My Setting In Play - Character Creation

[Lxndr]

(Burning Wheel needs someone as good as Brian Leybourne to wander in and create a character creation/advancement/storage program that'll print out the characters on a real-looking sheet.)

I thought aboust posting this in Actual Play, but this seems to make more sense.  Meh.

Well, we created characters last night.  It took a long time - not because of the Character Burner system, but because we had some indecision, some interruptions (and some conversational tangents), and stuff of that nature.  Also:  one CB book, three players + 1 GM all pawing through it... took a bit.

Anyway, we ended up with three characters and some questions and comments (there will be a fourth player, but he'll be joining us in a few sessions - he's eschewing all gaming until he's finished packing, moving, and at least unpacking the essentials, and I don't blame him for that).  So far, everyone's made humans, so all my race rules are left for NPCs.

Anyway, let's just dive right in:

The first character, Darius Wolfe, is being played by Lance (Wolfen here at the forge).  His character has the following LPs:

* Born Noble
* Apprentice
* Cavalryman
* Knight

I'm not going to type out the whole character, instead just pointing out some highlights:

1.  He's meant to be a sort of paladin type, without the religious implications (hence Apprentice instead of, say, Acolyte).  We had some stumbling issues with that which I'll touch upon later.

2.  His BITs:

Beliefs:  The Strong Must Protect The Weak, Duty Over Love, Someday...*  (I really like this third one)
Instincts: Trust Must Be Earned, When in doubt, act, something about helping the needy, Lance is working on the exact wording
Traits: Skulking, Sucking Up, Brave, Fearless, Charming, Determined

3.  His most impressive skill:  Sword G5.  The only grey skill picked up by any of the players.

Character 2 is as yet unnamed, and is played by Sam.  His LPs were:

* Born Noble
* Scout
* Quartermaster
* Falconer

He has one belief written down:  "An Eye For An Eye"
He has three Instincts:  "Dot the i's and cross the t's", "Always sit with my back to the wall", "Always make it a point to catalogue the faces and names of the people I meet."
His traits are:  Boaster, Weird, Birdie-talk, Spectacular and Rainman

Character 3 will perhaps be the hardest to integrate into the same story.  His tentative name is, no joke, "Davey Jones", and is played by Korey.

His LPs are:

* Son of a Gun
* Ratcatcher
* Sailor (Seafaring Sub-Setting)
* Sailor (Professional Soldier Sub-Setting)

His player doesn't seem to have chosen any Beliefs, but his three instincts are:

1.  Always be one step ahead of my opponent
2.  Always have more than one escape route
3.  Sense danger before it happens

(I'm not totally sold on these three, by the way.)

Traits are:  Sealegs, Ratspeak, Feral, Bilge Drinker, Rattiquette, Scavenger and Entropic

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So, that's the group as it stands.  Two members of the noble court, one a knight - and one sailor just stepping off the boat.  My first question to y'all is:  from what you've seen, how do these characters look?

Then we had some specific questions and commentary that came up during the game:

1.  In the sample combat that we played (they each played Mercenaries, I played three Hoszrem, one for each of 'em), the scripting system wasn't all that well-recieved.  The players (a) didn't think it was "realistic" (especially Lance, who does SCA fighting) and (b) didn't like being "locked into an action:.  I'm sticking to it, though, at least long enough for people to get used to the various manoeuvers and such.  I wasn't as up on the combat as I thought I was, so I kept having to look stuff up.

Lance came up with a question that seemed kind of odd.  My immediate jerk/gut reaction is that it's not allowed, but I told him I'd ask:  "The courage" is a spell that removes all Hesitation.  Does that mean that, while that spell is cast, a player can "Forfeit" without Hestitating on the forfeited action?  (I said no, once again, barring intervention)

2.  What, exactly, do Staffs do, damagewise?  There's a "Staff" combat skill, but I couldn't find "Staff" listed anywhere in the weapon section.  (Same with a sword pommel - I swear it's listed in there somewhere, but I couldn't find it).

