This is the official discussion thread for my Burning Wheel campaign, called The Chill Lands. Any purely out of character posts should occur here, and anyone following along with the campaign or otherwise curious can post here to discuss with myself and the other players. Keep OOC comments in the gameplay thread to a minimum please.
Thanks,
GM-Peanuts
I r here.
likewise
Profile is updated. GM-Peanuts, will we be concerning ourselves with Artha, or not worrying about that until later?
You can just call me Peanuts, no need for the GM-.
Anyway, Artha. Uhh, hmm, well good it has the tables with what you can do with Artha in the free stuff, so I won't have to type the whole thing up. You guys will start with 2 fate and 1 persona :) Tupilek, if you have any questions about Artha then ask em here.
Now to start this thing.
There is an additional player in this game, beyond what was described in the gameplay thread. They are however, a minor player at this time.
I’ll leave this largely up to you guys. I have a spot for another town/city on the southern edge of the map adjacent to the Savage Jungle. I thought I’d introduce it as the northernmost settlement of a large kingdom to the south (which the Ulfen raid and do trade with). So what Golarion kingdom would you like to have to the south (with the potential of visiting)? It should be a temperate location, so nothing from Garund, but most of the Avistan kingdoms should work well enough. Please let me know!
Given there is a solid likelyhood that is where Zöoi's mother is from & she chose a name like Dawns'gift my vote is for Quadira or somewhere else Sarenrae is worshiped.
Well that's not really a temperate climate. I may be playing a bit fast and loose with geography with the map I've drawn up (I'm trying to figure out whether I just want to find a scanner and upload it or what), but it'd be a bit much to stick a semi-tropical, arid desert nation right below the north pole (which is where the witches have descended from). The Ulfens can range pretty far on their raids.
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Starting you guys off separately, since there's no particular reason you two would have run into each other. You both need to figure out which mission you want to be a part of (and thus how the campaign starts). The four missions are (and will be explained in character shortly to Zooi)
To the Southern Lands (fairly self explanatory. Figure out which Avistan nation you'd like to visit, and we'll send ya there. Likely to be more about politics and urban intrigue)
To the Savage Jungle (Elves! Can you find one of the fabled Citadels of the Mad Elves? Are they truly Mad? Will you be eaten by dinosaurs? Wilderness exploration and survival)
Into the Earth (In search of Dwarves... Spelunking! Cave exploration, maybe darklands-esque shenanigans? Who knows :))
Brave the north (Not so much a diplomatic mission as a deep scouting mission. No scouts have ever been more than a few miles into the plateaus and returned. No-one knows what is truly up there, and it's your job to find out. Wilderness survival, extreme environments, and who knows what other horrible abominations)
So, which one do you guys/your characters want? This campaign is very much about your characters. Tell me where you want it to go with your beliefs and instincts. If something sounds cool, then write a belief about it, I don't mind you guys splitting up at times, but safety in numbers ya know, so try and coordinate things a bit. Post as much as possible, but don't be afraid to hold off and wait for your ally's help :)
Into the north sounds like it's gonna get the most witches killed. I'm down for that.
It might also get the most PCs killed :p Zooi? your thoughts on which mission?
Tupilek, you thoughts on which Southern Land?
and please both of you go post in the Gameplay :)
Sticking with our pulp feel, I'd go with Molthune. It's full of barbarians and an evil king whose power comes from crashed spaceship part robot men. Awesome.
Actually, I believe you are talking about Numeria. I have no problems with Numeria.
Given that almost all of the directions options will be playing to my weaknesses (which is to say I have no survival skills) I have no real opinions one way or another. Expect to hear a lot of pissing & moaning in character for a bit.
I definitely meant to type Numeria. My bad, thanks for the catch.
Numeria could be pretty awesome, clashes a bit with the current setting but I believe Mamoth Lord and Numeria are adjacent in Golarion? *checks the giant map on the wall behind him* hmm, so not quite adjacent, they've got the buffer of the Worldwound and Ustalav between them. I'll give it a try and see how well it'll fit (after I read up on it some more).
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As for no survival skills, that's fine. Until we get at least a third character I've burned up some NPCs to escort you guys wherever it is. So which sounds more interesting Zooi? (Also how do you pronounce that? I've been reading it as Zoey)
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Tupilek, I have burned up Bampfwick, and she's suitably unpleasant :p I've got some ideas for what to do with her too which I hope should be interesting :p Still wanting to head North into the Witches' Lands?
