I had a bit of a rough Sunday this weekend, so I decided to distract myself from Real Life a bit with some work on my Witcher Burning Wheel hack that I've been tinkering with. I posted the lifepaths and traits that I shared previously on the BW forums and got some excellent feedback on those from a couple of people, including some amazing advice from Thor for tweaks, so I'll be reworking those.
One of the big things that Thor pointed out is that the elven spell songs probably were a better model for the signs than using the Art Magic rules that I had initially intended to go with. This solved one of my big concerns I had with having witchers use the Sorcery skill when there would be actual witches using the regular Sorcery rules in the game, which is something the Codex specifically calls out as an issue. By making the signs themselves individual skills based off the elven spell songs, it eliminates the conflicting magic rules while still achieving the same effects.
That still leaves the issue of creating the new sign skills, though, so I've take a stab at that below! These function mechanically as the elven spell songs more or less, being open-ended rolls but not requiring the Gifted trait. Instead, the use of these skills requires the Witcher trait I shared before. The other chief difference obviously is that use of these skills doesn't require sustained singing as the elven spell songs do in order to use to make them a bit closer to the magic used in-game. Each of the signs is its own individual skill, it should be noted.
Quen -- Ob 4^ -- 11 Actions
The witcher surrounds himself with a magical shield, absorbing damage from enemy blows. Functions as the existing Turn Aside the Blade spell.
Yrden -- Ob 4^ -- 2 Actions
The witcher casts a circle of magical fire on the ground, trapping supernatural foes caught within it. The caster chooses a single supernatural target to make a Steel test. Hesitation is increased by the margin of success.
Igni -- See Description -- 2 Actions
A burst of flame erupts from the hand of the witcher, setting torches or foes ablaze in its path. Functions as either the existing Flame Finger or Fire Fan spells as applicable to the intent.
Aard - Ob Speed -- 1 Action
The witcher assails his foes with a telekinetic blast. Targets in the path are knocked prone. Weapon length: as spear; Range: as pistol.
Axii -- Ob 3 -- 2 Actions
The witcher influences the mind of a target, forcing them to speak honestly or stunning them into inaction. Targets must make a Steel test, and must speak honestly for a number of actions equal to the result.
Please take a look and let me know your thoughts, especially any changes you think might need to be made, Are they too powerful? Are they not powerful enough? Let me know! Once I get enough feedback, I'll work on putting together a post with the revised lifepaths, traits, and signs in a single post as an easy reference for anybody to use in their games. At some point in the future, I might even take a stab at putting together some folklore monsters and Wild Hunt NPCs for those that want them, but that's a hill I'm not quite ready to climb just yet.
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Friday, September 16, 2016
Curse the GMs!
So for those that are unaware, there's been a fairly tongue-in-cheek hashtag going around the G+ called #INDIEGAMEaDAY2016. Similar in nature to the #RPGaDAY hashtag that goes around every year, this one tends to poke a bit of fun at a lot of the trends around indie RPGs and try and get everyone to not take their hobby so ultra-seriously. For an example, here's today's topic:
#INDIEGAMEaDAY2016
16. Are GMs abusers, control freaks, or both? Best story explaining why this is so.
Now if you don't follow indie RPGs too closely, this might not land for you, but a lot of indie games strive for player agency and there's more than a few GM-less systems out there (one of which I've talked about before and will do so again in a bit). But anyway, I'm not going to discuss the hashtag itself, because I thankfully have no GM horror stories to share. However, the question did get me thinking about GMing, my style, and why I got started into it.
I think I may have mentioned this before, but I only very recently got into GMing, probably within the past two years or so. My first real run of it was an online Mouse Guard PbP game with a group of people I've been playing with for years, kind of as a feeler. I had a campaign idea, and we had a player dropping out, so I asked the person who had been running the game for years if he would mind letting me run the game for a bit. He was delighted, and I ran a fairly decent campaign, especially for a first time running it, but had some issues. Primarily, running a PbP game is a completely different animal, and the chief challenge is keeping everybody focused and checking in regularly. I quickly learned I am very bad at this, as I am not a generally authoritative person by nature. I ran I think one full year, three sessions, and then burned out from chasing one of the players and turned things back over to the original GM.
The experience did reinforce my own feelings on why a lot of people end up GMing, though: they want to play games. If you enjoy a game or a system enough, you want to play it, and it is the eternal struggle of a gaming hobbyist that they don't ever have enough players to play with. And so in order to play a game they want to play, they have to convince other people to play with them, and the easiest way to do this is to volunteer to do the heavy lifting and run the game for the other players. Ask your GM if they'd mind you taking over for a bit and watch their eyes light up. Seriously, do it.
That being said, I think there is definitely a group that prefers GMing to being a PC, and I think I may be skewing more towards this end of things the more games I run. I have always been a writer at heart from childhood on. I have never been published and never have really put much effort into that end of things, but I've always written stories if for nobody else but myself. It's part of the reason I play the video games I do (only massive open world games where I can create a character and do my thang. Your game doesn't have a story? Perfect. I will make my own), and it definitely is a muscle that I enjoy flexing as a GM. I find I enjoy putting together scenarios and watching players develop over time more than any character I have played.
