OK, as if I didn't have enough games for which to make characters, Rob lent me his copies of Burning Wheel and the Character Burner, for use with my chargen rampage. I read through them (mostly) last night, and I'd like to make - rather, "burn" - a character.
The Game: The Burning Wheel
The Publisher Burning Wheel, I guess
Degree of Familiarity: None. I played Burning Empires and made a character for Mouse Guard, both of which use the same system
Books Required: Looks like just the Character Burner, though I have the core book if I need to look up a rule
No, I'm not making an Archon (better suited to Burning Empires anyway). I've made a few fantasy characters, and with one exception (this one) I've always made humans. This time, I want to make a fucking insane, bloodthirsty, orc berserker ("Making fuck?").
I
don't have much in the way of concept beyond that, and since this game
works on Lifepaths, I'm going to just start and see where the choices
take me.
Oh, one thing first - I like the writing in this game.
The author (Luke Crane, whom I've met and think is a great GM and
author) points out that in a setting where magic is nearly extinct, odds
are there's going to be a player who wants to be the last mage in
existence. Now, in White Wolf, when people wanted to be the last Grondr
or whatever, the books poo-pooed the idea, and that makes sense, given
the context (that is, the Grondr died out thousands of years ago). But
BW points out that the last mage in that setting is a major,
drama-ridden character and that's good.
That said, I don't
have such grandiose plans for my character, at least not yet. I only
know I want him to be a not-terribly-careful combat monster, brimming
with rage and self-loathing that he transferred to an almost
hate-fucking intensity on the battlefield. My non-existent GM says that
four lifepaths is plenty for a human, but orcs need an extra, so let's
go with five. I'm of Orc stock, so I can only choose Orc lifepaths. I
have to be Born somewhere, so let's have a look at my options.
OK,
as tempting as it would be to be born a Great Orc, I'll take Born
Chattel. That gives me 5 Resources, 10 years, and a +1 to a Physical
stat. It also leads Servant or Black Legion, meaning I can jump out of
the Chattel setting if I want. I get 2 points in General Skills, and Orc
Common Traints + 1 point.
So my future berserker came from
lowly origins and kept from getting eaten, so far. His young life was
spent creeping through caves and fighting for scraps. Then what? I'll
stick with Chattel for one more path, because I want Ravager. I figure
my Orc was a scrapper from day 1. That adds 3 years, 8 Resources, one
more Physical stat point, the Brawler, Cudgel and Intimidation Skills,
and the Pack Hunter trait. Not crazy about Pack Hunter, actually. No,
really, it's OK. He can still hate other orcs while fighting with them.
From
Ravager I go to the Black Legion, and grab the Legioner path. That
gives me 4 years (plus one for changing settings), 5 Resources, +1
Physical stat, Spear, Shield, Brawling and Foraging, but no traits.
Let's see, where to go from here?
I guess one question is, do I
want to ride into battle? I don't think I do. Damn. I'd like Head-Taker,
but I don't have enough Lifepaths to get the requirements. I'll take
Hatred-Bearer, instead. During his time with the Legion, my character
learned to scream loud and long at the enemy, bearing the standard for
hatred as a precursor to charging in for the kill. This gives me 1 year,
15 Resources (!), +1 to my Mental and Physical pool and the Conspicuous and Black Legion-wise Skills. I also get the Psychotic, Paranoid and Booming Voice traits.
Last
one. Hmm. I can go back to Chattel if I want, or I can take something
here. I think I'll go back to Chattel and take Whipmaster. During his
time as a Hatred Bearer, his superiors noticed his zeal for beating his
subordinates to death. That's not someone you want to let up through the
ranks, so they put him back in charge of slaves. I get 9 years (10,
really, for changing settings again), 15 more resources, +1 M,
Interrogation, Intimidation, Brawling and Torture. I get Where There's a
Whip, There's a Way ("Left, right") as a trait.
OK, now I'm done
with Lifepaths and I move on to step two. I figure my age, which is
time spent for each path plus two (since I took two leads). That's...29,
all together. Checking the stat chart, I have 5 Mental points and 13
Physical, to which I add what I got from Lifepaths, for 17 Physical and 7
Mental. About right.
Dividing those up, I'll put 3 into
Perception and 4 into Will; not great in Perception, but I am an Orc.
For Physical, I can throw four into each and have a 5 in something. I
don't think he's deficient anywhere, so I'll do that, and put my 5 into
Power, making me a strong fucker. I'm not changing shades; it's too
expensive.
Then we get to Health, Mortal Wound and Reflexes.
Health asks me some questions. Do I live in filth and squalor? Hell, yeah, I'm an Orc. -1.
Is the character frail or sickly? Nah. No change.
Was the character severely wounded in the past? Yes, probably. -1, dammit.
Has the character been tortured or enslaved? Well, sort of born that way. -1.
But, now I add one by dint of being an Orc. Net of -2.
