The three players are Adam, Maia, and Matt. None of the three have ever played The Burning Wheel before, although Maia has gone through character burning in the past. My intent is to introduce the various subsystems of play in a sequence that makes sense and is accessible.
I don’t have a specific setting or starting situation in mind, so Session 0 begins with a situation burning discussion. I run through the way that I tend to think about the situation options: Plot (Quest, Struggle, or Intrigue), Character Stock (both what the players want to play, and what they want to interact with in the world), and social class (high class/court, middle class/merchants, lower class, etc). Adam is already playing in two traditional dungeon crawling games, so he wants to do something as different from that as possible. Matt says that he loves Dwarves and really wants to do Dwarfy stuff if everyone else is interested. Maia says she is in as long as she gets to be a badass Dwarf lady.
After a few more ideas are tossed out, it is clear that everyone is most interested in an intrigue type situation. Adam and Matt really want to argue about politics, so we settle on a high class situation of Dwarven intrigue. The kernel of situation that really excites everyone is post-independence state building (the US constitutional congress; the formation of the Irish free state; the formation of Israel in 1948; the French Revolution and its various governments), and the players all decide that they want to argue with and about Elves. Independence from the Elves it is!
Very little character burning happens this session since it takes quite a while to hash out the broad strokes of the starting situation, and I need to flesh it out a bit before the players can decide where they want to fit in! We decide that we need a Character Burning session next week.
Starting Setting & Situation
Between sessions, I work up some details on the setting. First, I draw a quick map and name some locations:I don’t have a specific setting or starting situation in mind, so Session 0 begins with a situation burning discussion. I run through the way that I tend to think about the situation options: Plot (Quest, Struggle, or Intrigue), Character Stock (both what the players want to play, and what they want to interact with in the world), and social class (high class/court, middle class/merchants, lower class, etc). Adam is already playing in two traditional dungeon crawling games, so he wants to do something as different from that as possible. Matt says that he loves Dwarves and really wants to do Dwarfy stuff if everyone else is interested. Maia says she is in as long as she gets to be a badass Dwarf lady.
After a few more ideas are tossed out, it is clear that everyone is most interested in an intrigue type situation. Adam and Matt really want to argue about politics, so we settle on a high class situation of Dwarven intrigue. The kernel of situation that really excites everyone is post-independence state building (the US constitutional congress; the formation of the Irish free state; the formation of Israel in 1948; the French Revolution and its various governments), and the players all decide that they want to argue with and about Elves. Independence from the Elves it is!
Very little character burning happens this session since it takes quite a while to hash out the broad strokes of the starting situation, and I need to flesh it out a bit before the players can decide where they want to fit in! We decide that we need a Character Burning session next week.
Starting Setting & Situation
I then sketch out some names and a situation:
Khazagund Dwarven lands
Tumunzahar Dwarven halls; capital
Uruktharbun Dwarven halls
Gabilgathol Dwarven halls
Nulukhizdîn Dwarven halls; opposed the Zaghlûn
Barazduban Abandoned Dwarven halls
Zaghlûn The Dwarven fight for independence; The Struggle.
Barazak A Dwarven faction that believes that Dwarven artifacts must be restored to Dwarven hands at all costs.
Siginân The river north of Tumunzahar defining the northeast border of Khazagund
Gabilân The river with its source at Gabilgathol defining the northwest border of Khazagund
Gabil-zaram The mountain lake considered to be the source of the Gabilân
Buzundush The river with its source at Tumunzahar; a tributary of the Signân
Zirakush The river with its source at Uruktharbun; a tributary of the Gabilân
Nargûn Tundra underlain by permafrost where no trees can grow. Home to cold-drakes.
The Zaghlûn ended with the Battle of Gabil-zaram after a faction of Barazak from Gabilgathol retrieved the Carcanet of Nisimaldor. Uruktharbun and Tumunzahar joined in the defense of Gabilgathol, and the Dwarves won the battle and were granted complete independence in exchange for the Carcanet. The Dwarves of Urukthatbun, always the least populous of the great Dwarven halls, bore the brunt of the fighting.
Six months later, a Great Council has been called.
The Great Council traditionally consists of seven Paragons from the five Dwarven Realms. For the past six hundred years, Barazduban has been abandoned and only six Paragons are called.
Mótsognir, King of the Realm of Tumunzahar
Mjóthvitnir, Master Engraver of Tumunzahar
Droma, Queen of the Realm of Gabilgathol
Thrain, Master of the Hallgeld of Gabilgathol
Vestri, Queen of the Realm of Nulukhizdîn
Dvalin, King of the Realm of Uruktharbun
There are a number of political issues that the council will examine. Will Nukuzhadim join an independent Khazagund? Will the Dwarven Realms remain largely self-governing, or will they form a permanent centralized government for all Khazagund? Will Elves be expelled from their settlements above Khazagund? Will the Barazak recognize the authority of the High Council? Who will maintain the surface infrastructure necessary to bring food and trade to the Realms of Khazagund? Will Uruktharbun be abandoned after the death of so many to war? Will the elves agree to the repatriation of Dwarven artifacts?
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