Revised Edition Review on the HârnForum

[Durgil]

Hey guys,
I just thought I'd point those that are familiar with Hârn to this review (http://www.harnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=72020#72020) that I started over on the HârnForum (http://www.harnforum.com/index.php). I invite anyone else to not wait for me to finish what I've started and add your own insights to the disscussion or correct anything that I may have gotten wrong if you can find the time.

I truely believe that BW is the perfect system for the HârnWorld setting, at least for me. :wink:

[luke]

you rock, tony!
-L

[Thor]

Tony, any chance you could cut and paste it over here? The forum requires registration and email confirmation, and while I registered, I'm still waiting for the email so I can confirm. It's been 30 minutes already! :cry:

[Durgil]

Tony, any chance you could cut and paste it over here? The forum requires registration and email confirmation, and while I registered, I'm still waiting for the email so I can confirm. It's been 30 minutes already! :cry:
No problem, Thor, and thanks, Luke. :D

For those who have waiting to check out this review, I apologize for the delay. There is a lot here to review, and reality has been slapping me around a bit more than usual lately. Even now this review will be not be complete, but I thought I should write what I have so far. I will be adding to this thread as more things come out of the reading, and others, who have read the Revision, are welcome to add to this as well.

To start with the books are both thicker. The Burning Wheel Fantasy Roleplaying System rulebook and The Character Burner are about 70 pages longer each than the original books. This has allowed the author, Luke Crane (a.k.a. abzu), to go into greater detail and provide more examples and explanations.

The basic mechanic, which I described in my initial review (http://www.harnforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2392&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=) of this games first edition, has not been altered in any way, but it has been universally applied to all of the areas within the rules. Players are still resolving situations by throwing a number of six-sided dice, usually between 3 and 6, and counting up the successes. The rules in the original game for armour and how it worked in combat used a slightly altered form of the basic game mechanic. This has been changed now be in line with the rest of the rules. It is still the case that armour either completely protects or does nothing, and it is not layered like in HârnMaster, but it does work quite smoothly and even for this high detailed gamer, the results are quite acceptable. The main thing to take note of, in my opinion, is that this system is NOT a simulationist style game and that there is so many other mechanics that can be used, combat just does not need a super-high degree of detail.

One of the biggest changes that I noticed is the Resources system. I’m not familiar with any RPG system that doesn’t have some kind of coin system, so this approach of Luke’s really caught me off guard at first. It begins the same as in the original edition; characters gain Resource Points through the LifePaths that are chosen during character development. Resources are just an abstraction used in the game to represent a character’s wealth, be it in coin, property, or reputation. When all of the LP’s are chosen, the resource points are added up and possessions are purchased. What is left at the end is turned into a Resource Skill, which is used from then on to acquire goods and services. It is a very smooth mechanic that runs like the rest of the system and takes into account Helping other characters, being Home and Away, Buying in Bulk, Haggling and Bidding (which can also be handle by the game's the Duel of Wits system), and the repercussions of Failing a Resource Test. This makes more sense to me in a medieval economy where deals can be just as much about barter, reputation, and family than how much coin you have.

The Duel of Wits is a way to resolve debates and arguments that characters may find themselves in from time to time. Right off the bat, Luke makes the point that this mechanic is not a means for mind control. It has Elements of Elocution such as Avoid the Topic, Dismiss, Feint, Incite, Obfuscate, Point, and Rebuttal (all of which should be very familiar to those of you who frequntly post in The War farret's Soapbox (http://www.harnforum.com/viewforum.php?f=3). The whole system is setup very similarly to the combat system, where the players script what they want their characters to do.

Another topic that I have time to write about right now is BW’s magic system (or I should say systems). I think it is a very imaginative system that differentiates between Sorcorery (the magic of wizards and conjurors – abstraction and summoning), Emotional Magic (Faith for the race of Men, Grief for the Elves, Greed for the Dwarves, and Hated for the Orcs), and Natural Magic (this form of magic operates more like a skill, and is granted to certain characters and races due to their innate understanding of some worldly aspect.

When I get another chance, I bring up the whole Relationships, Circles, Affiliations and Reputations system, the new way to resolve character positioning in combat, and the Measurement, Distance and Movement system.

[Thor]

Awesome Tony! Thanks.

[Durgil]

Well, I've had the chance this week to read some more of the the book, so I added to my previous review (http://www.harnforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=72924#72924) on the HârnForum. I'll go ahead and post what I wrote here too:


I've finally have gotten a chance this past week to get back to checking out my new copy of RBW, so here is some more of that review I promised.

The Chapter, Relationships, Circles, Affiliations, and Reputations covers those aspects of a character's life and adds these dimensions to the character sheet. Relationships are contacts that a character has developed and is generally free to access. The LP's taken by a character determine the appropriate Obsticles for when a character tests his circles to get needed information and/services from. These rules can be used in conjunction with the rules for Duel of Wits and Wises skills that the character has (i.e. Streetwise). Circles represent professional acquaintances, and social and familial relationships. There are also rules within this chapter for finding out if someone is trying to uncover information about your character and for the character to "cover their tracks" while they are trying to uncover information. The results of all of these types of tests go to develop the character's reputation. Failed tests can result in Enmity, which can lower a characters reputation and can even lead to the stripping of the character's rank within that circle and even excommunication.

The chapter, Steel covers the use of this character attribute in game play. Basically, when a character is faced with Surprise, Fear, or Pain something that they are not used to, they have to make Steel tests for the player to maintain control over their character (or whether their character loose control of their faculties. The number of rounds lost when a test fails is based on the character's stat, Will.

The Chapter, Range and Cover revises the rules on missile fire to be more in step with the rest of the game. The first thing that I noticed was with the ranges. There are only four: Out of Range, Extreme Range, Optimal Range, and Too Close to Shoot. I particularly like the description of the Optimal Range, which happens to be the same for all missile weapons without the benefit of a sighting mechanism or precision mechanical devices: because of the reliance on eyesight, depth perception, and good judgment, the optimal range for medieval missile weapons is 10 to 30 paces. The only thing that really changes with regards to range for different missile weapons is their maximum range, which is the furthest extent of their Extreme Range. Positioning becomes a major factor in this revised system. Can the character move into their extreme range, do they want to wait and try to get into their optimal range? All of these things are determined by these rules.

I've just started going over the Martial Conflict: Fight! chapter. I'm going to need to stop at this point and make up a few characters and try this out, but it looks to me that these revised rules are some influences from The Riddle of Steel RPG, which is another great system. Until then, let me know what you think of the game and/or my review of it.