New and looking for help

[Manicrack]

All right, my first post.
I hope i put in the right topic.

Ok, hi everyone. I am the newest member of the forums.

I just finished absorbing the bruning wheel and the charackter bruner a few days ago and because I have a big lack of people to play it with, I guess I will just start posting here.

And right with this I want to post one of my biggest problmes.
I have a few friends, who are willing to try out BW with me.
This means, I will be stuck being the GM.
Ok, this isn't a bad thing. Being the Gm can be fun. The bad thing is, that I have the tendency to bore my players.

So I am asking for tips how to make my players addicted to BW so I will have people to play it with for some time. What is critical to give your game that extra touch that makes hoers go by in minutes?

I am grateful for any help and encouragment I could get.

[Kublai]

Here's a tip that I read about on The Forge and that I am trying out for the first time during the summer. Basically, get everyone involved in the setting creation from the beginning - don't go at it alone! If they all create the campaign together, then they all have a stake in it from the beginning. Take care to note everyone's expectations and be sure to include them all in the adventure as much as possible.

For instance, last Thursday, my little group got together to create our campaign. The first question I asked was "What is more important? The kind of character or the setting?" When they answered the setting, I then asked for ideas beginning with my own.

"Okay, I would like to play either a city-based thieves' campaign where you try to take over some established gang's territory!" Another player suggested a Renaissance setting. Eventually, we all hashed out a setting based upon Medici-era Florence.

Next, I asked them what kind of characters would they like to play that would fit well into our setting. "I want to play a smuggler with a boat!" "I want to play a bishop!" "I want to play a summoner!" Quite a diverse response but all possible within our city setting.

The next important issue was the campaign goal. Knowing the setting and the kind of players, we hashed out how they would all be connected and what they were after. We decided they all belonged to one of the Houses that controlled the city. Theirs was an outcast House, however. Therefore, the campaign goal was for them to re-establish their authority in the city while bringing down the rival House that usurped them.

Finally, I asked them to come up with one Belief each that MUST be related to our campaign goal. The sorcerer's was "I must prove my quality to my master by defeating him!" (His master is the rival House's court sorcerer.) The bishop's was "It is our House's right to rule this city!" The bastard smuggler's was "I must prove my value to my House and gain legitimacy in order to marry the woman I love!"

With the goal and setting now established, I gave them guidelines for burning their characters:

1) They had to be Born Noble in order to belong to the House.

2) They MUST take a noble affiliation. The priest had to take a temple affiliation, as well.

3) Based upon their characters' own personal beliefs and goals, I asked them to take appropriate contacts who were reflected in their Beliefs.

4) I allowed them to take up to 6 lifepaths in order to generate capable characters who could accomplish their goal in the short time allowed.

I even asked the players to come up with a name for their House, the city they live in, as well as who would be the main villain and what sort of events they would like to see happen during the campaign!

So that was last week! So far it sounds like it is working! Each player has the campaign goal in mind as well as personal motivation that furthers the main goal.

I have a hunch that keeping everyone involved in the goal will be much easier using this method. Knowing that the players created this world and their own place and reason for being there should make their involvement natural. It's just up to me to throw in the twists!

[Manicrack]

yes, i was thinking about letting my players decide the kind of setting, but the idea of involving that much didn't come to my mind.
thanks for the tip.
If I do taht it will also save me a lot of work and mental resources, that i can then use to add the little twists in the storyline that I like so much.

again thanks for the tip and the quick respnse

[luke]

Hi Mani,

Pete's got some good advice for getting an adventure started, but I think even that's going too far, too fast.

First thing I'd do is print out some pre-gens and some script sheets. Then, one night when you're all waiting for other players to show for a late game or something, bust out the sheets and run a fast and furious melee demo. Show your friends how utterly cool and different BW combat is. They'll balk at first, but it's only because they haven't tried. As soon as they script their first successful Counter-Disarm or Get Inside/Lock, they'll be hooked.

I'd run a couple of Melee Demos over a couple of weeks. Get everyone comfortable and excited.

After that, maybe run a 2-3 hour one-off like Von Goten's Predictament (http://www.burningwheel.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewdownload&cid=4)

Or run a character burning session. That's another thing that hooks players. All the options available!

Then I'd hit him with the session that Pete was talking about. Get them invovled. Get everyone to have a stake in the shared space. Tie in all Beliefs and Instincts, and then prepare to blast off. The game shall rocketh.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

-Luke

PS I moved this thread to Games and Campaigns, cause that's where it belongs.