3.  We came across an interesting situation with Sam's unnamed character - he managed to become a Quartermaster, and never ran into an LP that allowed him access to either Read or Scribe.  That seems like an oversight to me - shouldn't a Quartermaster be able to do those things?  I mean, he is one of the original paper-pushers.  I made an on-the-spot ruling that added Scribe and Read to the LP.

4.  Lance, in particular, seemed distressed that there was no difference in the rules for 1-handed vs. 2-handed swords.  Just "Sword".  I looked through the book but couldn't find anything.  Anyone?  Specifically the question was:  "Why would I fight with a two-handed sword in this game if it offers no advantage?  It's better to fight one-handed and carry a shield."

5.  We couldn't find a pre-made healing sorcerous spell.  So I tried making one using Abstract Magic.  Here's what I came up with:

Anima (Ob *, Syllables 10)  
Control (Ob 5, Syllables +32)  
Personal (Ob 0, Syllables +2)  
Instantaneous (Ob 0, Syllables +2)  
AOE - Single Target (Ob +1, Syllables +4)  
 
Anima + Single Target = Ob 3(?), 7 syllables  
Instant + Control = Ob 3, 17 syllables  
 
AST + IC + Personal = Ob 6(?), 26 syllables  
 
1/2 = Ob 3(?), 13 syllables

The assumption is that it would force the body back into a healthy state (hence the Control bit), but once there, the body would still be able to be hurt and punished and whatnot again (hence Instantaneous - "If a spell creates a...phenomena... these things come and go quite quickly, but any effect they have on the surrounds lasts" - if I was going for "and could never become unhealthy again" that'd be Permanent).

I'm not sure, however, if I did that right, so pointers on that would be helpful.  He's wanting "instant healing" which feels way, way too strong.  I'm wanting "automatic Treat of all wounds, with additional successes affecting the Health test" or something like that.  So... help?

6.  RPs seemed scarce (I was boggling at the idea that some could be "left over").  Lance in particular had this issue - he bought himself:

Average Arms, Average Bow, Chainmail, War Mount, Traveling Gear, Shoes, some Contacts...

...and then barely had enough left over for even two spells (and he couldn't at all purchase an Arcane Affiliation, which in retrospect is my fault since I forgot to adjust the Apprentice for that requirement).  But even with that... 2 spells?  No more?

7.  What is the rationale for (a) requiring clothes and shoes to be purchased (i.e. what happens to players who don't purchase them)?  Also, what is the rationale for spells with the "^" costing double... and how do I know if a spell I create using the abstract system should have a "^"?

8.  Finally, I've noticed one unforseen side effect of changing the game so that anyone can have Sorcery without Gifted - Faithful winds up seeming too expensive.  I'm thinking of revising the cost down to 1 Trait Point.  Thoughts?

I think that's all.  Forgive me for rambling.

[taepoong]

Zowee! A lot of questions, but I think there are answers (and logical ones at that) to each of them. Let's see...

The first character, Darius Wolfe, is being played by Lance (Wolfen here at the forge).

2.  His BITs:
Instincts: Trust Must Be Earned, When in doubt, act, something about helping the needy, Lance is working on the exact wording

Be careful here with instincts. What this guy has here seems more to me like Beliefs. Instincts work best when they are strict If/Then statements. They are actions taken when certain stimuli are experienced. They are meant to be specific. For instance, the first example "Trust must be Earned" is definitely a belief. It can be supported by an instinct that goes something like "If I give my word, then I never go back on it." See the difference? But even that is on the Instinct/Belief line. The last Instinct he has would work well along the lines of "If I see a beggar, then I give him a coin."

Also, I love it that this hero has the Skulking and Sucking Up traits along with Brave and Fearless. I have a feeling that these two will be lost during the first trait vote session. ;o)

3.  His most impressive skill:  Sword G5.  The only grey skill picked up by any of the players.

Good Heavens! The GM in me is cringing! However, it'll be nice to see him develop his other skills that must surely have been sacrificed for this one.

