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[LFG] The Burning Wheel

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Hello all! I'm a long-time GM, most of my GMing experience is with various versions of D&D as well as some experience with more indie titles like Dungeon World, Apocalypse World and FATE, and I've been sitting on a copy of The Burning Wheel without having been able to actually play it. I'm looking for an existing group with a spot left in their game for a new player, but with fair warning that I live in Finland and due to my employment situation I'll generally only be available for gaming on the weekend. OR failing at finding an established group I'm more than willing to give this game a shot with an all new group, with me taking the seat of the GM. With The Burning Wheel not available as a PDF this would mean that players having a copy of the game would be a must, as it would ease my burden as a GM to have my players on call to help me answer rules questions (I've read the book cover to cover like a hundred of times, but there's just so much to digest I think I can be forgiven for not having all of it in my mind yet). If you'd be interested in joining a new group playing The Burning Wheel on Roll20, I've got a few basic pitches set up from which we can choose one that interests you the most. Do note that basically all of these pitches assume that the characters will not necessarily be working together and their relationships with each other may even be antagonistic. I've no interest in running The Burning Wheel as another "You're an adventuring party that adventures and stuff" type of game, because that I feel doesn't play to the real strengths of the game. The campaign ideas I've got thus far are: The Kingdoms of Men Courtly intrigue and politicking in the fractious human kingdoms. Plenty of room for players to build characters of common birth with ambitions above their station or for noble characters with an interest in maintaining the status quo. For a historical frame of reference, think the Holy Roman Empire and its multitude of internal conflicts including the Thirty Years War, England and its civil war and the War of the Roses, and going a bit further in the timeline the French Revolution. The point is that the political situation is volatile and the characters (and their beliefs) are basically sitting on a powderkeg with torches lit. Also, depending on how fantastic we want to make it, characters of Dwarven and Elven stock may be acceptable, probably as outside forces with vested interests in driving the conflict one way. The Game of Dwarfs Highly similar to the above, but with all player characters as dwarves. I haven't quite figured out what the exact conflict here is, but due to the extremely interesting psychological traits given to dwarves in The Burning Wheel I feel that there is a lot of potential in a campaign based on political intrigue within the mountain halls of the dwarves. Especially given how good dwarves are at bearing grudges and coveting the riches of others, I feel there might be something in a major political conflict between two great noble houses of dwarves? Should this idea catch on, we can flesh out the details of the dwarven political situation, but again there should be something in the setting that immediately says drama and demands action. The Legions of Orcs And then there's the comedy option. Well, not really, since The Burning Wheel's orcs are quite a far cry from Warhammer's football hooligan orcs. The orcs most obviously lend themselves to a volatile game where it's easy to imagine conflict within their society: they're a society controlled by hatred and violence, where positions of leadership are granted to those most willing to kill those above their station. Of the three pitches, this is probably the one that will see the most direct applications of violence, but given that orcs in The Burning Wheel also have access to some of the game's most interesting social skills (including Poisonous Platitudes) it should offer plenty of opportunities for base intrigue. So, if you'd be interested in giving The Burning Wheel a shot with me, drop a line here! By the way, related to my timezone and availability for gaming, should this become a thing I'll most likely be running this on Saturdays between the hours of 12 AM and 12 PM EET. There's really no chance of me going any later than 12 PM due to the fact that I live with my partner and don't want to keep her up through the playing RPGs online.
I would be interested in such a game, depending on the time slot.  You are 8hrs ahead of me I think, I have availability Friday nights my time starting around 6pm or starting as late as probably 10pm...  Every other Saturday or Sunday with the same availability (this weekend coinciding with the weekend I would be available, so again in 2 weeks if Saturday or Sunday) As to the feel, I would prefer the Kingdoms of Men probably, but could enjoy the Dwarf one as well.   Less interest in the orc idea.  I am relatively new to BW, but have been playing RPGs of various kinds for 15+ years.
Hi, I'm also interested in trying Burning Wheel but have a hard time finding group in my time (weekends, UTC +2:00). suspect you mean you have time from noon till midnight - I've been bugging Roll20 about allowing a 24h clock for the game times but so far nothing done. Other than that I've played a lot of Shadowrun, some DnD, Apocalypse World, Dungeon World, Numenera, Stars Without Number and some other systems. I'm interested in playing political intrigue - I've looked into Pendragon but the PCs' role and storyline is very restricted while Burning Wheel looks more like a sandbox.
I'd be interested, but Saturdays are very much a hit and miss for me. Is there any chance you'd consider weekday evenings? My interest would be primarily in the kingdom of men or the orcish option. Not so much the dwarven one, but willing to compromise.
