The Burning Wheel Review

This is a tablepg I've been playing and GMing recently and I love the hell out of this system. It's a dice pool d6 mechanic that works really well for the type of game it is. It's fantasy more on the Tolkien side. Human, dwarves, elves, and orcs are the core races. There's different ways each one access magic and there's also sorcery. Character creation is based using life paths and combining different stages of your characters life to give you a fleshed out character. All these things are expanded in supplements. The core covers the main ones you need to know to get the game going along with game rules. 
 
The play style the rules require to play is what sets it apart from other fantasy rpgs and other rpgs in general. Player characters have what are called beliefs. These determine goals that the characters want to achieve. It's also how the GMs can bait players into awkward situations. A thing to remember is it doesn't matter if a character succeeds or fails in a situation so much as getting closer to accomplishing their beliefs. It's a broader scope than other games where players are give multiple tasks one right after the other. 
 
The rules themselves are easy but detailed. The rule book is 300 pages but only the first 85 pages or so are the main rules. The VS. Test is the most common way to resolve tasks. You have a task with X difficulty rating that determines how many successes you need. A success is a result of four or higher and 6's give you a bonus dice. The higher a skill the more dice you roll and the greater your chance of scoring successes. The rest is more detailed rules to be used in situations that they would suit best. Duel of Wits for scripted debating, Range and Cover for archery, and Fight! for scripted combat. You don't have to use them all the time but I recommend using them in climactic parts of the game. Maybe one each session or every other session as they can slow a game down until everyone in familiar with them. BW does have a learning curve when it comes to these parts but they're not difficult to learn, just difficult to win. An important thing to remember is even if you lose at these your beliefs will be more challenged. Maybe your character works better when the odds are stacked against him or her. Another is Circles test. This takes the lifepaths of your character and tests to see if you know other NPCs. This can be tricky because sometimes who knows you or who you know isn't always going to be a friend. They can be important though especially if the group is in a strange place and need direction where to go. 
 
All races have emotional magic. Humans have faith and can call upon divinity for help. Dwarves have greed for their magic source and are of course master forgers. Elves are powered by grief from seeing their mortal friends die and sing songs that have magical effects. Orcs have hatred from seeing their mortal friends die causing them to be evil. These emotions make each type distinctive in what they can do. None are vanilla. 
 
The most fun part for me is the artha (hero points or bonus points) and character advancement rules. If you like fully expanding your characters with many options this is the game for you. You can test and practice skills. Even if you fail at leveling up a skill next time it becomes easier. You can say that character learns from their mistakes. Dice can change shades. They start black (4 or higher is a success) but go up to gray (3 or higher) and white (2 or higher). So the brighter the shade the easier it is to roll high successes. But having a white shade is considered legendary and takes a long time to get. "Let it Ride" is an unique rule because it will take several small tasks that require the same skill and average them together. So a player only has to roll one time for a skill check. If they fail they only screw up at the beginning. If they pass they don't have to repeat the same skill checks over and over. This keeps the game focused on the broader scope it's intended (challenging beliefs) and to speed up using the dice pools. An important thing about dice results that players and GMs need to remember is that when a belief is challenged in a conflict it's no longer pass/fail. A belief challenge can sometimes override dice results. Even if the player failed they're still closer to succeeding their goal by another path in the story opening up. 
 
There's also helping dice from other players and FoRKs that work with the dice pool mechanic. So if you have a similar skill or another player has one they can help with your chances of scoring more successes. However relying on help won't count towards that skill advancing. You character won't learn for themselves by just relying on help. This does however help characters that aren't part of a "scene" like a Duel of Wits between two other people to become active. Characters grow and in extended play their goals and beliefs grow too. The more ambitious they become and the more challenging the GM gets to make things for them. This gives it an overall cinematic feel. 
 
This is an awesome rpg if you're wanting something different. Is it better than D&D? I think that's hard to say because it's so different from D&D because more of the game is in the player's hands. Their goals and how they want to accomplish them are left up to them. The GM just gives them the scene and situation they're in and keeping up with the game rules. 
 
Next up is a game based off Burning Wheel called Burning Empires. A sci-fi game that takes what I just described and puts it on a galactic scale. I haven't played this as often as BW but it's becoming my favorite game. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy. For more information or to purchase Burning Wheel visit their website at www.burningwheel.org.