So, we're going to be doing a second game night - Burning Wheel Friday. Yes, this does indicate some form of insanity, considering that I have no intention of stopping the Sunday night group, and we still have the Monday night Dresden playtesting. I am officially a fucking nut.

In order to facilitate the BW game, I thought maybe we could work on setting stuff here in the meantime.

Here is a PDF with a list of questions that need to get answered. I figure we can tackle them one-by-one on the forum, for the sake of letting the community chime in a little.

So, first question:
What's the Big Picture? What's going on in this setting that makes it ripe for adventure. What's changing, evolving, declining?
I know that Randy and Kristin and I have talked about doing sort of a Burning Deadwood style game. That is, rather than the standard medieval setting, we do sort of a western expansion style world, where railroads and stagecoaches are the method of transport. Only with Elves and Darves and Orcs. And maybe Roden. This may mean that we have to alter some lifepaths. It also means that we'll have to incorporate Firefight! from Burning Empires. What's everyone think? What can we add, and how can we make this interesting?

Already getting awesome.

I wish I had my Monster Burner on me. There's a sect of Roden that are more ratlike than mouselike. Perhaps they've been occupying tunnels that the Dwarves have been mining into?

The Orcs need to be first nation. They occupied the land long before the weird Elves moved in. The Roden are the Chinese...er...migrant work force.

Rural life is declining. True belief is declining. "Place" is devolving from sacred to commodity. People are favoring pidgin over their native tongue. Material is valued over action. All of the worst parts of capitalism are destroying the serenity of peasant/agrarian life.

You are right about manifest destiny. Belief is a convenient excuse for conquest. Additionally, it provides a good source of internal conflict. People struggle to reconcile their selfishness and their belief. The races might believe in analogs of the same pantheon. Like the Greeks and the Romans. They might squabble over petty differences, but it's really not a huge concern. Yet, there are the zealous death cultists who worship their desert sky-god.

There's a lot of room for fleshing things out here, but I thought I'd push this along. Second question:

What's the world's culture? What are the cultural analogs? Analogs can be taken from
historical earth, current events or fantasy works.

We've touched on this a little, especially when it comes to the Orcs and the Roden.

Where is the most obvious conflict? Between the Dwarves and Humans fighting over land rights? Between the Elves and everyone else ("we were here first, bitches")? Between the Orks and everyone else ("Rebellion, ho!"). Or is it not racial? Is the main conflict that everyone wants a little piece of the pie for themselves? Who is the recognized authority figure(s)? Who really runs the show?

A problem that the show Deadwood had was that it was telling 15 little stores but didn't have a good single one to focus everything until the 2nd season when George Hearst shows up and really kicks shit into gear. Now people REALLY care about what happens. All the other character stories ("will Al pass his kiney stones", "will Trixie (Ha! another Trixie!) give up her trade for love", "what the fuck is Calamity Jane's problem") need that central plot to keep momentum. Add to that the central plot kind of sucked (i.e. nobody liked Hearst) and the show flopped after 3 seasons. So, I think having a major (and obvious) central conflict (as Babe has presented in her WTF campaign) I think will drive a lot of story elements.

I promise honey-after I get home and show all the wedding stuff to Katie, I'll sit down and start building for Burning Wheel. :)

Posted By: ShaunWhat's the Big Picture? What's going on in this setting that makes it ripe for adventure. What's changing, evolving, declining?

Posted By: Randy
The Dwarves have found a mineral-rich stretch of low, old mountains which they have been raping for a couple decades in secret (as those greedy little fucks do). But, given emergent technology, word traveled fast. Men came from the east in wagon-loads to fill their pockets and make a name for themselves.

But the land, having been raped for as long as it has, it's definitely not producing except for a fortunate few. The good veins have been monopolized and everyone else is just trying to squeeze in where they can. The dwarves still own most of the proven veins, but with the increase in people brings wit along with the problems. Quite a few dwarves who didn't keep up with the times lost their claims through legal trickery. They try to find support, but the lawless, unclaimed land grants them no safe harbor. Once man put his name on the paper for the claim, he protects it with might, muscle, and gun.

But man is stupid at the same time he is crafty. The vices that attract men in such towns-the alcohol, the camp women-strip them of what they gain as soon as it lands in their pocket. Elves, unhappy with the degree of land desecration, run brothels and saloons and tobacconists, trading minuscule claims for a week's worth of dick stink between the legs of a jaded woman. Their goal is to gain enough to have sway, like being a majority stakeholder somewhere.

