[Burning Wheel] Must. Kill. Wizard.

[Luke]

Our current Burning Wheel game involves the player characters once again hunting and killing an NPC wizard.

The current story/situation was instigated by two players, Chris and Danny, based on events that have transpired around their characters for the last couple of years of play.

They met while dodging a wizard during a "lead the rebellion" campaign a while back. Years later, after finally tracking down and killing that wizard, they vowed that all of the "Red Council" must be hunted and destroyed. Danny and Chris specifically asked for a game featuring their two characters.

The other characters are various ne'erdowells that the Chris and Danny have hired to help them out.  We have: Chris' wizard, Danny's Ranger, a Monster-Burned Giant with the mutant ability to start fires, a former cavalry sergeant with the mutant ability to turn fire to water, a former smuggler/slaver with the mutant ability to flash like a camera flash, "the architect" with no mutant powers and a former bandit turned professional insurrectionist with no mutant power but with many campaigns under his belt.

The mutant powers spring from the permanent magic storm that hovers over our campaign world. Chris' wizard caused this storm with a failed spell and destroyed a whole nation with it (that he was trying to save from another wizard). Now he's hiring his "children" as it were to aid him in his quests. Rockin character motivation. (mechanically, we rolled randomly on the wheel of magic to determine what kind of spell-like ability the characters would get.)

Tonight's game centered on the culmination of The Plan. We've played four or five sessions and I've been building up mood and dropping hints. They finally discovered where one wizard was hiding and that he was doing something REALLY BAD. (I'm not going to get into it; it's not really relevant.)

So the players came up with an elaborate plan to draw the sorcerer out into the open where they can hit him with all their super wizard-killing weapons.

There are a few actual play highlights I wanted to share: First, the plan was so good and elaborate, two of the players ended up sitting out for 90 minutes during THE BIG FIGHT. This bothered me, but it was part of the conditions the players set so I let it lie.

Second, the in-game baddies were hideously ass-kicking: A wizard who's got a great selection of fire and mental-based spells, 15 dice to cast and tons of magic trinkets to keep him powered up; a half dozen Gray Power/Hands of Stone giants; a gaggle of desperate murderers and thugs; and of course a horde of sorcerously brain-washed slaves. Bad, bad, bad!

The big fight happened right out in the open. Two giants, two viscious swordsmen and that wizard vs the PC wizard (with NO KILLIN' SPELLS), the former smuggler, the architect, the insurrectionist and the ranger. For those of you unaccustomed to the threat level in BW I'll give you a moment from the night's table-talk: Pete asks me, "How do you think it's going to go?" Me: "TPK" (total party kill.) I was serious!

We had a moment were Chris' wizard surprised Pete's smuggler. Pete turned to me, "I have an Instinct: Flash when surprised." I blinked, we all started laughing. Pete rolled his ability, Chris was forced to take a Steel test. He managed to pass it, but had he failed all his spells would have dropped. I gave Pete a persona point right there. Playing that Instinct added to the beautiful mayhem of the situation and definitely made things more interesting!

The ranger took on the two swordsmen and was wounded by Chris' wizards Shards spell (which doesn't kill, only wounds) when he tried to help. Chris went toe to toe with the wizard: The wizard came out of his hiding place blasting away with a "breath of fire" type spell. Chris was spending persona and deeds points to keep his Eldritch Shield up and stay alive. I was casting my spell in 3 actions, he had to cast his hastily to match me. He'd get his spell up and I'd knock it back down. I couldn't knock it out completely though -- he spent just enough artha to keep it at one die. It was brutal toe to toe fight! They were two paces apart in the middle of this muddy courtyard chanting and hissing at each other as blasts of burning blood showered from the sorcerer's hands.

The two giants guarded the wizard -- they knew there were accomplices out there. They set conditional actions to Push anyone who got too close. This lead to a great moment in play: Rich's swordsman/insurrectionist sprinted into the combat and triggered the giant's Push conditional. I rolled in front of him for the G8 Power -- 6 successes. He can make a Speed or Power test to resist. He's got a Power of 5 and Speed of 4. Obviously he wanted to use more dice. Then he realized that his character only needed one challenging Speed test to advance! So, risking his character's life and the fate of their mission he chose to test his Speed. Of course, he spent a Deeds point, doubled his dice and ducked the giant's massive thrust in heroic fashion! And then his Speed went up! There was a round of applause at the table.