I've always heard it (in my head) as Zu'oey, but Zoey is close enough for someone whose alphabet doesn't include umlauts (which mine doesn't).
I'll decide in character after meeting Zöoi and assessing the situation if that's okay?
Uhh, well Zooi is about to sign up. Hmm, suppose she won't necessarily get the one she signs up for, and she could be 'recommended' for a different mission instead.
That'll work I suppose :)
I mean, if I were speaking German it'd sound something like "zoee-oy". It's difficult to write how an O umlaut sounds with English phonics.
Zooi? You still with us?
Yes, sorry. Having odd effects on the computer. I should have a post later tonight or in the morning tomorrow.
Phew, was starting to worry.
Uhhh, alright. On with the show I suppose! You did get my PM right Zooi? Any response to that?
Yes. Unfortunately, my brain is not currently thinking of more to add to Zöoi's past with Berta at the moment. Have family coming in town this weekend & getting ready for that is using up more of my conscious mind than I have available. Hopefully, I may have something more once next week rolls around.
That said, don't be surprised if my posting is only once a day or so until then.
Well this was more to fill you in on Berta's past (and to give you a chance to elaborate on your own backstory) but alright, can do it when it's convenient for you.
Are you two going to post at some point or...?
Doh! I forgot the ball was in our court now. Give me a bit to collect my thoughts. I should have a post later today or tonight.
Heh, that does happen now and then.
So he gives us a teenager and shunts us off into the wilderness? Seems a little open ended, I have no idea where to start with this. As a player I mean. I don't know anything about the geography or he situation out in the snows. How about the guide guides us a bit.
He will but I thought you coul... ya know, talk to him a bit first :p
Also, he's not a teenager, he's 20.
But more seriously, I was pretty much just waiting for you guys to post your initial reaction to Maruk before I pushed things along; this PbP is meant to be heavy on the RP.
Apologies, post should be up in approx 12 hours (after work)
I'm working extra shifts this week & I have family in town, so I will likely not be able to check more than once a day or so until next weekend at the earliest.
Alright, thanks for the heads up :)
Uhh, a question for you guys, do you have any interest in playing anything else out in the city, or should I just move things along to leaving Kalsgard? I'm getting the sense that's you're not enjoying it very much so far.
I'm not sure Burning Wheel is the thing for me. I like combat as much if not more than roleplaying, and a purely roleplay game without skill checks and stuff to speed things along is going to be way too slow to keep me interested. I don't think it's anything you're doing wrong necessarily it's just been a month (of real time) since we've started and nothing has really happened. Thanks for giving me the chance to try out the system, but I'm going to drop out. Best of luck in future endeavors.
Well bugger. I think I've not really started this thing out the best, it's been a bit slow to get into the plot, but well I believe I said the plot is meant to be created in large part based on the player's input and actions. From my view of it Burning Wheel really isn't a game where you can sit back and wait for the GM to throw things at you (well, it can, but it's not the best way to use the system). Things have been so slow partially because I've been waiting for you guys to get up to some shenanigans, and I regret now that I kind of stepped on Zooi's attempts to do so towards the start; this is still my first time running anything like this and I find it difficult to break old habits.
So: how about we shuffle this thing along to castle blood and you guys can start getting up to some shenanigans? Would you be willing to give that a go Tupilek? I can't promise there'll be much combat, but at least you'll be able to start exploring and getting into trouble, where the real fun of Burning Wheel shines (or that is my impression of it anyway).
See that's my issue. I'm really not enjoying that I have to come up with the story, which seems to be a central feature of Burning Wheel. It feels more like a DMing to me than playing, and I already have enough DMing on my plate with six games of my own. Sorry man, I'm just not feeling the system.
You don't have to come up with the story so much as drive it along, find something your character's interested in and head in that direction, the story will follow along.
If you're sure that you want to resign then that's fine, I won't pressure you any more. Me and Zooi will have to consider what we want to do or see if we can find anyone else...
Alright, so... Zooi, try and recruit some others? Try a different campaign? Abandon it completely?
