BW Moments

[Thor]

Wow! It's been so quiet around here these past few days. Where is everybody? I feel like the entire forum is holding its breath or something.

Anyway, in the interest of spurring some discussion, let's talk about instances of BW in play. Tell me two things:

1. What is your favorite instance of Burning Wheel in play? Tell me about a moment that took your breath away, where the mechanics of Burning Wheel supported you in doing something really cool that you haven't been able to bring off in other games. Please include the mechanic and what it was about that mechanic that helped you.

2. Tell me about your most frustrating BW experience in play. A moment when the mechanics either undercut you or you didn't understand them or they simply didn't work the way you think they should have worked.

Here are mine:
I was playing a sorcerer/summoner in Kublai's Burning Corso game (along with phredd and Drozdal). My character was engaged in a Duel of Wits with the head of his magical order (with the rest of the order looking on as the audience/jury). My character had been accused by his master of breaking the order's rules.

I scripted a perfectly timed Incite, which caused my character's master to leap up to insult me (provide a helping die to my opponent). At that moment, an air spirit that I had summoned several sessions before followed the command I had given it and stole my character's master's voice. We rolled for duration and it came up six years! My character's trial fell apart like the farce it was, and my character succeeded in humiliating his master, which tied into a Belief and earned him a Persona point.

I've never had a plan come off so well in a game session. I had been planning this for more than three sessions, and having it work out was marvelous to behold. The combination of the Duel of Wits scripting mechanics and the Summoning mechanics worked amazingly well. I fell in love with the Summoning mechanics because of the sheer flexibility they allow for, while still requiring serious planning.

Also, resolving a massive character goal and being rewarded for it through the Artha system was fantastic. I didn't do it at the time, but that eventually caused me to change the Belief associated with it, which led to some very interesting play in the end-game, as my own apprentice confronted me. Kublai had given her the exact same Beliefs with which I started the game, and that led to some very interesting roleplaying later on.

2. Probably my most frustrating experience was reffing my first combat in the arena and having to deal with paces and position. It was a pain in the neck! Figuring out how far apart the opponents were, how far they each moved during a Volley, and figuring out where that left them at the end of the Volley was a massive headache! I'm so glad I won't have to worry about it anymore once the Revision comes out.

[Drozdal]

1. I think that was when Abzu ran an Von Gotten Predicament for me and Danny. I've read rules before i I knew what to expect, but coolest thing was realization how smoothly advencement system worked - that was just amazing. Also many many combat demos at conventions.

2. My first BW GM experience. I ran VGP for six of my friends, that was just too much for the first time, combat was extrealmy slow and painful (for both sides).

[Viper]

1. My second time playing Poisonous Ambition... I was a nightseeker, pretty much the head one. Through luck and low cunning, I'd managed to get my hands on a lash... it was a great game with lots of great moments, but I think my favorite moment was when Wrath was about to leap on me and tear my throat out, and I cowed him with the whip, and sent him after the big orcs.

2. My most frustrating moment was during my Dockside game for GGG... it was the first major combat I had run, and I had a lot of trouble coordinating everything... a few of the players didn't have a good handle on the rules, which made things even more complicated.

[Thor]

1. My second time playing Poisonous Ambition... I was a nightseeker, pretty much the head one. Through luck and low cunning, I'd managed to get my hands on a lash... it was a great game with lots of great moments, but I think my favorite moment was when Wrath was about to leap on me and tear my throat out, and I cowed him with the whip, and sent him after the big orcs.

Ah! The Tasting the Lash trait. Who doesn't love it? As I recall from Luke's report after, you organized the theft of character sheets in order to see who had the Tasting the Lash trait and who didn't?

Evil. :twisted:

[Viper]

1. My second time playing Poisonous Ambition... I was a nightseeker, pretty much the head one. Through luck and low cunning, I'd managed to get my hands on a lash... it was a great game with lots of great moments, but I think my favorite moment was when Wrath was about to leap on me and tear my throat out, and I cowed him with the whip, and sent him after the big orcs.

Ah! The Tasting the Lash trait. Who doesn't love it? As I recall from Luke's report after, you organized the theft of character sheets in order to see who had the Tasting the Lash trait and who didn't?

Evil. :twisted:

:oops: yes...

PA brings out the worst in me, I guess :twisted:

[Judd]

Wow! It's been so quiet around here these past few days. Where is everybody? I feel like the entire forum is holding its breath or something.

*me, taking a deep breath until 5-5-05*



1. What is your favorite instance of Burning Wheel in play? Tell me about a moment that took your breath away, where the mechanics of Burning Wheel supported you in doing something really cool that you haven't been able to bring off in other games. Please include the mechanic and what it was about that mechanic that helped you.

The Duel of Wits at Gen Con just rocked my world. I hated system-driven instances of role-play as a knee-jerk reaction to playing systems that didn't back my game's premise up.

It was the Dwarves vs. the Elves and dice were flying every which way across the tabel as everyone got their say and tried to push the argument this way and that. Fantastic stuff.

But wait...as Yoda said, "There is another..."

I was gaming with Kolja aka Manicrack and 3 other folks I wrangled together for a two-shot. One of the players was a young man, Joe, who I have seen grow up, from a 16 year old punk-ass into a responsible young man.

He had really pissed off this Elven Lord and the Lord was ready to take the punk's PC's hand. The punk was on top of a tower, throwing knives at the Lord, that he was batting out of the air like lightsabers swatting blaster-bolts.

He ran out of knives and the Lord moved in on him. Joe made a move like a jump off the tower, as if losing his hand would be too much. He looked down at his character sheet, poised to jump and said, "No, I've been running my whole life."

He got down from the parapet and held his arm out so his hand could be willingly taken for his deeds.

I'd like to think he looked at his BIT's when he did that and realized his PC had an epiphany right there.

Cool moment.



2. Tell me about your most frustrating BW experience in play. A moment when the mechanics either undercut you or you didn't understand them or they simply didn't work the way you think they should have worked.

I had a night when I was making up characters with a few buddies and we just couldn't make the rules fit their concepts. It got really frustrating, especially when I had NEVER had that issue before.

One wanted to make a poisoner, but we couldn't find the poison rules.

Just a frustrating night of chargen for a game that never happened.

[Kaare Berg]

Ahhh where to begin, the moments have been so many.


1. What is your favorite instance of Burning Wheel in play?

There have been many, and they are all characterised by the rules facilitating a twist in the tale that I din't see coming. In my Miranna campaign, Tengel the Knight burst from the inside of the Ogolothrenn, the Forsaken Keep, onto the battlements and rode up to the evil sorceror the Hooded One. Burning Artha and going all out he sliced through an eight successes Turn Aside Blade, killing the mage ending the big battle outside with a literal bang. Also robbing me of the big magic duel I had forseen between Claem the mage (another hero) and the Hooded One.

Then I also have to mention the growth of the character Joshua through the use Belifs and Instincts.

Not to mention the revised artha rules, and the Persona for a Complications rule. Changed the way I GM by lifting the responsibility of player survival (aka fudging) of my shoulders and putting it in their hands.


2. Tell me about your most frustrating BW experience in play.

The whole Sacred Cow issue of the player wanting to script Think instead of Stand and Drool. But this is a cosmetic issue. Otherwise the moment rules and counting paces. I love the revised version.

But sometimes, with two armoured knights of equal skill banging off on each other in courtyard, armour saving and saving hit after hit, while the rest of the party watched the battle with a mix of boredom and frustration.
This was the one time where the scripting system didn't facilitate play, but hindered it.

But once a year isn't bad.