The Wildwood Campaign

[Mad Hatter]

As I mentioned on the old lists (now lost to the world, alas), I have a game going set in a land called the Known World. Our four characters have had some interesting adventures so far. They are based in a small village in a large forest called the Wildwood. So far, they have tracked down a band of murderous misfits, and had a harrowing encounter with a dangerous necromancer.

[luke]

Oh a necromancer! A necromancer! Tell me more, tell me more!

-abzu

[Mad Hatter]

One of our PCs is a former necromancer's apprentice who murdered his mistress and fled his homeland, an area with a dark reputation for black magic. This fellow, going by the alias of Kite, has joined the official magical body called the Grand Council of Sorcerers. He foreswore his old training and became a legitimate magician, but he knows that his former cohorts are looking for him and will find him. One of his beliefs is "They will track me down."

During the session in question, one of the elders of his homeland (and this guy really was an elder--he has used black arts to extend his life) came looking for Kite. They had a brief encounter with the fellow, and the entire party was quickly defeated by this sole sorcerer. The necromancer was interested in Kite's knowledge of the Grand Council and invited the younger magician to return, indicating that his killing of his mistress was viewed with respect among the ranks of his people. Kite had no intention of going with the man, and basically said so. The necromancer declared that Kite would see him again, and took his leave.

All in all, it really freaked out the players. This guy had little difficulty stopping all three of the characters present that night, and he said he would return! Now Kite is dealing with some fallout from this incident--he accidentally blurted out a bit more of his past than he intended in a public setting, and both the Grand Council and the priests of the god of death (he hates necromancy) are investigating what went on.

[Kublai]

BW, as of yet, has no rules or examples of Necromancy (although I am sure it will be part of the upcoming Magic Burner :shock: ). So how do you handle it? Have you devised spells? Do you have a system for creating undead?

[Mad Hatter]

I am using a game world already created for another system and there are spells written for necromantic magic. I really am just converting these to the BW system in this case.

The details aren't really as big a deal right now, since the PC doesn't know any of these spells. He killed his mistress before he learned anything of significance.

[nebulousmenace]

I don't know if "belief" is the right word.

"prediction?"

Because, for any reasonable value of "they", they HAVE come for me. And they will again.

Need. . .more. . .wealth and power. . .

[nebulousmenace]

Actual Testimonal Letter from Kite of the White Council:

"I never thought I'd be writing a letter like this.

I've never been someone who gets the solid rolls when it counts. My performance has always been sort of, well, average.

However, your product White Fire changed all that for me! I skulk with confidence; it's like I'm a new man! I get Grey or near-Grey damage, Superior results, every time!

Thank you, Burning Wheel, for showing me what I'm really capable of!"

White Fire. It's the Last Word(tm).

[luke]

Dear Favored Customer,

We here at Burning Wheel Labs are very pleased to hear your positive results using our patented White Fire (tm) brand lightning. This high-end product is designed to give you powerful results. We're happy that it came through for you.

Customers are discerning in their choice of sorcery these days, and we're glad that you chose to use our product. Raise your right hand, extend your pinkie and index fingers and say it with pride, "White Fire!"

Thanks!
-Burning Wheel Sorcery Labs

[Mad Hatter]

Latest update on the campaign:

Things got a bit rougher as our knight character went searching for beasties to slay and gain reknown, dragging the rest of the party along for the ride. A gloomy old castle nearby had a dark reputation: it is said to be a stronghold from the ancient days of the Witch-Kings, sorcerous despots who once ruled the world with an iron fist.

The castle itself did indeed seem quite ill-favored, with local fauna avoiding the place. When the party entered, they encountered a fearsome manticore who poisoned a priest the party had along and nearly killed their sorcerer. The beast was defeated by the knight and the injured sorcerer, who cast White Fire (see previous testimonial) to finish off the creature.

Fresh from this exhilarating success, they explored the castle, finding many more bones of the manticore's victims, as well as a grim black chair that had an ancient strip of parchment pinned to it with a dagger. Some of the bones they found seemed to have been finished by blades, and part of the castle had been burned some time in the past.

That night, a strange change came over the ruined castle, and various guards and courtiers appeared in the moonlight. The lady of the castle invited the party into the hall, which had regained its grandeur. She introduced herself as a duchess, and thanked the party for killing the manticore. The group then saw the downfall of the castle, stormed by an angry mob led by a priest of the Fates. It was this priest who had pinned the parchment to the chair, apparently trapping the duchess there. After the vision ended, the knight pulled out the dagger, and the parchment crumbled to dust. The ghosts or visions had all disappeared. Not everyone thought that pulling the dagger free was such a good idea, however.

[luke]

Wow! An honest-to-god BW monster fight! I am glad to hear you are still playing and having a good time at it.

Care to post those stats for that Manticore? I'd be very interested to see. (If you don't want your players to know, you can always PM me. ;))

-abzu

[Mad Hatter]

I kind of cribbed them from the Griffin stats in the book. I thought he was a bit underpowered, though. He went down way too fast. I will put them together for a post, I don't mind if nebulousmenace sees them (since he's my player who haunts the list).

[nebulousmenace]

I got a LOT of successes on the White Fire roll.

And then I got a Superb result. (It ended up being B15 damage.)

I could easily, easily have seen that fight going the other way. That thing was one Die of Fate roll away from killing the entire party.

[Mad Hatter]

Latest update:

Nice session on Monday, lots of role-playing action, not a lot of physical conflict. After killing the manticore, our knight wanted to present the head to the local Contessa, and the sorcerer wanted to sell off the various harvested organs as spell components. The group travelled to Aufreine, the seat of the county. On the way, they encountered a scene of carnage, with half-a-dozen swordswomen hanging from trees by the side of the road. What had happened wasn't exactly clear. It appeared the slain women had been waiting along the road in ambush, but then attacked from behind and slaughtered. The party discovered a survivor, the woman-at-arms of the Reeve (a local authority, not well liked in the area).

