Burning Wheel Lite Lark

[Luke]

let's see if we can put together a character from my mishmash notes.

Skill Roots
Academia  Insight
Artistic  Insight/Agility
Artisan  Insight/Agility
Craftsman  Insight/Agility
Criminal  Insight/Agility
Doctrine  Insight
Forester  Insight/Agility
Martial  Agility
Medicinal  Insight/Agility
Military  Insight
Musical  Insight
Philosophy  Insight
Peasant  Insight/Agility
Physical  Agility/Power
Seafaring  Insight/Agility
Social  Insight
Sorcerous  Insight


Ozsrik Ferrous, Dwarven Artificer-Trader

Lifepaths: Guilder, Soldier, Artificer, Dwarven Noble

Belief
I was born to trade and deal; I now trade the highest art of the Dwarves.

Instinct
Always attempt to strike a bargain.

Stats
4 LPs = 11 pts total.
Insight: 4+1+1 = B6
Agility: 3+1 = B4
Power: 4+1 = B5

Pretty bad ass.

Attributes
Steel: B6 (as per the question on page 25 of the CB)
Mortal Wound: B11 (Power+6)
Reflexes: B5 (average of Insight and Agility. This Attribute may go.)

Traits
Dwarven Greed
+Dwarven Common Traits to be Determined: Tough and Stout?
+ 0 trait points!

Skills
20 pts. It costs 1 pt to open a skill, skills open equal to half the root stat (rounded down or half of the average of two stats). 6 skills leaves me 14 pts to divide:
Social B3 Root + 2= B6, Dwarven Arts B2 + 2 = B4 , Martial B2 + 2= B4, Artistic B2 + 2 = B4, Academic B3 + 2 = B5, Dwarven Appraisal B3 + 2 = B6

Those are hot skills.

Gear
1 relevant piece chosen from each lifepath:
Guilder's Uniform and Insignia, Dwarven Tools, Dwarven Armor, Dwarven Noble's Axe.

Wound Tolerances
I think there should only be three wound tolerances: Lightly Wounded (-1D), Severly Wounded (-2D), and Mortally Wounded (ya dead).

Light Wound Tolerance is equal to Power.
Severe Wound Tolerance is equal to Power +3.
Mortal Wound Tolerance is equal to Power +6.

Ozsrik's Tolerances would be: Light, B5; Severe, B8; Mortal B11.

Jeez, it's still so complicated.

Injury and Physical Tolerance:
Causing harm to another with your fists or a weapon:
Test your Brawling, Weapon or Martial Arts skill. If you meet your obstacle, your character delivers an Incidental hit. If you exceed your obstacle by two, your character delivers a Mark Hit. If you exceed your obstacle by four, your character delivers a Superb hit.

Mark hit Damage: Add Weapon Power to the character's Power. This damage is compared to the target's Toleranced. If a hit meets or exceeds that Tolerance, the target suffers that die penalty.

Incidental hit is half the Mark, rounded up.
Superb hit is 1.5x the Mark hit, rounded down.

Melee Weapons:
Sword -- Power 3, VA 1
Knife -- Power 1, VA -
Axe -- Power 4, VA 1

Missile Weapons:
Roll the Die of Fate to determine the IMS of a Missile Weapon.
Bow: 1-2 I: B4, 3-4 M: B7, 5-6 S: B10. VA --
Crossbow: 1-2 I: B5, 3-4 M: B8, 5-6 S: B11. VA 1
Thrown Knife: 1-3 I: B3, 4-5 M: B5, 6 S: B7 VA --

Versus Armor according to the new system. Should we simplify it down to just one test/location, rather than armoring six separate locations on the body?


Advancement
Tough one to simplify, for me. I'm open to suggestions.

Sorcery
It'd be easy enough to do a spell list, but I'd like to do a simplified Wheel of Magic. Again, I'm open to suggestion.

What do you think? Have I spun out of control? I wonder if I could fit this in a 32 page saddlestitched book...

-L

[rafial]

let's see if we can put together a character from my mishmash notes.

Skill Roots

Must there be roots?  Stats still have a roll to play on unskilled attempts.  Just say "use the stat that seems to apply, double obstacle penalty".  Open all skills at 2.  Or better yet, beef up the skill points slightly and buy skills point for point.  No math, no problems.  If there must be roots, by all means no "average of two stats" roots!

Oh, and I still think one or two of those skills can be folded to tighten up the list a little.

And while we are on the topic of skills, I think you'll want to mention FORKs, but do it simply.  I'd say "justify how one other skill helps your attempt, gain 1D".  And justify how you help one other character, they gain 1D.  Actual forked skill level irrelevant.

Stats
4 LPs = 11 pts total.
Insight: 4+1+1 = B6
Agility: 3+1 = B4
Power: 4+1 = B5

Pretty bad ass.

Should the stat pool be lowered slightly (say by one?)  It seems like you'll usually pick up one point from lifepaths.

Shade should really be ignored.  Nobody is going to make a character with a grey stat skill in BW lite, and dragging the B's around is just one more thing to confuse.