For the most part, I enjoy improvising when I run games, and reacting more to what the players are doing than anything in particular that I planned, and so I gravitate more to those systems that allow me to do that. It's one of the main reasons I have issues running a lot of OSR games where there's more prep involved. But my primary focus with any game I run is simply to make sure everybody is having a good time and enjoying creating stories alongside me.
Questlandia I've written about before, and I already grabbed a digital copy when Hannah Shaffer offered it as a free download for Free RPG Day this year. The game is so good, though, that I felt guilty having not paid for it. That and it's typically much easier for me to get into games in physical format. As I've said before, I really can't recommend this game enough for world building, both just for a fun game to play with friends and especially as a prep session to starting a longer campaign. Once we wrap up our home Mouse Guard game, I'm planning on running this for a session or two to lead into a Burning Wheel campaign.
#INDIEGAMEaDAY2016
16. Are GMs abusers, control freaks, or both? Best story explaining why this is so.
Now if you don't follow indie RPGs too closely, this might not land for you, but a lot of indie games strive for player agency and there's more than a few GM-less systems out there (one of which I've talked about before and will do so again in a bit). But anyway, I'm not going to discuss the hashtag itself, because I thankfully have no GM horror stories to share. However, the question did get me thinking about GMing, my style, and why I got started into it.
I think I may have mentioned this before, but I only very recently got into GMing, probably within the past two years or so. My first real run of it was an online Mouse Guard PbP game with a group of people I've been playing with for years, kind of as a feeler. I had a campaign idea, and we had a player dropping out, so I asked the person who had been running the game for years if he would mind letting me run the game for a bit. He was delighted, and I ran a fairly decent campaign, especially for a first time running it, but had some issues. Primarily, running a PbP game is a completely different animal, and the chief challenge is keeping everybody focused and checking in regularly. I quickly learned I am very bad at this, as I am not a generally authoritative person by nature. I ran I think one full year, three sessions, and then burned out from chasing one of the players and turned things back over to the original GM.
The experience did reinforce my own feelings on why a lot of people end up GMing, though: they want to play games. If you enjoy a game or a system enough, you want to play it, and it is the eternal struggle of a gaming hobbyist that they don't ever have enough players to play with. And so in order to play a game they want to play, they have to convince other people to play with them, and the easiest way to do this is to volunteer to do the heavy lifting and run the game for the other players. Ask your GM if they'd mind you taking over for a bit and watch their eyes light up. Seriously, do it.
That being said, I think there is definitely a group that prefers GMing to being a PC, and I think I may be skewing more towards this end of things the more games I run. I have always been a writer at heart from childhood on. I have never been published and never have really put much effort into that end of things, but I've always written stories if for nobody else but myself. It's part of the reason I play the video games I do (only massive open world games where I can create a character and do my thang. Your game doesn't have a story? Perfect. I will make my own), and it definitely is a muscle that I enjoy flexing as a GM. I find I enjoy putting together scenarios and watching players develop over time more than any character I have played.
For the most part, I enjoy improvising when I run games, and reacting more to what the players are doing than anything in particular that I planned, and so I gravitate more to those systems that allow me to do that. It's one of the main reasons I have issues running a lot of OSR games where there's more prep involved. But my primary focus with any game I run is simply to make sure everybody is having a good time and enjoying creating stories alongside me.
New Games!
I bought some new games! Well, one new game and another game I already owned but only in a digital format.
 |
| Questlandia |
Questlandia I've written about before, and I already grabbed a digital copy when Hannah Shaffer offered it as a free download for Free RPG Day this year. The game is so good, though, that I felt guilty having not paid for it. That and it's typically much easier for me to get into games in physical format. As I've said before, I really can't recommend this game enough for world building, both just for a fun game to play with friends and especially as a prep session to starting a longer campaign. Once we wrap up our home Mouse Guard game, I'm planning on running this for a session or two to lead into a Burning Wheel campaign.
 |
| Ryuutama |
Ryuutama is a game that is completely new to me, but one that I've had my eye on for quite a while. I almost grabbed it at PAX East this year, which was the first time I had seen it, but thankfully waited and bought the physical/digital bundle from Kotohi direct. Having both formats is kind of perfect for me, as it allows me to do session prep during my lunch break or slow days at work, while allowing me to get deeper into the game reading before bed. Plus, I always prefer buying direct from creators whenever possible.
I started reading this one last night, and I really am excited to play it. The system is kind of brilliantly simple, and it will make a great introductory game for people that have never roleplayed before. I'm especially looking forward to eventually running this game with my daughter in a few years when she's old enough for gaming, provided she shows an interest. This and Michtim are going to be my go-to early years roleplaying games, but both are also robust enough to easily entertain players of all ages for years. If you have kids, or even if you just like cute stuff and also RPGs, you should definitely own both these games.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Oh, Witch-AY Woman!
(Note: Outside of this post being related to The Witcher 3, the title of this post makes no sense, and serves no purpose to the post outside of giving me an opportunity to quote my favorite obscure Seinfeld line.)