Character 2 is as yet unnamed, and is played by Sam.  His LPs were:

He has three Instincts:  "Dot the i's and cross the t's", "Always sit with my back to the wall", "Always make it a point to catalogue the faces and names of the people I meet."

These are much better instincts than the previous characters.  Although the first sounds more like a belief leaning towards a meticulous trait, it could still work as an instinct. Does it mean "always doublecheck my work?"

Character 3 will perhaps be the hardest to integrate into the same story.  

His player doesn't seem to have chosen any Beliefs, but his three instincts are:

1.  Always be one step ahead of my opponent
2.  Always have more than one escape route
3.  Sense danger before it happens

Again, these Instinct are very hard to play out as Instincts. How can the first one be resolved in an If/Then statement? The second one kind of works, as the character takes some time to assess each environment he steps into with an eye to escape. The last one is impossible and a bit abusive. "If danger is about to happen, then I sense it!" Yeah, right. Make this guy buy or earn a Spidey Sense Trait before he can start trying stuff like this! ;o) No matter that, he is certainly on his way to earning a Paranoid Trait even before gameplay begins!

Lance came up with a question that seemed kind of odd.  My immediate jerk/gut reaction is that it's not allowed, but I told him I'd ask:  "The courage" is a spell that removes all Hesitation.  Does that mean that, while that spell is cast, a player can "Forfeit" without Hestitating on the forfeited action?

Whoa, cheating already, huh? ;o) Your gut reaction was correct, I'd say. Always go with the INTENT of the spell before being locked in by the wording. The intent of The Courage is to dispel hesitation caused by Failed Steel tests, not from Forfeiting Actions. I'll talk more about intent in a later question.

2.  What, exactly, do Staffs do, damagewise?  There's a "Staff" combat skill, but I couldn't find "Staff" listed anywhere in the weapon section.  (Same with a sword pommel - I swear it's listed in there somewhere, but I couldn't find it).

I believe this is covered by the vague categorical skill "Cudgel."

3.  We came across an interesting situation with Sam's unnamed character - he managed to become a Quartermaster, and never ran into an LP that allowed him access to either Read or Scribe.

I don't have the CB here at work, but is there a skill that might cover the numbers game, like Logistics or something? But it does make sense that the character would need to Read or Write. Thus, he should probably take a Student LP to earn those skills - I mean, he was Born Noble, it makes perfect sense for all Nobles to be schooled. If not, he should then try to buy those skills with General Points. Finally, if neither of those solutions are acceptable, then you can fudge the LPs, but remember to give him an additional skill point for each skill you add.

4.  Lance, in particular, seemed distressed that there was no difference in the rules for 1-handed vs. 2-handed swords.

I am uncertain where to find this, perhaps it is just a rule Abzu implemented during our play, but when using a sword two-handed, add +1 Power to all damage ranks. So a bastard sword being used one handed will have an average IMS of 4/7/10; two-handed it would be 5/8/11. It's like a permanent Great Strike.

5.  We couldn't find a pre-made healing sorcerous spell.  So I tried making one using Abstract Magic.  

I'm not sure, however, if I did that right, so pointers on that would be helpful.  He's wanting "instant healing" which feels way, way too strong.  I'm wanting "automatic Treat of all wounds, with additional successes affecting the Health test" or something like that.  So... help?

Burning Wheel hates Jesus. Well, to be more precise, BW hates instant heal spells which nullify any danger or risk or consequences from being in a deadly combat. That is why there are no instant heal spells. But, there should still be spells and prayers that aid in recovery, of course.

