Lots of Actual Play

[luke]

Hi folks. Don't know if you frequen the Forge at all, but we've had a ton of actual play up there in the past two weeks.

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewforum.php?f=14

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=13633

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=13576

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=13578

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=13662

check 'em out.
-L

PS we tend to post our Actual Play at the Forge due to the high traffic levels over there. We're still trying to promote the game and all!

[Kaare Berg]

sulk sulk sulk

what, no reference to:
First Light in a Nordic Land (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=8854&highlight=burning+wheel)

Troll Winter (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=9079&highlight=burning+wheel)

Trial and Tribulations (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=9125&highlight=burning+wheel)

Silent Forest - Restless Dead (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=9255&highlight=burning+wheel)

Storm by suprise (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=9705&highlight=burning+wheel)

preparations for winter (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=9961&highlight=burning+wheel)

end of a beginning (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=10503&highlight=burning+wheel)

Summary and Sacrifice (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=11040&highlight=burning+wheel)

Force of Compassion (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=11656&highlight=burning+wheel)

Seeking a Shirne (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=11916&highlight=burning+wheel)

Breaking the Fellowship (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=12515&highlight=burning+wheel)

Up from the Ashes (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=13332&highlight=burning+wheel)

All those hours spent spreading the good word and what do I get, NOTHING I TELL YOU, NOTHING ::runs screaming into the bathroom and cries his poor little heart out while his colleagues quietly remove all sharp objects and invest in body armour::

hrmmmmmmrph

K

-glaring balefully from under his rock

[luke]

it was recent actual play, recent! i'm fairly certain that i've pointed folks over here to your threads before.

anyway, Msr Kaare, I have a special present for you. Sit tight.

-L

[Fourth Horseman]

Hey man. Look what they are posting about me on the other forums. I should check these more often:

>>[abzu] Then Rich realized he forgot to script an action. I had a Strike action about to hit him from a Giant. Instead of retreading the volley, I just dropped the giant's Strike. It was the last action of the exchange and we rescripted.

[Negilent] You are getting soft Luke. Do you use the persona for complication rule? This is IMO a perfect oppurtunity for such persona use.<<

I resent that Negilent. I don't think there was any gimme with Luke's decision. With my extra action I could of done a lot of things . . . avoid, go defensive and block at the same time . . . or do what any self-respecting character on his 3rd suicide campaign in a row would do . . . and strike. The swordsman has a very, very demanding employer who never pays a bonus. :cry:

But I digress. I went there to kill a wizard and having got my self toe to toe with him with only a scratch to speak for had only one more shot at it. Basically, allowing me to script a final action and letting the giant's fly simply has the effect of moving up the result from the first action of the next volley one slot. Denying me a shot and getting a free strike would be unjust and I believe my muse would have protected me. The karma being what it was that night we would have had the same exact result. [Did I mention I walk around with an idol called hojo?]

I knew I had a say 10 percent chance of surviving that kind of script, which is why I wanted to bid the action in the first place, in the slim to none hope that killing the wizard or wounding him produces some sort of catastrophic spell failure that freaks the hell out of the giants allowing the swordsman to scurry away. But hey, the swordsman's instincts are, 1. act like bruce after beheading opponent, 2. kill self if feeling ensorcelled, 3. watch the boss's back. His beliefs are something like 1. I am Kun Beul (err Abzu's) slave, 2. prevent end of days, 3. class is bullshit. If he had a 4th belief it would be I am a Bushi and I am already dead. So there you have it I was programmed for that move, and the fates appreciating my programing rewarded me. Its that simple, and the dice in concert with Luke's seamless rules rewarded it, and if you think otherwise you are just CRAZY :!:

[Paka]

http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?p=145853#145853

Add mine to the mix.

[Kaare Berg]

click . . . whirr . . . bleep (auto defense systems active).

I knew I had a say 10 percent chance of surviving that kind of script, which is why I wanted to bid the action in the first place, in the slim to none hope that killing the wizard or wounding him produces some sort of catastrophic spell failure that freaks the hell out of the giants allowing the swordsman to scurry away

Valid defensive tactic. I wasn't razzing that, nor implying you got of light. As far as I can tell no one gets of light in his games.

