What a character...

Hi,

Right, so I'm going to be a player in a new game that's starting up later this week. And I'm trying to think about what kind of character I'm going to play. Specifically, I'm trying to think about the character's overall...personality.

Y'know how sometimes you look up and go "hey, I seem to play the same basic character over and over again"? I pretty much always play the magic-slinging wise-ass (and yes, I can feel the palpable *shock* from the peanut gallery).

Now here's the core question: am I just lazy/in a rut/not particularly imaginative or is it just that I'm pretty good as a magical wise-ass and I should stick to what I know. And if it's the former, what should I do for this next character to flip that around? Sure, I can just take away the magic portion, but then I generally slide back to the stock "lovable rogue" type.

I'm thinking of making use of the Beliefs system from Burning Wheel to try and provide goals/targets for my character. Obviously, I won't gain XP for it, but it's a good way to set up something concrete to shoot for and then perhaps with some direction I can characterize a bit better and without just falling back.

Still, I posed the question to take thougths and ideas from the peanut gallery so if you have any thoughts, chime in.

later
Tom

What a character...

Hi,

Right, so I'm going to be a player in a new game that's starting up later this week. And I'm trying to think about what kind of character I'm going to play. Specifically, I'm trying to think about the character's overall...personality.

Y'know how sometimes you look up and go "hey, I seem to play the same basic character over and over again"? I pretty much always play the magic-slinging wise-ass (and yes, I can feel the palpable *shock* from the peanut gallery).

Now here's the core question: am I just lazy/in a rut/not particularly imaginative or is it just that I'm pretty good as a magical wise-ass and I should stick to what I know. And if it's the former, what should I do for this next character to flip that around? Sure, I can just take away the magic portion, but then I generally slide back to the stock "lovable rogue" type.

I'm thinking of making use of the Beliefs system from Burning Wheel to try and provide goals/targets for my character. Obviously, I won't gain XP for it, but it's a good way to set up something concrete to shoot for and then perhaps with some direction I can characterize a bit better and without just falling back.

Still, I posed the question to take thougths and ideas from the peanut gallery so if you have any thoughts, chime in.

later
Tom

We all must enter the River of Fire

Hi,

So now that I have a couple of the actual rulebooks in my hand and have played the demo game at GenCon, I can say without reservation that I'm running a Burning Empires game this fall.

The short form: It's the far future. Humanity's once-great empire has withered away to a small core area and even that has fragmented into several squabbling kingdoms. Meanwhile, the Vaylen, hideous worms who can break into your skull and take over your body and mind are chewing away at the edges of Human space. Each game revolves around the Vaylen's attempt to infiltrate, subvert, and then attack a single world. Players will take on the role of various movers and shakers trying to stop the Vaylen from conquering the planet.

The game has a very slick campaign structure. Assuming we play on alternate weekend afternoons, we can reliably expect to play out the entire campaign in about 10-15 sessions (maybe a little more, maybe a little less -- I'll have to double-check the rulebook when I get back home).

If you like Warhammer 40K, Fading Suns, Starship Troopers, Aliens, etc. you'd probably have an interest in this game. There's lots of room for sneaky stealth missions, political maneuvering, and full out high-tech warfare.

I'd be looking for at least 3, preferably 4, max of 5 players for this. Let me know if you're interested and I'll be plugging this again in the near future.

later
Tom

We all must enter the River of Fire

Hi,

So now that I have a couple of the actual rulebooks in my hand and have played the demo game at GenCon, I can say without reservation that I'm running a Burning Empires game this fall.

The short form: It's the far future. Humanity's once-great empire has withered away to a small core area and even that has fragmented into several squabbling kingdoms. Meanwhile, the Vaylen, hideous worms who can break into your skull and take over your body and mind are chewing away at the edges of Human space. Each game revolves around the Vaylen's attempt to infiltrate, subvert, and then attack a single world. Players will take on the role of various movers and shakers trying to stop the Vaylen from conquering the planet.

The game has a very slick campaign structure. Assuming we play on alternate weekend afternoons, we can reliably expect to play out the entire campaign in about 10-15 sessions (maybe a little more, maybe a little less -- I'll have to double-check the rulebook when I get back home).

If you like Warhammer 40K, Fading Suns, Starship Troopers, Aliens, etc. you'd probably have an interest in this game. There's lots of room for sneaky stealth missions, political maneuvering, and full out high-tech warfare.

I'd be looking for at least 3, preferably 4, max of 5 players for this. Let me know if you're interested and I'll be plugging this again in the near future.

later
Tom