[Conspiracy in Oregon] The human army captain

[ffilz]

See [Conspiracy in Oregon] The court sorceror (http://www.burningwheel.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2464) for campaign notes.


I don't have this character's sheet, so all I have are the notes on his Beliefs and Instincts, and I think his life paths:

Life Paths: Born City, ???, Lead to Professional Soldier, Captain, Veteran

Beliefs:
- I will bring those responsible for my comrade's deaths and my disgrace to justice.
- I will find allies for my quest.
- As the elves defend their forests, they defend the cities.

Instincts:
- Draw at the sight of naked steel.
- Automatically run towards a woman's scream.
- Check for signs of ambush before turning corners.

His background story included that his unit was set up for some kind of ambush and most (all?) of his men were killed and he was drummed out of the army (he was probably supposed to be killed also). He is now somewhat disillusioned.

Frank

[cawshis]

Beliefs:
- I will bring those responsible for my comrade's deaths and my disgrace to justice.
- I will find allies for my quest.
- As the elves defend their forests, they defend the cities.

Instincts:
- Draw at the sight of naked steel.
- Automatically run towards a woman's scream.
- Check for signs of ambush before turning corners.


Great instincts and first belief!

I'd adjust the second belief. What sort of allies? What does this mean to him? As a GM, I'd reward him for making someone see that there was a conspiracy afoot...but if that's what he wants Artha for....then say so.

How about, "By sword or by word, I'll have made everyone in the Town Council see that I was wronged." or some such. Replace town council with the ruling party (because surely that's who set up the ambush, right?).

I think I'm misreading the third belief. Can you clarify what the player was trying to say?

[ffilz]

Yea, the 2nd belief needs to be more fully stated. Partly my attempt to write down what the players were saying as they came up with their beliefs is at fault.

The intent of the third belief I think is basically that the elves, by defending their forests, help stabilize the cities, both in direct protection (the orcs can't just breeze into the cities through the forests), but also as a stabilizing force.

I think that belief can be crisped up, but it will be an easy one to make some nice challenges of (a disaffected elf allows an orc patrol to slip through the forest). It also clashes slightly with the elves stated aloofness to the situation (at the start).

So I see this character wanting scenes where he has the opportunity to try and convince the elves about what he thinks is going down, and that they should help him.

Frank

[cawshis]

For the third belief, how about "Our survival in the cities depend on the well-being of the forests; I will preserve(or pursue?) our (an?) alliance with the Elves at all costs."

Of course, you can change "at all costs" to make it less strong…but in my limited experience GMing BW, I've found that strongly worded beliefs are more apt to get reactions and decisions out of players (and thus more artha for them). The more I read Luke's and Thor's stuff, the more I see that strong, actionable beliefs make or break the games.

All good stuff though. Seems like players have an idea as to what they want, most of their beliefs just need that "push" bit. It's the hardest part for my guys too (when we actually get to play).