Malpus Stenchblossom, Captain of the Beached Whale

[emukt]

Son of a Gun, Sailor x2, First Mate, Ship Captain

31yrs young

Wi B4, Pe B5, Po B4, Fo B4, Ag B4, Sp B4

Health B5, Steel B5, Reflexes B4

Sup B3, Light B5, Midi B7, Sev B8, Traum B9, MW B10

Beliefs:
Behind every man's demise is a pretty woman
Only the fish understand me.
Somewhere there is an island with my name on it.

Instincts:
Start fightin' with knife and sword.
Have first mate taste food and drink.
I count my money while I'm sittin' at the table.

Traits:
Sea Legs
Sailor's Oath
Stern Demeanor
Nimble (Knife)
Low Speach (Fish)
Curses Like a Sailor

First Mate (Brother) - Minor Relationship

Circles B3
Bizarre Pirate - 1D Reputation
The Crew - 1D Affiliation

Resources B3
RotM Arms
Beached Whale (ship)
Leather Armor
Clothes

Seamanship B3
Brawling B4
Sing B2
Gambling B3
Rigging B3
Knots B2
Sword B5
Conspicuous B3
Command B3
Oratory B4
Knife B4* Nimble Call on

Two-Handed Training

[Thor Olavsrud]

Trust Aaron to find the loophole necessary to get around the no Soldier lifepaths rule! :roll: :lol:

You know, I'd beat you up over your Beliefs, but that would make Max sad, and I couldn't bear that. And since these are only combat toons anyway...

[luke]

spend the two points and buy two-fisted training. do it.

also, i don't know if you're planning on playing this character after your duel, but if you were, perhaps you could take him to Greyhawk with those Beliefs. Why didn't you just right Chaotic Neutral instead of wasting all that time writing that other stuff?

-L

[emukt]

Trust Aaron to find the loophole necessary to get around the no Soldier lifepaths rule! :roll: :lol:

You know, I'd beat you up over your Beliefs, but that would make Max sad, and I couldn't bear that. And since these are only combat toons anyway...
What's wrong? Loophole? Nerd, please.

If you met this dude, you'd understand.

What's with the tone from you 2. You were all helpful with Dan. I get called a D&D player. :roll:

Why didn't you just right Chaotic Neutral instead of wasting all that time writing that other stuff? No wonder the books are filled with typos. :shock:

[Yagathai]

... and a frightened hush falls over the crowd, as words are spoken that can never be taken back...

[Thor Olavsrud]

Ha! Call Dan a cheater and you're helpful. Call Aaron out on his lame Beliefs and he queens out on us. :twisted:

[Falgrim]

That's right! Give him shit! I can't wait for Hoetvig to squash this louse and take his money.

[Ozark Tim]

I got all excited because I thought the character was going to be a whaler. My first one-use character for Pete's game was a whaler... A naughty whaler.

[luke]

What's with the tone from you 2. You were all helpful with Dan. I get called a D&D player. :roll:

You named him Stenchblossom.

And don't make fun of my learning disability.

-L

[emukt]

The dude talks to FISH.

Man, where's the sense of humor. What is this, the Forge?

Fine, I'll rename him, Gamist McNarrative.

I'll add the instinct:
Only act if I'll challenge current attitudes about RPGs(I'm sorry, collective story building) :P

[Kublai]

Haha! I got yer back against these fooz, emukt!

I laughed hard at your typo reamrk! :lol:

I think he's awshum and would allow him to captain my ship anytime. HE TALKS TO FISH! hahaha!

[luke]

I laughed hard at your typo reamrk!

There's nothing like a good cup of irony in the morning.

