Brainstorming for a New Orc Campaign

[Bret Gillan]

Hey folks. I have four players in my upcoming campaign, the Silent Wasteland. Three of the players, Chadd, Josh, and Tom, are guys that I gamed with before I left for college. The fourth player, Jenn, is a friend of the guys who I've hung out with a couple of times and was interested in joining the game. We all hang out pretty regularly to play board games or to watch movies or if one has a party the others are all invited. They're basically my only friends in this area.

Our initial session was going to be a "Bret pitches games, you guys pick which one" session, but after I got Burning Wheel I saw a chance to run a fantasy game - something I've always wanted to do but never felt I had an adequate game to do it with. After I pitched Burning Wheel and felt that everyone was onboard, we talked about campaign premises. I wanted to run an orc campaign, since I've wanted to run an orc campaign for a long time and had never found a game that didn't A) Turn orcs into nobel savages B) Make orcs humorous. Burning Wheel does neither. After that, Josh pitched a killer kicker that left me abuzz with ideas.

The orcs live in a defiled man-city, conquered long ago by the Dark Lord. The statues of mankings have been been toppled, and the city slowly crumbles. One night, a handful of orcs crawl from their shelters to find the city empty and splattered with black orc-blood.

The characters are as follows:

Chadd - Despair Shouter - A lifelong Black Legioner. Has been both Hatred Bearer and Despair Shouter for the Black Legion. Also the only chattle-born orc in the group.
Beliefs: I am meant for something greater. Become a leader for the chattle-born.
Instincts: Always blow Brazen Horn of Despair at the beginning of the battle. Never let the Hatred Banner fall.


Jenn - Master of Blood - A sorcerer that also has knowledge of surgery and orcish anatomy.
Beliefs: Other orc clans are our enemies. The other orc clans are responsible for what has happened to our missing brethren.
Instincts: When tending the wounded always work on the oldest first.

Josh - Master of Eight - Orcish sorcerer with a giant spider steed.
Beliefs: The world belongs to the Void and the orcs are its Chosen. The orcs are here to kill or enslave the other races for the Void. The disappearance of the other orcs is a sign from the Void that the time of the orcs is now, and the survivors are the Void's Chosen.
Instincts: Strikes at those who blaspheme the Void. If insulted will confront the insulter.

Tom - Mygar, the Named - Great and black one who has gained enough respect to recieve the ritual of being named. Is accompanied by a retinue of wolf-riders led by his daughter and lover(!)
Beliefs: This is my opportunity to rule them all. Chattle-born are fodder. Always surround yourself with allies.
Instincts: Always pull sword when surprised.
Note: Unfortunately, because of a scheduling conflict, Tom will only be with us for one game.

Now I need to brainstorm ideas for what to do with the game now, how to hit up the beliefs, and so on. Since this is my first campaign, to be totally honest, I'm at a loss. I have some ideas for an explanation/resolution to the missing orc phenomenon, but it doesn't really tie into any Beliefs or Instincts. Can anyone offer any ideas or advice on where to start with this?

[Kublai]

Well, you can't create Beliefs without knowing what the campaign goal will be. As for the campaign goal, you should decide with the players what it should be. Then ask the players to have at least one Belief that ties them directly to the goal.

[Paka]

Bret,

It seems like the PC's only have two Beliefs. how about brainstorming all together in different third beliefs that somehow tie into a larger goal that the campaign will be about, probably something about whatever killed the city's orcs in the first place.

I'd avoid having them guess what it is in the Beliefs but I would embrace having them have thoughts from different angles, some wanting to court the slaughter-perpetrater as their new master, some wanting to kill it in single combat, etc.

This all must be done together, not with each player head down, staring at their character sheet in earnest, not talking with one another. There must be dialogue and it must be about the game's direction or question.

[Bret Gillan]

Er. Eh-heh. Campaign goal. Gotcha. Guess we have to have one more jam session before our first game.