My own player created a "healing" spell that works quite well within the BW philosophy. Facets: Anima, Enhance, Personal, Instantaneous, and Single Target. The Intent is to create a spell which boosts the target's Health Attribute so that he will heal faster. The Obstacle of the Spell equals the Target's Health plus three (the +3 is just like any other Anima effecting spells). Successes over this Obstacle count adds one die per success to the Recovery Roll made by the player. Thus, players with high Health scores will be harder to aid than players with low ones. And this is just fine with both of us. The cost of this spell is equal to the the final Obstacle x 2 since it is a "^" spell.

6.  RPs seemed scarce (I was boggling at the idea that some could be "left over").  Lance in particular had this issue - he bought himself:

Average Arms, Average Bow, Chainmail, War Mount, Traveling Gear, Shoes, some Contacts...

...and then barely had enough left over for even two spells (and he couldn't at all purchase an Arcane Affiliation, which in retrospect is my fault since I forgot to adjust the Apprentice for that requirement).  But even with that... 2 spells?  No more?

Honestly, I see no problem here. A fully-kitted Noble Sorcerous Knight with two spells. For a starting character this is incredible. Just remember, if he does purchase the Affilitation, he will get bonus resource points. This may help with the math to let him purchase more than he normally could afford. Also, the Apprentice LP doesn't get a lot of RPs - it is the Sorcerer LP which dumps the RPs onto the player. Apprentices shoudln't have more than one or two spells, after all!

7.  What is the rationale for (a) requiring clothes and shoes to be purchased (i.e. what happens to players who don't purchase them)?  Also, what is the rationale for spells with the "^" costing double... and how do I know if a spell I create using the abstract system should have a "^"?

Clothes and Shoes were really important items back in the day, I believe. After all, most people had to make their own clothes which makes them worth more to them than what modern apparel is worth to us. Players who don't purchase them don't have them, pretty obvious.

The rationale for the cost of "^" spells is that their effect is open-ended, which means they are MUCH more powerful than spells with a fixed effect.

Any spell with the INTENT of having an open-ended, non-limited effect should be priced with this cost. Like my Health spell above, the intent was open-ended. It's all about INTENT. Had my spell been, "I want a spell that adds two dice to any health test," then the cost would've been on a 1/1 basis. Make sure that every Abstraction has a well-defined intent even before deciding your first facet.

8.  Finally, I've noticed one unforseen side effect of changing the game so that anyone can have Sorcery without Gifted - Faithful winds up seeming too expensive.  I'm thinking of revising the cost down to 1 Trait Point.  Thoughts?

If magic is so thoroughly part of the culture, than reducing the cost makes perfect sense. However, use the basic principles of trait costs when figuring out it's new cost. Character Traits, like Greedy, do not effect the dice and thus cost 1 pt. Call-On Traits may effect the dice and cost 2pts. Die traits always effect the dice and cost 3pts. Thus you have to take a look at your world. My suggestion is 3pts.

[Luke]

Hi Lx (and Pete),

First off, Pete's answers are all spot on. Nothing to add on any of his rules calls. He knows what he's talking about.

I'd like to address a larger issue at hand and forgive me if i'm a little harsh.

You're letting your players walk all over you. Lance is obviously powergaming and twinking, and the other two are going half-assed in hopes you'll make their characters for them and give them an edge.

The first warning sign for me is that no one used your new races. Perhaps i've grown a bit heavy-handed in my old age, but when I slave away at building something up for two weeks for my players, there is no choice in the matter -- we're going in that direction. In this case -- the designing of 5 custom races -- I see no problem laying down the law and saying: "This is it."

But you backed off on that. That's cool, but much less so in light of what followed.

The first point to be addressed: What did you give them to go on? Did you all discuss and agree on a setting and situation? Did you present an idea of your own for them to wrap their heads around? I'm not talking about the world concept, i'm talking about situation. The game concept is just as important a spell concept in BW. It helps the players choose the facets for building their characters -- the LPs and BITs.

Why are they playing? What's going on? What's the situation? Those answers might clear up some of my issues.

Barring those answers, I will look at the characters:

Lance's complaining about the lack of spells/resources for his munchkined character left my jaw in my lap. If he'd like more resources, there are many more LPs he can choose from. Merchant is quite profitable for resources. No one is forcing him to be a heroically skilled Sorcerer-Knight.

