I'm starting tomorrow

[Sheir]

I've had the Burning Wheel books since March(I-Con), but after reading 3/4 of the first book was never compelled to finish it. I picked it up the other day and read the first 2 chapters, I remember some of the main elements of play, and I know what to do. I made a character for myself, and have made 2 others for my friends. Tomorrow I'm starting after making 2 more characters.

A problem is that I'm going to be using myself as a character. I know that since I will be the GM I know where everything is, so I was thinking about taking my character out. But I have to learn the mechanics of gameplay from both perspectives, so I'll be playing both. Is this a good idea? And also, is Burning Wheel a good starting Roleplaying Game?

Feel free to give tips after reading my abnormally long post..

--Sheir

[quixoteles]

You in playing your own games is risky business. I have heard of horror stories before. The problem is that you have a character that knows where everything is and you are thinking of yourself as playing the game too. The trick is to convince yourself that you are not playing. You make what they call an NPC. Meaning a non-player character, it is exactly what it sounds like. NPC's are literally burning wheels You should only use them to drive the story forward. Good NPC's don't really do anything but survive.

The best don't make decisions, or discoveries, or turn the tide of battle; they act interesting in their opinions and motivations. It's like in movies where the principal character gets valuable but unrelated advice from a supporting performer. A swordsman little brother is a good NPC, not the inheritor of a secret sword technique.

New GM are often insecure on how to deal with all those hungry little minds sitting around the table gobbling up your story, this where my second tip comes in, don't worry. They are going to do what ever you don't expect. If you have an endless desert beyond the jungle and the ruin is in the jungle depend on players to jump right to the jungle and look over it with a fine-toothed comb. My advice to you in this situation: put the damned ruin in the jungle. Sometimes you have to be willing to be flexible. Ask yourself: "if they go in such and such direction, can I bring them here anyway?" You want them to meet a member of the thieves guild and they want to look at art in the museum have the head of the guild steal from the art museum; they did what the wanted and you got your plot point finished. Running game is about elements; more like chemistry than architecture. Stories build by themselves. GM’s have enough to do already; just set the scenes place all the supporting characters and sit back and watch as the players react to life happening all around them.

(excuse me for my abnormally long post) :D

[Sheir]

I see. I planned to make myself more of an NPC then a player. All my character is, is a bandit with a lot of quirks. He's a compulsive liar. I wanted to make my game more fun, so I put stupid traits on the characters. Like an impulsive drunk >.> My character is only there to lead my friend, they're together in a group, so I figured it would work. Afterwards I'd rarely control him, maybe in a fight because I'm still a bit confused with those..

Well, now I'm going to go set up a time and a place. Thanks for the hints.

--Sheir

[Kublai]

GMs having a role in the party is not uncommon. Even Abzu has has done so in every campaign we've played together. If the players accept this NPC, he can act wonderfully in an advisory role. Perhaps the group is stuck and totally clueless as to where to go next? The GM can use his NPC to hint at a next goal?

Slightly off topic, there is an anime on Cartoon Network called Case Closed. The little boy is the real mastermind that solves cases, but he can't do it openly. So he offers insights in the most subtle of ways to the adult detective who will take the credit. This is how a GM should operate with his NPC.

My own advice for you is to try playing Van Goten's Predicament which is available in the Downloads section. Use the pregen characters too. This will make an easy intro for you and your players before you invest yourselves in characters that may not be ideal for your play style.