Is the character athletic and active? Yes, indeedy. +1.
Do I live in a clean and happy...um, no. No change. So my Health starts at 3. Balls.
The character sheet magically sets my Mortal Wound for me, which is nice. Also Reflexes. Moving on.
Steel, which is kind of my grit rating, is answered the same as Health:
Have I take a soldier-like lifepath? Yep. +1.
Have I been severely wounded? Yep. +1.
Have I ever murdered/killed with my own hands? Again, ORC. +1.
Tortured, enslaved, yes. No change, though, because my Will isn't that high.
Sheltered life? Um, no. No change.
Competitive but non-violent culture? Nope. Highly violent. No change.
Given birth to child? Not unless there's something about male Orcs I don't know. No change.
The rest don't apply to me, either. My Steel is 6.
As an Orc, I have a trait called Hatred. It starts at zero, I think, and then goes up because:
I have been horribly wounded: +1
I have been tortured: +1
I have been a slave: +1
I have killed a superior: +1 (and I'll come back to that)
I have attempted to command goblins in battle: +1
My Steel is higher than 5: +1
I have Where There's a Whip...: +1
I have Hatred 7, all told.
OK,
now Skills. I set aside General Points (2). My non-general give me 15,
altogether. I have to open Brawling, Spear, Conspicuous and
Interrogation, since those are the first skills in my Lifepaths. That
costs 4 of my 15. Those start at 2, because they're half of the root
Stat and they all go from Agility or Will (and BTW, WTF is FoRK? I don't
see it explained).
Anyway, I have 11 points left. I know I want
to open a few more Skills. I'll open Cudgel, Intimidation, Torture,
Black Legion-Wise. That costs 4, leaving me 7 points. I'll use those to
jack Brawling and Cudgel to 4, and use the others one to boost
Intimidation and Torture.
And my two lonely general Skill points, I'll put one into Conspicuous and use the other to open Brutal Intimidation.
That's
Skills. Now, Traits. I only get 5, and I have take the first trait in
each of my Lifepaths, so that leaves me with the Common Orc Traits, Pack
Hunter, Paranoid and Where There's a Whip. That leaves me two points to
play with. I think I do want Booming Voice, so I'll snatch that up. And
I'll take a character trait of Screaming. This will play into Beliefs, I
think.
Resources. I have 27 points to spend. Let's start with Relationships.
Well,
I mentioned earlier that I killed a superior. He was weary after a
battle, and in that battle he'd taken command of a squad of goblins away
from my character. When my guy found out, he went after the dude with a
cudgel, and brained the poor Orc before he could defend himself. That
guy's next in command was eventually elevated to a kind of "war council"
role, and he fears my character's raw, screaming savagery and blind
ambition (truly "blind"; my character is happy to simply eat his way to
the top). He's a minor role in the story because he's not the only one
calling the shots, and he hates me, so that eats 3 points.
I
think that's my only important relationship. Moving on to Gear. I'll buy
Run of the Mill Plated Leather Armor (7 points), a whip (2), Run of the
Mill Arms (a cudgel; 5 points). That puts me at 17 spent, 10 left.
Tools of the Trade gives me fun shit to torture with, and that's good. 7
more points, and I'm down to three. Traveling Gear eats my last three.
My
Circles starts at 2, but I have no Resource points left to buy
affiliations, which is fine by me. Ditto reputation. I start with no
Resources rating, either.
I don't mess with wounds, because seriously, fuck it. I'm tired and this is taking too long. And I want to do the fun stuff.
Beliefs! I can take up to three, and I like these. So let's start with...
"The most anyone deserves is a quick death." My character hates everyone, including himself, and he's a bit of a fatalist.
"Nothing is true, everything is permitted." Rules only work if everyone agrees to follow them. I don't.
"If
I die, you are forgiven. If I live, I will kill you." My character
doesn't believe in honor or mercy. The only way to end a fight with him
is to die or kill.
Instincts! Oh, these are fun.
"A fight begins with a scream." My character doesn't always start shit, but he's lousy at ambushes because his impulse is to yell in hate and attack.
"If
one runs, we all run." Damn, but he's still a pack hunter. If he sees
someone fighting on his side retreat, he does, and he assumes everyone
else will, too.
"Say it loud and proud." My character does not whisper. If it's important enough to say, it's important enough to shout.
Just a name, then. Little more background.
After
the incident with the dead superior, Crier (for 'tis his name) was sent
back to the slave pits from whence he came. But he wasn't interested
anymore. He pushed the goblins out, drove them over land, and eventually
emerged from the lands controlled by his enemy (he thinks). He's alone
now - he ate the last of his goblins a week ago - but he's willing to
fight alongside other Orcs, or really just about anybody, as long as he
gets to kill someone. He knows that, eventually, he's going to die in
battle, and that's fine. He plans to go out chewing someone's face off.
And I believe that's it, by god.