Rich's Strike action came in next. He has a wizard killing sword, so the wizard's defensive spells (TAB) don't work against it. He's got a free shot (the wizard is preoccupied with Chris' wizard). His obstacle is 2, he's rolling seven dice. He nearly missed. If not for the persona point he threw in at the last minute, he would have missed. Instead of evicerating the wizard, he merely scratched him. I loved it! Everyone at the table was freaking out!

At the same moment, Pete -- playing the flash bulb smuggler -- beaned the wizard in the back of the head with their other secret weapon: Ice balls. It's a long story, but ice also passes through the wizard's defenses. Not only was he cut and bruised, but also humiliated.

Then Rich realized he forgot to script an action. I had a Strike action about to hit him from a Giant. Instead of retreading the volley, I just dropped the giant's Strike. It was the last action of the exchange and we rescripted.

First action of the next exchange, the wizard turned on Rich and blasted him with a little Fire Fan, Chris tried to change his tactics and went for a Get Inside on the wizard. Rich then recovered himself and slashed the wizard for a Midi wound. Steel tests and all sorts of stuff had to be made. But more pressing was the issue of Rich's first action. It was a Strike. He knew the giant was going to hit him again, yet he still scripted a Strike. One hit from the giant is enough to kill his character. There was nothing I could really do -- I didn't want to kill him, but I was bound by the conventions of the game. I rolled the dice -- no successes. Wild! Huge breath of relief from around the table. Rich took his luck and ran at that point -- Avoid, Avoid, Avoid, Avoid.

Meanwhile, Chris' wizard and the now wounded sorcerer were tusseling. Even wounded, the sorcerer turned on Chris, blasted down his shield and burned him good (Light wound) with Fire Fan. In the background, Danny's Ranger had managed to draw his bow, load it and finally fire a snapshot at the wizard. His obstacle was 6. He stoically doubled his dice and threw everything he had into the roll. He hit! But he failed to kill the sorcerer -- another Midi, another -2D. He fired his arrow and ripped off the sorcerer's ear and pinned it to the door behind him. The sorcerer collapsed, unconscious! Had he not fired, Chris' character would have likely been seriously injured in the next volley.

After that, Pete's smuggler waited to get an opportunity to pounce on the wizard and knife him. But he didn't get the chance, the giant's scooped the wizard up and rescued him.

The players then unanimously fled in different directions -- all were stunned to be alive. Danny later admitted to me that he had resolved himself that his Ranger was going to die in this engagement before play began. But, despite the awesome opposition, their good planning and tremendous luck saw them through alive. It's not that they didn't walk the edge and put their character's lives on the line, it's that death just didn't come knocking this time!

The in-harm's-way advancement was a great moment -- Rich immediately benefitted as he started testing his Speed to get the hell away from the Giants. Also, the way that the individual failures of the characters combined and set the tension on High, made the game very enjoyable for me. Everyone was talking about how to get at the wounded wizard! It could have very easily been a disastrous and dismal session, but everything just clicked.

-L

[Bill Cook]

The two giants guarded the wizard -- they knew there were accomplices out there. They set conditional actions to Push anyone who got too close. This lead to a great moment in play: Rich's swordsman/insurrectionist sprinted into the combat and triggered the giant's Push conditional. I rolled in front of him for the G8 Power -- 6 successes. He can make a Speed or Power test to resist. He's got a Power of 5 and Speed of 4. Obviously he wanted to use more dice. Then he realized that his character only needed one challenging Speed test to advance! So, risking his character's life and the fate of their mission he chose to test his Speed. Of course, he spent a Deeds point, doubled his dice and ducked the giant's massive thrust in heroic fashion! And then his Speed went up! There was a round of applause at the table.

It took me a minute to realize you were talking about increasing his Sp exponent and not advancing on the wizard's position.

Sounds like a lot of fireworks! Reminds me of Warcraft III.

[Luke]

It took me a minute to realize you were talking about increasing his Sp exponent and not advancing on the wizard's position.

