John Anderson
02-14-2008, 11:04 AM
Hi all,
Beliefs rock. You know it, I know it. However, sometimes I just cannot seem to convey exactly how to write them across to my players. Some of them seem to grasp what we are looking for in a great belief straight away, while others look at me blankly, start dribbling and gently cry before curling up into the foetal position. I can actually see the grey matter oozing from their ears sometimes. These are the occasions when my writing-beliefs-wise dries up and player frustration settles in for the duration. I have read and re-read the incredibly helpful Beliefs workshops from the wiki and the numerous threads here on the forum, and sometimes it just seems to be going over the same ground again and again. This is not a criticism of the excellent work which has gone before, rather this is my attempt to clarify beliefs so that (in my mind at least) I can have the easiest, most straightforward way of explaining them so that my players get that light bulb a-flickering over their heads sooner rather than later.
Recently I listened to episode 24 of Canon Puncture, in which Luke was interviewed about Burning Wheel (and its iterations) and he expounded on Beliefs amongst many other things. I found the interview very informative and it cleared a lot up in my head about how to approach beliefs and how to explain them to my players. I thoroughly recommend you listen to it and the link is here. (http://canonpuncture.blogspot.com/2007/11/cp-24-luke-crain.html) Luke’s interview starts at 16:15 and he discusses Beliefs until about 25.15.
The upshot of the interview, and please leap in if I am misrepresenting what you are saying Luke, is that Beliefs are player priorities for their character and represent how and when the player wishes to be rewarded (via Artha) based on both player-defined characterisations and goals of his character in play. Such priorities provide flags to the GM and other players about what is important to that player about his character and serve as inspiration for the GM (and also to an extent other players) to create adversity and conflict based on what the player is interested in. This conflict provides the player with the ammunition by which he can play against and be rewarded with Artha.
Luke (in the interview) identifies two separate yet inter-related Belief forms that are intrinsically tied to this Artha reward mechanic. The first is open-ended and represents the player’s priority for reward that is based on a course of action or priority that cannot be achieved or completed; the “I want to be the best…X” Belief. The second type of player priority is based on an achievable course of action or goal and represents the player asking for rewards based on completing an objective, or quest. This is best characterised as the “I will have revenge on…Y” Belief. Both Beliefs are equally valid and represent the player saying, “…this is what is important to me as player and this is how I want my character to be rewarded if I play my character in such a manner”.
While the Artha mechanic actively rewards both types of Belief, it is with slightly differing emphases based on the two differing types of Beliefs being played out. The first, or open-ended Belief, (“I want to be the best…X”) results in an Artha reward feedback based on the player constantly moving his character towards an unachievable goal or priority. In effect, the rewards come for playing a character in a certain manner or way rather than for actually achieving anything concrete. Playing a character based on this open-ended Belief can also result in the transformation of that Belief into a Call-On trait which hard-wires such idiomatic play directly into the game.
If the first type of Belief is unachievable and provides constant Artha and the opportunity of its transformation into a trait based on how a character is played, the second form “I will have revenge on…Y” actively states that the player wishes to be rewarded for achieving a Belief. In effect, the player is rewarded with fate points as he actively moves towards his goal and sets up the final climactic conflict as well as with a persona point for reaching and overcoming that player-defined adversity. The reward then is actively set up to be at a distant yet achievable point in the future with a larger payoff at its conclusion rather than for complicating your character’s life right now. Of course, such idiomatic play on route to the climax may also result in the transformation of the Belief into a trait, but the conscious decision is that any such transformation will not occur until after the Belief has been realised.
Therefore, I think from now on I will be explaining Beliefs in terms of what flags the player sees as important for his character and in terms of how he wishes to be rewarded for playing them. Ideally of course, you’ll want players with a mixture of both open-ended and resolvable Beliefs to provide both a manner of playing the character as well as goals for him to achieve. The player should expect constant Artha rewards for how he plays a character as well as the possibility of a trait which hard-wires such idiomatic play into the game. He should also expect constant rewards for moving towards the goal he has defined and uber Artha for achieving it.