-L

[Thor Olavsrud]

::snorts coffee::

[Kublai]

You two are too easy. :twisted:

[luke]

You two are too easy. :twisted:

:: changes sig::

[Thor Olavsrud]

Character Name: Aaron Brown

Lifepaths: Born Village, Kid (lead to City), Street Thug (lead to New York), Irishman

Stats: Pe: 4 Wi: 3 Ag: B3 Sp: B3 Po: B3 Fo: B5

Attributes: Re: B3 Ste: B4 He: B4 MW: B10 Hesitation: 7

PTGS: Su: B3 Li: B5 Mi: B7 Se: B8 Tr: B9 Mo: B10

Skills: Trouble-wise B4, Brawling B3, Whiskey Bottle (club) B3, Staggering Drunkenly-wise B5, Child Rearing B4, Nerd-wise B4, Irish-wise B4, Pretending to be German-wise B5

Gear: Whiskey Bottle, Scally Cap, Diapers

Affiliation: 1D Irishman, 1D Nerds

Relationships: Wife, Child

Traits: Bad Egg, Good for Nothing, Squinty-eyed, Tatooed, Cruel

Beliefs:
- Irishmen are dirty and anyone that calls me Irish is going to see me cry.
- I'll do anything (and I mean anything) not to write a good Belief.
- Sincerity is best followed up with an inane or crass joke, preferably ethnic or homosexuality related.

Instincts:
- If someone looks at me funny, give 'em the bottle to the back of the head.
- If someone accuses me, blame the forum elves.
- If someone asks for a shirt, give 'em the bottle to the teeth.

[emukt]

Luke, make this Scandinavian ass-hat stay on topic! :evil:

This one hurt :cry:
- Sincerity is best followed up with an inane or crass joke, preferably ethnic or homosexuality related.

[luke]

Dude, fuck that pirate. You should use this guy in your duel! You could hit the Sword-Axe guy with some dirty diapers. And then he could whack you like the IRA whacks little protestant girls.

[luke]

Thor, stay on topic.

[Thor Olavsrud]

This one hurt :cry:
- Sincerity is best followed up with an inane or crass joke, preferably ethnic or homosexuality related.

Should I add Crying to Mama-wise to your skill set? :twisted:

[emukt]

Seriously, aside from the Simpson's reference last name joke, this character is fine.

What's wrong with my beliefs?

[emukt]

This one hurt :cry:
- Sincerity is best followed up with an inane or crass joke, preferably ethnic or homosexuality related.

Should I add Crying to Mama-wise to your skill set? :twisted:
Now who's following a sincere comment with a crass joke?

[Thor Olavsrud]

Seriously, aside from the Simpson's reference last name joke, this character is fine.

What's wrong with my beliefs?

Here are the Beliefs you wrote:
Behind every man's demise is a pretty woman
Only the fish understand me.
Somewhere there is an island with my name on it.

Of these, the last is close to useful. The others need serious work.

Somewhere there is an island with my name on it, and this scurvy crew will help me find it!

That's good.

But how can we test the first two? How can I, as a GM, possibly introduce a conflict into the game that will allow you to riff off of them?

So let's strenghten them up:
I know Maggie will be my demise, but I can't help it, I'll do anything she asks.

NOW it's a serious Belief with legs.

I haven't got a clue what to do with your fish fetish.

[emukt]

Here are the Beliefs you wrote:
Behind every man's demise is a pretty woman
Only the fish understand me.
Somewhere there is an island with my name on it.

Of these, the last is close to useful. The others need serious work.

Somewhere there is an island with my name on it, and this scurvy crew will help me find it!
I think you're splitting hairs on this one. I'm a Captain, with a crew and ship. It kinda writes itself.

I know Maggie will be my demise, but I can't help it, I'll do anything she asks.

NOW it's a serious Belief with legs.
I think this is railroading the GM. It's too specific. How about we setting on:

A woman caused my fall, I am helpless to their charms.

I like the Past, Present and Future Beliefs. I already have a Future, this was my Past.

[Kevin]

I think the point is that beliefs are supposed to "railroad the GM". They should push the character toward a specific plot or character arc, not just be a general statement on what the character thinks about women.

"Behind every man's demise is a pretty woman" doesn't tell us whether your character distrusts women but is vulnerable to them anyway or avoids them because he assumes they'll screw him over. It's not active enough.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Beliefs are supposed to be a way of getting Artha. When your character does something that gets himself in trouble or otherwise moves the plot forward because of them, you get benefits from it. I'd have trouble telling when this Belief was relevant to play.

