[Burning Wheel] Burning Summer

[taepoong]

Last Thursday, my little group got together to create our campaign which is limited to only eight sessions or so. Thus, their characters had to be involved from the get-go and needed a goal that could be completed in such a short time-frame. I decided to try something new for me and ask the players to create the world with me!

The first question I asked was "What is more important? The kind of characters you want to play or the setting you'd like to play in?" When they unanimously answered the setting, I then asked for ideas, beginning with my own.

"Okay, I would like to play either a city-based thieves' campaign where the PCs are looking to take over some territory!" Another player suggested a Renaissance setting. Another suggested a Roden campaign, but this was decided against. (The Roden are a super-secret race that will be included in the Monster Burner!) Eventually, we all hashed out a setting based upon Medici-era Florence. We decided to play in a vast, sprawling city with Houses ruling over territories. Our PCs would belong to one of those Houses.

Next, I asked them what kind of characters would they like to play that would fit well into our setting. "I want to play a smuggler with a boat!" "I want to play a bishop!" "I want to play a summoner!" Quite a diverse response but all possible within our city setting.

With these ideas, we went back to the setting and hashed out more details. There would be 3 major Houses and 2 minor ones. The Church was filled with priests who had no FAITH! However, there were upstart cults who actually had the power to do real miracles - obviously a threat to the current order of things. There would be a Court Sorcerer and Bishop attached to each House.

Popping up during these back-and-forths was the campaign goal. Knowing the setting and the kind of players, we hashed out how they would all be connected and what they were after. We decided they all belonged to one of the Houses that controlled the city. Theirs was an outcast House, however. Therefore, the campaign goal was for them to re-establish their authority in the city while bringing down the rival House that usurped them.

To achieve this goal, there ought to be a big bang which would serve to launch the story into the main conflict. We decided that the smuggler has got his hands upon some "ultimate" goods which will shift the economy in a major way. Whoever controlled this good would have enormous clout and power within the city. Sort of like DUNE, we agreed!

With all this in mind, I asked them to come up with one Belief each that MUST be related to our campaign goal. This was asked before we even began burning characters.

-The sorcerer's was "I must prove my quality to my master by defeating him!" (His master is the rival House's court sorcerer.)

-The bishop's was "It is our House's right to rule this city!"

-The smuggler's was "I must prove my value to my House and gain legitimacy in order to marry the woman I love!" The smuggler, it turns out, is a bastard. He lacks the status in their House to marry! By proving his worth by returning their family to prominence, he hopes to earn a true place for himself.

With the goal and setting now established, I gave them guidelines for burning their characters:

1) They had to be Born Noble in order to belong to the House. The Houses replaced nobility in this setting. However, because the smuggler was a bastard, he was able to be Born City.

2) They MUST take a noble affiliation. The priest had to take a temple affiliation, as well.

3) Based upon their characters' own personal beliefs and goals, I asked them to take appropriate contacts who were reflected in their Beliefs. Thus, the sorcerer had to take the rival sorcerer, the bishop had to take some church contacts, and the smuggler had to have his mistress and son as contacts! The smuggler bought a cog and a crew to sail her, as well.

4) I allowed them to take up to 6 lifepaths in order to generate capable characters who could accomplish their goal in the short time allowed.

The unexpected event was that all of their characters were middle-aged men. The smuggler was over 40! So much for idealistic young love! Instead, we decided he had been living with his mistress for years and also had a son by her. This made for some more great ideas. The mistress constantly nags here husband to become legitimate, while the bastard son of a bastard hates his father for the lack of status he suffers.

I even asked the players to come up with a name for their House, the city they live in, as well as who would be the main villain and what sort of events they would like to see happen during the campaign! The sorcerer wanted a ship-to-ship battle!

Having the players help me create names and setting is a great boon. I know nothing about medieval Italy and so they're input is priceless. It is saving me a lot of research!

So that was last week! So far it sounds like it is working! Each player has the campaign goal in mind as well as a personal motivation that furthers the main goal. There's lots of juicy hooks and plot points, each can be used to complete their goal in different ways!

Thank GOD there will be no time lost on introducing and enticing the charaters to the story. We shall begin in the thick of it and with all players on board!

[Judd]

Sounds like an awesome bit of group world-making, one of my favorite gaming ideas.

Please keep posting how the players enjoy playing in a world that they have helped to create.  I think it will go really well with all of the characters connected right off the bat and more importantly, all of the players sharing authoriship and investment in the setting.

Nifty.

[Luke]

Pete,

Two things you didn't mention to me that I think are fantastic:

1) Asking for a Belief right off the bat to tie a yet to be made character into the story. Brilliant. Really good use of the mechanic.

