Character Sheets

[GreyWolfVT]

QQ Elf has via PM but I am still very much not comprehending things.

[Keehnelf]

What is giving you trouble?

[GreyWolfVT]

properly putting down belief's instincts and goals. Everything I've tried is not "Proper" for TB.

[sulldawga]

Can we have a spot where there are links to everyone else's PC? I don't know where to go to see Keehnelf's PC.

[Keehnelf]

properly putting down belief's instincts and goals. Everything I've tried is not "Proper" for TB.

So here's the deal--everything you do that engages the system mechanically via skill checks and the like takes up time, either Turns in the adventure phase or Checks in the camp phase.

An instinct allows you to do something related to your instinct without taking up time--either you can do it without advancing the clock in the adventure phase, of you can avoid using up a precious Check during camp phase (and they are very precious, you have to essentially increase your chances of failing, or guarantee yourself a failure, to earn them). So my instinct says "always look for fresh water when making camp" which will allow me to make a Survivalist or similar roll to identify a nearby source of water upon setting up camp without having to take one of our checks. In my TB game, Starbeard has an instinct related to "exploring unknown phenomena", which allows him to investigate things without moving the clock forward. It's just an urge your character has to do stuff that could potentially get him or her in trouble, but in exchange is more economical than it might otherwise be.

Beliefs are a philosophical driving force for your character. Is there a code of honor that undergirds everything he does? Does he believe that the ends always justify the means? Does he believe killing offends the spirits of his ancestors? Actualizing any of those would be good sources of belief because they can drive behavior in specific circumstances and can be "tested".

Declaring your belief says to the GM and other players, "This is an interesting idea and I want to see how my character can be challenged in it to see whether he cracks, changes, or adheres and what the consequences are." The GM's role is to offer up situations that can create conflict around the PCs' beliefs, like if you believe killing offends the spirits of your ancestors, the GM creates a situation where the only alternative to killing is to sacrifice something dear to the character, like a cherished item, or perhaps a trusted companion. What does the character do in that case, when there is something really on the line?

[Simon]

Character is here. Sorry for the delay.

The low down on Ahmad: I'm thinking of him as a Persian/Arab flavored Cleric who worships The Nine Eye'd Lord, a Lawful Lord of Secrets, Hidden Things, and Discovery. His clerical order, known within the faith as The Eyes in Darkness are tasked with travelling the world and uncovering/exposing Chaotic activites or otherwise mysterious phenomenon. They take exacting mental and physical notes of all their discoveries and are compelled to travel back to their religious capitol, Bederatzi to record their findings in the Omnipaedia, the primary sacred text of the Cult of the Nine Eye'd Lord. They believe that when every object and phenomena in the world is precisely recorded and accurately ordered according to the 33 Mysteries, The Nine Eye'd Lord will return to the world and establish an eternal kingdom of reason. The flag of his sacred order is a 9-pointed silver star within a 33-pointed white star on a vermillion field. His Holy Symbol is a silver nine-pointed star with the 33 Names of the Nine Eye'd Lord inscribed around the edge. The prayer supplies he "wears" on his hands are detailed henna-style tattoos of the 33 Mysteries (the precepts of his order).

Whew!

[Q.Q Elf]

Discussing Beliefs & Instincts here is a good thing.

I know it's difficult. It can be very difficult even if you are experienced with Burning Wheel games.

If I can describe where GreyWolfVT is at (in my view), maybe it can help.

Belief: (Currently Blank)

Instinct: Take first shift on watch when camping.
Previously - "He fights for glory, reveling in the action, and dreams of his portrayal by storytellers to generations yet unborn. He wishes others to see him as an epic figure."

=======

I know you know what a Dwarf is, GreyWolfVT. I just don't see that in your Belief & Instinct.