[Bret Gillan]

So the group came up with the (obvious) campaign goal of figuring out what happened to all the other orcs, and who made the other orcs vanish. I told them to try and tie their Beliefs in with this goal. Some of them felt their Beliefs already tied in with this goal. There was a lot of struggling at this point and, to be honest, I wasn't really sure how to help them. I read them some example Beliefs from the characters in the Character Burner to give them some ideas. The Instincts pretty much remained the same:

Chadd - I must reform the Black Legion. Chattle-born are stronger than the Great and Black because they must work harder to gain what they have. The humans are behind this disappearance.

Jenn - Other orc clans are our enemies and caused the disappearance. People listen better to a whip than a soft hand. Blood sorcery is the key to earning my name.

Josh - The world belongs to the Void and the orcs are its Chosen. The orcs are here to kill or enslave the other races for the Void. The disappearance of the other orcs is a sign from the Void that the time of the orcs is now, and the survivors are the Void's Chosen.

Tom - This is my opportunity to rule them all. Chattle-born are fodder. Always surround yourself with allies.

I followed Judd's advice and told them to avoid guessing who the perpetrator is in their Beliefs and instead have reasons behind pursuing the perpetrator, but the players were resistant and this just didn't "take."

I'm getting a little frustrated at my players not really "grokking," though I think it's primarily my fault at being unable to explain the game's concepts to them.

I'm going to continue ahead as best as I can and try and brainstorm what's behind the disapperances, though I don't have a lot of ideas, and I'm wondering if this game was doomed before it started.

[Paka]

Listen to your players' beliefs.

It is both the orcs and the humans.

Make the campaign off of their Beliefs. Use them as your seeds.

[Bret Gillan]

Since the game is taking place in an ancient human city, perhaps an enemy orc clan could have awoken the ghosts of the city's former inhabitants?

[Bret Gillan]

I think for the first session I'm going to focus some bangs around:

- All the loot around the city. Who gets it and how much. I'm thinking of having Morag's daughter try and claim the sword and the armor of the Great One.
- Some random ghosty type things. Phantasms, blood out of the walls, and so on. (This isn't a bang so much as color) Maybe a confrontation with the ghost of the ancient king of the city.
- Some sneaky orc sorcerer-assassins lingering around and possibly attacking the group.
- An orc from the Despair Shouter's Black Legion unit in a perilous situation and in need of rescuing.
- I'm thinking of involving signs from the God of Darkness and Blood for the Master of Eight, also, but don't have anything specific. I'm thinking that maybe It's intervention protected them from the ghosts in some way?

I don't really have anything else so far. Any ideas for cranking these Bangs up a notch?

[Paka]

Bret,

Ask yourself the following questions:

Which Beliefs and Instincts do your bangs play into?

Were you looking at their Beliefs and Instincts when you wrote those bangs?

If negative to either question, you are making up bangs like this is a D&D adventure. You have what they give a shit about on their character sheet. They have told you.

Use it.

Otherwise it is just kewl shit in an abandoned city that they have no reason to care about.

[Bret Gillan]

I did. Or I thought I did. Does it seem like I didn't?

If Morag's daughter claims the Great One's shit, that's tying in his relationship with her. Also, I figure he'll have an interest in the Great One's stuff since it's symbolic of leadership etc. and he wants to establish himself as leader of the reamining orcs.

Despair Shouter thinks humans are responsible for what happened. Human ghosts are close enough, I wager.

Master of Blood thinks rival orc clans were involved. That's where the sneaky orc sorcerer-assassins come in.

Despair Shouter, from his Beliefs and Instincts, cares deeply about the Black Legion. I figured he'd want to rescue his comrade, but the other orc PCs might not be so interested in riskin their necks.

And like I said, even though I don't have any bang related to the God of Darkness and Blood I'd like to since the Master of Eight seems interested in that.

If it seems like my Bangs are not tied to the PCs Beliefs, or are tied loosely and poorly, please let me know and how you think they can be improved. I'm looking for advice on how to make them better and more powerful.

[Paka]

If it seems like my Bangs are not tied to the PCs Beliefs, or are tied loosely and poorly, please let me know and how you think they can be improved. I'm looking for advice on how to make them better and more powerful.

Nope, that's cool, they have a flow to 'em.

Sounds solid.