce or intimidate those who I initially meet.

I will never back down from an insult.

Traits

Dead Sexy

Addict

Tolerant

Cynical

Quote from: David Rdroog have you got any adventures in mind or is it going to be an improv kind of thing?

I'll get to that in a bit.

Urius
Cunning Sorcerer

Age: 32
Lifepaths: (city dweller) City Born-->(?) Arcane Devotee >Sailor >Sorcerer

Beliefs

Great treasures bring wealth and power. I will steal the Amulet of Aazarah.

I must learn more spells! I will seduce Calliope Dutorius and she will teach them to me!

The tongue is more powerful than the sword. I will connive, scheme and ensorcel my way into society's hierarchies. I will supplant Polia as head of the family.

Instincts

Entering an argument I cast Arcane Kindness.

When threatened I first rely on sorcery and my wits.

In physical combat I withdraw to assess the situation.

Traits

Base Humility

Gifted

Superstitious

Sea Legs

Suspicious

Quote from: David Rdroog have you got any adventures in mind or is it going to be an improv kind of thing?

Getting back to your question, David.

The idea is to take the PCs' BITs and run with them. That means not preparing adventures as such. My relevant experience in this comes from running Sorcerer, which is slightly different.

What you do is to have a long, hard look at the chr's BITs. Maybe you can make a relationship map like this:



which is just a tool to help get it straight in your head.

Then you start brainstorming and tossing ideas around in your head. Some time around here you can create the main NPCs listed in the chr's Beliefs. I had a cast of four:

Polia - the matriarch of the family.

Marcus - Tertius' enemy.

Calliope - a cousin, a sorceress.

Gnaeus - head of a rival crime gang.

It was my job to spot connections, flesh out these NPCs and so on. I had nothing to go on except what's actually written in the Beliefs. I played around with names and bits of paper for a while and decided a few things, e.g. Marcus would be Polia's second-in-command (and thus related). I created them as full BW chrs with appropriate lifepaths.

So, I showed up to the game with some fully-statted NPCs, some goons from Gnaeus's gang, and some ideas. Not full improvisation, not a planned adventure, just some things that would hopefully lead to other things.

The first scene was in the marketplace. I had the goons run across the three PCs. What would happen?

What happened was some roleplaying, some bluff and some magical persuasion. The goons departed without combat. A good scene that got us into the game and flexed the system's muscles a bit. It also provided the seed of later encounters with Gnaeus's men.

Enter Calliope in her sedan chair. Appius chats her up. Urius tries surreptitously to cast a spell on her. Tertius pokes him and spoils the spell, and a bit of an IC argument develops. Meanwhile, Calliope has asked Appius back to her place later. He goes, and they Do It....

That's where it stands right now. We're all a lot more knowledgable about how the game runs, and we're all keen to play again.

I don't actually need any help at this stage, but I thought I'd write it up and fish for any ideas people might have. I haven't fully decided what to do with the lost sister, for example; though I've made her up. Should I tie her in with everything else (e.g she could be Calliope's servant), or should I make her separate from the main relationships? That sort of thing. We want seedy crime Drama.

Does anyone want to see the NPCs?

Quote from: droogI don't actually need any help at this stage, but I thought I'd write it up and fish for any ideas people might have. I haven't fully decided what to do with the lost sister, for example; though I've made her up. Should I tie her in with everything else (e.g she could be Calliope's servant), or should I make her separate from the main relationships? That sort of thing. We want seedy crime Drama.

Sounds like a great game session, Droog!  As for ideas about what to do with the lost sister thread, perhaps she was kidnapped by Gnaeus' gang at the behest of a shadowy group of sorcerors or temple priests.  Perhaps even Calliope was responsible for picking her out for this "honor".  Maybe she is being trained, or maybe she is a slave.  In any case it would introduce a wider social/power context and introduce the theme of conflicts of loyalty between family and (in Calliope's case) a powerful institution.  

The hook for Appius is obvious, as he is connected now with Calliope, Gnaeus, and the lost sister.  Urius is already interested in Calliope, and would very likely be quite interested in a secret cabal of sorcerors who could teach him much if he gained membership (a test of his loyalty to the family perhaps).  Tertius is a bit harder, but he is also interested in Calliope.  In the end it looks like all roads lead to Calliope right now!  


TGA

QuoteIn the end it looks like all roads lead to Calliope right now!

Yeah, she's shaped up that way. I like your suggestions, but I'm going to have to sit back and process them before I can comment. I had thought that Gnaeus might get in there somehow.

Do you play BW?

Quote from: droogYeah, she's shaped up that way. I like your suggestions, but I'm going to have to sit back and process them before I can comment. I had thought that Gnaeus might get in there somehow.

Do you play BW?

Actually, I don't play BW but I do have have copy of Burning Empires that I read wistfully and think of ways to use.

One thing that I might suggest is an element of Roman religion and politics that I have used to good effect in gaming before, which is prophecy.  The Romans were a very superstitious lot, and they consulted oracles.  The most famous of these was a set of books called the Sibylline Books, which held secret predictions for the rise and fall of Rome.  The Sibylline Books were lost after a fire destroyed the Capitoline temple of Jupiter where they were stored in 83 BC and the Romans spent a lot of time and effort to replace them afterwards.

Perhaps a secret sect of sorcerors, including Calliope, is trying to create their own Sibyl in order to determine the future of Rome and gain political power and influence.  Maybe Calliope recognized the "Gift" in the lost sister and arranged for her kidnapping when she reached puberty.  You could drop hints about the lost sister's creepy ability to predict things and Calliope's interest in  her, along with Calliope's being "distraught" at the sister's disappearance.  At first the PCs may see her as an ally and source of information, but what will she do once she realizes that they are on her trail?  Will she lead them astray?  Will she (or her sorcerous allies) try to silence them by sending people after them?  Will she try to blame someone else to throw them off the scent?  Perhaps Gnaeus is innocent of the kidnapping, after all...

Just some thoughts.


TGA

Nice to hear droog.  Now that our regular GM is leaving, the rest of the group is gathering to discuss the types of games we want to play tomorrow.  I'm going to be pushing BW, even if it's just a couple of one shots at first to get familiar with the system.  It's encouraging that it worked out well for you.  

Did you post all of this on the BW forums?

Good Assyrian - thanks for the ideas.

Gunslinger - I posted to get advice for setting up, but I haven't since. Once we've played a few sessions I might write it up in the campaigns forum.

BW has been floating around our group for some time, but the crunch has put everybody but me off running it. Now that I've really got to grips with it I think the crunch is quite manageable. One-shots are probably a good idea to start with - we started a while back with 'The Sword'.

Quote from: droogGood Assyrian - thanks for the ideas.

Gunslinger - I posted to get advice for setting up, but I haven't since. Once we've played a few sessions I might write it up in the campaigns forum.

BW has been floating around our group for some time, but the crunch has put everybody but me off running it. Now that I've really got to grips with it I think the crunch is quite manageable. One-shots are probably a good idea to start with - we started a while back with 'The Sword'.

Glad to be of help.  I'd be very interested in hearing more about how the campaign goes, and more about what your experience is with BW.  I am interested in it, but the crunch is a bit daunting.


TGA

No worries, GA.

So far the crunch has been easy enough to slide into gradually. We used the straight resolution system, a bit of sorcery and gave out Artha. Again, that's the advice I've heard about BW--don't hit the crunchier subsystems in your first session. You start to get an idea of how it all fits together if you take it easy at first.