Burning Warhammer: The Captain and the Witch (Session 5)

In the previous session Kasmiir was helping Lilith around the shop while James had just finished talking with Femke, his sister.

Beliefs, Instincts, and Traits

Training Montage

As a group we agree that we’ll focus on closing out the Instruction test. Per Burning Wheel Gold 📖, we need 11 days for the instruction test.

There are quite a few things going on; During the day Kasmiir and James’s tend to the shop. When there are no customers, Kasmiir transcribes Lilith’s book and James deciphers Femke’s ledger. In the evening, Lilith is instructing Kasmiir on Aura Reading and James is providing encouragement to Kasmiir to keep at it.

Since Kasmiir had already tested for the transcription, we follow the Let it Ride rule.

Spirit Binding: Help James with Deciphering

Kasmiir, knowing the difficult task ahead, looks to bind a spirit to help James. They spend a moment one morning coaxing the help of a spirit.

Task

Spirit Binding: 2D of Help

Intent

Kasmiir wants the bound spirit to reduce the interruptions to the shop, so James can concentrate

Consequences

Anger of the Ancients!

Obstacle

5

Dice

5D Spirit Binding

+1D Persona

+1D for Spirit Mark

Result

Failure, by margin of 1.

Kasmiir, attempting to coax a shop spirit instead angers a Strength 6 spirit. At some point in the future, that Shop Spirit will enact it’s retribution (e.g., a +2 Obstacle (Ob 📖) to a test in a shop.)

Cryptography: Gleaning Information from Femke’s Ledger

With Kasmiir transcribing a book, James is working through Femke’s encoded ledger. He really needs to get information to help Femke. From that ledger he can determine where to further explore.

Task

Cryptography - using Femke's cipher decode the ledger

Intent

I want to find information that will help me free Femke from jail.

Consequences

James works his way through the ledger but discovers something that will require immediate action.

Obstacle

Ob 3, doubled to Ob 6 for Beginner's Luck

Dice

6D for Perception

+1D for Persona

+1D for working Patiently

Result

Failure!

During the montage James discovers that Femke owes Josef Gierig of Kreutzhofen 📖 some kind of delivery by the 18^th of Sommerzeit. And Josef is not to be crossed. This is bad because James doesn’t know what the expected payment is, nor the consequences to Femke for failure to deliver.

Observation

We agree that James learns this information on the day that Kasmiir completes their training for Aura Reading. I had originally thought an interesting consequence would’ve been for Captain van Huus to visit the shop while James was working on the ledger. However, the consequence of Josef creates a veritable nightmare for James and a tension with Kasmiir’s need to deliver things.

Chaos Cult-wise: What’s Going on Here

While James is helping with the instruction and deciphering the ledger, he’s trying to figure out Lilith’s role in a Chaos Cult.

Task

Chaos Cult-wise: I'm looking for signs about Lilith's indoctrination into a cult.

Intent

I want to establish that Lilith is a very low stakes player in the cult, and really only on the periphery.

Consequences

Oh boy is she a major player!

Obstacle

Base Ob 3; doubled to Ob 6 for Beginner's Luck

Dice

6D for Perception

+1D for Persona

+2D help from Kasmiir's Perception

Result

7 successes!

During the 11 days, Lilith leaves subtle clues that she’s not all that involved in the cult: inconsistent language and not a lot of interactions with chaos cult type members.

Observation

As a player, I love having Wises at my disposal. My goal as a player was to neutralize the danger of Lilith, because James needs Kasmiir and cults draw people into them.

We had a quick conversation. Phil—the Game Master (GM 📖)—didn’t have any strong inkling on Lilith’s involvement in the cult. So the Chaos Cult-wise was an appropriate test. We talked through the framing of the base obstacle a bit, and I’m refining that even more in this write-up.

First, in Burning Wheel Gold, when in doubt, make it Ob 3. If you think it should be a bit easier, lower it to Ob 2. If it should be a bit harder, set it to Ob 4. To make this easier, I could’ve narrowed the test to Tzeentch Cult-wise. Or because it wasn’t specific enough, Phil could’ve raised the obstacle by 1.

Regardless, helping the GM with decision-making and world-building seems incredibly useful and beneficial to both the creative process and in reducing decision fatigue.

All of our characters’s interactions with Lilith are now seasoned with the knowledge that she’s not a big player, but herself trying to ingratiate herself into a cult.

And all of this James did by Beginner’s Luck, which adds an interesting logged test to his character sheet. This test is a mark that reflects and echo’s James’s relationship and interaction with Kasmiir.