Just razzing Luke for long time cow mutilation and this here statement about fudging. (http://www.indie-rpgs.com/viewtopic.php?t=10503&highlight=fudging)

It was a gimme. Good gimme, and much Kudos for not just going SPLAT on your bushi, but still a gimme. You biffed by forgetting to script an action. He fudged. I caught him and he'll never live it down, unless the special present is really good.

oh and the above is totallt innofensivly meant and the poster is totally not responisble for any meaning inferred that does not cause this reaction: :lol:

[Fourth Horseman]

It was a gimme. Good gimme, and much Kudos for not just going SPLAT on your bushi, but still a gimme.

C'mon dude, a gimme is when the GM unilaterally does something to save your ass. Here there was at least an element of reciprocity, he was simply compensating for my unintentional handicapping. Perhaps it qualifies as a fudge in your harsh book, but a gimme?

As for "catching" Abzu fudging, don't get too excited--he does this sort of thing every week. Its called moving the story along. Which makes this statement a bit perplexing:

>>The GM making arbitrary rules calls in order to move things along is risky business. We all do it to some degree or another, I'm sure. (I know I've done it.) So I'm not telling you you're a bad person or a bad GM. But I want to point out that players rely on the mechanics of the game in order to create the earth under their feet, the sky overhead and the troll in front of them. GM and Player abide by the mechanics in order to create a shared reality. Violate the mechanics and the shared reality becomes questionable.<<

I think Abzu was simply overstating a point, and btw, the above is a pretty funny statement considering what Abzu did to Shadowrun in his misspeant youth. There are some overcast days when Abzu might even THINK he believes this propaganda, but the way he actually runs his games--with appropriate "fudging"--leads me to believe he FEELS otherwise. I'm of the belief that rules are there to take or leave. Which is why I'm a fan of the much maligned rolemaster. They dumped an avalanche of rules in your lap, many of them contradictory, said the GM is god, and left it at that. You are free to use what you will of theirs and toss all the rest. How could we say that strictly implementing the rules creates the reality when it doesn't even work that way in real life?

As for maligning Abzu for contradicting himself, I would simply point this out to you, "consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."

And no, I don't take any real offense (even though I might have feigned it earlier) at anything you said--I just wanted to go a little deeper into an age old debate which I think has reared its ugly head here, "story v. rules."

[luke]

Rich,

I think your perception is a symptom of our long history together. You're right, in the old days, I was an inveterate rail-roader: I fudged, yelled, screamed and forced.

Two things have changed since then: First, I'm much more interested in where you guys want to take the story. My ideas are boring and old, your collective contributions are much more fresh and vital to the game. We're not playing out "my stories" any more, but a more collaborative push for creating something cool. We share ideas back and forth and include them in the mix. I think your recent (past two years) successes with Sijuk are a testament to that.

Second: since developing BW, I've had to fudge less and less. Suddenly I was confronted with a game system that did exactly what I wanted it to by design -- not because i forced it.

I'll confess to an occasional fudge -- I did fudge two weeks ago when Danny was fighting that Hound. Danny was so upset that he couldn't get past his armor with his knife, I just had the guy fail an armor test. He was a mook, and it was time to get on with the big show. Ya caught me.

But I haven't ignored the rules and done it "my way" like I did back in Shadowrun for years now. I just don't need to. And you've seen the evidence. I rarely GM with a screen now -- everything's in the open. (The only reason the screen has been up for the last two sessions is because I don't want Pete and Dro looking at the Sorcerers' stats. Which they do!)

I think the idea that the GM needs to break the rules in order to "move the story along" is outmoded. We've moved on to a different kind of play where that phenomenon is largely unnecessary.

-L

[Fourth Horseman]

Its all a question of degree then. I think most of us would agree that story trumps rules in a push, whether that story is a creature of the GM or a more mature collaboration with the players. Luke, you don't have to fudge as much as you used to because the rules are so well designed. But I don't think you'd disagree with the assertion that they should be ignored when they mechanically get in the way. All I'm saying is that fudging is not a bad word, its a part of gaming.

[Fourth Horseman]

BTW Abzu, you still yell and scream. :P

[Kublai]

BTW Abzu, you still yell and scream. :P

At me, mostly! :cry:

[Yagathai]

Heaps of vociferous abuse is the hallmark of a good GM. Don't worry about it.

[luke]

BTW Abzu, you still yell and scream. :P

Yes, I do still yell and scream. Nothing wrong with that! You monkeys need to be kicked into shape on occasion.

anyway, I responded in a new thread:

http://burningwheel.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=824

[Kaare Berg]

Second: since developing BW, I've had to fudge less and less. Suddenly I was confronted with a game system that did exactly what I wanted it to by design -- not because i forced it.

Since you developed the game you have in a philosophical sense forced it.
k