Not all games can or should be BURNING WHEEL, but every game can learn from it. Here's how... PROLOGUE: The magic of our hobby is an elusive thing. The sessions of legend are memorable and amazing for a combination of factors: social synergy, shared mood, nutrition, timing, setting, story, system, visual aids, GM and player skill, energy levels, and know-how. Let's face it, it's lightning-in-a-bottle. BURNING WHEEL (by Luke Crane and Dan Abram) sets itself apart for many reasons, primarily by ha
Hankerin Ferinale simplifies Burning Wheel down to three steps:
Burning Wheel is my favorite game I’ve never played.
I picked up the books at a local game shop, back when it came out as a two-volume set wrapped in a paper band. A lot of it was honestly the interesting form factor, and how neat the pages looked. Then I got Burning Wheel Gold, which I blame for my weakness for chunky, digest-sized, hardback RPG books.
Anyway! For all the reasons the article states, there’s a lot of value in the system even if you don’t run it. The BITs are great (and seem like a more fleshed-out version of 5e’s BIFs), I’ve always kept “let it ride” in mind to keep games moving, and I try to clearly get the intent from your players before rolling dice.
I’d still like to get Burning Wheel proper to the table, though. :P
As another thought, I just considered that “let it ride” is sort of the opposite of the clocks system popularized by Blades in the Dark, at least when building towards a goal rather than triggering a consequence. I’ll have to do some re-reading and flesh out my thoughts on that!
Burning Wheel is my favorite game I’ve never played.
I picked up the books at a local game shop, back when it came out as a two-volume set wrapped in a paper band. A lot of it was honestly the interesting form factor, and how neat the pages looked. Then I got Burning Wheel Gold, which I blame for my weakness for chunky, digest-sized, hardback RPG books.
Anyway! For all the reasons the article states, there’s a lot of value in the system even if you don’t run it. The BITs are great (and seem like a more fleshed-out version of 5e’s BIFs), I’ve always kept “let it ride” in mind to keep games moving, and I try to clearly get the intent from your players before rolling dice.
I’d still like to get Burning Wheel proper to the table, though. :P
As another thought, I just considered that “let it ride” is sort of the opposite of the clocks system popularized by Blades in the Dark, at least when building towards a goal rather than triggering a consequence. I’ll have to do some re-reading and flesh out my thoughts on that!