BURN YOUR GAME
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Not all games can or should be BURNING WHEEL, but every game can learn from it. Here's how... PROLOGUE: The magic of our hobby is an elusive thing. The sessions of legend are memorable and amazing for a combination of factors: social synergy, shared mood, nutrition, timing, setting, story, system, visual aids, GM and player skill, energy levels, and know-how. Let's face it, it's lightning-in-a-bottle. BURNING WHEEL (by Luke Crane and Dan Abram) sets itself apart for many reasons, primarily by ha

Hankerin Ferinale simplifies Burning Wheel down to three steps:

  • Map Relationships with Intent
  • Reinforce Relationships Again and Again
  • Build Massive, Compound Stakes on Dice Rolls
  • tissek@ttrpg.network
    1·
    1 year ago

    Read it and I have to say I vehemently disagree with the author’s conclusions. Only the third point I can a bit agree with, but not the others. Not saying it is bad advice but for the goal of “three methods to get the magic of BURNING WHEEL’s approach in your game, no matter what it may be”* the mark is missed. My methods instead would be

    • THE
    • ARTHA
    • CYCLE

    It is in its Artha Cycle one finds the magic of Burning Wheel, everything else is just fuel for the fire. The Artha Cyle then…

    1. The player states a Belief their character has. It is good, but not required, to include a goal in this Belief.
    2. The player has their character try and achieve said Belief, if the test really matters Artha (player-facing meta currency) is spent on the roll to improve the chance for success. Perhaps they get a bit on their way, perhaps they succeed. Or they fail. Regardless…
    3. The player is awarded for playing their character’s Belief with Artha (meta currencies) and the character is rewared by getting better at the skill.
    4. Update Belief and start the cycle anew

    That there is Burning Wheel at its core. You can find more about it in the Hub and Spokes (free), or just ask if you want to know more about it.

    Relationships, which the author so focuses on, are a tool for the player to write Beliefs about and use to achieve them. They are also excellent tools for the GM to challenge Beliefs as at the beginning of the game every relationship the characters has are someone the player spent points on to create when they burnt their character. So they matter because the Players have said so. But you can remove them and still have Burning Wheel.

    Lets talk a bit about the Author’s third point

    III: Build Massive, Compound Stakes on Dice Rolls

    I agree that Burning Wheel really wants the tests to matter. Spamming tests are not the way. Let’s circle back to the Artha Cycle. Players and Characters are rewarded (mainly) for having their Beliefs in play, which on the other side says that if the scene isn’t about a Belief of theirs there is barely anything in it. Instincts, Traits, other PCs, relationships etc may be there using the character to get involved. But back to big tests. The less you test in Burning Wheel there more those tests matters and the more the player can make those tests matter through spending Artha on them. The player is also more inclined to spend Artha on tests if they don’t feel they have to spend it on several minor tests. What I’ve found this leads to at the table is a test or two to set up the big test. Also there is a focus around the test, a focus to better position their character for it. So once the test comes around it already matters, the table has invested in it and we are all eager to see it play out.

    That is all I have to say about it for now. Read Burning Wheel, at least the Hub and Spokes. There are good things in it.

    But since I cannot shut up - if you are running a more classical fantasy game implementing the Artha Cycle from Torchbearer may be a better idea as it is a bit scaled down.