My copy arrived yesterday, I got one with a signature of the author for €12.
I´m reading right now and would  love to understand it a bit better (and to check my understanding so far.).

But all those AP threads that I have found so far were written rather badly and don´t connect to what I thought this game was about (spy/ political /planetary invasion) ("And then came, like, his lesbian roommate, and totally successed him":confused:).

If anybody knows a good AP, please let me know.

Secondly, does anybody know if this game can be played with just one DM and one player?

Have you checked out the Burning Wheel Forums yet?  They've got loads of sections on BE.

What it's about?  Hrm.  As best I can express (having just started playing a campaign of it, myself) the idea is to show what it means to be human.  The invading worm-aliens (the Vaylen) are basically a test ... is being human good enough?  If your humanity weakens you then your planet dies.  If you throw away your humanity in order to be strong then your planet dies.

Mechanically, there's this resource called Artha, and generally speaking if you're being genuine and passionate and totally fucked up then you'll be earning it hand over fist.  Doesn't even matter what you're doing ... a court ball works just as well (if not better) for generating Artha as a firefight.  Basically, you just roleplay like crazy-cakes, and you're probably generating Artha.

How well you succeed at the game-that-frames-the-game (countering the Vaylen invasion) will depend a lot on both how much Artha you have, and how you can apply the Artha and your skills to actions that impact other players.  So, if you've got a lot of petty squabbling, but bonds of friendship or family (or whatever) let you rise above it when it counts ... well then, you're showing the strength of humanity, and you'll probably kick Vaylen butt.

Except that they don't have butts.  They only borrow the butts of others.  But ... you get the idea, right?

Mmm. So far I though it´s all about depleting the "hit points" of each side, and the hit points are determined by the burning process.

So Artha is that important?

Quote from: SettembriniSo Artha is that important?

Artha can be pretty important, yeah.  Even the cheapest variety lets you open-end sixes, which doesn't seem that important, but is usually an extra success or two on big rolls.  An extra success or two is usually the difference between success and failure.  If you've got Artha to burn then you're going to get "lucky" almost all the time.  If you're running lean and hungry then you're going to get screwed a lot ... which leads back to more Artha, so at least it's self-correcting

I knew the wiki/forae, but am really stunted on a decent AP in them. If you know one, I´ll gladly follow your link.

Quote from: SettembriniBut all those AP threads that I have found so far were written rather badly and don´t connect to what I thought this game was about (spy/ political /planetary invasion) ("And then came, like, his lesbian roommate, and totally successed him":confused:).

Heh heh, that would have been mine (I think).  That was pretty cool.  She was a bisexual Vaylen with Seduction 7.  The cool part was how he beat her up after sleeping with her in order to find out where his buddy was.

Did I mention that we were going for a campy 70's sci-fi feel?  The old TV show "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" was mentioned more than once.  Maybe not in the spirit of the game/source material, but it was our table.

We ended that game, though, after it came to light that what I wanted out of the game wasn't what other people wanted out of the game.  So we went back to D&D.

QuoteWe ended that game, though, after it came to light that what I wanted out of the game wasn't what other people wanted out of the game.

Care to explain? You know, I´m the guy who thinks them Thematics are a hobby unto themselves, I´d appreciate any data points for that theory.

QuoteSo we went back to D&D.

That´s a cure for many problems.

Quote from: SettembriniI knew the wiki/forae, but am really stunted on a decent AP in them. If you know one, I´ll gladly follow your link.

Sadly, I'm not too familiar with them either, yet.  Like I said, I just started seriously playing the system.  Hopefully someone more knowledgeable can direct you!

Quote from: SettembriniCare to explain? You know, I´m the guy who thinks them Thematics are a hobby unto themselves, I´d appreciate any data points for that theory.

Sure.  After the last game I was talking about the game with one of the players.  His impression was that it was a tactical battle between the Vaylen NPCs and the PCs.  My take, or style I guess, was that the whole Vaylen deal was just a method to come up with cool stories.  I realized that we were approaching the game differently and we'd probably be better off playing D&D, because our approach (or style or whatever) in D&D was the same.

This was the guy who had his PC beat up the Vaylen for info after he slept with her.  I saw that as a really cool move that reflected on his character, etc.; he saw this as the best way to win the game.  That's why I wanted to talk about the game, because I figured if he wasn't grooving on the same stuff that I was, we'd both let each other down.

Kinda like going for a high-five at the wrong times and being left hanging there.

Quote from: LostSoulThis was the guy who had his PC beat up the Vaylen for info after he slept with her.  I saw that as a really cool move that reflected on his character, etc.; he saw this as the best way to win the game.  That's why I wanted to talk about the game, because I figured if he wasn't grooving on the same stuff that I was, we'd both let each other down.

:confused: Umm, that's what you are supposed to do. Play hard for the win because the way to win is make [totally in-character, Artha earning] cool moves. Holy crap, you both had the game working for you and you stopped? :what:

Yes Settembrini, Artha is critical. Even more critical is when you decide to spend it. Do you spend it at the microlevel during the scenes (possibly to save a character's life, or to kill someone) or save it up for the macrolevel game in the Manuvuer roll at the end.  EDIT: If a player considers it a no-brainer to save it for the Manuveur roll then the GM isn't hitting them and pressing hard enough during the scenes. I mean getting down right vicious, things that the player feels they must respond to in some way.

Unfortunately I've not got a campaign up and going yet (my situation is that it takes time to get games into the rotation). The best described actual play I've seen is in a blog somewhere. I'll post it later if I can find it again.

Apparently, and from reading the rules I totally get this, it is easiest to start out with a Usurpation phase campaign. Because Infiltration, due to the indirect conflict (a lot of the characters won't even be aware of the Vaylen infection at this point) can be hard to really get going. It is more a feeling out and setting up phase. Until the players really grok how to take full advantage of the political and social mechanics with their characters it is hit-and-miss whether you'll have any sort of conflict.

For insight into the rough dynamics of the game, have you seen the new Battlestar Galactica? Even just mini-series or mini-series + first season. Very character driven with the relationships between characters being key to driving the actions.  Plus strategic planning + tactical battles (including fighters, specops troop action, sneaky-sneaky bombing, assasinations, politics, spying etc.)  EDIT: I've even seen it suggested you could do a BSG senario with the game.

Quote from: blakkie:confused: Umm, that's what you are supposed to do. Play hard for the win because the way to win is make [totally in-character, Artha earning] cool moves. Holy crap, you both had the game working for you and you stopped? :what:

Trust me, it wasn't working.  Our goals for play were too different.

I am playing BE still, different group, tons of fun.  We're all on the same page in that game.

Is there any con-demo module?

I found only some for BW, and the wiki and the forae are kinda murky and hard to navigate.

If you found a BW convention demo then you are in the wrong Wiki.

http://www.burningempires.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Downloads, Fire Over Omac.

It´s not there!



EDIT: I found it!

Oops, it's just called 'Omac Demo Scenario' in that list.

http://www.burningempires.com/wiki/index.php?title=Image:Omac.zip