BURNING WHEEL: BELIEFS

[martimus]

Hey folks,

I've owned BW 2nd edition for about 12 months or so I guess. However this is the first time I've really sat down and given it a propper read through. I was just wondering what sort of beliefs people are using and how do you find you use them during play? Are they simply another form of kicker to get a campaign started? Or do you find that you genuinely reference back to them and use them alongside the artha rules?

Just interested to see what ideas folks are coming up with really. I think it will give an interesting insight into the kind of game worlds you are creating.

Thanks
Martimus

[martimus]

Can I take it from the huge silence that no one is playing BW?

[Suicide_King]

Well, I am running a BW game at the moment... the characters look like this:

Erasmus Paulus (Lars)
Lifepaths:
Born Noble, Religious Acolyte, Court Priest, Archpriest, Canon, Inquisitor
Beliefs:
-The Doctrine holds the answer to each and every question in life.
-The Church is the hand, power and will of God.
-The Woman is always secondary to the Man.
Instincts:
-Always be careful not to contradict the Doctrine.
-Always check food for poison.
-Always take note of people’s names and titles.
Traits:
Mark of Privilege, Tonsured, Royal Favorite, Imperious Demeanor, Suspicious, Faithful, Scheming, Cold-Blooded
Skills:
Doctrine (grey), Torture, Church-Law

Maximilliam Strauss (Esben)
Lifepaths:
City Born, Student, Footsoldier, Sergeant, Squire, Knight, Guard Captain, Vigilante (Freebooter)
Beliefs:
-True justice must be served
-You can never trust someone completely
-Religion and politics protect the nobility, I protect the weak.
Instincts:
-Always have my weapon ready.
-Never trust a friendly stranger.
-Always check my food before I eat.
Traits:
Pragmatic, Determined, Homage (lost), Exasperated, Cold-Blooded, Vigour of Youth
Skills:
Sword (grey), Stealth (grey), Intimidation

… (Kasper)
Lifepaths:
Born Peasant, Hunter, Trapper, Strider, Strider
Beliefs:
-The City corrupts people’s minds.
-The Forest must be respected and honoured.
-Every debt must be paid.
Instincts:
-Always cover my tracks.
-Always have an arrow on the string in dangerous or suspicious situations.
-Always check my equipment before travelling, or in the morning.
Traits:
Loner, Eagle Eye, Claustrophobic
Skills:
Forest-Wise, Stealth, Bow (grey)

This is actually an earlier edition of their beliefs, as they have changed slightly by now. Some of their beliefs are not that good, in that they do not offer an obvious "button" for me to push or are a little too abstract. Other than that though, they do show the basic idea of each character.

[martimus]

Thanks for the reply, I particularly like the sound of Erasmus. Wonderfully paranoid, I think I could get him into all sorts of trouble if I was GM-ing him! How does he test for poisons? Does he just get through a lot of food tasters? Is it all the women he has made to feel second rate who are trying to bump him off?

[Paka]

I'm playing.

Beliefs are what the campaign will be about.

So, for example, I go to my players and say that I want to run an epic campaign set in a city called Vault, that is built directly over hell and is keeping the damned from getting in an effort to keep the demons from getting out. Bam.

Now I have no idea what the shape of the campaign will be, that is just a really basic premise. The players and their beliefs will shape the campaign, give the game its villains and drives.

Hope that helps.

My AP thread is here.

[Storn]

Yeah, Beliefs, Instincts and Traits are SO good, I'm swiping them for my Savage Worlds game. They drive story. They FLAG GMs to what the player's interest for those characters are.

In my Forgotten Realms game, I am removing gods left and right to now there are only 6. Into this decade long subplot behind the scenes, I dropped this NPC. A cleric/paladin type of the god of justice.

Beryl. disillusioned, drunk paladin.

Beliefs
*Gods have abandoned us, it is up to each one of us to help them come back.
*Justice is hard work, and I'm tired of all the lifting. I can't do it anymore.
*The god of justice is a great god and his Way is the Right Way.

Instincts
* Drink to cover the pain and abandoment
*Protect the weakest with the Law first.
*Invest/care about people without thinking, without protect own heart

[martimus]

Interesting to note Paka that you're running a Sorcerer campaign. You seem to use the belief system from BW in the same way that a Sorcerer campaign world is very much the construct of the players playing it. Would that be an accurate assumption? I think that's where I see the beliefs fitfing in myself, as a way of allowing the players to shape their own universe.

[mannydipresso]

I find that Beliefs (as well as Traits and Instincts, though to a slightly [only slightly] lesser extent) are like the beads on a necklace. You can't move very far on the chain without encountering one; though each one might be shaped a bit differently and have different flecks of color, they are the things that are the real source of interest and the things that give the necklace weight.

Eric

[Paka]

Originally Posted by martimus

Interesting to note Paka that you're running a Sorcerer campaign. You seem to use the belief system from BW in the same way that a Sorcerer campaign world is very much the construct of the players playing it. Would that be an accurate assumption? I think that's where I see the beliefs fitfing in myself, as a way of allowing the players to shape their own universe.

Could you rephrase those first few sentences? I am having trouble de-coding them.

But I think my answer to the question would be...yes.

If I start a BW game with musketeers and one of the players mentions an evil Cardinal in their Beliefs, that evil Cardinal will damn well be in the game. I try not to have a scene that isn't tapping into someone's Beliefs in some concrete way.

This isn't to say that I keep my head down to the Beliefs when we play. It feels like an organic give and go process but when I get stuck, those Beliefs are where I go.

[martimus]

Anyone got any more nice examples to share?