I *really* want a BurningWheel game! I recently mentioned how impressed I was with a two player Skype game ¹. Today I was looking for reviews of BurningEmpires – a science fiction game based on a comic I’ve never heard of and I stumbled over yet another Burning Wheel game report that I loved to read. ² And it’s a *one on one game* on top of it all!
I’m interested in learning about non-combat oriented games, one-on-one games, and using other media (and I’ve already tried text-only in a MUSH and I’ve seen play by post, ie. forums).
Anyway, I put *Monster Burner* and *Burning Empires* into my shopping cart, but then I started looking for copies of the books in second hand stores, investigating the websites, and checking out the comics – and eventually I wasted so much time that I reconsidered and abandoned the shopping cart. I should get a game of Burning Wheel started before actually buying any supplements.
Oh, I already bought one. *The Blossoms Are Falling*. Oh well.
I decided to buy the two comics that Burning Empires is based upon – *Iron Empires*. They’re drawn by Christoph Moeller. They seem to be available from my local comic shop, Analph.
Reading the chapter on beliefs, instincs, and traits again, I see how it can work. The hard part is getting my head around the fact that this game is so far away from the various D&D variants out there.
The cool thing is how you rise in power:
1. achieve goals that support your beliefs
2. act on your instincts when it leads you into trouble
3. after 6-12 sessions, the table votes on new traits for characters based on past performance
As I said, it’s very alien to me. But I can see how the system encourages you to pick beliefs that draw you into conflict, because the the system rewards you for it.
#RPG #philosophy #Burning Wheel