[Burning THAC0] B2: The Keep on the Borderlands (ooc/setup)

[engrishonly]

As an aside, I haven't played BW before, but I have played Mouse Guard, which is extremely similar. Unlike Dnd, BW (as I understand it) encourages intraparty conflict and independent goals. It's what drives the game. If you come from a Dnd background these are hard habits to kick. I still struggle with them myself. Don't be afraid to write conflict into your character. Trust the game and the GM and go for it.

Yes. Conflict is good... perfect situations are bad.

The other thing is to allow the story to emerge through play. Don't feel bad if things aren't perfect now. They shouldn't be!

Don't have perfect resolution before the game isn't even played. Otherwise, there will be no drama.

 

[Kobold Stew]

<snip>
I think Constance just has to pick three Beliefs and it's over. If it were my character and I was cruising for artha, I'd probably grab 2,3, and 4.

Combat will probably happen eventually, but I know my character won't be fighting in any battle where we don't have good odds. Burning Wheel (and reality) is too dang hurtful. I already lost an eye. I'm not getting wounded again. That's the job of the slow characters!

I like that Constance has this interesting piece of leverage with the pardoner. Maybe what she needs is to recruit some knuckleheads to accompany her into the caves to find her sister. She sounds like leadership material to me.

Thanks, Malathus. Your clearsight is appreciated. I'm putting her (revised again) into the RG.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Interesting.

[MENTION=23484]Kobold Stew[/MENTION] - any ideas for why Constance might have persuaded a dwarven soldier to help her? I don't think a dwarf would make an oath lightly, so it'd have to be something pretty big.

I think Aurvang's drinking could definitely explain how he knows Constance and even her sister, Vanity.

I agree. I was thinking that maybe it would go the other way -- I was thinking of a reason to follow you:

I was thinking something like
* Dwarven secrets will increase my fame, and Aurvang, drunk, will tell me his secrets.

If this worked, it could replace either the belief about the Paladin or (better?) the one about my sister's abduction. That would then have me coming with you and the paladin (discharging a debt and questing for knowledge), and keep Vanity as an NPC at the keep.

I'm open to advice -- I'll take any two of these three (Dwarf, Paladin, Sister).

Thanks, everyone, for help.

 

[mistrlittlejeans]

I like the one about Aurvang. Having another character in the group encouraging him to drink would bring a lot to the game.

I also like Constance's instinct to find an exit. That could lead to some interesting situations when we are underground.

 

[engrishonly]

I agree. I was thinking that maybe it would go the other way -- I was thinking of a reason to follow you:

I was thinking something like
* Dwarven secrets will increase my fame, and Aurvang, drunk, will tell me his secrets.

If this worked, it could replace either the belief about the Paladin or (better?) the one about my sister's abduction.

Let's go Dwarf, then.

It forces me to derail one chain of thought (Halflings & Kobolds in the setting), but that was only a weak one without player character support.

Now that there's a Dwarf PC in the mix, we've got good reasons to throw things into the setting.

We can throw Dwarves into the Keep, its environs, and the Caves of Chaos. There has to be Dwarven secrets out there to uncover, and that's cool with me.

Outcasts? Rune casters? Oathbreakers? Are the Oathbreakers related to the Pardoner?

What else might the Borderlands hold? Are the Dwarves related to the artifact that the Paladin is after? Is this artifact part of Vellekhyr's dread vision?

Maybe, maybe not. Gotta love emergent play!

 

[Kobold Stew]

I like the one about Aurvang. Having another character in the group encouraging him to drink would bring a lot to the game.

I also like Constance's instinct to find an exit. That could lead to some interesting situations when we are underground.

I'm so pleased that you like it. We'll put it in.

 

[Mathalus]

HandofMystara,

Think of something that your character needs a sorcerer for. Maybe you need a magic item made? Or researched? Perhaps someone is cursed?

Conflict within the party is fun, but you need to find an even bigger reason to be forced to work with us. What could lead a Traladorian to work with a Thyatian of such dubious origins?

I'm from Karameikos orginally. Do we have shared history? Can I help a loved one of yours? Maybe you made a promise to someone about me? I have a half-brother here at the keep. Perhaps he has won you over, and has told you to look after me?

Did someone turn your friend into a zombie and you need help changing them back? Do you keep your zombie friend locked up in a crypt while occasionally feeding it deer and cursing yourself? Do you need help constructing a spirit lure to catch your friend's soul? Or installing a spirit tether to make them human again? Feel free to get crazy. This is fantasy.

Or...

Why would a religious zealot do anything? Maybe because GOD SAID.

Remember, to have that Faith trait you need to believe in something otherworldly, sometimes without logical motivations. That's why it's called Faith, and not, Critical Reasoning. Just tell us what your god said in your dream/vision quest/blood ritual/angel molestation. How is your god going to test your faith? What is the best way to serve your god?

There is some crazy cult in that cave. Do you need to kill them? Or help them?

Or...

Why not try to convert us?

Alternatively, why do you need a confessor? What could tie you to Constance? Have you done something wrong? Fallen out with your god?

Or do you need the friendship of some dwarves so you can arm your uprising?

Maybe you need to watch what the elven spies do? Do you need to report on their activities to your leadership?


Just come up with half a dozen beliefs and Engrishonly will help you winnow them down to three and make them nice and strong.

 

[mistrlittlejeans]

I need to come up with a 4th belief. I was thinking of playing of my dwarven greed with something like,

"I will find Thror's axe in the Caves of Chaos and become the most renowned dwarf in the Keep."

What do you guys think? It could potentially play off the beliefs of Ferranatos, Vellykyr, and Constance.

 

[engrishonly]

I need to come up with a 4th belief. I was thinking of playing of my dwarven greed with something like,

"I will find Thror's axe in the Caves of Chaos and become the most renowned dwarf in the Keep."

What do you guys think? It could potentially play off the beliefs of Ferranatos, Vellykyr, and Constance.

What about a situation like "The Sword"?

For HandofMystara, "The Sword" is the (in)famous scenario that Luke Crane (the author behind the Burning Wheel) uses as a demo/convention scenario for introducing BW.

It is structured in a way that the scenario practically never plays out the same way. 4 adventurers, all with conflicting motivations, find the magic sword at the end of a quest. The scenario is about determining who ends up with the sword!

The Paladin could be seeking an axe that was used by his forefathers (the artifact that leads him into the Caves). What happens if there are multiple claims on one object?

 

[mistrlittlejeans]

Yes! I was thinking of something exactly along those lines. Also, Constance wants to learn about Dwarven secrets. Surely the axe is a great secret amongst the dwarves. She might want to lay claim to it too (that would be a belief that could come up later if Kobold Stew wanted to go that way). Vellykyr wants to keep Chaos within the realm or humans; perhaps the Axe of Thror is prophesied to bring chaos to the elven lands or dwarven lands, or both. Maybe for the Paladin the Axe could have appeared to him in a vision from his god, OR his holy superior could have bestowed him with a quest to retrieve it in the name of his god. Just ideas. Either way, I think having an item at play could really open things up in game.