Session 0: Character Creation

[Enoch]

Circles:

• Friend: Orri son of Urri, Stonemason. Orri's family have long scratched out a living building with the stone and rubble taken from the mine, and Norgrim first met Orri when he delivered a cartload of tailings to them. +1 Circles.
• Parents: Norgrim's father died in a mine collapse a year ago, and his mother died of heartbreak not long after, prompting Norgrim to look for a place with fewer painful memories. All he has to remember them by is a skillfully-carved hematite pendant in the shape of a bear, which he wears around his neck. 1D treasure (neck slot).
• Mentor: Grogmar gro-Burzag, Laborer. Grogmar considers himself the best miner in Shor's Stone, and may well be right. He has always kept an eye out for Norgrim, and was in fact the one who rescued him from the frostbite spiders as a child. +1 Circles.
• Enemy: Malthe, a Human Warrior. A bandit and adventurer, Malthe robbed Norgrim on the road to Whiterun and left him all but penniless. +1 Circles.

[Enoch]

Raiment: leather smithing apron, scarred by sparks from a forge-fire.
Age: 60ish? Is that reasonable for a young adult dwarf?
Alignment: Unaffiliated. Norgrim is fairly practical, and living on the edge of poverty tends to dull your ideals. Besides, he's torn between the desire to build and create and recapture the glories of the dwarves of old and the desire to live a life free of interference from some far-off lord.

[C. Steven Ross]

Everything's looking good!

[C. Steven Ross]

One minor quibble, your Mentor needs to be a Dungeoneer, not a Laborer, since that is your specialty.

[Enoch]

Belief: I'm struggling with this so far. I was originally thinking something regarding acquiring treasure (to fund his eventual dream of being a legendary smith), but I don't see him as being so mercenary. Maybe something about protecting his companions, as Grogmar did for him? It would have been strengthened by the fact that he was robbed after setting out as well.

Instinct: Probably something about checking out any underground passageways to make sure they're structurally sound, untrapped, etc.

I have no idea why I made him a Laborer--Dungeoneer is the skill I'd associate with mining anyway. Good catch!

[Enoch]

Equipment! I think this is the last I need to do to catch up.

I know that having a fourth player disrupts the careful planning already done. I'm planning on NOT taking a backpack if possible, since my biggest strengths are Fighting and Dungeoneering. On the upside, I do have Laborer so I should be able to carry a little extra in a pinch (so having some sacks packed is a good idea).

From what I know of Torchbearer, it's hard to have too much light or too much food (or wine). Probably not a bad idea to have those divvied up between us as well, in case someone gets separated.

[C. Steven Ross]

For Norgrim's Belief, you could do something like "Trust in the strength of the clan."
For Instinct, these are two separate actions here, so I'll have to ask you to be more specific.

[Enoch]

Will do. Looking at the skills more closely, it looks like Scout is used to detect traps, whereas Dungeoneer is used to set/disarm them.

[Rusty Tincanne]

If you wanted to tie your insctinct and belief, how about:

Belief: The dwarves of old created the most magnificent of all treasures and built the greatest [underground places].
Instinct: Always look for structural inconsistencies when entering a new area.

The idea is that he is inspecting how things were built, but the effect is searching for traps and possible collapses.

And Welcome! Nice to have a fourth!

Edit: having retread your more recent posts and realizing there isn't a great way challenge that belief, why not forget I typed that, okay?

I like your thoughts about gear. More light and food!

[thesniperknight1]

Welcome Enoch, glad you joined. We can really use the extra help

[thesniperknight1]

HEAD: -
NECK: Black scarf with light plaid patterns.

HANDS (worn): -
HANDS (worn): -
HANDS (carry): Dagger
HANDS (carry): Small Sack (Grappling hook, 2 Rations, Fresh)

TORSO: Satchel
TORSO: Rope
TORSO: Cloak
BACKPACK/SATCHEL: 2 Rations, Fresh.
BACKPACK/SATCHEL: Tinderbox
BACKPACK/SATCHEL: Thieve's tools
BACKPACK: -
BACKPACK: -
BACKPACK: -
BELT (pouch): 2D coins
BELT (weapon): Quiver
BELT (wineskin): Wine
FEET: shoes

I found a way to sneak in the quiver without taking space

If anyone thinks that there is something I should change then please tell me, I am open to suggestions

[Rusty Tincanne]

@ Sniperknight: You have no light source - just a tinder box. You might want to put a few candles in the quiver, at least. You could store your second small sack there, too. That would be 1.5 slots in a 2 slot space.

Updated equipment:

HEAD: - helmet
NECK: - holy symbol

HANDS (worn): - copper band, set with several small onyx stones on his left wrist (1D treasure)
HANDS (worn): -
HANDS (carry): - flask of wine
HANDS (carry): - small sacks (2)

TORSO: - Leather Armor
TORSO: - Backpack
TORSO: - (Backpack)
BACKPACK/SATCHEL: - flask of oil (2)
BACKPACK/SATCHEL: - lantern (pre filled)
BACKPACK/SATCHEL: - (lantern)
BACKPACK: - cloak
BACKPACK: - (cloak)
BACKPACK: - rations, fresh (2)

BELT (pouch): - tinder box
BELT (weapon): - mace
BELT (wineskin): wine (full)
FEET: shoes

Notes:
I grabbed a tinder box - if we don't want a second, I can skip that, I suppose.
I pre-filled the lantern to make more space in the pack - does anyone want a flask of oil? I still have enough oil for 9 turns (barring any mishaps).
To make space in the backpack, I am carrying a flask of wine. Oddly, you cannot carry a bottle!
I used the space to store the lantern in the pack. I am really afraid it will be broken in a fight, by the way, but I suppose this will be a learning experience.
I stored an extra cloak in my pack, but I am happy to carry something else if the group sees it as more necessary.
Rope, more rations, torches/candles... They are all important!

