How do I teach people the combat system from Burning Wheel?

Question

This last week I ran a demo scenario (The Sword) for burning wheel and failed horribly, not least because no-one could understand the combat mechanics.

Can someone provide a script which can demonstrate to players how to engage and enjoy a burning wheel melee? The example in the end of the books was so frustrating to explore that my players gave up trying to understand after the first volley's explanations.

Answer 1

The Burning Wiki has a good outline of Fight!

However, I would not use them in a one-shot of Burning Wheel unless everyone has read the rules and is familiar with Burning Wheel, or if you as the GM want to walk each party through it. Use Bloody Versus instead.

If you were starting a campaign of Burning Wheel, you would still want to ease into the rules in the Rim. Start with the Hub and Spokes for a few sessions. Then introduce Duel of Wits when an appropriate situation arises. Once they're comfortable with DoW, introduce them to Fight!

Also, the scripting sheets are immensely useful for Duel of Wits and Fight! Use them.

Answer 2

Burning wheel actually has three combat systems:

• Bloody Versus: which is a simple extension of the core one conflict/one roll system.
• Range and Cover: which is a cat & mouse system modeling hit & run, stalking, and other missile weapon-only conflicts.
• Fight!: which is a blow-by-blow subsystem for melees, which is quite detailed.

Range and Cover and Fight! are optional.

To run a full-on fight in Burning Wheel you have to understand the Fight! system thoroughly, as a GM. To understand Fight! you have to deeply grasp the basic task/intent system, which is much deeper than it appear from reading. To fully grasp the task/intent basics, you need quite a bit of hands-on experience with the system.

It's easy to miss, but Burning Wheel is a game that everyone needs a lot of time to learn, including the GM. There's no way to jump into the deep end of the system and swim on the first try, or even the tenth. The system has enough subtle interactions that new players really need the GM to be on top of, for them to have a chance to grasp the game themselves. The only way for a game to go well with a novice Burning Wheel GM is to take the rules very slowly.

Answer 3

Have I got just the link for you! A Guide to Burning Wheel Fight! Strategy. Chock full of tips and strategy.

Edit: Really I probably wouldn't pull out the Fight! mechanics with new players until I'm really fluent at them myself. But that's a bit of a cop out isn't it?

Besides making sure that the players have a good grasp of Burning Wheel's Core Mechanics before using Fight! mechanics..

Perhaps you can start by abandoning some options of Fight! matrix and add some options back in at a later time.

Also don't forget that most modifiers only come into play only if they really matter, so no need to go on a modifier binge.

Answer 4

I played in the Sword one-shot, and we did end up using Fight! But then again, I had a coach who wasn't playing to help me suss it out (only fair, it was three against one!) and keep things moving.

When I played a longer game, we used Fight! a grand total of two times. Both times, it was me against NPCs, so the other players didn't have to worry about it at all. Here's what I did to keep things straight for myself; I'd probably do something similar to teach it to others:

First, I wrote out all the options for scripted actions on index cards. Then I grouped them into levels: Strike, Avoid and Block for the "basic" moves; Charge, Disarm and Great Strike as "intermediate"; and all the other weird little options as "advanced." This was a bit arbitrary — you can tweak which moves were in which level. This felt the most intuitive for me: attack and defense first, then some fancy tricks, then some even fancier tricks.

In play, I began the fight sticking to the first set of moves. Each new volley, I'd evaluate whether I was ready to try a trickier move based on the in-game circumstances, how fluent I was with the actions I was already using, and so forth. My limber Irish Kern was a devil at Positioning, so I as able to dance in and out of range at a whim, but my hits didn't pack much punch. This meant Charge and Great Strike came in quite handy as the duel went on. I think I used Push a couple times, and maybe Disarm once. Feint, Lock and the rest? Never used 'em; there was no need, and I was happy to leave them alone. To this day I have no idea how they work, which is fine!

To teach others this way, I would hand out the basic actions on cards and let them volley with that a bit. If they fight NPCs, then make sure you stick to just those actions, too! No cheating! Introduce a new move, or level of moves, whenever someone's wanting a new tactic — "How 'bout if I just rush the guy and tackle him to the ground?" — or when everyone seems ready. That is, they're really comfortable with the basics. And, again, don't introduce a move yourself as an NPC action; let the players have that advantage. It might be good, though, if the players are stuck ("Man, all we can do is hit and block, we're getting nowhere") to suggest a new tactic and provide the appropriate action.

That all said, moving up to Fight! in a one-shot will usually be a stretch, as folks have pointed out. Whatever you try, good luck!

Answer 5

Step 1: Ensure your players are comfortable with the use of

• Obstacle-based Rolls
• Versus rolls
• Artha, especially Fate and Persona
• FoRKs
• Help

Step 2: Get them comfortable with Duel of Wits, first.

Step 3: Make use of the handouts.

Step 4: Make the following points:

• Damage isn't cumulative (though the penalties are)
• Combat continues until one side or the other is eliminated by:
  • Attrition (Dead or unconscious)
  • Surrender
  • Flight from battle
  • Magic
  • Some combination of the above
• Combat is brutal:
  • There is a serious death spiral when a character is overmatched.
  • One good hit with dice open-ended by use of a point of Fate is potentially lethal.

Keep it small: 2–3 players and an equal number of opponents.
Start with just a variation on bloody versus: Script three volleys of simple always-optimal hack. Just who and whether attacking or defending, one action per volley.
Then add positioning.
Then add the whole range issue, and the full number of actions.
Then add the use of the whole range of action types.