John
Beliefs rock. You know it, I know it. However, sometimes I just cannot seem to convey exactly how to write them across to my players. Some of them seem to grasp what we are looking for in a great belief straight away, while others look at me blankly, start dribbling and gently cry before curling up into the foetal position. I can actually see the grey matter oozing from their ears sometimes. These are the occasions when my writing-beliefs-wise dries up and player frustration settles in for the duration. I have read and re-read the incredibly helpful Beliefs workshops from the wiki and the numerous threads here on the forum, and sometimes it just seems to be going over the same ground again and again. This is not a criticism of the excellent work which has gone before, rather this is my attempt to clarify beliefs so that (in my mind at least) I can have the easiest, most straightforward way of explaining them so that my players get that light bulb a-flickering over their heads sooner rather than later.
Recently I listened to episode 24 of Canon Puncture, in which Luke was interviewed about Burning Wheel (and its iterations) and he expounded on Beliefs amongst many other things. I found the interview very informative and it cleared a lot up in my head about how to approach beliefs and how to explain them to my players. I thoroughly recommend you listen to it and the link is here. (http://canonpuncture.blogspot.com/2007/11/cp-24-luke-crain.html) Luke’s interview starts at 16:15 and he discusses Beliefs until about 25.15.
The upshot of the interview, and please leap in if I am misrepresenting what you are saying Luke, is that Beliefs are player priorities for their character and represent how and when the player wishes to be rewarded (via Artha) based on both player-defined characterisations and goals of his character in play. Such priorities provide flags to the GM and other players about what is important to that player about his character and serve as inspiration for the GM (and also to an extent other players) to create adversity and conflict based on what the player is interested in. This conflict provides the player with the ammunition by which he can play against and be rewarded with Artha.
Luke (in the interview) identifies two separate yet inter-related Belief forms that are intrinsically tied to this Artha reward mechanic. The first is open-ended and represents the player’s priority for reward that is based on a course of action or priority that cannot be achieved or completed; the “I want to be the best…X” Belief. The second type of player priority is based on an achievable course of action or goal and represents the player asking for rewards based on completing an objective, or quest. This is best characterised as the “I will have revenge on…Y” Belief. Both Beliefs are equally valid and represent the player saying, “…this is what is important to me as player and this is how I want my character to be rewarded if I play my character in such a manner”.
While the Artha mechanic actively rewards both types of Belief, it is with slightly differing emphases based on the two differing types of Beliefs being played out. The first, or open-ended Belief, (“I want to be the best…X”) results in an Artha reward feedback based on the player constantly moving his character towards an unachievable goal or priority. In effect, the rewards come for playing a character in a certain manner or way rather than for actually achieving anything concrete. Playing a character based on this open-ended Belief can also result in the transformation of that Belief into a Call-On trait which hard-wires such idiomatic play directly into the game.
If the first type of Belief is unachievable and provides constant Artha and the opportunity of its transformation into a trait based on how a character is played, the second form “I will have revenge on…Y” actively states that the player wishes to be rewarded for achieving a Belief. In effect, the player is rewarded with fate points as he actively moves towards his goal and sets up the final climactic conflict as well as with a persona point for reaching and overcoming that player-defined adversity. The reward then is actively set up to be at a distant yet achievable point in the future with a larger payoff at its conclusion rather than for complicating your character’s life right now. Of course, such idiomatic play on route to the climax may also result in the transformation of the Belief into a trait, but the conscious decision is that any such transformation will not occur until after the Belief has been realised.
Therefore, I think from now on I will be explaining Beliefs in terms of what flags the player sees as important for his character and in terms of how he wishes to be rewarded for playing them. Ideally of course, you’ll want players with a mixture of both open-ended and resolvable Beliefs to provide both a manner of playing the character as well as goals for him to achieve. The player should expect constant Artha rewards for how he plays a character as well as the possibility of a trait which hard-wires such idiomatic play into the game. He should also expect constant rewards for moving towards the goal he has defined and uber Artha for achieving it.
John