2) Asking them for events they wanted to see inside the eight sessions. Very interesting. I want to see how this turns out!

As Judd said, keep us informed. (You too, Thor and Dro. I know you're lurking here somewhere.)

-L

[taepoong]

Thanks, guys!

A real worry of mine is that this process has worked too well! The players have come up with - and KEEP coming up with - fantastic ideas that could sustain a campaign indefinitely!

[Thor Olavsrud]

Pete,

Two things you didn't mention to me that I think are fantastic:

1) Asking for a Belief right off the bat to tie a yet to be made character into the story. Brilliant. Really good use of the mechanic.

2) Asking them for events they wanted to see inside the eight sessions. Very interesting. I want to see how this turns out!

As Judd said, keep us informed. (You too, Thor and Dro. I know you're lurking here somewhere.)

-L

I'm here! The burning session was so much fun. I think we really nailed some great stuff. I'm playing the sorcerer, and I think I've been driving Taepoong crazy, as I keep revising the character's scores to try and nail him down (I think I finally got him though). I didn't appreciate how resource point intensive playing a Sorcerer who also Summons would be (or playing a sorcerer period!). I ended up dropping my initial idea to Summon Named spirits (demons. I wanted to use the damned souls of our rival's dead against them!) Instead, I'm going with a character that can summon Air spirits -- perfect for summoning up winds to give our ships speedy passage, or storms to destroy our rival's crops!

I had also tinkered around with building Automata, but I think Taepoong was a bit trepidatious since we don't have any rules for that yet. C'est la vie! I'm pretty happy with the final iteration.

Just quickly, my BITS:
Beliefs:
It is better to be feared than loved.
My teacher must acknowledge my mastery!
Only my family can protect me (sorcery is kosher, but summoning isn't)

Instincts:
Always use Facets carefully and patiently.
Always sleep in protective circles, spirits seeking retribution could be anywhere.
Cast Eldritch Shield each morning.

Traits:
Gifted
Missing Eye (taken by my master after a lab experiment gone awry during apprenticeship)
Driven
Proud
Skulking
Sucking Up

I've also selected my contacts with an eye toward giving Taepoong some powerful ways to play with my traits:

I've decided that my apprentice, Lia, from another one of the noble families in the city, is my master's niece and my character's lover! I figure he selected her because he knows that she's a favorite of my master. Playwise, I think she can play into two Traits: "It is better to be feared than loved," and "My teacher must acknowledge my mastery!"

Also, I suggested the possibility of the discovery of some sort of blood tie between my master and my character -- sort of a Dune-esque revelation that Paul was Baron Harkonnen's grandson. I don't know if Taepoong will run with that or not, but it's certainly one way to really test the "Only my family can protect me," Belief.

As a corollary, I've made the character's mother one of his contacts. She represents him to the higher echelons of the family. However, I didn't buy her as a loyal contact! Instead, she's neutral. Their relationship is pretty mercenary, with each fully understanding that the other is an important tool in their arsenals.

[Thor Olavsrud]

Another thing I'd like to point out, which I think is pretty interesting: the troupe-play possibilities in BW.

I took one of the family's assassins as a loyal contact for my character, and Taepoong suggested I burn him up as a 4-lifepath character, which I can play through missions. I believe that Dro is doing the same with one of his contacts. Don't know if Phredd has.

Conceivably, we could create a whole web of characters as we 'six-degree' the setting. Pretty cool stuff. I think I've seen Luke talk about doing something similar elsewhere.

[Luke Sineath]

WOW!  Looks fun.  I've never heard of Burning Wheel before...Is this collaborative world-building something that the system encourages, or is this just something you're trying out?  

(Sadly, I see that BW is sold out...)

[Thor Olavsrud]

WOW!  Looks fun.  I've never heard of Burning Wheel before...Is this collaborative world-building something that the system encourages, or is this just something you're trying out?  

(Sadly, I see that BW is sold out...)

Never fear. As Luke pointed out yesterday, there are still copies to be had on E-Bay (he said he knows the seller and he's legit): http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44111&item=3191363343&rd=1&ssPageName=WD1V
Anyway, Burning Wheel doesn't really address setting. Luke's stance is that you will come up with a setting far cooler than what he'll set down on paper. However, the game's lifepath system is pretty conducive to backing up such a collaborative world design.

If you want really hardcore collaborative world design, check out Universalis (by Ralph Mazza and Mike Holmes here on The Forge),  or check out Kirt Dankmyer's Pretender in the forthcoming No Press RPG Anthology (with mechanics derived from Otherkind, by lumpley here on The Forge).