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Derk, I could probably squeeze in the occasional game on weekday evenings, but it's going to be tough: I work at an elementary school arranging afternoon activities, and my working hours are until 5 PM everyday. Having said that, I would probably be available to start at 8 PM due to the fact that I definitely need some time to wind down after work. EDIT: Forgot to mention, Thursdays are a no-go for me, I have band practice every Thursday evening right after work. Oh and Zax, yeah, I meant that I'll be available to play from noon to midnight, so, uh, I guess 10 AM to 10 PM (the next day) UTC? Oh, wait, since Finland's on Summer Time right now it's actually 11 AM to 11 PM. Man, timezones are hard. Finland's currently UTC +3 hours. Basically, if you could all post whatever times would work for you (preferably in UTC) we can see if there's any particular time that would work for all of us. It seems that the Kingdoms of Men option seems the most appealing to everyone, and once we've decided on a time and a date we can start brainstorming the nitty gritty of the setting.
Would a Saturday at 6pm UTC work for everyone?  If I have done math right that would be 8pm for Ratpick and Zax, 10am for me, and not sure for Derk or others.
absolutezero82 , Check out this active listing, it's too late for Europeans but suitable for Americans x) <a href="https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/27499/the-drink" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/lfg/listing/27499/the-drink</a>... I have a fluid work schedule so I'm most likely to be able to play during weekends - another problem is that I also have to finish early, around 10PM my time (noise and such) so my latest session start would be 4 PM UTC for a four hour session. I had one game where a couple of crazy Americans played during the night so that Europeans could play in the morning and Australians in the evening but that was insane. I don't mean to impose my schedule on anyone but I'm fairly restricted and don't want to risk having to miss games so I'm bugging you about it :). A workday start of 8 PM UTC+3 is doable for me (a three hour session), bearing in mind I might have to miss a session if they need me at work. First and foremost, Ratpick needs to be ok with the schedule, beyond that I'd say it's about the number of players. Personally I'd avoid starting with just 3-4 players, often when 1-2 players don't show up for IRL reasons the session doesn't work well so getting a bit more players would be safer (if&nbsp; Ratpick wouldn't mind). To sum things &nbsp;up, if I'm not mistaken&nbsp; Ratpick 's limits are: Weekdays (maybe) - &nbsp;5 PM UTC, no later than 9 PM UTC Never on Thursday Weekends - 9 AM UTC, no later than 9 PM UTC (That's no later than midnight&nbsp; Ratpick 's time, UTC+3)
Yeah, Zax's got my times down to a pat. :) I also agree with you on the number of players front. Since this campaign won't assume that everyone in the group is always together and there will be plenty of downtime (to give characters a chance to recover, train and generally just towards longer term goals) having a larger pool of players (I think 5 might be the magic number?) would mean that even if a couple of players need to miss we'll still have enough players to play through a session and just focus the action on the drama between the characters who are actually better. On the other hand, provided we can hammer out a schedule that's good for three players barring surprises, I'd be okay with running the game for just three players. Oh, and absolutezero82, the time you proposed would be good for me, but in the light of what Zax just posted it would mean the session would be cut really short for him given that he needs to stop playing at 10 PM his time.
Hmm, well, I could probably be ready for games by 9am my time, but earlier than that and I would likely be useless or not present.&nbsp; If you are going with a bigger party to allow for varied downtimes and such then could work out to start before I would be available and run past when Zax has to go sometimes even?
As a side note, was the Kingdom of Men idea what was locked in on?&nbsp; If so I would like to start brainstorming a character, any idea on life path limit plans? 3, 4, 5, other?
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Yeah, sorry for trying to make you wake up early x). Other than that I'd probably start brainstorming when the group is set. Also doing char creation during one session is useful to discuss stuff. BTW I'm interested in playing a something like a spy-master/assassin/mobster but we'll see. EDIT: Also,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.burningwheel.com/" rel="nofollow">https://www.burningwheel.com/</a> seems to be down right now so I hope it'll get fixed.
I'm not sure if we've locked down on the Kingdoms of Men idea yet, but it definitely seems to have garnered the most responses. I was thinking 4 lifepath characters: by my reckoning that's enough to allow for characters with a lot of political clout already without making them too competent. As I mentioned in the original post, if we do decide to go with that concept, we also need to decide how fantastic we want the setting to be. I mean, there's going to be magic, yes, but do we want ubiquitous Elven and Dwarven characters in the setting? Oh, and you should find this page useful for burning characters:&nbsp;<a href="http://bwgoldburner.appspot.com/" rel="nofollow">http://bwgoldburner.appspot.com/</a>
I personally am still very new to Burning Wheel, so I would prefer if we were all the same race... errr... "Stock".&nbsp; Play up where the races stay to their own kind primarily, so meeting others should be special.