Reflexes: B5 (average of Insight and Agility. This Attribute may go.)

Go!

Gear
1 relevant piece chosen from each lifepath:
Guilder's Uniform and Insignia, Dwarven Tools, Dwarven Armor, Dwarven Noble's Axe.

Lifepaths generate gear.  That's rad.

Ozsrik's Tolerances would be: Light, B5; Severe, B8; Mortal B11.

Jeez, it's still so complicated.

Doesn't seem too bad, the levels are easy to figure.

Causing harm to another with your fists or a weapon:
Test your Brawling, Weapon or Martial Arts skill.

Er, what are these skills you speak of.  It's all Martial now!
[/quote]

Superb hit is 1.5x the Mark hit, rounded down.

Melee Weapons:
Sword -- Power 3, VA 1
Knife -- Power 1, VA -
Axe -- Power 4, VA 1

A thought. prefigure IMS for all weapons based on a power of 4, then subtract 4 from each level, and add that straight on to actual power for each level.  i.e.

Sword -- Power 0/3/6, VA1
Knife -- Power -1/1/3, VA-
Axe -- Power 0/4/8,VA1
Hand - Power -2/0/2,VA0

It cheats the high power character slightly, but no need to do multiplications, and in fact you can even get away without prefiguring your weapons, just roll, get you success level, and add the appropriate bonus for your weapon.  So using this idea, somebody with Power 5 doing a incidental with their hand gets 3, and somebody with Power 2 doing a superb with a Knife gets 5.  Superb with an axe, 13!

Keeping to additon and subtraction as much as possible keeps the system feeling light.  People tend to stall on multiplies and divides.

[qoute]
Versus Armor according to the new system. Should we simplify it down to just one test/location, rather than armoring six separate locations on the body?
[/quote]

Yes!

Advancement
Tough one to simplify, for me. I'm open to suggestions.

Random suggestion, not thought through -- everytime you take a test, add the Ob of that test to a running total next to the Stat or Skill tested.  When the running total reaches some multiple of the Stat or Skill, up you go.  (Maybe 4x?)  So if you have a Skill 3, when you have taken tests whose Obs total up to 12, you go up.   And of course, you only get the highest Ob test on that Stat/Skill per scene.  (Might need to play with the multiple).

Sorcery
It'd be easy enough to do a spell list, but I'd like to do a simplified Wheel of Magic. Again, I'm open to suggestion.

Sounds cool, but no ideas here.

What do you think? ... I wonder if I could fit this in a 32 page saddlestitched book...

This could rule.  A great way to sell the most controversial aspect of the system (scripting) and get people into the general flavor without being intimidating.  And, by the time folks are pushing the limits of the little system, they'll be all ready for full on BW.

Have I spun out of control?

Only in that you've got a great game with lots of cool mechanics in it, and it is easy to see everything as vital (because for fulll on BW, it is).  For BW lite though, your mantra should be to cut ruthlessly to the bone!

[Sydney Freedberg]

Just wanted to say this is an excellent project. I got Burning Wheel a while ago and while it is a thing of beauty, it also broke my brain --

This from a man who wants realistic combat in rpgs!

;)

Hey!

Actually, I don't think you can get realistic combat in RPGs. I just want something that feels real -- which means fear & confusion, not endless modifier-crunching. Hence the appeal of a stripped-down Wheel: All the scripty chaotic goodness with none of the calories.

P.S.: I agree with Rafial -- away with roots!

P.P.S.: And "pick one item of gear from each lifepath" is beautiful. Elegant. Simple. Beats D&D-style shopping list every day.

[Luke]

Ok, ok...

The Reflexes attribute is out.

We can drop shade, too.

All skills open at 2 (I HATE this, because it encourages min/maxing, rather than well-rounded stats).

But, IMS stays as is. I REALLY don't think it's so complicated to do a tiny bit of pregame math.

Contacts: Choose one relevant contact from each lifepath.

Affiliation: Trade a contact or piece of gear from one of your lifepaths to buy into an Affiliation.

So we need a stripped down Wheel of Magic. Faith can stay the same, just with Obs 1-5.

Also, how about a "setting?" I know that's anathema to BW, but something to give this very simple, very vanilla/boring mechanic a purpose. Basically, something to make it a self-contained game.


Using the Sorcery Skill
All spells start Single Target AOE, Caster Origin. Meaning, a spell inherently affects one thing, and to affect it the caster must touch the target.

Spells must have a concept, intent and method.

To affect another character in game, the spell caster must choose what STAT is actually being affected. This is the base obstacle of the spell.

Spells that Heal and Harm affect Power.
Spells that Blind or Enlighten, affect Insight.
Spells that Quicken or Hinder, affect Agility.

Skills can also be used as a target, to enhance or detract from their abilities.

Combine Insight+Sorcery and roll against the obstacle.

Spells can add Dice or increase Obstacle. Neither of these allows a Natural Defenses test from the target.

Spells can cause harm. Obstacle is equal to the Target's Power. Damage done is equal to the Caster's Power +1 for each additional success.

