Fires over Omac - Advice requested.

[Glendower]

I'm running Fires over Omac on Saturday. I'm nervous, my hands are sweaty, my vision blurred. Help me. Tell me something about Burning Empires, some useful tidbit that will get me through the demo with my mind intact.

My intention is to dazzle the group with the game so much that they demand to Burn a world that very evening. And to do that, I need advice from everyone who's run/played/watched this demo or played their own game, to tell me what worked, what caused explosions of play, and what preparations they made to make the game awesome.

What I'm asking if for you to give me one piece of advice for running Burning Empires. I'll take any and all nuggets of wisdom.

Help me! I'm nervous as all hell!

[luke]

Jon,

Didn't you play in the excellent Omac demo that was posted here?

Anyway, all of my general advice is in the write up. Ask me some specific questions and I'll see what I can do.

-L

[Glendower]

The Take Action Maneuver coupled with a Flak indicates that there will either be a duel of Wits or a Firefight. I'm familiar with the Duel of Wits mechanic from Burning Wheel, but Firefight is a whole different animal.

Disposition is really causing me some problems. I'm having some difficulty understanding it. When I played Fires over Omac, we were headed towards a Firefight against the Kodiaks, using a force of volunteer Kerrn armed with smuggled assault rifles. I had Leaf perform some basic training maneuvers in preparation for the big fight, using a building scene and command skill, and then a tactics roll to "put together a cunning plan". The Firefight never happened because we ran out of time.

Now, using this information, can you walk me through determining the base disposition of this force? It would help me a great deal in understanding how the process works.

[Fuseboy]

I'm running Fires over Omac on Saturday. I'm nervous, my hands are sweaty, my vision blurred. Help me. Tell me something about Burning Empires, some useful tidbit that will get me through the demo with my mind intact.

I can relate 100%. I got myself so worked up about my first BW game that I'll spare you the details. :-)

It's not going to be perfect, and it's not all up to you. It's largely not in your control, either. You're new at it, and no amount of feverish cramming is going to make it go smoothly. Don't make yourself the barrier between success and failure (you'll get burnt to a cinder). Enlist the players as helpers.. tell them you're nervous! Tell them why you love the game and ask them to help you get there.

I hope that's not patronizing; I found myself in a similar state and rules tips weren't the problem. :-) Discard this advice at will!

[Glendower]

I can relate 100%. I got myself so worked up about my first BW game that I'll spare you the details. :-)

It's not going to be perfect, and it's not all up to you. It's largely not in your control, either. You're new at it, and no amount of feverish cramming is going to make it go smoothly. Don't make yourself the barrier between success and failure (you'll get burnt to a cinder). Enlist the players as helpers.. tell them you're nervous! Tell them why you love the game and ask them to help you get there.

I hope that's not patronizing; I found myself in a similar state and rules tips weren't the problem. :-) Discard this advice at will!

This really helps, thanks very much. I have a lot of emotional investment in the demo going well, and that results in some jitters and fear for the chance of failure.

I noticed the "Secret Warrens" on Fazia's sheet. If I conduct a firefight against the Kerrn Warrens (intent of destroying the youngling creche), can that be added as a position? And if it can, am I allowed to add it in? Or does it have to be the player controlling Fazia?

And lastly, what's with the bifocals for Kodiak Alpha? I did a double take with that one.

[luke]

Hi John,

Ok, first off: Relax! It's going to be fine!

Your job in the demo is to keep the pace hot and fast. Don't let the players talk out all their plans and actions. Get them to decide on a course of action and then get them to commit.

Best way to do this? Let them plan, then hit them with the first scene -- an interstitial between the Fazia and the Baron or the two brothers or between the Spiv and the Warden usually works to kick it off.

If they still hem and haw, start building. If they STILL don't react, come down the pipe at them -- full anvil and iron assault!

As for the property -- you can't attack it with out discovering it first. You don't know it's there, so you can't use it. The player can opt to include, but that's up to him.

-L