Preliminary Thoughts

[Bill Cook]

I bought 3 Forge games a few weeks back: Sorcerer, The Riddle of Steel and The Burning Wheel.  Can't remember why BW made the list . . .  I'm pretty sure it was a random impulse to check a link off one of Luke's posts.  The other 2, it was mainly because Forge-ites refer to them so commonly.  Anyway, I placed the order with some trepidation.

I'm pleasantly surprised.  BW is my early favorite.  The layout is stylish.  The tone is engaging.  It seems the system is fairly micro.  7th layer of the onion and so forth.  I look forward to reading about the life paths; I'm working through the GM book just now.

This is piddly stuff, but . . .  early thoughts:
[list=1]
[*]I would appreciate an acronym sheet among the appendices.  Learning a system is a process of immersion.  It's easy to lose sight of what constitutes a stumbling block to a newbie.  I've looked up DN 5 times now.
[*]I haven't gotten as far as scripted combat yet, but hearing references has got me thinking about Scrabble.  This is just a wild thought: is there any potential benefit to implementing scripting of combat through squares with printed choices for action to be ordered along a desk placard?
[/list:o]

Like I said, wild thoughts.  I'll continue reading . . .

[Luke]

I'm pleasantly surprised.  BW is my early favorite.  

thanks!

This is piddly stuff, but . . .  early thoughts:
[list=1]
[*]I would appreciate an acronym sheet among the appendices.  Learning a system is a process of immersion.  It's easy to lose sight of what constitutes a stumbling block to a newbie.  I've looked up DN 5 times now.

Hm, i know there are a few new terms in the game, but is there so many to warrant a glossary? Anyway, you might download and print a copy of the GM screen for reference. It makes a good cheat sheet for each section.

[*]I haven't gotten as far as scripted combat yet, but hearing references has got me thinking about Scrabble.  This is just a wild thought: is there any potential benefit to implementing scripting of combat through squares with printed choices for action to be ordered along a desk placard?
[/list:o]

Yes, of course! The written method I describe is just one of many ways to represent scripting. Once you get the basic concepts, actual play can take nearly any form. The basic concept being: Privately decided, simultaneously resolved action across a set, short time period.

thanks again for your kind words.
i hope you get a chance to play.
the game plays much better than it reads.

-L

[AnyaTheBlue]

I haven't gotten as far as scripted combat yet, but hearing references has got me thinking about Scrabble.  This is just a wild thought: is there any potential benefit to implementing scripting of combat through squares with printed choices for action to be ordered along a desk placard?

Yes, of course! The written method I describe is just one of many ways to represent scripting. Once you get the basic concepts, actual play can take nearly any form. The basic concept being: Privately decided, simultaneously resolved action across a set, short time period.

Just wanted to pop in here and point out that this 'tile/scrabble' thing has me thinking of Robo-Rally, where you have a randomized hand of cards which represent maneuvers, and a set of 'registers' you play them down into (face down, hidden from the other players) to program your moves for the next set of actions.

Obviously, you probably don't want randomized stuff, but you could do this pretty slick with a set of cards...  I may have to try that =)

[Luke]

i've tried cards and tiles and shtuff like that. While cool, and speeding up the game a bit, they do tend to get confusing and sometimes limiting.

the great thing about writing out your scripts, is you really can write anything. With play-aids like cards, i found, players became narrowly focused on what was in their hands.

Still, I'm not going back on what I said above, you absolutely can find many creative ways to "script" a combat. I've been toying with a few variations for different purposes for a number of months now.

-L

[Kaare_Berg]

Hi, figured I'd just pipe in,
like bcook1971, I've bought a few games after lurking around the forge. Beginning with Riddle of Steel ( I loved it ), and I just had to get My life with Master ( oh joy joy ), and then I went for Burning Wheel.

Which is a good thing, or I might never have bought the other two.

There are no but's to this, Luke you have a fan.

Like bcook1971 I have a few preliminary thoughts now that I've burned time reading these books:

1: A summary sheet of Actions in combat with brief explanations to hand out to players. it will help in teaching the game to new players (and yes I have seen the quick refrense sheet) On the TROS homepage I found a set of cards describing the different manouvers for combat and it proved invaluable during combat.(I sell copiers for a living so I have no problems printing large amounts of handouts).

2: uhmm . . . nope actually I have only one preliminary thought.

I'll let you known when I learn more about the game from actual play.

Peace

K

[taepoong]

1: A summary sheet of Actions in combat with brief explanations to hand out to players.

Something like this? :o)
http://burningwheel.org/pdf/bw_demo_quick_ref.pdf

There are a lot of free pdfs to download at http://www.burningwheel.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index including an adventure, new magic chapters, new monsters chapters and new rules. Also, the forums are chock-full of great ideas for new spells, lifepaths, and rules.

BW.org encourages you to write up your own ideas and submit them. "Credit where credit is due" is the motto!

[Luke]

though this isn't a summary sheet, it might help you get a better grasp of the volley/action system.

http://www.burningwheel.org/pdf/BW_scriptsheeet_r3.pdf

thanks for your kind words, though!

[Kaare_Berg]

Thanks yall,

I think I have downloaded all there is to download ( I get a bit obsessive like that), and the demo sheet is helpful but not quite what I had in mind. I was thinking of something more like :

Counterstrike  -  as your opponent strikes you, you immideatly try to block then strike your opponent back

To hand out to the players until they have scripting down. The reason why I mentioned the cards from TROS is that until we had them all we had was a list of manouvers and no idea what they did.

I'll probably make such a list for my players but I think it might be a nice idea for Luke to think about. Beside I am incurably lazy.

K
*edited for spelling errors*

[drozdal]

hey Kaare Berg and welcome

I think I have downloaded all there is to download ( I get a bit obsessive like that), and the demo sheet is helpful but not quite what I had in mind. I was thinking of something more like :

Quote:
Counterstrike - as your opponent strikes you, you immideatly try to block then strike your opponent back

I think that should find it's place in new demo scripting sheet, thanx for that call.

:)

Dro