Paka
12-25-2004, 04:52 AM
Can't sleep while visiting the family in Jersey. Might as well post about the characters we burned up tonight.
I ran a fantasy RPG in college when we were all young, dumb and unemployed. It was a stock-standard Tolkien-inspired fantasy using Ars Magica as the background. The system was a stretch but it worked.
The game was set up and run on a whim but became this amazing campaign. I can clearly remember running it after a long hiatus from running traditional fellowship-style fantasy. I wrote the words squire, bard, ranger, thief, wizard's apprentice, acolyte and Not Human down on a piece of paper and allowed the players to choose amongst themselves, saving the Not Human slot for my buddy, Jay.
All 9 players were present for every game except for when one of the players went on an internship. The games had this mythic quality to them. We'd all cook breakfast together and game for 12 hours straight. It was a carnival, hands down the best campaign I ever ran.
However, the combats were always lackluster and while I love Ars Magica, it didn't really work for what I was trying to do.
When I read Burning Wheel, I suspected that I had found my system and when I played it and ran it a few times, I knew it was a match. If we ever did a reunion game I'd run it with BW, without a doubt.
So, when Jay was going to be home for the holidays, I told him that I wanted to try to burn up Chox with BW. I reckoned I'd run a series of one shots for the various players in small groups
We got together and burned up good ole Chox, his dwarven PC while also creating a character for Rob, his brother.
When we last left Chox he had just destroyed a Drow city, his father, the king of his Dwarven clan had been killed, the assassin traitor crucified to a stone on Traitor's Hill. Chox's brother was ready to ascend to the throne.
Rob wrote down Aristocratic Black Sheep on his sheet. He told me he wanted a mischievous type of faerie who would lead mortals astray, etc. I don't think he was prepared for the kick-ass martial monstrousity that he ended up with, but the concept evolved with the chargen process.
Jay's good ole dwarf, Chox
Born Noble -> Ardent -> Axe-Bearer -> Adventurer
Beliefs
Duty is all.
Always be prepared. (eh
Finish what you start.
Instincts
No problem can't be shouted out. (eh
Kill goblinoids.
Fear water.
Traits
Driven
Determined
Rob's black sheep Elf, Seshandris Starthorn
[i]Born Etharch -> Attendant -> Swordsinger -> Ranger
Beliefs
Elvish lives are better and more important.
The clever man is the better man.
All's fair in love and war.
Instincts
Never leave a slight unpaid.
Always use the sword last, but never hesitate to use it.
Impress whenver possible.
Traits
Trustworthy
I ran a fantasy RPG in college when we were all young, dumb and unemployed. It was a stock-standard Tolkien-inspired fantasy using Ars Magica as the background. The system was a stretch but it worked.
The game was set up and run on a whim but became this amazing campaign. I can clearly remember running it after a long hiatus from running traditional fellowship-style fantasy. I wrote the words squire, bard, ranger, thief, wizard's apprentice, acolyte and Not Human down on a piece of paper and allowed the players to choose amongst themselves, saving the Not Human slot for my buddy, Jay.
All 9 players were present for every game except for when one of the players went on an internship. The games had this mythic quality to them. We'd all cook breakfast together and game for 12 hours straight. It was a carnival, hands down the best campaign I ever ran.
However, the combats were always lackluster and while I love Ars Magica, it didn't really work for what I was trying to do.
When I read Burning Wheel, I suspected that I had found my system and when I played it and ran it a few times, I knew it was a match. If we ever did a reunion game I'd run it with BW, without a doubt.
So, when Jay was going to be home for the holidays, I told him that I wanted to try to burn up Chox with BW. I reckoned I'd run a series of one shots for the various players in small groups
We got together and burned up good ole Chox, his dwarven PC while also creating a character for Rob, his brother.
When we last left Chox he had just destroyed a Drow city, his father, the king of his Dwarven clan had been killed, the assassin traitor crucified to a stone on Traitor's Hill. Chox's brother was ready to ascend to the throne.
Rob wrote down Aristocratic Black Sheep on his sheet. He told me he wanted a mischievous type of faerie who would lead mortals astray, etc. I don't think he was prepared for the kick-ass martial monstrousity that he ended up with, but the concept evolved with the chargen process.
Jay's good ole dwarf, Chox
Born Noble -> Ardent -> Axe-Bearer -> Adventurer
Beliefs
Duty is all.
Always be prepared. (eh
Finish what you start.
Instincts
No problem can't be shouted out. (eh
Kill goblinoids.
Fear water.
Traits
Driven
Determined
Rob's black sheep Elf, Seshandris Starthorn
[i]Born Etharch -> Attendant -> Swordsinger -> Ranger
Beliefs
Elvish lives are better and more important.
The clever man is the better man.
All's fair in love and war.
Instincts
Never leave a slight unpaid.
Always use the sword last, but never hesitate to use it.
Impress whenver possible.
Traits
Trustworthy