And same as sniperknight said, input is appreciated. I am willing to change (some) things around.

[thesniperknight1]

I can store things in the Quiver? I didn't know that, and the flasks of oil are for the lantern, it is our standard light source right? And I think I heard someone say that you can make torches from it too, or am I wrong? But I am alright with adding candles

[Enoch]

Any suggestions for what I should carry? I'm thinking I might carry a one-handed weapon so I can carry either a small sack or a light source in my off-hand, but the other option is to carry a 10' pole (particularly if I'm going to take an Instinct about scouting for dangerous conditions) and a two-handed weapon, with the expectation of dropping the pole if combat starts.

Other than that, is there gear we still need? I have a few slots open, though not many. My best skill outside of Fighting is Dungeoneering, but it looks like others have most of that gear covered. One off-the-wall option is a mirror, less for its usefulness in the dungeon than for its value. IIRC it's actually valuable enough to sell back at town. Do we need more light or rations? Other adventuring gear?

[Rusty Tincanne]

As a caveat, I haven't played before. My "insights" are really just what I have read on the burning wheel forum. So take what I say with a grain of salt.

@sniperknight: there is no "standard" light source. Each of the three sources have their ups and downs. Lanterns offer more light for longer, but we need oil and both the lantern and oil are bulky and fragile. So a variety is nice. And each type can be lost through twists (narrative penalties from the GM).

And you quiver has 2 pack slots. When you get a bow, it is stored in the quiver, so that will be your weapon slot.

@enoch: what dungeoneering items are you talking about? If I have anything you want to be carrying, feel free to say so. I can pack other items.

I believe anything ob4 or higher can be resold, so inthink you are right. A mirror should be free money later.

As for divvying up gear, it is hard to say without knowing what drpete is bringing. But with us two haviń hand weapons, it should be fine for our elf and thief to have bows, I would guess. And ain't d you had armorer, you could make them at some point.

When I have access to my computer I will look over our equipment lists and look for "holes".

[Enoch]

One of the interesting things to me about Torchbearer is that despite being a character-driven game it's expected players will try to "game" the system--it's all about those decisions. Carrying a mirror is free loot--so long as it isn't lost or broken before you get back to town; carrying mirrors also takes up pack space that might be needed for light or food or other things.

As far as dungeoneering equipment goes, I don't know that it matters much who is carrying it.

[Enoch]

As far as weapons/hands are concerned, I'm thinking of either a 10' pole (carried, both hands) with a one-handed weapon (spear, for max utility) on my belt, a one-handed weapon and carrying maybe a light source and small sack, or a crossbow with either a light source or sack in the other hand. With any of these, I'd have to drop something to fight.

Are we good on specialized equipment? If so, I'll fill up on food, wine and torches.

If no one else will do so, I may take an Instinct to keep an eye out for traps (or alternatively, ambushes), even though we have a better Scout. Otherwise, I'll probably make one about maintaining our weapons and armor when we make camp.

[Rusty Tincanne]

Argh! I just lost what I typed. Hopefully I can be more succinct now, anyhow.

TB definitely seems to enjoy its many designed-in loopholes. Instincts are high on the list, offering free skill tests without advancing the grind. And on that subject, it seems that sniperknight's instinct does not play to his and enoch's strengths.

Setting/disarming traps is a dungeoneering test. SK's skill is 2, enoch's is 4.
Finding traps is a scout test. SK's is 3, enoch's is 2.

My character, being a compassionate, if stoic/ascetic soul, would believe that setting traps to inflict damage to random creatures would be horrific. He would much rather see us avoid taking damage than running around causing mayhem. He may even be driven to linger behind and disarm your traps if you are leaving them everywhere.

Equipment:
As long as we have the following items, it seems to me that we can just bring more food and beverages:
- 1 or 2 ropes
- grappling hook
- 1-2 cloaks (for camp comfort)
- 1-2 tinder boxes
- 2-3 different light sources (so far we have a lantern and 4 candles)

SK and I have cloaks, and we cover a lantern and 4 candles. Additionally, SK has rope and a grappling hook.

If SK were to change his instinct to check for traps, he might do better with the 10' pole to assist those tests. When fresh, in good light, he will be making scout tests with 5 dice (3 base skill) +1 (pole) +1 (fresh)). If he did them outside his instinct he could get 2 more dice from enoch and drpete. He can do a couple of those and use his traits against himself (for checks) with little risk of failure. Then he could make us some bad food in camp (Cook 2)! (Or use beginner's luck for more skills.) But even failed tests work towards advancing a skill.

I need to put my wine, one sack and the single flask of oil) in my sacks, so I can carry the sack's in SK's hand, freeing that space for the pole if he wants. Just let me know. (It also leaves me with ~4 empty slots for loot on the way back when the oil and food are gone and I am carrying full sacks. *crosses fingers*)

And that let's drpete and enoch take what they will.

Lastly, I find it silly you cannot have a boot knife/dagger! Maybe we should find a cobbler next time we are in town.

[C. Steven Ross]

Btw, there's a thief ability that grants a boot knife. Level 2 or 3, as I recall.

[thesniperknight1]

Whats a boot knife? Sounds useful, is it a boot that I can hide a knife in?

It's great that I can have 2 pack spaces in the quiver but what should I put? rations and a small sack or torches and a small sack? or not even a sack? Can I put the dagger in there? cause that would solve a few problems.

As for the instinct I thought that setting traps would be under Criminal but I guess I was wrong. I want to change it if I can, can I? It would be really helpful since I can use it a lot, but does the instinct tests advance skills? And how often can I use it?

And as for the pole, I am okay with that but what about my dagger? It's my only weapon