Dwarves have changed tunes as well. As man begins to take over their claims, they too figure out ways to put their hand in man's pocket as he did to them. Dwarves have started working procurement trades, getting man to pass back the money he stole in the form of exuberant mark-ups on mining gear. There's a large band of them, too, that control trade. They're an alliance, because they found out pretty quickly they couldn't defeat man on a mono a mono basis, they have to band together. They also discovered in a hurry that if you take a handful of jaded and beaten down orcs, treat them decently to their face (hot meals, let them drink with "the crew", throw a woman or two their way every now and again), they'll be fiercely loyal, like feeding a starving dog. Damn right you need the dwarves permission, and probably a share of your profits, to set up a gearing outfit on main street. You going to take on those enforcers?

Posted By: ShaunMaybe there's sort of a generally accepted religion. Most of the people out in the frontier towns pay it lip service, but it's unimportant in people's day-to-day lives. There are always a few preachers or true believers, though

You kidding? There's an entire band of settlers who came out for this very purpose. They only come into the main bits of town and such during the day, before all the philandering and drinking begins, to preach, but a few battered women and a dead preacher was all it took to realize they weren't welcome after dark. And the women fit the cult of "true womanhood" to a t-Piety, submission, purity and domesticity. They will follow their men, they will venture in to town after dark if a father or husband asks to prove the true godlessness and sinful ways of the other settlers. They will not raise their voice to the men nor a hand to protect themselves if one should get upset, for it's a womans place to be subservient and accepting of the whims of the superior men. However, to the "camp women", they are nothing but fire and brimstone. Half the whores go to church because they want some solace. The other half go to rile the believers during service.

But yeah, for the most part, the religion is followed because that's what people do. They know all the right things to say during the service, all the right sins to beg forgiveness and pardon for, but that doesn't mean they care. It's just...what you do. Have to have some sense of order and righteousness, it makes all the things that don't actually fit within any religion justifiable. Taking land away from a family that's owned it for years? But I go to church every week. That makes me right and them a heathen. This makes the manifest destiny work all the better. It would kill the true believing settlers insane if they knew, but all they've done in their giant tent is provide a justification for all the bad that happens in the town.

More later.

Posted By: ShaunAlso, I think the fantasy/western mashup is awesome.

/agree
Just picture an Uruk-hai with a poncho and a sawn-off. Or an Elf with a paisley vest and a Sharps.

Slave uprising = fuck yes.

Men are getting pretty fucked in this world. What do they have to make up for all the bullshit they take? Innovative technology? Numbers? Sparkles in their eyes? General craftiness? Faith?

I think it depends entirely on how closely you're following the traditional view of the various fantasy races.

Are Orcs noble savages, or save brutes? Is the Dwarves' love of gold an appreciation of beauty and artifice, or is it an insatiable lust for wealth? Everything is in how you choose to interpret it.

Dwarves are good at crafting, but they still need the raw material to craft with. That's the problem Babe is talking about. Man is taking all the good mines, leaving the dwarves little to craft with. So they use their craft to fight back, making better tools faster and selling them for lower prices than Man can compete with.

As for Orcs hating Dwarves, if you're playing a wild west setting where Orcs are analogous to Native Americans, why would they hate Dwarves more than any other newcomer? They have the Broken and Hatred traits, sure, but the -reason- for those traits is entirely up to you. They are Broken because their cultural ideals can't compete with the ruthless expansion of the more modern culture, and the only way they can fight back is to abandon those ideals. They're trapped in a hopeless situation. Picture Magua from Last of the Mohicans. He hated the ones he perceived as being at fault, but he was easily manipulated by the French general with just a bit of kindness and lip service to his culture.


Not saying any of that is how it should be, just that everything is open to interpretation.

Posted By: AmnesiacI think it depends entirely on how closely you're following the traditional view of the various fantasy races.

We are adhering pretty closely to the Burning Wheel idiom. Elves are emo. Dwarves are greedy. Orcs hate indiscriminately.

Moving along a little:

What's the conflict in which the characters are involved? What are the sides? What's wrong?

I gotcha. My bad.

This being on Fridays makes me sad. I want to try a proper game of Burning Wheel at some point so I can decide whether or not I actually like it.

Posted By: ShaunMen have the advantages of ingenuity and tenacity.

Oh hey! That's what I was panning on when I said man was taking land away from dwarves.

