Let's vote up another Burning Wheel Character!

[Sanguine]

Yeah, I forgot about that. Definitely open Shield Training.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Okay, votes are tallied! And here's the loadout so far! Wow...just...wow. Orc Caesar, indeed!

92 years old

G7 Will, B6 Perception, G6 Forte, B5 Power, B5 Speed, B4 Agility

Skills
Armor Training, Shield Training, Mounted Combat Training (no ranks, just training skills)

G8 Command
G6 Oratory
G6 Intimidation
??+3 Brutal Intimidation (rooted in Hatred)

G6 Riding
G5 Great Wolf Husbandry
B8 Strategy

B3 Brawling
B7 Spears

B5 Name Ritual
B7 Clan-wise
B3 Rumor-wise

Next, we come up to Traits! These are the little quirks and defining facets of a character. They're sorta like D&D feats, but some of them have rules effects and all of them can earn you "bennies" if you play them up to your disadvantage.

We get a number of traits from just being an orc, and each lifepath gives us a bunch of possible traits; the first one must be purchased.

Racial Traits
Cannibal, Cold Black Blood (susceptible to the sun), Breeder, Fanged and Clawed (orcs get natural weapons), Loathsome and Twisted (the racial archetype, effectively), Lynx-Eyed (glowy red eyes + darkvision), Vile Language (their special Black Speech)

Required Lifepath Traits
Born to Rule Them All, Life is Death, Silent Hatred, Intense Hatred, Savage Consequences, Brooding, Flights of Murderous Fancy

Spare trait points: 4

Remaining lifepath traits...
Enemy of the Sun: negates orc weakness to the sun
Sprinter: increases a character's "stride" (they can maneuver in combat easier)
Low Cunning: gives you a bonus when you take an action to betray a superior
Unrelenting Hatred: just a "character trait"

So here's the deal; we have enough points to sink into a random "Die Trait", which is a trait that has a concrete rules effect. Alternately, we could pick up some of those lifepath traits; because they come in our lifepaths, they're buyable for the bargain price of one point each! (Most of the "Die Traits" cost 3-5 points.)

Instead of the Die Trait, we could buy a "Call-On" trait (Low Cunning is actually one such), which lets you reroll a test once per day under certain circumstances, or else break ties all day under those circumstances.

Or, we could sink points into random 1-point Character Traits, which exist for flavor and to be invoked against your character (such as if our orc's Silent Hatred compels them to a devastating course of action).

Which of those four options (Die Trait, Call-On, Lifepath traits, Character traits) sounds the best? (If we have spare trait points, we'll grab some Character traits anyhow; vote for them if you want to exclusively focus on picking them up.)

[The Glyphstone]

We can't pick specific Die Traits? Because this character is absolutely Lucky, considering how many times she dodged the Die of Fate.

[Sodalite]

I'll go with Die Trait, though if we were deciding on a specific trait I would once again have to agree with Glyphstone.

[Spamotron]

I think one point should be spent on Enemy of the Sun. Because this warchief is far too badass to let her prey get away just because dawn is breaking. Also its a good reason for her to be off on her own occasionally instead of always being surrounded by an Orcish horde.

"You, weaklings just cower from the light in your tents. I'll hunt down these fools by myself."

[The Glyphstone]

Definitely get Enemy of the Sun.

Low Cunning is kinda useless, because we're a freaking Great One III...what 'superiors' do we have? You can't even be a Great One IV (or else we would be ).

Sprint is...meh. And while Moar Hatred would be cool, I'd rather be Lucky if we can.

[Zelphas]

I like the Character Traits, personally. If I understand this correctly, then we could make her Impulsive as well as incredibly Lucky. It would explain the mess of terrible marriages floating around as an idea for her backstory.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Originally Posted by The Glyphstone

We can't pick specific Die Traits? Because this character is absolutely Lucky, considering how many times she dodged the Die of Fate.

Two-stage process, was my thinking, although people can feel free to suggest stuff. (I just want to keep it simple for those who haven't got the book. Way I'm thinking, it's easier to figure out what traits they want, then give them a list, than to give them a bunch of traits and have them slot them together in various ways.)

[Sith_Happens]

Enemy of the Sun + Die Trait

[Totally Guy]

If I was doing it I'd go for 3 lifepath traits and 1 character trait, lets call it Paranoid.

[Amphetryon]

Originally Posted by Sith_Happens

Enemy of the Sun + Die Trait

I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter bandwagon.

[The Glyphstone]

Originally Posted by CarpeGuitarrem

Two-stage process, was my thinking, although people can feel free to suggest stuff. (I just want to keep it simple for those who haven't got the book. Way I'm thinking, it's easier to figure out what traits they want, then give them a list, than to give them a bunch of traits and have them slot them together in various ways.)

