It was fantastic. I was a little worried going in to be honest. The amount of rules, skills and a new system were very daunting. However, it all worked out and i think the main reason it worked out so well is due to the reward system in the game.
As the players aren’t after loot and trying to kill monsters for xp the GM side of the table was not as bad as i thought. Something that helped me very much was having a very read up, and ready to help with the rules, player in Jonathon. He really helped with any questions and queries i had. The thing that helped the most was just the Beliefs system. Adam Koebel’s advice was on the money; focus on the player beliefs, hammer them, and the story will unfold. At the after session Artha awards i think some of the newer players could see how to word their beliefs and how they drove the game in a clearer way. Jonathan’s character even earned a Persona point due to a well worded belief.
For prep i made a relationship map showing the three player characters, any purchased NPC’s and a couple of other NPC’s i wanted to add to fill in the story. I put the players right into a situation which demanded action (a riot in front of the now ex Governor’s building) and let it go. These characters on the relationship map all had beliefs, instincts and traits given to them as well. And unless you have someone in game to coach you, absolutely start with the rules from the Hub and Spokes PDF. Anything more than that will be overwhelming.
Some helpful advice i took from Dungeon World was to set up the NPC’s in fronts, so i know what the main people’s plans and objectives are and what they will do to achieve them should the players not intervene. This is a great tool for GM’s to use in their prep and i highly recommend picking up Dungeon World for some of the GM advice it gives. The other Dungeon World piece of advice was “Ask questions and use the answers”. Instead of me, the GM, telling the players what the name of this town was or what the soldiers of this racial grouping looked like i asked the players. Their answers came through and helped to take the stress and load off my shoulders.
The players also helped me out by asking me if they could have a scene with x character. I really liked this input from the players. If it was something that made sense in the narrative then of course they could have a scene. It helped me to frame my thinking with more ease.
A last little note about the Burning Wheel system is that i love how the dice roll stands. My new governor player decided to demote the current Captain of the guard. He then role played and rolled Persuasion with the intent that the guard would not be annoyed and seek vengeance for this demotion. He rolled well and now the Guard Captain will not be teaming up with the forces conspiring against the current powers.
Thanks to the group for playing and i am can’t wait to play again in a fortnight’s time. After i have an in depth read through the rules… again.
RPG Downtime 