It's kind of a pity. I'd just finished figuring out campaign cartographer to create these:
Map(Snowy)
Map(Clean)
Well, I invited the people who were looking at the Mouse Guard campaign I am working on setting up here to come take a look at this thread. Hopefully, some of them might be interested. As I posted yesterday, this week is going to be pretty busy for me so I likely won't have a great deal of brainpower to apply.
ahh yes, true. Well, we'll put the thing on hiatus for a little while at least, and when I can be bothered I'll see about recruiting :p
Alrighty Zooi, so unless you're super enthusiastic about continuing this, I think I'm going to retire this campaign. Just not enough people interested really :(
If you are interested however, I'm considering running a game of Necessary Evil (Savage World Super Villains game/story/setting) in it's place.
Oooohhhh.
How could GM-Peanuts have known my great weakness, Super Heros/Villains?
Why yes, I would be quite interested in some Necessary Evil. I am not well acquainted with the system however.
Savage World - Super Villains - waves hand :)
Heh, hey Mark :) Finally got some time to join another PbP then?
Well, I was hoping to get people familiar with the system this time (since trying to introduce someone new to the system over pbp proved so difficult :p) but I kinda owe you a spot :p Besides, Savage Worlds is pretty easy as long as you can wrap your head around the basic mechanics. Necessary Evil does tweak those mechanics in some weird directions however.
Anyway, I should have the recruitment thread up sometime this weekend. I'll link it in here :)
I am familiar with Savage Worlds (I am a Kickstarter backer for Deadlands Noir) and most importantly have the PDFs so can read on the fly. I won't hold things up ;) Thinking of playing a brute force villain, heavy on the strength... but about as mentally sharp as a particularly blunt post.
And you don't owe me nothing either :P
Ahh, good old brick. It's so nice to play something so simple sometimes... The owing thing was mostly directed to Zooi. You'll have to submit like the others ;)
Depending on the complexity involved, I've thinking something on the order of a psychic femme fatale. A little bit pre-X men Emma Frost, a little bit Poison Ivy, with a dash of Harley Quinn just to spice things up?..
Likely tamped down a notch or two given 'starting character' and all, but how feasible would that be?
I picked up copies of Savage Worlds Deluxe: Explorer's Edition & Super Powers Companion: Explorer's Edition today, so I should be able to handle most of Character Creation without too much coaching.
Hmmm, well I'm not too familiar with Emma Frost, but yeah could probably be done. You start with between 10 and 20 power points (a Standard Power Level according to the Super Power Companion), so you might have to choose to focus on one or two powers to be 'good at', or else just be a bit of a dabbler in a few different ones. I'd probably suggest the former, but up to you. If you need any more info on anything then just send me a message (or post in here I suppose)
Woops, forgot to post this here like I said: Recruitment Thread
Zöoi here: this is the avatar I will be using for the Necessary Evil campaign.
Question: In the Character Creation post you said we get the Arcane Background (Super Powers) Edge for free. Is that in addition to the free Edge we get for being Human, or is that the Free Edge we get?
Second Question: Are there preferred or proscribed 'origins' for powers? The premise I am currently going with is a 'far-future Utopian Post-Human' somehow trapped here in her 'past'. Her 'powers' are basically a combination of continuing human evolution & 'much' better training/health care, so on.
I can get a decent, if not terribly impressive, basic spread of starting powers/traits/skills taking the 'face' Archetype from page 18 of the Deluxe Explorer's Edition, replacing Strong Willed with Arcane Background (Super Powers), then taking Mind Control (3 PP), Mind Reading (3 PP), Lvl 1 Minions (1 PP),1 Step Super Smarts (1 PP), and Telepathy (2 PP)
The Minions would be people she has 'subverted' via her mental powers in preparation for a particular activity.
it is in addition to the free edge for human. It's pretty much required for the game, so they don't make it a 'feat tax' as it were :)
Hmmm, that's rather interesting... it could work well enough, but I think there would have to be an aspect of amnesia to the character so that you don't know too much about what's meant to happen in the campaign. So someone in the future (or one possible future anyway) sent you back in time to ensure that events play out as they are supposed to, but his experimental machine disoriented you and you lost some of your memories. How does that sound?
Haven't looked at the archeptype, but like I said, Super Powers is in addition to anything else, and if you chose to take a second Major hindrance you can get an extra 5 Power Points if you want :)