Instruction: Lilith Instructing Kasmiir on Aura Reading

We start the session with a bit of a montage. During the day, Kasmiir’s tending Lilith’s apothecary shop. When the shop’s empty Kasmiir’s busy transcribing this creepy book and James is deciphering Femke’s ledger. As I’m writing this session report, I remembered that James was going to earn a bit of currency by helping smuggle something into Carroburg 📖. This didn’t come up, so it must’ve been something he did in the background and it was a bit of a wash. After the shop closes, Lilith spends the evenings instructing Kasmiir on Aura Reading while James offers encouragement to Kasmiir.

While training, Kasmiir binds a spirit to help around the shop (a routine test that gives +1D helping to the Instruction test).

Task

Instruction of Aura Reading

Intent

To teach Kasmiir how to read the auras of people and objects.

Consequences

Kasmiir fails to learn, and future attempts are more difficult.

Obstacle

Base of Ob 1 + 3 for being a Sorcerous test.

Dice

3D Instruction

+ 2D help from James's Persuasion

+ 1D help from Kasmiir's Spirit-Binding

+ 1D Persona

Result

Success!

Observation

In Lilith’s Instruction test, she didn’t get any successes on the instruction dice, but the helping dice and persona dice carried the success. This little bit of narrative guidance helped frame the team effort.

Closing out the Montage

We wrap-up the montage. Kasmiir has their first test in Aura Reading. James has learned that Femke owes Josef Geireg some kind of payment. And both Kasmiir and James have learned that Lilith is on the periphery of a cult of Tzeentch.

James needs to again talk with Femke. While James is out, Kasmiir’s going to determine if the source book is magical.

Law-wise: What’s the Trial Timeline for Femke

I ask Phil if there’s any timeframe on Femke’s trial. Phil doesn’t have anything in mind. So we again look to Law-wise to establish a fact. Given that James is sitting on a key evidence it’s unlikely the magistrates will want to proceed.

Task

Law-wise

Intent

I want to establish that Femke will be held for the season without going to trial.

Consequences

The trial will be happening very soon!

Obstacle

Ob 2

Dice

3D Law-wise

+ 1D Field of Related Knowledge (FoRK 📖) for Rule of Law

Result

3 Successes!

Observation

Again, we used the Law-wise as an oracle. Succeeding at this test helped everyone accept that Femke will continue to be in jail. In other words, we can focus on the other situations without concern for Femke’s trial.

Circle: Time to Get Help from Kersten

James needs to ask some questions of Femke, to do so, he needs to track down Kersten—the guard that gave James prior access to Femke.

Task

Circle up Kersten

Intent

To again gain private access to Femke

Consequences

Enmity Clause!

Obstacle

Ob 3 (the same obstacle as the circle's test to first find Kersten)

Dice

2D for Circles

+ 1D for Guard-wise FoRK

+ 1D for City-wise FoRK

+ 1D for Law-wise FoRK

+ 1D for exceeding the obstacle in the first circling up of Kersten.

Result

Success!

Observation

This is the first time I’ve circled up an Non-Player Character (NPC 📖) previously introduced through a Circles; And it worked great and I highly encourage it. The success meant that Kersten continued to be friendly with James; In fact, we invoked Let it Ride from the prior Persuasion test for Kersten, as James needed the same thing.

Had James failed, the Enmity Clause seemed obvious: Kersten’s disposition or situation had changed in such a way that she’s not going to do it. Maybe she got in trouble? Maybe she’s had a change of heart? Maybe she’s been reassigned?

Regardless, the oracular nature of the Circles test can add to the dynamism of the world.

Conversation with Femke

Kersten takes James to Femke’s cell; this time she’s all alone. Knowing that times short, James starts off asking questions.

“First, do you still need a lawyer?” asks James.

“Yes,” sighs Femke.

“Alright, you can pay?”

“Yeah”

“Good, now what’s the name of the dwarf that ratted you out?” asks James.

“Stapmï Thundergut. He’s an asshole and sitting on the valuables.”

“And what are those valuables?” asks James.

Femke sighs, “They’re the prized silver bracelets of the Archduke Leopold. They’re shaped like comets. And Stapmï has them.”

“Alright, now who’s Josef?” asks James.

“Josef’s who we were going to take the valuables.”

“I hear he’s not someone to cross,” responds James.

“Nah, I bet his bark is worse than his bit,” says Femke.

“What if we can pin this all on Stapmï? Turn him in with the bracelets?” asks James.

“Are you kidding, those are valuable, and we need to get them to Josef.”