Continuing to Aufreine, they successfully sold the parts and presented the head. Then we had a very sweet little scripted fight between the blacksmith character and the woman-at-arms (discovered as the survivor earlier), after the blacksmith overheard a conversation between the fighter and the Reeve.

This was interesting. The blacksmith was unarmed (and is also lame, so fleeing was out), and the woman-at-arms had a sword. The blacksmith took a slash, but then did a push maneuver just as the swordswoman was changing stance. This proved the key move of the whole combat. The blacksmith is quite strong (Power B6), and knocked the swordswoman down. Once that happened, the blacksmith used a cudgel (picked up earlier in the fight) to beat the swordswoman senseless in two blows (both Serious wounds).

[eruditus]

Sorry, double post, debug message confused me

[eruditus]

That night, a strange change came over the ruined castle, and various guards and courtiers appeared in the moonlight. The lady of the castle invited the party into the hall, which had regained its grandeur.

Ah. I love that musical. *Fond memories of Brigadoon*

[Mad Hatter]

Hi, all,

Been a while since my last update, but we've only had two sessions since then. One session was devoted to the introduction of a new character, a bandit and knife-fighter who has attached herself to our knight's household.

Last night, though, we had our first major, multi-character dustup. Full scripting and a major fight, involving two armored knights and several supporting types, including a crossbowman. The only problem is that it took so long that we had to stop before the fight was over, as it was past midnight and everyone's gotta work in the morning. I'm feeling it today, believe me.

Anyway, the players were at a serious disadvantage. They were in the midst of working when the knights attacked, and were unprepared. The PC knight was not wearing her armor, but did have her sword, and the two characters with bows had them unstrung, which made one decide not to even bother with the missile weapon, since the enemy would be too close by the time she got it ready.

The sorcerer got hit right away with a severe wound from the crossbowman. The two armed knights charged the player knight, some distance from the rest of the group. Through clever scripting, she managed to knock one off her horse and then mount the steed. She held them off long enough for the sorcerer to recover and blast one of the knights with White Fire.

Meanwhile, the former bandit and the blacksmith players engaged two other riders, more lightly armed than the knights. This went badly for the player bandit, and she fled after taking two wounds. The player archer had gotten her bow in working order now, and killed the rider with a well-placed shot as she pursued.

Now, there is one knight remaining afoot, two squires with spears approaching the combat (they are also on foot), the crossbowman (finally reloaded), and one remaining rider on the enemy side, and on the player side, the knight ahorse, the blacksmith still engaged with the rider, the bandit recovering from her wound, the archer beginning to reload, and the sorcerer taxed to uselessness.

Should be interesting next time we play!

[Kublai]

holy cow! sounds terrible! a medieval blitzkrieg! I hope everyone makes it!

:twisted: "WHITE FIRE!"

[Mad Hatter]

Yeah, I was a bit worried I was making things too tough for them. They are in big trouble, even now, but on the other hand, when they are through, they will definitely feel like they earned it. :twisted:

Our player knight has a superior sword, by the way: VA of 2, which makes the enemy knights slightly more vulnerable. Plus, our player archer is hell-on-wheels.

[luke]

sounds like a good challenge for some bad-ass players.

I'm glad to see SOMEONE understands how to deal with a sorcerer in BW: C R O S S B O W. Doubly glad to see that Whitefire participated in the combat, but did not dominate it. What's he got left? 1D of Forte? And probably no low obstacle spells to take advantage of it with... Ah well.

As for the rest of them! It sounds like a real knock down drag out brawl to the death! These folks must really be after the PCs if they mustered all these heavies!.Two knights and a crossbowman! Yikes.

The crossbowman has reloaded... that was a 4 exchange fight. Eternitiy in seconds.

-abzu

[Mad Hatter]

The knights are actually the ones after them. The player knight killed their sister in a tournament, and they are after revenge. They brought the crossbowman because they knew about the wizard.

[Kublai]

::wizard at beginning of battle:: "Hmm... it must be in here somewhere!"
::rummaging through wizard toolkit:: "I know I took it with me... didn't I?"
::worried look on face:: "Oh dread! Where is Turn Aside the Blade?!"

TAB. Never leave home without it.

[luke]

Note to self regarding anti-wizard operating procedure: Throw blinding dust or powder in wizard's face. Choke wizard into unconsciousness. Release grip. Take up rock (or hammer or crowbar). Proceed to smash elbows and knees while screaming, "Tell me your secrets!"

[nebulousmenace]

For a guy with a crossbow bolt sticking OUT OF HIS CHEST I think I did pretty well. [Next time, I'm hurrying the Turn-Aside and burning an action to go first - I figure I can get it off at the start of the 2nd volley at only +1 Ob. Experience is a crap teacher, because the test comes before the lesson.]

I'm Taxed to 1 Forte, and down three dice due to wound penalties. I'm lying on my back, eyes open, congratulating myself on having the good sense to fall backwards so that I didn't land on the bolt.

Incidentally, the timing on the fight was beautiful: the knight has Spectacular. One of her instincts is "Go Big!" (Spectacular is the DEFAULT.) And just after she leapt onto the horse with a ton of successes, the White Fire [in this world, the lightning strikes from above] struck behind her as she raised her sword into the air.

Hi ho silver !

P.S. White Fire still gets my vote. Once it only did B8, but the other time it did a Superb where a Mark was B15. I think that's G7, but it was generally considered Exceedingly Moot.