We all say we want to be a Hero. We want to do the right thing. However, the characters that stand out are the ones that deviate from the Heroic expectation, and fall into all-too-human traps. (It's a wonderful part of The Walking Dead, how people reveal their character under stress)

So, GreyWolfVT, I push because I know it's in you. The challenge in moving from D&D to Torchbearer is articulating what you think is obvious inside (i.e. roleplaying in D&D), and making that the all-or-nothing reality (Torchbearer Beliefs & Instincts). What is that quintessential code that makes your Dwarf get out of bed each day?

You can go with "glory" and "fame" and "epicness", but for what purpose? I think those can work, but don't just choose themes to get past this part of character creation. It might seem like a pointless exercise for D&D, but this is the main thing when it comes to Torchbearer.

Can we have a spot where there are links to everyone else's PC? I don't know where to go to see Keehnelf's PC.

Yeah, the way I set up the Google Docs means anyone who links to it can edit the page... which is bad.

I'll have a dashboard that lets you see the other PCs, but I have to set that up... I'll try to get a page up tomorrow with everyone's stats & Belief & Instinct & Goal.

[Q.Q Elf]

Character is here. Sorry for the delay.

The low down on Ahmad: I'm thinking of him as a Persian/Arab flavored Cleric who worships The Nine Eye'd Lord, a Lawful Lord of Secrets, Hidden Things, and Discovery. His clerical order, known within the faith as The Eyes in Darkness are tasked with travelling the world and uncovering/exposing Chaotic activites or otherwise mysterious phenomenon. They take exacting mental and physical notes of all their discoveries and are compelled to travel back to their religious capitol, Bederatzi to record their findings in the Omnipaedia, the primary sacred text of the Cult of the Nine Eye'd Lord. They believe that when every object and phenomena in the world is precisely recorded and accurately ordered according to the 33 Mysteries, The Nine Eye'd Lord will return to the world and establish an eternal kingdom of reason. The flag of his sacred order is a 9-pointed silver star within a 33-pointed white star on a vermillion field. His Holy Symbol is a silver nine-pointed star with the 33 Names of the Nine Eye'd Lord inscribed around the edge. The prayer supplies he "wears" on his hands are detailed henna-style tattoos of the 33 Mysteries (the precepts of his order).

Whew!

Sounds cool! A "scientific" approach to divinity... sounds like it will come into potential conflict with Keehnelf's Elven Ranger, and the Firstborn's innate & intuitive connection to the Song of Creation (a la Burning Wheel, and JRR Tolkien's Silmarillion by extension).

Okay, I will have to read through all the character sheets (as they exist so far), and gather information on a single spreadsheet so that everyone can see what's going on... but I think that's a job for tomorrow.

[Keehnelf]

I have to admit the idea of "watches" is redundant to the torchbearer system. Something terrible might happen in camp, but it's not based on a random-time determined roll usually, so that instinct will hardly ever see play. A more interesting but related instinct might be, "others are most endangered when they think themselves safe-I will fortify our
Camp against unexpected dangers." Then you can make auto tests to improve the safety of camp. Or maybe something about getting between them and surprise dangers, taking tests to head them off for free? Those kinds of things are both meatier story wise and more likely to engage mechanically.

[GreyWolfVT]

well once again I have edited my character to the best of what my brain can come up with.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... sp=sharing

[Q.Q Elf]

well once again I have edited my character to the best of what my brain can come up with.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... sp=sharing

The concept of "Goal" is something we need to flesh out better for you... but what you have in there right now is, "Be the first to charge into battle foes." This is actually a good way to start an Instinct.

Instincts often use words like "Always..." to start. It's the one big way your character reacts to the environment, and the one way I can instantly hook your character into doing something that will force you to choose.

For instance, for a Cleric character I was thinking of (who worships the Hammer Lord)... "Always make your voice be heard when speaking, like the Hammer ringing upon the Anvil." SO MY CLERIC WILL ALWAYS TALK LIKE THIS! WITH MANY EXCLAMATION POINTS!!! ... which would be very bad when you need to be quiet, or when talking with easily spooked people, or to your hung-over Liege Lord, and so on.