Spells can subtract dice from the target (incapacitating them). Obstacle is equal to the target ability, extra successes reduce dice.

A sorcerer may extend the range of his spells. To be able to affect a character nearby (a few steps away, without touching them), increase the spell obstacle by one.

To affect a target at bow shot range, increase the obstacle by two.

To affect a target a great distance, add 4 to the obstacle.

To affect multiple targets, combine the total of the abilities being affected. This is the spell obstacle.

To affect inanimate objects, the GM assigns the object an ability score. For example, a sorcerer wishes to knock down a castle wall, the GM assigns the wall a 10 Power (it's really strong). That's the base obstacle for the spell.

Tax
Spell casting drains the  caster of energy. We call this drain Tax.
If a spell obstacle is less than half the caster's Power, there is no Tax.
Otherwise, test the caster's Power vs the obstacle of the spell. If successful, there is no Tax for that casting. If failed, margin of failure equals the number of dice temporarily subtracted from the caster's Power. Once Power reaches zero, the caster passes out.

Taxed Power dice are recovered 1 per hour.

Advancement
To increase a skill or stat one exponent point, it must be tested a number of times equal to the next rank.

A skill of 4 must be tested 5 times in order to advance.

Half of these tests must be failed, half of them must be successful.

In order to advance a skill of 4, 3 of the tests must be successful, and two must be failed. Or vice versa, but either way there must be success and failure involved. Tests are non-transferrable. It doesn't matter how many successful attempts one has, if there is no failure, the ability doesn't advance. Same goes for failure: It doesn't matter if the character has tested the ability 20 times, if they are all failures, then the skill doesn't advance.

What else are we missing?
-L

[rafial]

All skills open at 2 (I HATE this, because it encourages min/maxing, rather than well-rounded stats).

**scratches head**  I dunno, the most min-maxing I've seen when playing BW has been tuning stats to get the best skill roots

Also, how about a "setting?" I know that's anathema to BW, but something to give this very simple, very vanilla/boring mechanic a purpose. Basically, something to make it a self-contained game.

Well, the von Goten fiction & adventure, plus most of the sample characters on the website exhibits fragments of a basic setting (I believe it's your "dark Eastern European" campaign that you talked about somewhere).  Why not use that?

Heck, restat VGP for BWL, and add an extra page of "setting & background", four of the sample characters and you are done.

Using the Sorcery Skill

This sounds good.  Abstractions lite.

Advancement

Very nice.  Especially the must fail business.

What else are we missing?

Mmmm... Artha, simple wound recovery?  Oh and I'd include at the very least working quickly/carefully because its simple to explain and is one of the major things contributing to the flexibility of the BW skill system.

[Luke]

Ok,

Artha
Every time a player creates a difficult situation for his character by playing his Belief or Instinct, he earns a point of artha. The artha is earned on the spot. It may be spent to explode 6s on any roll.

For example, two players are Faithful but belong to different religions. They are lost in the wilderness and have to rely on a Faith test to find a way out. One player refuses the other's help -- even though mechanically it would benefit him, it doesn't fit into his character's Belief. He then immediately earns a point of artha.

Also, good humor and good roleplay can earn artha. These awards generally come at the end of an evening of play, but can be awarded on the spot.

Recovery
Can I add Health back in as an Attribute? Good, thanks.

If wounded, test Health vs the following obstacles:
Light Wound: Ob 2, 1 Week
Severe Wound: Ob 4, 4 Weeks
Mortal Wound: Ob 8, a year

If successful, the character will recover from the Wound. If failed for Light or Severe, the margin of failure permanently subtracted from one of the character's stats. If the recovery test for a Mortal Wound is failed, the character dies.

If successful, extra successes reduce the time by 10% each.

Medicinal Skill
Medicinal Skills help injured characters recover faster.
When tending to the wounded, use the following obstacles:
Light: Ob 1
Severe: Ob 3
Mortal: Ob 6

Extra successes are added on as dice to the character's Health test for Recovery.

It's best to make any Medicinal Skills tests first, and then test for Recovery.

-L

[rafial]

Can I add Health back in as an Attribute? Good, thanks.

What's Health?  Average of Insight and Power?

Seems a shame to have an Attribute that'll only come into play for this one purpose.  Derived scores are for wonks!  How about just letting the player test Insight or Power, their choice.  After given that this is "lite", why not give them a break on not dying? ;)

-wilhelm

[Luke]

Eh. Since it's supposed to be the little brother of BW, I'm going to keep Health. I don't think it's a crime or anything.

Hm, now for a stripped down version of the Duel of Wits!

-L

[eruditus]

You know what I'd like to see that would both supportive of past material and "innovative?"  (I think)

I'd like to see a scripting mechanic that kinda covers nearly any situation.  I have to say that I have been influenced by Dogs in the Vineyard on this one.  I like the idea of a stripped down, dynamic scripting system that would allow for a back & forth to happen for nearly anything.  Bascially a generic scene scripting.  

Could we come up with general enough terms and rules for working out how often you go in what situations, etc?