Burning Realms: Forgotten Realms Burning Wheel Game [Looking for Players]

[Aldrick]

System: Burning Wheel [Revised Edition]
Player Count: 4 or 5

• Book #1: The Burning Wheel Fantasy Roleplaying System, Revised Edition
• Book #2: The Burning Wheel Character Burner, Revised Edition

Character Creation: The setting we will be using is the Forgotten Realms, but rather than simply jumping up and telling me the type of character you want to play, we're going to create a situation together first... a situation that everyone will be excited to play in.

So, if you're interested answer the following question:

What event is happening (or has happened) in the Forgotten Realms that would get you excited about playing in the setting? This event should be a regional event rather than something world spanning.

My preference is something a bit more darker and grittier than your typical story set in the Realms. Think a tone closer to George R. R. Martin and his characters in a Game of Thrones more so than standard Realms fare. Burning Wheel simply seems to replicate the former best - it is a much less "heroic" system than D&D. It also lacks an alignment system; so there are no clear "good" or "evil" characters or NPC's. Everyone is driven by personal goals and beliefs rather than alignment.

Other Notes: Some knowledge of the Forgotten Realms is preferable, but we'll be changing stuff as needed to fit the needs and desires of the group. So while it is preferable, it isn't necessary or required. It just makes it easier for the purposes of integrating your character into the setting.

All members of the group will be expected to make at least one post per day, at a minimum. If you start to miss consecutive days you'll be removed from the group and replaced by someone else. We want to keep the game moving fairly rapidly.

Finally, I've never had a chance to play Burning Wheel so it's fine if you haven't either. We'll learn together.

If you're looking for an example of how it plays at a table, check out this video. This is Luke Crane, creator of the Burning Wheel, playing the demo "The Sword" with a group of players at GenCon. Most games aren't player vs player like that, and this one won't be either, it's just an example of how the game plays.

[Chambers]

Realms and Burning Wheel?

Shut up and take my money.

Interested.

Edit:

My main interests in the Realms are Cormyr and Cormanthyr, but I'm already running two games set in those regions. My suggestion for this game is Waterdeep. There's so many interesting ideas for adventures in the city that it's kinda ridiculous. There's political intrique with the Lords of Waterdeep, straight up dungeon crawling in Undermountain, dealing with the dark and dangerous aberrations, pirates, and drow of Skullport, negotiating between the merchant factions from Amn and Calimshan.

I'd be interested in an Elf that traces his roots back to Illefarn and thus is in Waterdeep because of its connection to Aelinthaldaar.

I know that's not really an event, but it's something to get the ball rolling.

[Oh My God]

Waterdeep sounds pretty cool to me; there's so damn much in the City of Splendor that its hard not to have everything you could want there. The three events there that really interest me all involve Halaster.

One of them is just insanely historical, and technically predates Waterdeep. Namely, the creation of Undermountain. Raise your hand if you want to be a non-canonical apprentice of Hilather? You know you do. It's like Hogwarts, but with a maniac for a headmaster and a horrible dungeon full of monsters.

... so its Hogwarts, I guess.

The second event is That One Time Halaster got kidnapped. The idea of Undermountain, this massive dungeon, slowly going out of control underneath a major metropolis tickles me.

The last one is, well, the last thing Halaster ever did. Namely, die. Even more chaos!

[Aldrick]

Alright all these ideas sound awesome.

So, here is what I have so far...

1. Waterdeep and its surrounding environs are the setting for the campaign. This is where the action is going to take place.
2. Something is fishy with Undermountain. Halaster Blackcloak has gone missing, and bad things are happening as a result.
3. Something about the ancient past, dealing with Aelinthaldaar before it was raised by High Elven Magic in –1100 DR.
4. Oh My God wants to play an apprentice to Halastar Blackcloak.
5. Chambers wants to play an Elf who traces his roots back to Illefarn.

This is what we have so far... so who wants to build onto any of this?

--------

Side Note: While I've read the books, I haven't actually played Burning Wheel. I'm not sure how a traditional dungeon crawl into Undermountain would go for a number of reasons. Namely, the Let It Ride rule, the use of scenes, etc.

Basically, I'd imagine it going something like... you venture into Undermountain for a specific reason, and you make a roll to see if you get to your destination successfully. If you succeed I describe the danger you faced along your way to the destination... and then you're there.

Of course, if you fail, I'd then describe your journey up until a certain point where you've hit a snag. Something has happened to prevent you from reaching your destination. You'd have to deal with that issue. Then I'd have you roll again (because things have changed - you've solved the problem!), and you'd keep running into snags until you hit a success. (Or probably die horribly in the process, because after all it's Undermountain. )

Of course you'd have Artha to spend to increase your chances and all that good stuff.