Now, I don't know how Dwarven it is, to be running at anything (with their short little legs and stubborn ways and all that), but it's effective as an Instinct.

I don't want to write the concept for you, but think of these as ideas for structure and content:
"When insulted/threatened, always throw the first punch."
"Always comfort those who are suffering."
"Never look at a map. Maps are for girls." (Note: I do not believe this. Do not get all RPG.net on me.)
"Never take prisoners."
"When dividing up treasure, always insist on getting the most expensive items."

[GreyWolfVT]

I believe I placed it in the wrong box I was having some lag issues when last editing the sheet.

[Q.Q Elf]

Can we have a spot where there are links to everyone else's PC? I don't know where to go to see Keehnelf's PC.

Okay, link to my character dashboard (work in progress)...
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing

At this point, you can only View. I have it locked for editing.

You can check out Beliefs, Goals, Instincts there so far. I'll get the skills up next.

Inventory... uh, well, I might just copy & paste those worksheets from your separate character sheets into the same document.

[Simon]

Very cool Q!

[Keehnelf]

Hardcore Party of Law. This is a hilarious group. Three religious zealots (or close enough) and a pragmatic dwarf caught in the middle.

[GreyWolfVT]

he is Neutral at least according to how I had marked him ..... but yeah I'm not so overly religious that I'll go head long into a vengeance battle and die young as it accomplishes very little. I could have made him more like a battlerager dwarf but there would be far less religion in him and a lot more rushing into battle head first so long as it was in the name of his companions or king.

[Q.Q Elf]

Horris

grumbles a bit most of which is not made out by the others finally after grumbling and pacing about surveying the area hi breaks down and opens his mouth again. "What I am tryin ta say is we have to keep level heads. Blindly running off to seek vengeance is stupid. How are we to even know if these people were of a lawful or even neutral disposition? You might be off avenging chaotic evil people that lost poorly in a battle with other forces of evil. Think a bit before you go charging off declaring righteousness and vengeance for law." he stops clears his throat a bit "That being said I do not disagree that we must fight evil and chaos and rid this land of it. But that is a lot of work and we must again think before we act."

Yes, exactly what I'm looking for from the prologue thread.
We can start using this towards Belief & Instinct!

Horris
lets out a heavy sigh and thinks to himself an adventure this will definitely be. He takes a deep breath then calmly replies "I won't ever leave a man-at-arms even if we are on slightly different terms or perspectives lets call it. I've had ta deal with my share of fellow dwarves that thought differently than myself. So don't worry I will not abandon any of ya on the field of battle. I do have yer back so long as I can protect it."

Okay, bingo. We're onto stuff that we can work into an Instinct or even a Belief. AND it seems quite Dwarven. "Never leave a comrade behind." This might be difficult to do in practice because "splitting up is bad" (tm)... so I'll have to ponder that some more. However, the threat of getting split up is a good way to make you fight harder, so maybe it works.

[GreyWolfVT]

see I don't know what you would call it but that is my role playing a dwarf in most cases.

[Q.Q Elf]

see I don't know what you would call it but that is my role playing a dwarf in most cases.

Good!

That's the structure of this game. It's built around rewarding good roleplaying. You get points to boost your actions if your character's actions reflect or horribly conflict with his Beliefs & Instincts - either you do as you say you will do, or you will confront your Beliefs and evolve.

D&D is about fighting monsters & taking their stuff... that's the source of XPs.

Torchbearer is a resource management game, but built on the Burning Wheel's system about rewarding cool roleplaying. Hitting your Beliefs & Instincts (and making me, the GM hit your Beliefs & Instincts) is how you "win" at Torchbearer. Fighting monsters is just a way to get at Beliefs & Instincts.

[GreyWolfVT]

I might have to disagree there here at USS in PbP games a lot or the DM's have and do reward for role-playing and not just monsters and quests. So that might by the typical scenario for FtF style but it is not by any means that way for "all" D&D pbp games. Even I have been trying to reward players for their role-playing and not just slaughtering monsters