Sounds like a lot of fireworks! Reminds me of Warcraft III.

I see you've got movement on the brain. :)

Well, we've been heavily playtesting the revised movement rules. The chapters are written, we're just getting the kinks out now. I think you'll like them -- they're fluid, but still have that crunchy BW flavor.

-L

PS We didn't actually use them in this scenario as only two of the players were familiar with them.

[BirdMan]

<snippage>

The current story/situation was instigated by two players, Chris and Danny, based on events that have transpired around their characters for the last couple of years of play.
-L

</snippage>

Luke;

Have I ever mentioned how much I wish I lived near NY so that I could play in your game?  Oh. My. God.  I spend so much "head time" planning out games; thinking situations through, running out of ideas and growing frustrated with myself as a GM -- and you type one post that tells me how to run my damn campaign for the rest of time!  I bow to you, sir, and am entirely jealous of your players--for I am not one.

Thanks for:  A] Sharing your game with the rest of us, and B] Sharing these cool snippets of your game-play, which really illuminate what a person can do with BW on an on-going basis.

[Valamir]

There was nothing I could really do -- I didn't want to kill him, but I was bound by the conventions of the game. I rolled the dice -- no successes. Wild! Huge breath of relief from around the table. Rich took his luck and ran at that point -- Avoid, Avoid, Avoid, Avoid.

That's probably BW's single greatest achievement as an RPG.  Its one of the few I know (TROS being another) where the GM can be completely honest about letting the dice fall as they may and have it work.  The pool system minimizes silly results and the Artha system gives players the power to take their characters fate into their own hands.

Its such a tight system that there's vitually never a need to fudge...(although there is a good bit of a learning curve).

[taepoong]

I play the smuggler and can attest to the anxiety of the night. I felt that a PC death was very likely that night! Just one success from a swipe of a giant's hand would be enough to kill any one of our characters. But our desire for vengeance was enough for us to take the risk!

There were some really lucky rolls that night and some really unlucky ones. Rich the swordsman was by far the best example of that! He avoided every giant strike and managed to get in range of the wizard only to totally blow his own roll of the dice! Our ranger is also cursed in that manner - he rarely rolls anything but a "1" on any DOF. By all accounts, both the PC swordsman and the NPC wizard should've been dead, but in the end, neither were!

The mutant powers we've developed are really a fun element to the game and they were so easy to figure out, as well. We simply chose starting points on the Wheel of Magic and then spun it randomly! Then, after a fairly obvious Tax mechanic was negotiated, we were good to go!

For example, my Flash power is simply a two-action, open-ended Will test with a base Obstacle of 1. We compare successes to the spell Mage Light for effect. Tax is base Ob1, and +1 for each time I use it beyond the 1st.

Mutant Powers work so well, I really, really want to see them as a Trait in the Revision!

As for the night's conclusion, it was a lot of fun for me. As the rest of the party ran for the hills, I was able to remain on the inside along with the architect/poisoner. It was a big decision both in and out of the game.

In terms of character motivation, it was a big chance to stay there an attempt to finish off the wounded wizard with poison and a few rolled Inconspicuous tests. It is a huge risk, but it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up, especially since it meant first dibs on loot!

However, I often balance character motivation with player motivation. I never forget what we do is a game that all of us want to play in. Therefore, I knew that I had to choose between going at it alone and taking up a lot of screentime or retreating to the rest of the players, losing a fantastic opportunity, but allowing everyone to participate in finishing off the wizard for good.

This time, the character won out over the player. I allowed the smuggler to go for it.

[drozdal]

I play architect/poisoner in Luke's game. My character has NO combat skills at all, but I really enjoyed playing him in this totally action oriented scenario, even part when I had to sit down through that big combat. Architect helped with attack plan development and later infiltrated wizard(s) compound with smuggler and ex bandit in hope to gather more information about wizard(s) plans. I loved part when smuggler convinced my character to stay inside compound and finish the wizard together (my character first instinct was to get out of here as fast as i possibly could). I know that this will be a really challenging task to accomplish but at least we have slight chance of success (and disguise and poisoner kits with us).

[friartuck]

Just make sure you don't leave us hanging. Let us know how it works out!