(BTW, the SCA bit goes both ways. I know a number of SCA fighters who love the system--armor, scripts and all. It's really a personal preference, and a matter of getting used to something new and different. The system works very very well in play. Encourage your players to put aside their preconceptions and try again.)

Lance's Beliefs are great. Personally, I think his Instincts are fine, but the the first one might be tough for a first time BW GM to parse.

And I adore the conflict between his Sucking Up and Skulking traits vs Brave and Fearless. What a great dichotomy! I would play it that he is servile toward his sorcerous masters, but a completely different person in  public or on the field of battle.

Sam's character sets off bells and whistles right away -- Born Noble, but mysteriously with no ties or obligations to nobility. Hm. This would have been rejected by me at first pass. Born Noble is just a twink to either sound cool in the player's head or to earn more RPs and GSPs. Nothing to do with the scout/falconer aspect of the character. Any other Born lp would be appropriate. (BTW, not all Quartermasters were literate.)

His BITs are fine, good meat and potatoes BITs for BW characters. But there's an obvious trap here, another bell going off for me. I'll discuss it in a moment.

Last, we come to Korey's character and the bells are really ringing now. "Hardest to integrate into the story" sets my teeth on edge.

His LPs are great. I'll bet the numbers turned out a very nice character. But everything else is, frankly, wrong. The lack of Beliefs, the joke name,  and the complete and utter cheating Instincts are all just egregious. Either Korey didn't understand the system and philosophy of the game or he really just didn't care about this character (or your game) at all.

The red flag that is still flying high after reading over all three (quite passable) character concepts is that NONE OF THEM HAVE ANY BELIEFS THAT TIE THEM INTO THE SITUATION. Nothing that binds them to the fabric of the setting. Nothing to motivate them in the game -- to move them, or as Ron would say, to KICK them into play.

I've made this mistake in the past, and I don't intend to make it again. (I made it writing the game as well, I should have been more forthright writing up the BITs section. I just thought everyone would get it.) Let the players choose one or two of the standard character defining or ass-saving Beliefs, but that last Belief MUST tie into why that character is in play. Why is he in the game? What drove him from his comfortable life as a Sorcerer-Knight to be HERE, NOW?

This, of course, ties back into the concept of the game. If there was no concept discussed beforehand, the players have no place to lay their anchors. They're adrift at sea. So if you can answer the first question above, I think you can go back to them and knit this all together nicely.

(I would REALLY try to encourage them to translate their characters into your unique races. At this point it would just be a rearranging of the traits. Of course, to do this, you need to tie those races into the concept of the game and explain WHY they are good to play.)

Hope that helps.
Hope I wasn't too harsh. Ya got me all fired up!

Thanks for posting, I really do appreciate it.
-Luke

[taepoong]

Born Noble is just a twink to either sound cool in the player's head or to earn more RPs and GSPs.

I can't help but to voice my agreement here.

::ghostly, echoing voice:: "BewAAARE!! BEEEWARE!!"

Players who take Noble Born and then choose to ignore the logical responsibilities of this class are often out for RPs and Skill Points rather than good character "histories." Consider Nobles without a Noble Affiliation to be without rank or title or political power in any sense. They are fallen nobles and other noble NPCs (and PCs) should treat them this way.

It makes perfect sense for a Knight to be Noble, of course. But without a noble affiliation, he is a freelance without title or income. A ronin, for lack of better word. Though his contacts might be Noble, he's just an outsider if he has no affiliation, even though those contacts might be his own family!

[Lxndr]

Be careful here with instincts.

Yeah, I'll admit that I had a hard time deciding what instincts were good and which ones weren't.  Thanks for the tips, both of you.  (Tips themselves snipped to make the post shorter)

Good Heavens! The GM in me is cringing! However, it'll be nice to see him develop his other skills that must surely have been sacrificed for this one.