Okay. In that case, Enemy Of The Sun + Die Trait.

[Fenix_of_Doom]

Originally Posted by Sith_Happens

Enemy of the Sun + Die Trait

bandwagon'd

ARgh I've become one of...of.... Them

[Analysis]

Originally Posted by Fenix_of_Doom

bandwagon'd

Yup. Save the Panzer!

[Siegel]

Enemy of the Sun
Sprinter (to get more stride and therefore better positioning with our Spear)

rest: Charakter traits (may change if i have a look at the book for cool traits. There is the one where you can spit poison...)

[Knaight]

Originally Posted by Siegel

Enemy of the Sun
Sprinter (to get more stride and therefore better positioning with our Spear)

rest: Charakter traits (may change if i have a look at the book for cool traits. There is the one where you can spit poison...)

Bandwagoned.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Our orc don't fear no puny sun! That's one clear trend for sure. It also looks as though the "Strider" bandwagon didn't beat out the "Some die trait" bandwagon...so...

Time to vote on a die trait! Unfortunately, Glyph, "Lucky" is a human-only dealie.

(Side snerk. I love this part of the "Lucky" trait. "Lastly, if the player makes a random in-game guess, via roleplay, the guess is always right--so long as the player isn't aware the guess is right.")

At any rate, I've grabbed a sampling of Die Traits from the book that can be bought for 3 points. If any of you who own Burning Wheel want to call out another, go for it!

Black Bile Poison: as mentioned before, your vomit is poisonous to non-Orcs
Dreamer: the character gets visions in their dreams
Extrovert: learns social skills easier
Fearless: is unflinching in the face of fear and pain
Loyalty: "Death is lighter than a feather, but duty is heavier than a mountain."
Manhunter: can pick up on strong emotion in others, such as fear or nerves
Missing Eye: missing an eye, surprisingly
Sixth Sense: you get a "feeling" when a life-threatening event/situation is near
Thousand-Yard Stare: nothing fazes this character, because they've seen it all
Weather Sense: the player can effectively make predictions about the weather, and have a chance of them coming true (only costs 2 points)

And that's a cut-down list! So, everyone pick your top choice, and a runner-up.

[The Glyphstone]

Thousand-Yard Stare sounds awesome. What this orc can't talk into submission or beat into submission, she eyeballs into submission.

[Knaight]

1) Manhunter
2) Fearless

[Sodalite]

Thousand-Yard Stare as well, followed by Dreamer, since that sounds like a ready source of plothooks.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Originally Posted by The Glyphstone

Thousand-Yard Stare sounds awesome. What this orc can't talk into submission or beat into submission, she eyeballs into submission.

I will point out that with that trait (which I forgot to add, only costs 2 points), and with our orc's will, the character will be almost impossible to faze when witnessing horrific violence or (more importantly) taking wounds.

(Seriously. A failed Hesitation test will ruin your fight, and this orc will pretty much never have to deal with that.)

[Randomatic]

Originally Posted by Sodalite

Thousand-Yard Stare as well, followed by Dreamer, since that sounds like a ready source of plothooks.

I'll join this bandwagon. If it's Thousand-Yard Stare, and only two points, I vote the last point goes into Sprinter.

[The Glyphstone]

Ok, Thousand-Yard Stare, then Missing Eye if we can afford it, and Sprinter if we can't.

[Sith_Happens]

1. Dreamer. The secret weapon that helped her get where she is. The question is, what being or force is granting these dreams and why does it want her to rule...
2. Missing Eye. Because at least a few people were talking about buying this as a Trait if the Die of Fate didn't do it for us.

[Acanous]

1: Missing eye
Y'all promised me some contention!
2: Breeder
For those *Tons of kids* that we were talking about.

[Zelphas]

I want to join the Thousand Yard Stare bandwagon!

For my runner up, going with the female Caesar idea, I'd say Manhunter.

[Xefas]

Thousand Yard Stare (Combined with our 'Life is Death' auto trait, we could probably do quadratic equations in our head while being strangled with our own intestines.)

And Scheming.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Originally Posted by Acanous

2: Breeder
For those *Tons of kids* that we were talking about.

Already comes with the package. The Racial Traits I mentioned already come with orcs.

Which, yes, means Cannibal Caesar.

[Xefas]

Originally Posted by CarpeGuitarrem

Which, yes, means Cannibal Caesar.

"You've failed me for the last time, captain. If you cannot serve me properly in the legions, perhaps you can serve me in the kitchens."

*Thousand Yard Stare*

[Sanguine]

Thousand Yard Stare and Missing Eye