[Ozark Tim]

I like the "Somewhere out the there is an island with my name on it" because it can go either way. Thor thinks it is an island the pirate and crew are looking for, I'd read it in the sense of 'a bullet with my name on it' - that somewhere out there is an island I'm bound to run aground on.

[Falgrim]

Silly BITs or not, he is cleaning Hoetvig's clock right now. :? This one was decided on Volley one. Although it raises some rules questions for me as well. I'll get to asking them once the fight is officially over. Presently I'm at -3D to his +1Ob. :cry:

[Thor Olavsrud]

Kevin's right. What I hear the rest of you guys saying is: I think Beliefs are cool, but they're also scary and I'm going to make sure they don't mean anything.

Somewhere there is an island with my name on it, and this scurvy crew will help me find it!

is a completely different Belief than

Somewhere there is an island with my name on it, as soon as I can exterminate the red-skinned savages who think it's theirs.

These will lead to very different games. They're supposed to. This is what Beliefs are designed to do.

If I, as your GM, read the Belief "somewhere there's an Island with my name on it" and think "ah! he's convinced there's a paradise out there, let's see what he'll do to make it his own." And you, while writing it, think "ah! We'll have a game about how my crew mutinies and leaves me on a desert island with nothing!"

We're going to have problems. Neither of us is going to be satisfied. Not only that, but you're going to be doing stuff thinking it's going to earn you Artha, and I'm not going to give you any, because you're not doing everything in your power to find your paradise. Sucks to be you.

And what's this 'railroading the GM' bullshit? You want your GM to be a mind reader that just guesses what you want your character to be about? You're playing the wrong game.

[emukt]

I guess I just like some stuff to be a little open ended. I would love to see a GM take a Belief that has a little leadway and take it in a different direction. If I think that I deserve my own personal island, but you have my crew mutiny and leave me on a sand bar - I'd love it because I was askin for it by having a slightly vague Belief.

If my Belief is:

One day and man named Janus Fugger is going to betray me to a pack of evil sorcerers.

Why would I even play since I know what direction the game is going to go?

I think we just have a little different approach to gaming. I like the GM to scheme a little and pop suprises on the players and you like the game to be more open and collaborative. Neither is Right or Wrong - just different. So, get off your high horse.

[Yagathai]

I think we just have a little different approach to gaming. I like the GM to scheme a little and pop suprises on the players and you like the game to be more open and collaborative. Neither is Right or Wrong - just different.

Wrong! It's exactly that sort of muddleheaded namby-pamby let's-all-feel-good thinking that caused the fall of Rome!

There is the One True Gaming Way, and all other ways are wrong. This hippie-dippie bullpockie that Thor and Abzu are trying to foist off on you? Fight it, man. Fight it!

Just repeat after me: "There is an orc in a ten by ten room. There is a treasure chest. There is an orc in a ten by ten room. There is a treasure chest..."

[emukt]

Just repeat after me: "There is an orc in a ten by ten room. There is a treasure chest. There is an orc in a ten by ten room. There is a treasure chest..."
Sounds like a Belief to me. I hope the GM knows what I want.

[Redoid]

Lifepaths: Born Village, Kid (lead to City), Street Thug (lead to New York), Irishman


Interesting that the Belief Ayatollah thinks that "Irishman" is a lifepath you can take, while obviously it's a Born Lifepath... Unless you can realistically, in NY, be an Irishman for 5 years before switching to Native American for 3. That's an hell of a melting pot :)

[luke]

Interesting that the Belief Ayatollah thinks that "Irishman" is a lifepath you can take, while obviously it's a Born Lifepath... Unless you can realistically, in NY, be an Irishman for 5 years before switching to Native American for 3. That's an hell of a melting pot :)

You've just discovered one of Emukt's darkest secrets. Personally, I think his days as a Maimed Inuit Ex-Cannery Laborer were the worst. His accent was just embarrassing.