I tried steering him towards other skills, but that's what he wanted, so I figured "meh, so be it."  It's a specialization I don't really mind, but is kind of, well, extreme.

These are much better instincts than the previous characters. Although the first sounds more like a belief leaning towards a meticulous trait, it could still work as an instinct. Does it mean "always doublecheck my work?"

Yeah, that's pretty much what it means.  That first one is the only one that I suggested, and it's pretty much just perfect, in my opinion.

I believe this is covered by the vague categorical skill "Cudgel."

It's not skill I was worried about, it was weapon statistics.  There's already a skill "Staff" and "Sword Pommel" was just subsuming under "Sword."  But there's nothing in the weapon section for "Staff."  Or "Sword Pommel."  I have no idea what DAMAGE a sword pommel is supposed to do if it smacks someone.  None.  Or did you mean "use the cudgel damage rules"?

I am uncertain where to find this, perhaps it is just a rule Abzu implemented during our play, but when using a sword two-handed, add +1 Power to all damage ranks.

I will use this.  Thanks.  I've got a feeling it won't be enough for Lance, though, who feels that using a sword two-handed is better defensively than using a sword one-handed (w/o shield, anyway).

The cost of this spell is equal to the the final Obstacle x 2 since it is a "^" spell.

[/quote]The rationale for the cost of "^" spells is that their effect is open-ended, which means they are MUCH more powerful than spells with a fixed effect.[/quote]

You mean Obstacle x 4.  Obstacle x 2 is spells without a ^.  Or did I miss something there?  Also, I'm still not sure if I get the rationale, since ^ spells vs. non-^ spells are distilled the same way.  I dunno.

That is why there are no instant heal spells. But, there should still be spells and prayers that aid in recovery, of course.

Yeah, I'd rather not have instant heal.  And it's amusing that he's pushing so hard for one when just recently, in the TRoS game that he's running, he's chosen to enforce the healing rules HARD, to the point where one player's first character is more-or-less permanently in a coma, and his second character is going to be convalescing for months.

Also, the Apprentice LP doesn't get a lot of RPs - it is the Sorcerer LP which dumps the RPs onto the player. Apprentices shoudln't have more than one or two spells, after all!

Well, I plan on giving more RPs for the Apprentice because I am /requiring/ all apprentices (and thus Sorcerers) to be a member of an Arcane Affiliation.  That seems an unfair requirement if I don't jack up the RPs of the Apprentice to compensate for the requirement, no?  Don't worry, I'll take into account the spells and resources that he could have gotten from the Affiliation, instead of just saying "okay, +20."

I should also mention that, since Gifted isn't required to cast spells, I reduced the Apprentice's Trait Points to 1 (since the main reason they were given 3 was for Gifted).  So reducing Trait points, increasing RP for something required, I think it works out.  Finally, he technically has 3 spells, due to my ruling that any one who knows Sorcery knows Light.  (This is something I decided in my head but never wrote down anywhere, not something they talked me into.)

If magic is so thoroughly part of the culture, than reducing the cost makes perfect sense.

   Magic is indeed thoroughly part of the culture.  Anyone can learn Sorcery (and I encourage it), and the main restriction on what spells you can learn is "is it part of your affiliation" (hence my requirement for an affiliation from the Apprentice side - it determines whether I say "YES" or "NO" to a spell).

   The only question is "how common is True Faith, as opposed to Sorcery"?  The main BW setting seems to answer the question by saying "equally common" (i.e. costing the same, although I know they're not the same thing).  My Trait Cost alteration should take into account how common I want Faith to be in relation to Sorcery.

   I'm still considering, and your suggestions are definitely being taken into account.

The first warning sign for me is that no one used your new races.

Well, to be perfectly honest, I slaved away at them for me more than I did for them.  They're still an integral part of the setting, and if they don't pick the races, then they can still bump up against them.  Plus I've still got one player who'll make a character in a few weeks.  I seriously don't mind them not playing my races.