“Well, it sounds like you have 20 days to get those bracelets to Josef. And as I see it, you’re not going to trial anytime soon. So, I’ll get you a lawyer or do it myself, and find out about Stapmï,” says James as he turns and leaves.

Aura Reading: Kasmiir’s Looking at the Books

While James is talking with Femke, Kasmiir decides to test their new found skill at Aura Reading.

Task

Aura Reading

Intent

Kasmiir wants to know if the book is magical

Consequences

You'll need to test Corruption

Obstacle

Ob 1, doubled to Ob 2 for Beginner's Luck

Dice

5D for Perception

Result

Success! The original book radiates demonology magic.

Observation

Corruption is a core component of the Warhammer Fantasy Setting 📖, and Burning Wheel Gold’s Corruption mechanic works quite well. As of yet, Phil hasn’t called for any Corruption tests on Kasmiir. But I think it may be time: transcribing a magic codex of demonology and carrying a likely marked item are all grounds for Corruption tests.

Departing from Lilith’s Apothecary

James heads back to Lilith’s Apothecary to enlist Kasmiir’s help in tracking down Stapmï.

Kasmiir and James talk with Lilith for a bit. They learn that the book Kasmiir transcribed is The Story of the Bloodflower. Lilith is hoping we can deliver it to the Baronet Ingrid von Wittgenstein.

Kasmiir accepts the book. And we add another possible stop in our river boat journey.

Observation

Knowing that Lilith is an aspiring cultist, I’m imaging that she’s using her gifts to attempt to gain an inroad deeper into a cult.

Circles: Find Someone Who Can Lead James to Stapmï Thundergut

James has no idea where to find a dwarf, so he hits the street to circle up someone that can tell him where to find Stapmï Thundergut. James and Kasmiir hit up a few shops to find someone that fences goods.

Task

Circle up a fence that knows Stapmï

Intent

I want to find someone that can lead me to Stapmï

Consequences

Enmity Clause

Obstacle

Ob 2

Dice

2D Circles

+1D help from Kasmiir

+1D for Persona

+1D for FoRK with City-wise

Result

3 successes! I name the NPC Eight-fingered Ortel Fuchs

James advanced his Circles to 3D!

At Ortel’s Antiquary they strike up a conversation with Ortel Fuchs. Ortel sells rare books and after a bit, both James and Ortel recognize each other as fences and James asks about Stapmï.

“Oh, Stapmï, he hangs out at the Five-Sided Square.”

James asks Ortel, “Should I tell Stapmï that you were the one that mentioned where to find me?”

Ortel responds, “Best not, he’s one of my better customers.”

During the conversation, Kasmiir’s eyeing all of the books. Ready to pocket one of them.

James thanks Ortel and heads out the door.

“Kasmiir, come along,” requests James.

Kasmiir stays in the shop for a bit, and considers their course of action. After some hesitation, they leave.

Observation

Based on James’s lifepaths and affiliations, he wouldn’t have a dwarf in his circles. So, we went with the path of indirection: circle up someone that knows Stapmï. I really liked how this played out.

First, if we think of this as a movie, this is the scene when a detective’s asking around trying to find someone. It’s now plausible, when we go to meet Stapmï, he’s already heard of us.

Second, in adding this indirection, we had a scene that could ensnare the other character. Kasmiir’s long been a book thief, so circling up an Antiquarian that has the information we need is rather splendid. This resulted in a Moldbreaker moment when Kasmiir had to decide between their belief and instinct.

Conclusion

I’ll keep reiterating, after every session of Burning Wheel Gold, I’m eager to play more.

I’m seeing how I’ll approach running my next game. In particular I’ll be leaning on Wises to help make world building decisions. Asking the players if they’d like to establish something. Pointing at the world-building they can do.

I’m also seeing that most every game should have a Circles-like mechanism. I find great utility in testing to find them again and using failure to change the NPC’s circumstance. In other words, let the dice determine if something has changed.

Circles and Wises cover two major world-building mechanics: introducing facts and adding to the cast of characters. Putting those two mechanics in front of the players gives tremendous freedom.

The players can zero in on what they want. The GM can think about complications and what’s happening. And the dice can say who gets to say what happens. Yes, the GM could say “You want to know if Lilith’s deep in the Cult? No test. She is.”

So, a word of advice to GMs of Burning Wheel Gold, be prepared to establish baselines for Wises. We’ve settled on Ob 3 as the baseline; anything less means we’re conceding that what the player wants is more likely the reality in the game. Anything more means, the GM is more interested in their path.

And of course, the more specific the Wise, the lower the obstacle if it’s germane to that wise.