[Manicrack]

all right, thanks for the help.
I'll save this thread as a word file, in case i forget the important steps :shock:

Unfortunatly it might take some time until I an actually start playing.
I am still in high school and summer just started, and most of it i will be in europe.

I found another BW player out of Ithaca, The Majestic Leper, so maybe i will start being player, and later GM.

Anyway, I will let you know how it turns out.

thanks for the advice

-Crack

[luke]

I know there are quite few players in Ithaca. You might PM Paka and ask about a game.

Also, I am going to try to run a demo at Odyssey later this summer. I'll know more about it in a couple of weeks.

-L

[eruditus]

Take care to note everyone's expectations and be sure to include them all in the adventure as much as possible.


This could not be truer! Expectations is everything. If you know what your players want (aside from excitement) then all you have to do if figure out how to deliver that. I think a list of the right questions to ask will be important as well... I will post them seperately.

I have to say that this is one of the most brilliant posts I have seen in a long time. This was really informative and the campaign sounds GREAT. Kudos. I hope we hear more. :D

[eruditus]

yes, i was thinking about letting my players decide the kind of setting, but the idea of involving that much didn't come to my mind.
thanks for the tip.
If I do taht it will also save me a lot of work and mental resources, that i can then use to add the little twists in the storyline that I like so much.

again thanks for the tip and the quick respnse

This also depends on how lazy your players are (Kublai's players compared to the lumps that just want you to entertain them :evil: ) but sometimes its cool to allow the players a lot of control. Let them design locations and personalities that involve themselves and other players.

(Hmmm... setting burning was suggested in earlier posts....hmmm)

I think the epitome of any campaign is to have the players discussing game events, people and locations in character without your intervention. My favorite example of this is from the movie KRULL. One character says "damn, the seer is dead. Now we're screwed!" Another says sternly "no, we can go to the widow of the web for prophecy." and a third says "no way, that's suicide." The ability to establish a game world in the mind's of the players well enough that they can have that conversation without your direct intersecion is incredibly rewarding.

[eruditus]

First thing I'd do is print out some pre-gens and some script sheets. Then, one night when you're all waiting for other players to show for a late game or something, bust out the sheets and run a fast and furious melee demo. Show your friends how utterly cool and different BW combat is. They'll balk at first, but it's only because they haven't tried. As soon as they script their first successful Counter-Disarm or Get Inside/Lock, they'll be hooked.


This worked for a friend of mine who did filler sessions with BW between campaign shifts.

Getting folk used to things is a good step.

Although, to play devil's advocate, i think Kublai's suggestions could very well happen right from the beginning. Thus the system is not the focus. in fact, with Kublai's example combat may never happen :D Again this is all about expectations. If the players want a lot of steel-swinging then by all means run some practice games. If you want your players afraid of combat (especially among combat novices or non-combatants) the players being a little in the dark is not necessarily a bad thing. This unease may foster them to take different approaches to issues where many gamers might just opt to slug their way through a problem.

Hey Kublai...what happened to the Dwarf campaign? Is this the same group, a different group or a replacement game?

[phredd]

Eru, two of our players are out for the summer, so we're doing a short campaign while they're gone.

[eruditus]

Gotcha. I was hoping Verikai hadn't gone the way of the dod :D

Although this new campaign sounds grand. Emukt from nerdNYC.com (for the newbies) had a short lived Spanish Civil war game that sounded fantastic and I think that BW would be great for other similarly historic games. Hmmmmm....

Damn you people and my ADD. No wonder I don't get anything done! :roll:

[Manicrack]

I know there are quite few players in Ithaca. You might PM Paka and ask about a game.

Also, I am going to try to run a demo at Odyssey later this summer. I'll know more about it in a couple of weeks.

-L


Sweeeeeeeeeeeetttttt..


i hope you do the demo sometime late in the sumer on a weekend.
The rest of the summer ia m busy, either visiting europe(were i am from by the way) or taking theatre lessons in the hangar theatre.
I woukld be glad if you cpuld tell me some tim ein advance, when the demo is.


Since there seem to be a few other players here in Ithaca, it m,ight be that i am not stuck being GM, after all.
Thanks for all your advise anyway, i apreciate it.

-Crack

[Thor Olavsrud]

in fact, with Kublai's example combat may never happen :D Again this is all about expectations.

Let's hope! I don't think there's a combat skill among us! :shock: :lol:

Of course, that's what our house's soldiers are for. :wink: