Jin-Mo

[Falgrim]

Based VERY LOOSELY off of a my favorite characters from the movie Musa.


Jin-Mo was born as the third son to a noble family. In order to stave off any contention to his oldest brothers claim it was decided at a very young age that he would be sent to study the ways of religion and philosophy. At first Jin-mo was an eager student and he attended to his with all due discipline and seriousness.

Upon reaching the age of 13 he was sent off to study within the order of Dae-Joong within the city of Byunyong. The headmaster, unimpressed with the boys knowledge, installed him as a temple guard. Still, Jin-mo made the most of his stay their and sought to master the martial arts and hone his mind and body. He also upheld his studies of Philosophy and the like as best he could.

When Byunjong and the neighboring citiy of Sorabol went to war the guards of Dae-Joong joined the fray offering both martial and spiritual support. Jin-Mo was amongst them and has been witness to the atrocities of this prolonged conflict. While such events have caused him to re-evaluate his role as a holy man he still retains his spiritual inquisitiveness. Thus after many years of conflict and toil Jin-mo now seeks to travel the world seeking enlightenment.

Lifepath:
Born Noble, Acolyte, Lead to City, Guard, Lead to Soldier Chaplain, Seargant

Per: B5 Will: B5 Agi: B5 Spd: B5 Pow: B4 Forte: B4
Health: B4 Reflexes: B5 Mortal Wound: 10 Hesitation: 5 Steel: G7

Skills:
Doctrine: B2
Read: B2
Scribe: B2
Oratory: B2
Brawl: B2
Philosophy: B3
Field Dress: B3
Intimidate: B3
Philosophy: B3
Sword: B4
Martial Arts: B4
Spear: B5
Armor

Traits:
Alert, Man of Few Words, Determined, Thick Skinned

Beliefs:
There are many truths to be found if one keeps their eyes open.
All men have the capacity for good and evil.
All must be willing to play the part of teacher and learner to reach enlightenment.

Instincts:
Accept hardship and disrespect with stoicism
Meet extreme force and disrespect with swift justice
Look, listen and assess all situations before reacting

[Kublai]

Very cool! Have you seen these kung-fu lifepaths? (http://www.burningwheel.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=129&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0) They may help to further refine your concept.

[Falgrim]

No, I hadn't seen those. Very cool. The Warrior Monk one is especially fitting. Perhaps I'll tool around with him some. Thanks.

[Falgrim]

Jin-Mo revisited with new Kung Fu lifepaths:

Lifepaths:
Born Noble, Lead to Religious, Spirit Boxer x2, Warrior Monk x2

Per: B6 Will: B5 Agi: B5 Spd: B5 Pow: B4 Forte: B5
Health: B5 Reflexes: B5 Mortal Wound: 10 Hesitation: 5 Steel: G7

Skills:
Doctrine: B4
Meditation Training?
Read: B3
Scribe: B3
Religious History: B3
Ancient Obscure History: B3
Philosophy: B4
Instruction: B4
Staff: B3
Sword: B3
Martial Arts: B5
Spear: G6


Traits:
Demagogue, Precision Training, Two Fisted Fighting, Righteous, Firm, Disciplined, Devoted

Beliefs:
There are many truths to be found if one keeps their eyes open.
All men have the capacity for good and evil.
All must be willing to play the part of teacher and learner to reach enlightenment.

Instincts:
If someone insults me I'll ignoreit.
If uses force against me I'll strike
If an innocent needs help I'll give it.

NB: Warrior Monks get an assload of skill points. Possibly too much. It's sort of disgusting. :shock:

[Kublai]

Egads! I'm calling the cops 'cause that character surely must be illegal! :shock: :wink: Perhaps some reconfiguring of the skill is necessary?

Anyway, my criticism lies with your instincts, which seems to be the hardest concept for BW players to understand. All of your instincts are beliefs, in my opinion.

An Instinct must be concrete, instinctual action to a specific circumstance. "If something is thrown at me, then I catch it!" "If I am surprised, then I shriek!" "I always have a torch." See how these are very specific, playable instincts? Making them so will allow the GM to test them easily and for you to accrue Artha from their use.

The more vague instincts get, the harder they are to use in play. Instincts are meant to be player defenses against GM cruelty, in some ways. They are not intended to be a means to power-game, as in "I never allow someone to surprise me."

Let's take a closer look at your own, then:

"Accept hardship and disrespect with stoicism." This is certainly a Belief and a life philosophy more than an instinct. However, if we change it to "If I am insulted, then I keep my mouth shut." That works a little better, though it's just an example.

"Meet extreme force and disrespect with swift justice." Again, we need concrete a reaction to a specific stimulus. "If I am threatened, I Strike." Now THAT is an instinct! No thinking, no discussing, just pure gut response.

"Look, listen and assess all situations before reacting." Can you imagine a man who stopped, looked, and listened in ALL situations? I hope he would have the paranoid trait as well as skittish and several others! My advice would be to either incorporate it into a Belief - "To react hastily is to react foolishly" - or refine your assess instinct to deal with only one situation, whether that be when you are surprised, meeting a new person, or whatever.

I am not singling you out, Falgrim, on purpose. Rather I hope all who read this will gain a better understanding on how to create a playable instinct. Yours just happens to reflect a broader problem I've seen in most new players. I am not sure if that's a fault of the Rulebook or what, but it certainly looks like it needs some investigation.[/i]

[Falgrim]

Cool. I'll work on those. I'm not taking your criticism badly, never fear. In fact I appreciate it.

As for the skills, your right I don't know where the mistake was, but damn!

Born Noble
Philosophy and Instruction at B4 each

Spirit Boxer
Doctrine: +1 1 pt
Meditation Training? (2 pts)
Martial Arts: B2+3=B5 (5 points)

Warrior Monk
Spear: G6 (Base B2+4=B6, Gray shift) 10 pts total
Doctrine, Religious History, Ancient History, Read start at B3 4pts
Scribe, Sword, Staff B2+1=B3 each 6 points

I'll fix the instincts too.