...but that's basically how I see a dungeon crawl going in Burning Wheel. It has a very different feel than D&D. The point is that you're always moving toward your beliefs, and the stuff that doesn't really relate directly to them is pretty unimportant to the story.

I have no problem with Undermountain being part of the story, and having everyone venture there or whatever... I just think it needs to be pointed out that it won't have the same feel as it would in D&D where you're basically exploring.

[Chambers]

Yeah, a traditional dungeon crawl doesn't translate well into Burning Wheel. I think Undermountain should be part of the story as it's such an essential part of what Waterdeep is, but I wouldn't expect a normal crawl. Halaster was never that interesting to me personally but I've always appreciated him/Undermountain as part of the background of the city and Faerun. Should be fun to learn more about it.

The Harpers are also active in Waterdeep and usually find ways to meddle their way into other peoples business.

[Aldrick]

Don't forget the Moonstars.

[Chambers]

Do you have any guidelines for character creation?

[Aldrick]

Yes, first we're coming up with the big situation that the campaign is going to be about. After that character burning will start. The more detailed aspects of character burning will be decided after the main situation is defined. (I.E. Should I allow anyone to have a gray shaded skill? How many lifepaths seems reasonable?)

I expect everyone to have a rough idea of what they want to play. I may whip up some lifepaths based on character concepts. For example, I'm considering doing that for Oh My God - "Apprenticed with the Mad Wizard of Undermountain". Lifepaths are what glue a character to the setting.

Character building in BW is supposed to be a group process where ideas are tossed back and forth. "I'm thinking about taking X, and having my character involved with the Y group in Skullport. What do you guys think?" "That sounds awesome, maybe you can write a belief that helps my character work toward establishing his thieves guild."

After characters are generated, the situation will be tweaked as necessary (likely based upon the beliefs), and then we'll begin play.

So, right now we're getting players and creating a broad outline on what we want to do. Then we're going to focus in on the details of what will be awesome. I'm hoping to break open the character burner within the next couple of days (if not sooner).

It depends on how quickly we can get everyone behind a situation that everyone thinks is exciting.

[Chambers]

Reading more about Illefarn it seems to fit very well with Burning Wheel elves. The poet-mages of Illefarn created portals that were walked by singing songs and it seems that most of their magic was done in this way, by singing.

One of the more esoteric uses of portals in Illefarn was for artistic purposes, particularly for what the elves called song paths. Great works of poetry were written so that they could be sung for hours at a time, and portal networks were created that would be activated as each singer walked over certain large, flat, enchanted stones set in the ground. The singer would be transported from place to place in rhythm with the song, the scenery in keeping with its message and tone. Minor portal systems, independent of each other, were created linking numerous spots in Illefarn's vast forest and the lands around it. Few song paths spread farther than this, and many were purposefully deactivated after a few decades of use. Those few portal systems reaching well beyond Illefarn were the province of the occasional mage, sage, or priest who investigated the larger world around.

Grief plays an important role as well.

Still, Illefarn's elves understood that their kingdom, grand as it was, would eventually fall and be forgotten. Their weighty consideration of history, time, and divination magic revealed no other outcome. This news provoked a melancholy that influenced much of Illefarn's art and literature, even touching the architecture of Illefarn's dwarves, who carved somber visages on their statues.

[...]

Much territory that was once Illefarn's was occupied by another elven kingdom for a time. Bowing to the inevitable, however, Illefarn was already in the process of being systematically abandoned, province by province, city by city, and had been shrinking for many centuries. Its fatalistic rulers continually moved their remaining subjects into ever-smaller national boundaries to improve the nation's defensive situation and make the most of their vanishing resources.

How great is that? They had learned so much that they came face to face with the futility of life and instead of avoiding the inevitable or fighting against it they succumbed to it and indeed hastened it by dismantling their own city. That's Grief.

I think I'd like for my character to be from Evermeet and has traveled to Waterdeep for some reason relating to the lost civilization of Illefarn. It could be he's seeking out forgotten Songs. Depending on the year we start he could be seeking the lost songs in an effort to lessen the mourning of the elves on Evermeet. The invasion of the Daemonfey in 1374 seems like an event that would cause great Grief among the elves of Evermeet. Perhaps they are not able to properly deal with it, as they have forgotten the words to their songs that would ease their Grief?

Tying it in to Undermountain, Halaster is insane. There's no telling what he's incorporated into Undermountain, stolen or found and placed in there. Maybe my elf is tracking down rumors that the lost songs of Illefarn are held there.

Voices of the Past Articles: Part I, II, III, IV

Here's a netbook about Illefarn and Aelinthaldaar. [Link]

[Aldrick]

That's great. Thanks for the links.

At the moment I'm re-reading the Waterdeep source material to refresh my memory on things, and to spark some interesting ideas. (And searching for interesting characters aside from the iconics.)

Hopefully we can get at least one more person interested.

[Chambers]

Hopefully we'll get more interest, but in case we don't I'd suggest starting at 4 or 5 Lifepaths to make the characters a little more well-rounded.

[WarGruntw]

Well, I am posting interest in this game, though I must warn you that I am new to the D&D playstyle and the only experience I have with Forgotten Realms is reading the Legend of Drizzit books. That does not make me the best player to pick up, I know that, but I am more than willing to learn anything that I need to.

[Aldrick]

@ WarGruntw -

Lack of Realm's knowledge isn't that huge of an issue; I have no issue with helping you out there.

The problem is that we aren't playing D&D - we're playing Burning Wheel, which is a different game entirely.

You really need two books to play:

Book #1: The Burning Wheel Fantasy Roleplaying System, Revised Edition
Book #2: The Burning Wheel Character Burner, Revised Edition

If you have those game books, then awesome. If not it'll be a pain in the butt to build a character without them.

[WarGruntw]

I have them, but I have yet to read through them. I am doing so now though, and it seems like a very fun type of game, to say the least. If its alright with you, I would still like to join in though it might take me a day or two to get through the books.

[Aldrick]

You don't have to read through the entire book just yet. A lot of the more advanced rules are highly based on specific situations, and are only going to come up at certain times down the road.

Below are the main points that you need to know:

Spoiler

Burning Wheel 101

How Dice Work
You roll a pool of D6’s. The notation is 4D for 4 dice, 6D for 6 dice, etc.

Rolling a 4, 5, or 6 counts as a success. Difficulty is the number of successes you need to achieve your goal. Obstacle 3 means you need to roll 3 or more successes.

So far, pretty standard, right?

Here’s where it gets more interesting. There’s various options you can do to get more dice to roll.

Carefully
If you’re doing something which has a time component (“Unlock the door before the guards come”), doing it carefully means you’re pushing the edge to do it right. You get +1D, but if you fail, you run out of time.

Helping Dice
If someone is helping you and has an applicable skill, they can give you a +1D by helping you instead of doing something else. They have to describe how they’re helping you (vice versa, you can help other people if you describe it). Teamwork works!

FORK Skills
You can “help” yourself if you have additional skills that are related in some way to the primary thing you’re trying to do.

If you’re tracking a wolf, Hunting might be the primary skill you’re using, but having skills like “Wolf-wise” and “Local Geography-wise” would be useful as well. Each FORK skill gives +1D. (You can usually get 1 or 2 of these if they fit, going for 3 or more is tough.)

**HINT** Having a few different knowledge skills (-wises) is like giving yourself a broad +1D or +2D across the board!


Advantage Dice
If you’re in some situation where you really have an advantage, the GM can grant an Advantage die, or more. But it’s really the GM’s call, so make your point and don’t push it.

Intent & Let it Ride
Say what your goal is.

“I want to sneak into the castle!” Good. “I hide in the doorway. Then I edge along the wall. Then I listen at the door. Then I…” Bad. (You can get into detail about –how- you do it AFTER you say –WHY- you’re doing it.)

The reason you do this is this- when you make a roll- it covers the WHOLE attempt. The GM can’t make you do 20 rolls of the same thing to get the job done- one big roll for a reasonable goal (You can sneak into the castle, you can’t win the whole war in one roll).

Basically, once you’ve made the roll successfully, the “Let it Ride” rule lets the success stay in play – I don’t randomly get to retest you.

Artha
Artha (pronounced Ar-tuh) is the “hero points” of the game. You get them for roleplaying your character in awesome ways – following your Beliefs, Instincts, and Traits, or challenging them. There’s three types and they help you in rolls like this:

Fate Artha
You can spend a Fate point after you roll to make it “Open Ended”, which means any 6’s you roll allow you to roll another die (and if those come up 6’s? You get to roll another die, etc.)

Persona Artha
You can spend a Persona before a roll to get an extra +1D. You can spend up to 3 on a single roll.

Deeds Artha
You can spend a Deeds before a roll to double the dice of your base skill or stat (before any extra dice are added on top of it).


Burning Wheel 102

Beliefs
Beliefs are the core goals and beliefs of the character.

Use them as guidelines on how to play your character- or, play up how your character has a moment of crisis in deciding to change her beliefs.

Chasing Beliefs or struggling with them is how you get Artha (see below).

Instincts
Instincts are automatic reactions of a character.

Sometimes they’re useful, because they serve as an “automatic” action for your hero (“Always know the exits in a room”). Just as often you might have Instincts which are set up to cause you trouble (“Never lie.”).

When you play an Instinct in a way that makes your life difficult, you get Artha.

Traits
Traits are sort of advantages and disadvantages rolled together.

You can always use a Trait to make the story more interesting – “I’m Philosophical, I’m going to try to learn about the Lich King’s views on life.” This kind of stuff earns Artha.

Some Traits are “Call-on” traits, you can use them once a session to either a) win a tie or b) reroll your failed dice.

Advancing Skills & Stats
Your skills improve by using them against certain numbers of Obstacles. This applies whether you succeed or fail.

You’ll need to do a couple of routine tests appropriate to your Skill, and a couple of really tough ones.

**Hint** You can get some tough tests out of the way by either attempting something while hurt or otherwise operating at less dice, OR by using Helping dice to help someone else do a tough test.

Getting Artha
There’s 3 types of Artha – Fate, Persona, Deeds.

Fate
You get Fate when you a) pursue your goals, b) let your Instincts cause trouble c) invoke your Traits to bring the story in an unforeseen direction.

Persona
You get Persona when you a) really roleplay and capture the mood of the game, b) have an internal struggle between your Beliefs, Instincts, and Traits in making a tough choice, c) achieve a personal goal (usually tied to a Belief).

Deeds
You get Deeds when you accomplish a huge goal larger than your own personal agenda that benefits many, for something other than just personal gain. This is usually the “end of the campaign” kind of stuff.

Circles
Circles is a stat that indicates how well connected your character is. You can use it to find NPCs and introduce them to the game.

You can do this to find nearly anyone- a blacksmith to fix your sword, your cousin who you’ve always kept in touch with, the one sage who knows the Dragon’s True Name.

The weirder and more rare the person, knowledge or service, the harder this is.

**Hint** Use Affiliations, Reputations, and –wise skills to improve your Circles tests.

Resources
This stat is an abstraction of how much money, wealth, status, and credit you have. You use it to buy stuff.

**Hint** Use –wises, Haggling, or related Skills to improve your Resources Tests.

After reading that you're pretty much ready. You know enough to build a character and understand the basic mechanics of play. The rest can be referred to as needed.

My main question for you is this: What type of game interests you? Even if you don't know much about the Realms, talk about theme or tone... or the type of character you'd want to play. Give me that, and we should be ready to create the big situation and stuff.

[WarGruntw]

Well, I was thinking about a Half-elf Rogue that was wanting to learn how to use magic. How I would play him, if I get in the campaign, is sort of a redemption style. He did wrong things in the past, still has a few habits that he is trying to get rid of, but is working on becoming "better" so other mages do not look down upon him. If I make him, part of his back story would have a mage recently saving him from some danger, which is why he wants become a better man and a magic user. That is sort of my rough draft anyways.

Theme and tone...well the redemption part is going to be the main plot of the character. He will probably start out with having many of his bad habits still while easily doing lesser(in his eyes) wrongs like they were nothing. That is the best I could give you, other then he could be heading from Luskan to Waterdeep to try to become "better" by changing cities.

[Chambers]

I had some thoughts regarding the Etharch and Citadel settings for Elves in Faerun. I think Evermeet is a shoe in for the Etharch setting, as well as the Protector sub-setting. Across the rest of Faerun, Wood and Wild Elves settlements would most likely be Wilderlands settings, while Cormanthyr would probably be another Etharch setting, with Myth Drannor as the Citadel.

The idea I have for my Elf Historian is that he was born in Evermeet but early in his life left the West and returned (for the first time) to the mainland, settling in Candlekeep. I think some tragedy would have been the reason for his leaving Evermeet; perhaps he's [Exiled]. I think Candlekeep might have two settings, the Elven Citadel and a Human College of Magic setting (from the Magic Burner). In D&D terms they'd probably focus on Divination magic, but there's not a clear analog to that in the Burning Wheel Element focuses. Not really important for my character, just background for the setting.

[WarGruntw]

So...is this game dead? I was looking forward to playing it, but its been awhile since Aldrick last posted. If there is anything I can do that could help, please let me know. The burning wheel game seems like a fun game type to play, and since this would be my first time playing it, I really hope this game goes through.