Hi, I've tried to set up a Burning Wheel campaign before, but it fell through. I am still very much interested in the system. I also personally very much like the Kingdom of Men scenario. I would love to try a political campaign. I think that elves and dwarves would work well as fish out of water foreign dignitaries moreso than ubiquitous.&nbsp;
Oh, hi Kyle! Glad you could join us! Have you read the discussion above about times and dates that would work for us? I'm willing to let you as my players decide how you want to deal with non-human stocks. I'm torn between absolutezero's and Kyle's position: I agree with Kyle inasmuch that elves and dwarves shouldn't be ubiquitous (that was poor wording on my part), but that elven and dwarven characters could work as, exactly as Kyle put it, foreign dignitaries and fish out of water. Their special psychological traits potentially lend themselves to interesting drama. Having said that, I also feel there's value in absolutezero's position of keeping all the characters human: since this is going to be a campaign set in one of the kingdoms of men, the focus should be on the intrigue and conflict between the various human factions.
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Since we're newbies an all-human PC group would be a safe start x)
Oh, Yeah, just read the game times. Yeah, converting time zones get's quite confusing. I'm working off -4 UTC time here in New York, as I'm finding it. My work schedule is pretty erratic until the 24th when I go back to school, then Fridays are probably the best for me. It might be best to let you guys talk about what times are best for you guys, and Ill see if I can put myself in there. I don't want you guys to try and fit your schedules around mine, that would just be a mess. Also, I have absolutely no problem with an all Human group. (Honestly I prefer it, never a fan of fantasy races)
Going through the book ... man, this looks almost as insane as GURPS. I hope I'll never have to fight anyone :D
I can tell you though that it actually works. The way the system is set up is almost modular, you don't have to get into the fight or the duel of wits systems until you already have the basics down. The rest of it is actually similar to other dice pool systems. I already kindof have a character idea. I want to do the bastard child of the king going castrati, or made a eunuch. He is supposed to be a advisor type characters (yes, like Varys in game of thrones).
Sounds like we just need Ratpick to finalize a game time, make a campaign, and schedule character creation session!
Zax said: Going through the book ... man, this looks almost as insane as GURPS. I hope I'll never have to fight anyone :D At first we'll stay as far away from the Fight! system as possible. If there's a need to punch someone we'll just run it as a bloody versus test, and save the Fight! system for those moments when a character's beliefs are on the line. Also, I'll make the campaign today and send it to all of you via PM. I'll also leave it open for new applicants should someone interested in Burning Wheel but not looking at the LFG forum find it.
Bumping this thread:&nbsp; So, we've had two of our players drop out of the campaign, which is why we're recruiting up to three new players for the game. The three remaining players will keep their current characters, and we are open to changing the setting to meet the needs of further characters introduced into the game. The things that are set in stone in the setting are the fact that it's set in a kingdom recently conquered by foreign usurpers, in addition to which a third foreign nation is eyeing the kingdom due to a number of ancient relics their kingdom holds. The characters are a princeling of the former (now usurped) regime, currently held hostage in the new court A street-savvy fence/smuggler who may or may not supply weapons for both/all sides of the conflict when an inevitable civil war breaks out A young foreign woman from the aforementioned third nation, sent to wreak havoc and sow discord in the kingdom so as to give her homeland the opportunity to seize the relics they desire As noted above, everything beyond that is subject to change according to the whims of our new batch of players.
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What's the schedule for play look like? I've been itching to play Burning Wheel pretty badly, but being in UTC-8 may be a problem for me.
Right now it's Saturdays starting at 5PM GMT which should be 9AM your time...
That's on the bleeding edge of what is feasible for me since I'm not a morning person, but I need to shift my sleep cycle earlier anyway. I'm still interested if the group doesn't mind the possibility I'll be a little late the first few games because I didn't drag my ass out of bed on time. Here's my character concept: Doctor Prosper Pines, retainer of House Colm Born Villager&gt;Itinerant Monk&gt;Poisoner&gt;Court Doctor Prosper was born into a fringe religious order (details to be determined depending on the setting) that travels the land and provides medical care and religious services to those who find them otherwise unavailable. Prosper and his mother Aegle traveled far and wide, healing the sick amongst the least fortunate, and providing last rites when that failed. Along the way prosper witnessed the much unfairness in the world, turning him pessimistic and away from religion. He ended up falling in with a group of vigilantes called the Quails that battle corruption with assassination, using his knowledge of medicine to provide them with poisons. This estranged him from his mother, who agrees with the cause but disagrees with the method. Eventually Prosper took a more direct role when given the opportunity to treat the corrupt head of the noble family House Colm. He slowly poisoned him while convincing the family that he was merely easing the pain of a fatal disease. This earned him their trust, and they hired him as a retainer. He has worked for the family for nearly a decade, manipulating things from behind the scenes so that his unrequited romantic interest, the daughter of the previous head of the family, has taken control. So in short, Prosper is a talented doctor with some very divided loyalties. His defining belief will be something along the lines of "Life is a twisted game, and I must ensure the nobility plays by the rules." Let me know if you like this idea and whatnot.
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id be down im newish to burning wheel planning to start my first game in a 3 weeks but i have experience in a ton of other settings read my profile for total list. i can do Wednesday or Thursday between 6 and 11 (EST). so if you ever have a campaign on either of those days hit me up!