And I like the craftiness of man included. He is getting pretty screwed in all this, he has all of..what would it be, 60 years max to make a decent life for himself? I don't know how this fits within game, but if man thought that his short life entitled him to what he wanted however he wanted, and if he was just a ~tad bit~ craftier than all the other races, I think the conflict could be good. Whether he's just outright snatching something away, or just picking a spot and guarding it tooth and nail, man is just straight up taking things.

So are orcs more beast-like than anything? That's the impressions I'm getting. They're smart enough to work and what not, but being slaves, would they be caged at night? Kept confined, I'm assuming? (I'm just trying to get a picture of the uprising)

And I like the idea of technology, but would anyone be opposed to contraption style technology? Contraption was the best word I could come up with to fit what I was thinking, but what I'm seeing is not technology that actually evolved during that time but a little more fanciful than that. I don't want to say steam punk, but along that line of thinking when I say "contraption". Like Shaun's pants. What?

Posted By: ShaunWhat's the world's culture? What are the cultural analogs? Analogs can be taken from historical earth, current events or fantasy works.

Posted By: RandyAgrarian Roden.

I'll admit it. I had to look up the definition of agrarian. Fucking Randy. It seems to encompass this a little, but I want to clarify. I would love to see this translate to the Roden, at least the ones in the mines, as if you try to take our little bit that we've kept, we'll fight back. Since the def.'s I found all pertain to equitable distribution of land, it seems as if the Roden have already let the other types encroach quite a bit. Maybe they're at that point where yeah, everyone is allowed a fair share of land, but we've given everyone twice their fair share. Stay the fuck out of ours now.

What are the Orcs running from? Have they devolved into almost a Reaver level, and they're nomadic because no land can sustain them? And this is an or/and part, it would fit well with the other, or by itself: There's a massive anti-orc movement currently. Not that they're really welcome anywhere, but the current sentiment is extermination. Maybe a lot of "orcs are an abomination" kinda stuff flying around.

More later. :)

Posted By: BabeMaybe they're at that point where yeah, everyone is allowed a fair share of land, but we've given everyone twice their fair share. Stay the fuck out of ours now.

I think you've identified the start of an excellent source of conflict. Land. All the land in the area was stolen from someone, so no one is truly entitled to it. Yet, everyone thinks they ARE entitled to it.

Posted By: BabeDoes this rule out a potential mass sentiment against orcs currently?

No, it doesn't. But keep in mind the focus of the game is on one city, not the West as a whole. So let's carve out how this sentiment is creating conflict in the city. We know that Orc chattle are used as slaves. But whoelse cares about the Orcs? Are there faithful Orc rights supporters? Lynch mobs? Slave traders?

Elves? Fuck no. They barely lobby for themselves let alone another race. I imagine that no one sympathizes with the Orcs. Except maybe Orcs. And an Orc "activist" is basically a ravager. The gutter Roden might secretly pact with Orcs. Especially during the slave revolt. They come in the night with lockpicks and junk-metal shanks, free the slaves and skitter back to their holes. I don't imagine anyone overtly supporting the Orcs.

Posted By: BabeBut what if they all had a small claim together,

Yes! This puts us at odds with all parties! Maybe the claim is kinda fringe, and subject to extra-city threats (read: Orcs). And, it's on land that the Elves seem to think is theirs.

This place needs an ironic name. Like... Halcyon Springs.

Posted By: RandyI definitely want to start in media res. The characters have been working the claim for a while. The previous owner did, in fact, go "missing". The characters took her out and jacked her claim.

I like the idea, too, that they've hit a vein where no one thought that there could be one. Presents a lot of issues for the characters to resolve.

I really like the thought of the town being nestled up against the craigs in the Badlands. It wouldn't take much to make sure there's a forest in there too, but I'm thinking:

But with more of a valley, kind of like:


Big river that runs about 1/2 mile east of the town. Possibly separates the roving band of orcs from the mining town during the winters, but in the dry summers, it gets low enough to be walked across. Really wet winters, too, will force it to overflow it's banks, threatening outlying houses and settlements, not to mention back filling the subsidiary creeks that snake around town.

I'm gonna post the next two questions. They're related, and we should be able to answer them pretty quickly.

What's the name of the most important place in this setting? Not the capital or any dumb shit like that, but The Place where all the action goes down?

What's the name of a faraway place that folks talk about, dream about or mutter under their breath about?

I'm assuming that the answer to this question will be the name of the town y'all are playing in.