Why are they playing? What's going on? What's the situation? Those answers might clear up some of my issues.

Gah, we agreed on a basic setting ('vaguely fantasy Europe'), but nothing more specific, no situation, no happenings.  I dropped the ball there, and will now hang my head in shame and wander over to the corner.  I think we were all implicitly expecting situation to arise from the characters, which didn't work out very well.

Born Noble is just a twink to either sound cool in the player's head or to earn more RPs and GSPs.

I know it wasn't for RPs and GSPs, 'cause they had no clue what it gave until after they chose it (I read aloud from the book).  So it's gotta be the "sounds cool in the player's head" option.  

(BTW, not all Quartermasters were literate.)

Yes, but shouldn't they at least be given a CHANCE to be literate?  Besides, their LP only gives three skills, and they get 8 skill points.  I made my ruling 'cause, well, it just seemed to make sense that being a Quartermaster could at least POTENTIALLY be a "learn to read" situation, and it didn't seem to hurt.

The red flag that is still flying high after reading over all three (quite passable) character concepts is that NONE OF THEM HAVE ANY BELIEFS THAT TIE THEM INTO THE SITUATION. Nothing that binds them to the fabric of the setting. Nothing to motivate them in the game -- to move them, or as Ron would say, to KICK them into play.

Hrm, I hadn't even thought of Beliefs in terms of "Kicker."  But you're right, there's nothing there without 'em.  

Hope that helps.
Hope I wasn't too harsh. Ya got me all fired up!

It does help!  And no, I don't believe you were too harsh.  But you have spurred me to go back to the drawing board on this campaign, as well as (to some extent) the characters.  I'll bring it up to them this week (before Lance's TRoS game, which he's running, starts) and we'll dig in deeper before we actually start playing in February.

Nobles without a Noble Affiliation to be without rank or title or political power in any sense. They are fallen nobles and other noble NPCs (and PCs) should treat them this way.

Well, Lance's character, the knight, is a second son - it'd make no sense for him to have land of his own, and there's no "Noble Affiliation" category that DOESN'T give land. That was the reason why we decided against it.

As for our Quartermaster, you're right that it doesn't really fit for him to be Born Noble at all, and I will bring this up to him before the actual storyplay begins.

(But seriously, once again, I don't mind them not playing my races, no matter how much I personally love them.

[taepoong]

I have no idea what DAMAGE a sword pommel is supposed to do if it smacks someone.

A sword pommel strikes as a Power 1, Slow, No VA weapon.
A staff is a Power 2, Fast, No VA weapon.

I've got a feeling it won't be enough for Lance, though, who feels that using a sword two-handed is better defensively than using a sword one-handed (w/o shield, anyway).

I feel sorry for you in this matter. My only suggestion is for you two go ahead and create a 2-handed weapon style, taking inspiration from the back of the rulebook. Be warned that this will result in much cheating and munchkining on part of the player. I know because I made one myself! ;o)

You mean Obstacle x 4.  Obstacle x 2 is spells without a ^.  Or did I miss something there?  Also, I'm still not sure if I get the rationale, since ^ spells vs. non-^ spells are distilled the same way.  I dunno.

Perhaps you are right about the multiplier, there. I don't have my book with me, sorry. Anyway, even though they are distilled the same way, the process has no relation to the cost. It's the final effect the spell has that decides the cost - open-ended spell effects are simply way more powerful than fixed-result spells. More power = more cost.

~~~~

A cautionary word from my own experience. Don't give the players everything they want right away. If you do, what is left for the characters to quest for? I've seen lots of people make characters that had everything and could do everything. This resulted in bored players who blamed their disappointment on the game and not their own "creativity." For example, your sorcerour knight. Suppose you make him give up his horse in order to afford the Sorcerous Affiliation? Perhaps his first adventure might be to earn his mount from a local lord? I am sure you see where I am going with this so I will wrap it up. Need creates story.