Group/Character Planning

We'll chat about who the group and characters are, here, and discuss their goals and motivations.

Here are the Hub and Spokes, the basic rules of the game.

Welcome, welcome! I'm excited for this game. Did any one of the situations in the interest check thread sound interesting to play? I kind of love the idea that the characters are a group sent to investigate why the spring flooding of the Nile hasn't happened.

That's the one that struck me as being the most iconically Egyptian.

I think for exploring the setting, it makes perfect sense to, well, go exploring. Since the Empress is a goddess, does that make scribes pseudo priests? And what, if any, magical resources do the PCs have access to?

I think it might be interesting to play a social climbing junior priest/scribe. Somebody who is thinking more about how to garner favor and build social connections then stabbing people in the face. Besides, it's so much easier to stab them in the back.

I'm cool with the flooding one.

I had an idea, but don't know how well it fits in the setting. I'm thinking like an escaped or former slave whose wife was lost when we were building a tomb and I'm trying to find a way to cross to the underworld and get her back. The other side of the Nile is metaphorically (and perhaps literally) the land of the dead. If something is amiss with the river maybe it provides opportunities for me to cross over.

Ooh, that sounds interesting.

Priests and scribes are related, but different.

I've got a page over on City of Brass where I've put together some notes on this setting. I invite you to peruse it, especially the Culture page. It's very much a work in progress.

I really love the idea that you're searching for your wife in the underworld, WarDomo. That's very rich and connected to the setting.

OrigamiSamurai, your ladder climbing character is also really cool. In a strict caste system like this one, wanting to change your lot in life is a very interesting story.

I'm getting a 403 error

Woops. Forgot to change the privacy settings. You should be able to see it now.

So...I've never played a Burning Wheel anything. I'm super interested though because I've always seen it mentioned in r/rpg as having a very character driven system. I want to give it a whirl but am unsure where to start.

The hub and spokes PDF that shark bone linked is a solid start. We'll have to get setting stuff and character creation from him unless you pick up burning wheel gold

Yeah, the link to City of Brass that i provided is what setting info I've got so far. You all are more than welcome to contribute ideas to it. What i need from you all, who don't have access to the book, are character concepts. I'll have to make the character for you.

If you do have the book, we'll make concepts first and burn up the character after that. I want everyone to build concepts together. Talk about who you are, why you are the group that is being sent on the investigation and how you all relate to each other.

So, looking at it, maybe my character could be a lower priest who's trying to increase his influence. Maybe he's working with WarDomo because he thinks if he can learn to bring somebody back, he can do the same for someone important to the God-Empress. That's his ticket to fame/fortune.

What do you think?

I like it. Lots of personal drives which is great.

Maybe your priest was overseeing or sanctifying that tomb construction project. My wife was part of a crew that was digging holes for the foundation and the ground gave way. The priest and I were there and he organized a crew of slaves (including me) to recover the bodies. But there were no bodies in the pit. After that day, You purchased me off that crew and we have worked together to figure out what happened.

Or maybe I came to you after that happened trying to learn as much as possible about the afterlife

Throw in a couple dirty secrets, some blackmail, and unrequited love and we've got ourselves a party.

So as a priest, what kind of fancy magicky talking to the gods would he have access to? Is it more along the lines of casting some bones and reading omens for divination, hexes, etc? Or are we talking full on sandstorm-wielding destroyer types?

I imagine my guy would be more subtle than a fireball cannon. Since we might be dealing with ye olde death deity, maybe he specializes in spirits and shades and divining secrets through what the dead know?

Interesting. I like the idea of him overseeing the project in some capacity. They've got a shared secret that they're hiding about what happened.

Of course, if you're up for it, they both know he'll try to murder your character if he doesn't need him once he figures it out. You could have a major goal of digging up enough dirt or making yourself so indispensable that he can't get rid of you.

In Burning Wheel, there exists Faith magic which i think would be perfect. You pray to the gods, begging their favor in a specific problem. If you succeed in the roll, you get their benefit.

There's also full blown sorcery, which would also fit with a priest, but I think that would be better for a more established priest.

Yeah, Faith magic sounds perfect.

So, this system has life paths to burn characters. What four steps in the characters life do you think have brought them to this point?