Lothar the Just

[tmerren]

This is my friend’s character for a short (1-4 sessions) game of BW. This will be a one-on-one, as we don’t have any other players around, and neither of us have played BW before. Any advice you would like to give will be greatly appreciated.

Concept: Escaped Prisoner
Character Name: Lothar
Lifepaths: City Born, City Guard, Gaol Warden, Outlaw
Age: 26
Stats: Wi:3 Pe:6 Po:3 Fo:6 Ag:4 Sp:4
Attributes: He:6 Ste:6 Hesitation:7 Re:6 MW:11 Resources:0* Circles:1
PTGS: Su:4 Li:7 Mi:8 Se:9 Tr:10 Mo:11
Skills: Brawling b3, Spear b3, Crossbow b3, Intimidation b3, Ettiquitte b2, Inconspicuous b4, Goal-wise b3, Authority-wise b3, Armor Training
Gear: Clothes, Traveling Gear, PQ Spear, PQ Knife
Relationships: -
Affiliations: *
Reputations: *
Traits: Outlaw, Mind for Small Details (Char), (Something I couldn’t read but is probably another Character trait)
Beliefs:
- Justice is the right of every man.
- I will catch the thief that escaped from my prison.
- I will end the corruption in my home city.
Instincts:
- When confronted, I ask the questions.
- The threat of force is usually enough!
- (forthcoming)
Backstory: Lothar was getting in a bit of trouble as a city guard, so he was assigned as a gaol warden. Lothar’s reputation as a fair and just warden quickly became known throughout the city. Somehow, while he was on watch, a newly captured thief managed to escape. The Magistrate was furious and had Lothar locked up in the thief’s absence. Lothar knew this was an abuse of power and vowed to return the thief to his rightful place and see the corrupt Magistrate removed from office. Knowing the penalty for escaping himself, he decided to risk it all in a desperate attempt to see proper justice served. He now hunts the thief Fellrig with a fiery passion born of justice.

*After the Outlaw trait is voted off, he will have Resources:2 Affiliations: 1D undetermined and Reputation: 1D Good Gaol Warden

[Kublai]

Why is his Hesitation so low? Shouldn't it be 7 (10 - Will)? Or is that last trait Fearless?

There's some other fuzzy math, too. His MW should be 10, unless that last trait is Tough. And his Health should be 3, perhaps 4 if he answered a Health question correctly.

I think it would be hard to earn Artha for that first Belief, though it is a fine moral guide. How can you challenge it?

That third Belief should be about the Magistrate, not corruption in general.

[tmerren]

Ah, the hesitation was my goof.
I'll ask him tomorrow about his MW and Health.
I was thinking of putting him in a situation where he could be forced to kill an inocent or something.
I'll get him to reword that one.

[stormsweeper]

My immediate advice is to balance the stats, especially Perception and Will. A B4 in one and a B5 in the other, whichever he thinks will come up more. You could balance Power and Forte similarly for a bit more oomph in combat, but it's less important than the mentals.

Also, why Etiquette? It doesn't seem like a skill that will come up much, if at all. I'm presuming it's from General skill points, which would be bettwer spent on opening Persuasion. I'd also ditch Armor Training, especially as the character has no armor!

As to the affiliation, I'd say it should be with the guard.

[Poorhobo]

My immediate advice is to balance the stats, especially Perception and Will. A B4 in one and a B5 in the other, whichever he thinks will come up more. You could balance Power and Forte similarly for a bit more oomph in combat, but it's less important than the mentals.

I really didn't know anything about Burning Wheel when I started burning but i would make the same choices over again. Lothar has spent the majority of his adult life in a highly structred enviroment, Having a strong will, I didn't think, would be needed when daily activites required him to know his place and the place of his subordinates. A "does what is told" attitude." I also rationalized that as both a city guard and as a gaoler having a high perception would be more important than having a high will. The high forte and low power were the result of needing to be tough enough for the guard but as someone who really didn't use melee weapons on a daily basis would let the physical prowress be just enough to get by.

Also, why Etiquette? It doesn't seem like a skill that will come up much, if at all. I'm presuming it's from General skill points, which would be bettwer spent on opening Persuasion. I'd also ditch Armor Training, especially as the character has no armor!

Ettiquette seemed like a natural choice for someone who grew up in a fairly regimented lifestyle espically one landing the role of Gaoler, somebody who knew how to talk to his superiors, intimidation was born out of the need to deal with drunks lawbreakers and prisoners and hence one of his intincts, threat of force is usually enough. Armor training, spear, and crossbow seemed like valid skills for someone who had spent time in the guard Whether I had actually had the items or not, :) The thing is, I took outlaw as my last path and was forced to accept the outlaw trait. I didn't know what outlaw trait did but once I had my lifepaths I was happy with the character result and was unwilling to turn back for a few resource points (okay a lot of resource points) As a result, yeah, no armor, no crossbow and just a crappy spear and a knife (that you'll notice I had no skill in either I actually got to use it though against a bound opponent...but more on that later)

As for persuasion, Lothar just never seemed like the persuasive kind of guy so I left it off, but oh hell is he learning the value of it out in the real world. :)

As to the affiliation, I'd say it should be with the guard.

Thanks, we finally wound up going with that. Tmerren is going to post a write up of the session soon.

[stormsweeper]

I really didn't know anything about Burning Wheel when I started burning but i would make the same choices over again. Lothar has spent the majority of his adult life in a highly structred enviroment, Having a strong will, I didn't think, would be needed when daily activites required him to know his place and the place of his subordinates. A "does what is told" attitude." I also rationalized that as both a city guard and as a gaoler having a high perception would be more important than having a high will.


Will is absolutely important for a jailer - it's the basis of all your social skills, for one. With a high Perception and a middling Will, you're looking at someone who's more cerebral, but can't really mix it up with anyone verbally. At B3, you'd be fairly easy to Incite in a DoW, for example, or to be a victim of Intimidate.

The other reason I brought it up is that all your social skills (which are the bulk of your skill list) would be bumped up an exponent by the change.




Ettiquette seemed like a natural choice for someone who grew up in a fairly regimented lifestyle espically one landing the role of Gaoler, somebody who knew how to talk to his superiors, intimidation was born out of the need to deal with drunks lawbreakers and prisoners and hence one of his intincts, threat of force is usually enough.

This is where I start to go into the vagaries of concept vs. execution - it's fine to have your concept of the need for the skill, but in excution you're not very good at it, and are not likely to be using it, as Etiquette is a courtly skill. You'd be about as good rolling your Will for it (especially if you balenced it out! ;) ), and spending that point bumping up another skill you will be using in the near term.


Armor training, spear, and crossbow seemed like valid skills for someone who had spent time in the guard Whether I had actually had the items or not, :)

See my answer above. Especially for a limited campaign, if those aren't going to be major focuses for your character or campaign, consider not taking the skill, and again spending the points improving/opening the skills you will use or need.


As for persuasion, Lothar just never seemed like the persuasive kind of guy so I left it off, but oh hell is he learning the value of it out in the real world. :)

Quite. :) I always try to open it (or one of the other primary dueling skills) with any character.

So, again, these are just my suggestions. It sounds like you've already started playing, though, so just keep them in mind for the next guy. You'll certainly have ideas of your own at that point.