[Paul B]

There's a lot of assumptive talk here by people who haven't actually played the game, or those who haven't played more than a handful of maneuvers.

I've played out two BE campaigns and I'm here to tell you a) they were extremely different from each other, b) they were extremely different from the TPBs, and c) I'm more than ready to play again.

The campaign structure provides just that: structure. It gives you a beginning, a middle and an end. It gives you a shape and a timer so that various storylines gain urgency.

Just because the game is set in a universe that's slowly falling to the Vaylen doesn't mean the game has to be about that collapse. It's just setting material that gives whatever conflicts you want to play out context. It'd be like saying the SWRPG has to be about the Empire versus the Rebellion, when in fact the Empire v Rebellion bit may simply be a backdrop to other stuff going on.

In actual application, you're under no obligation at all to even include Vaylen in your game. You will, however, be expected to present roughly two sides: characters whose actions are good for the future of humanity (either by design or coincidence), and characters whose actions are bad for the future of humanity (again, either by design or coincidence).

Basically what I'm saying is that I'm unimpressed by all the theoreticals getting tossed around. I've said it several times but it bears saying once more: Burning Empires does not play how it reads. You can't read the book and eyeball it. And you sure as heck can't expect to get a clear idea of how it works from someone who couldn't get it to work.

p.