[Kaare Berg]

Then Rich realized he forgot to script an action. I had a Strike action about to hit him from a Giant. Instead of retreading the volley, I just dropped the giant's Strike. It was the last action of the exchange and we rescripted.

You are getting soft Luke.

Do you use the persona for complication rule?
This is IMO a perfect oppurtunity for such persona use.

Its such a tight system that there's vitually never a need to fudge...(although there is a good bit of a learning curve).

As an inherent fudger I got to agree here.

if it is important, pay Artha. Out of Artha, play your BITS. Simple systematic support for this. And my personal favourite (pun intended) the Persona for Complication twist allows you to moderate the tenor of your game. Brutal and deadly, leave it out. Heroic and against all odds, leve it in. Do you want Strike Splat or Strike Ooops, pay the persona and explain.

I have nearly stopped fudging. It took some doing, but BW did it.

Mutant Powers work so well, I really, really want to see them as a Trait in the Revision!

Isn't this more Annual type stuff? IMO this could quickly become the psionics of D&D. Works for some, whiff for others. Although as an alternative magic system . . . might just be the name. Mutant powers, smaks Gamma World not medival world. So I'm being grumpy out of taste.


K

[taepoong]

To be fair, we call it mutant powers because of the magical, mutating storm in our specific campaign. It's also a fun word to say! In all honesty, it's already covered in the Monster Burner by the chapter discussing inherent magical abilities.

[Luke]

Another interesting incident happened Sunday surrounding artha.

So this wizard is a pretty potent villain. He's been around for a while in game. One character/player knows him personally.

During the first exchange of combat, Rich announced he was bidding a fate point to go first. My blood went cold. I hadn't given the villains artha. I immediately thought to assign them artha right there. But, I knew that Rich was low on Fate points. I could have innocently and easily assigned 5 fate to my villain wizard and had him outbid Rich.

But I didn't want that. Nor did I want Rich to blow his Fate on Initiative bids (that I could force him to lose.)

So I opened up. I explained all of the above to the players in general, but Rich specifically. He very very grudgingly agreed. I offered to bid actions with him, but he declined. Interestly though, he kept his script the same: First action Strike/Second action defensive stance. He REALLY wanted that sorcerer.

I spoke to him today and he told me that he felt sick when he thought about failing to kill the wizard.

Heh.

Anyway, various moments are coming back to me from Sunday and I wanted to point out that it is not always smooth sailing at the table. There are a lot of hard callls to make.

I think this week I am going to let the players assign Fate and Persona points to the enemy sorcerers.

-L

[Thor Olavsrud]

It's all after the fact, of course, but would you consider awarding Rich a Fate point in a situation like this, in compensation for not being able to use the rules as written?

[Luke]

It's all after the fact, of course, but would you consider awarding Rich a Fate point in a situation like this, in compensation for not being able to use the rules as written?

Hi Thor,
Sorry for taking so long to get back to you, but as you know, I'm swamped.

This was a complete "GM call" for me.  In the heat of the moment, I felt it was a fair trade -- he screwed himself out of a potentially life-saving maneuver, so I didn't kill him.

However, I am definitely more disposed to artha bribery these days. If the GM needs to screw his players a little bit, I think the players should be rewarded with artha. Haven't really come up with an artha award system for that though.

-L

[Valamir]

If the GM needs to screw his players a little bit, I think the players should be rewarded with artha. Haven't really come up with an artha award system for that though.

That sounds like the system right there.  GMs are well able to identify when they're screwing with players...at least as well as they can identify "good roleplaying" or any of the other judgement calls they're asked to make when awarding XPs.

I'd put nearly those exact words in a little imp section in the new book.

[TonyLB]

For what it's worth, I've had good experiences with letting the players decide how much they should be rewarded.  I treat meta-game resources like Scooby Snacks, and see whether I can bribe them into volunteering to do something they'd rather not.

So instead of telling them "Your thrown knife misses, and instead cuts the rope holding the doors open" (or whatever) I say "Hey, it would be interesting if you knife missed and cut the ropes.  Would you do that for a Scooby Snack?  No?  Okay, how about two Scooby Snacks?"

I think there is a crucial difference between "You're screwed, have a Scooby Snack" and "Will you screw yourself for a Scooby Snack?"