After some delays with Real Life going on (not the greatest week of my life, unfortunately), I've managed to make some kind of progress with the Witcher 3 Burning Wheel setting hack that I've talked about before. Specifically, I've set about trying to come up with the new lifepaths and traits that I think burning a witcher would require. While the Codex doesn't contain the rules for burning lifepaths and traits that I was hoping would be included, the Burning Wiki does have the worksheets for creating a new trait, which I used as a rough guide when putting the new traits together. Mostly, though, I just tweaked some existing lifepaths and traits in order to get where I needed.
The big things I was concerned with when trying to put this stuff together were making sure that I covered the crucial skills a witcher would need, along with covering the very specific mutation process that a witcher goes through, leading to the fun cat eyes. I decided against going with a separate lifepath for the mutation, given that I couldn't come up with any actual skills that would be gained form the process itself, and ended up just rolling an additional two years onto the Witcher lifepath. I ended up basing the new lifepath on the dwarven Adventurer lifepath, which ended up also providing a pretty sweet bonus guide for the Witcher trait. I also created one additional lifepath - that of the Witcher's Apprentice. This was a slight tweaking of the existing Page lifepath from the mannish stock, reducing the years served and adding the Demonology skill, but with a big hit to the Resources points gained.
The one little wrinkle that I will say is probably necessary to tweak the game rules a bit to fit in is that the Witcher's Apprentice lifepath, like the Squire lifepath it's based on, requires that it be the second lifepath a character takes, but is itself an Outcast lifepath. This means that, due to the lack of Born lifepaths that lead to the Outcast subsetting, you might have to fudge things a bit in order to incorporate this into your games and allow other lifepaths to lead into the Outcast setting.
Anyway, here's what I've come up with. Please feel free to respond with your thoughts, and to use in your games. If you DO end up using any of these for a game that you're running, please let me know how they play out.
After some delays with Real Life going on (not the greatest week of my life, unfortunately), I've managed to make some kind of progress with the Witcher 3 Burning Wheel setting hack that I've talked about before. Specifically, I've set about trying to come up with the new lifepaths and traits that I think burning a witcher would require. While the Codex doesn't contain the rules for burning lifepaths and traits that I was hoping would be included, the Burning Wiki does have the worksheets for creating a new trait, which I used as a rough guide when putting the new traits together. Mostly, though, I just tweaked some existing lifepaths and traits in order to get where I needed.
The big things I was concerned with when trying to put this stuff together were making sure that I covered the crucial skills a witcher would need, along with covering the very specific mutation process that a witcher goes through, leading to the fun cat eyes. I decided against going with a separate lifepath for the mutation, given that I couldn't come up with any actual skills that would be gained form the process itself, and ended up just rolling an additional two years onto the Witcher lifepath. I ended up basing the new lifepath on the dwarven Adventurer lifepath, which ended up also providing a pretty sweet bonus guide for the Witcher trait. I also created one additional lifepath - that of the Witcher's Apprentice. This was a slight tweaking of the existing Page lifepath from the mannish stock, reducing the years served and adding the Demonology skill, but with a big hit to the Resources points gained.
The one little wrinkle that I will say is probably necessary to tweak the game rules a bit to fit in is that the Witcher's Apprentice lifepath, like the Squire lifepath it's based on, requires that it be the second lifepath a character takes, but is itself an Outcast lifepath. This means that, due to the lack of Born lifepaths that lead to the Outcast subsetting, you might have to fudge things a bit in order to incorporate this into your games and allow other lifepaths to lead into the Outcast setting.
Anyway, here's what I've come up with. Please feel free to respond with your thoughts, and to use in your games. If you DO end up using any of these for a game that you're running, please let me know how they play out.
| Outcast Setting | Time | Resources | Stat | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Witcher's Apprentice | 5 yrs | 5 | +1P | Any |
| Skills: 6 pts: Brawling, Read, Write, Sword, Demonology | ||||
| Traits: 2 pts: - | ||||
| Prerequisites: If chosen, this path must be the character's second lifepath and may only be taken once. | ||||
| Witcher | 7 yrs | 10 | +1M/P | Any |
| Skills: 12 pts: Sorcery, Climbing, Folklore, Herbalism, Haggling, Brawling, Sword, Crossbow, Axe, Appraisal, Munitions, Survival, Symbology, Alchemy | ||||
| Traits: 2 pt: Witcher, Mutant | ||||
| Requires: Witcher's Apprentice or any Soldier lifepath. | ||||
| Witcher | Dt | |||
| Witchers are feared by the commonfolk, considered freaks and meddlers. As such, Witchers gain +1 Ob to all Circles tests when dealing with Born Peasant or Villager humans. However, they may take a minor (1D) affiliation with the school that trained them for free. | ||||
| Mutant | Dt | 4 pts | ||
| The mutation that witchers undergo renders them sterile and unable to produce offspring. However, the procedure gifts them with sight into the supernatural realm. All Observation tests made to see traces of the supernatural are open-ended. | ||||
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