-L

[stormsweeper]

Just repeat after me: "There is an orc in a ten by ten room. There is a treasure chest. There is an orc in a ten by ten room. There is a treasure chest..."

No pie?

[Viper]

Lifepaths: Born Village, Kid (lead to City), Street Thug (lead to New York), Irishman


Interesting that the Belief Ayatollah thinks that "Irishman" is a lifepath you can take, while obviously it's a Born Lifepath... Unless you can realistically, in NY, be an Irishman for 5 years before switching to Native American for 3. That's an hell of a melting pot :)

No, emukt has actually been a professional irishman for the past 4 years. It's hellishly easy in New York, what with a pub on every other corner.

[stormsweeper]

Some day he'll have to go to Halifax, one of the few places I've seen with a higher density of pubs.

[Tobias]

Here are the Beliefs you wrote:
Behind every man's demise is a pretty woman
Only the fish understand me.
Somewhere there is an island with my name on it.

Of these, the last is close to useful. The others need serious work.

<snip>

But how can we test the first two? How can I, as a GM, possibly introduce a conflict into the game that will allow you to riff off of them?

Introduce a love-interest, female, that understands him.

The riffing you get is as tight as the belief you give. You like tight riffing with proper names, characters, places, etc.? Go for the "I will make the city officials kill uncles Albert and Gerbrand before the year is out."

Tighter? Orc in room.

Looser? "My uncles have to die, soon, preferrably not by my hand."

Tightness of riffing is a group thing.

Oh wait. Someone mentioned a One True Way. Obviously, I must be deluded. Must be because I don't own any of the books. :)

[Thor Olavsrud]

Interesting that the Belief Ayatollah thinks that "Irishman" is a lifepath you can take, while obviously it's a Born Lifepath... Unless you can realistically, in NY, be an Irishman for 5 years before switching to Native American for 3. That's an hell of a melting pot :)

Spoken like someone who's never experienced St. Patrick's Day here in the Big Apple. :lol:

Anyway:

One day and man named Janus Fugger is going to betray me to a pack of evil sorcerers.

Why would I even play since I know what direction the game is going to go?

c'mon man. This is a ridiculous straw man. This isn't what I was saying at all, and you know it.

To make a music analogy, Beliefs are about laying down a beat that everyone can riff off of.

1. Janus Fugger is my friend and I will do everything in my power to protect him.
2. I will risk body and soul to destroy witches and sorcerers wherever they breed and dwell.

Now we've got conflict. That's what this is about. We're not talking about "open" or "closed" here. That's a tangent that's governed by how directed your Beliefs are. Neither of the two Beliefs up there are necessarily going to point at a very specific outcome unless you take them together and blend them with the knowledge that Janus is seeking to become a sorcerer. Either one would be fully acceptable on its own.

It's laying down the beat in a jam session. We have no idea where it's going to go, but we have a point to start from. And if we play with that, it means you actually have a stake in what's going on, and the GM can bring stuff into the game that he knows you'll react to and riff on, instead of going off to the side and chatting about how wet the water is while the rest of the players actually do something.

("But that's what my character would do!" I swear, the next time I hear that from somebody, I will stab them in the face.) :twisted:

And Aaron, I'm not pointing at you and saying you're lame like this. You've always been engaged and done fun stuff when I've played with you. But what I'm describing is what Beliefs were DESIGNED to do. This is their purpose. Burning Wheel's currency -- Artha -- is a tightly integrated part of this design. Beliefs are your way of telling the GM how you want to be awarded Artha. So if you want to earn Artha, you better have Beliefs that make it easy for the GM to bring in situations that allow you to use them.

I don't think anyone here has said it's the One True WayTM, but I will say flat out that this is the sort of play Burning Wheel was designed to support.

Introduce a love-interest, female, that understands him.

In theory that's a great solution. Except there's no buy in from the player. Why shouldn't the player introduce his own love interest? Then there's buy in. No fiddling around dangling hooks in front of a plyaer until he bites. No wasting time. If you want your character to have a love interest or three, just introduce them yourself, goddamn it. Do your GM a favor for once.