I got my copy in last night, i spent this morning reading the Burning Wheel itself, the Character Burner will have to wait until i get done with this...

Here's what i noticed, most of it good.

1. Presentation: the books are some of the best looking i've ever seen. I'm not just talking about RPG books either. At this stage i can't think of any single paperback book that has a better sense of Presentation than these. I've seen very few hardbound books that compare (and no RPG books). I can't really quantify what it is, but something about the covers, the paper, the binding, the layout, the font, the writing, the whole dang package just screams "buy me!"

2. Scripting: i haven't had a chance to actually try it, but at this stage i am very excited about scripted combat, it just stikes me as inordinately cool and tactical.

3. Armor: an elegant balance between how powerful armor is, its potential to fail, and durability.

4. Flexibility: truth be told, this seems to be one of the most flexible fantasy specific systems i've seen. I will probably suggest the use of Burning Wheel for the local gaming group to use in our private little fantasy world...

5. Personality: throughout the entire book i feel like Luke is sitting there explaining the system to me. It doesn't feel like an instruction manual. Now, i know that this could be a turn off for some people, but i really like it. I also like having it autographed, that's a really nice touch; especially since i wasn't expecting it.

There's a lot more, and i haven't even starte the Character Burner yet. I guess to sum all this up: Luke, an excellent job, i commend you.

Thomas

Yay, Thomas!

Thank you soooo much for your kind words, I'm glad you've taken a shine to the game.

And I'm doubly glad you agree that it is a reasonably simple and flexible resolution system. I'm proud of that!

When you get your feet under you, burn up a character and pop on over to the BW forum and post him/her/it in the Wheel of Life forum. It's a great way to get an understanding of the game, and some feedback about your perceptions. I promise we'll be nice.

Spread the word!
-Luke

Ok, i went through the Character Burner yesterday, i liked the tone at least as much. I then called up my local GM for Trithofar (our private world) and had him come over to look into using Burning Wheel. He said that it did most of what he wanted it to do (which is no mean feat). We then burned up a character each, one an established character, one a brand new one.

Using established characters makes concept easy because you already have a really strong one. We did have to completely create two entire Lifepaths, but it worked out.

Then we wrote up a totally new character using existing lifepaths, that worked well too.

The only thing i wish was included at this point were some guidelines for creating new material. We're going to have to write up about a dozen races, a bunch of new tratis, some new skills, and a whole stack of Lifepaths. Of course we can just guesstimate, but i wish there were some more guidelines available.

Also, my liking of the Burning Wheel wasn't just some quirk. My buddy kept commenting on the great presentation, he especially liked the Trait descriptions. He said "using quotes instead of describing things is very effective."

Anyway, thanks Luke, i'm enjoying things so far, and i appreciate the time you spent making that possible.

Thomas

check this out for lifepath creation guidelines.
http://www.burningwheel.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=99

race/creature creation guidelines are in the works as we speak. (it's a lot harder to describe than you think!)

-L