the Burning Wheel by Luke Crane extra rotam nulla salus Credit Due Burning Wheel Concept, Design and Production Luke Crane Original Concept Contents Luke Crane and Dan Abram Introduction Von Goten’s Story Part II ........................................................10 Tough Love, Hard Feedback and Editing Pete Tierney, Dan Abram, Ian Marshall, Sean Bosker and John Yohalem Nature of the Game .................................................................13 Voices in My Head ...........................................................................14 Game Development Chris Allingham, Rick Brown, Jason Costa, Luke Crane, Danny Dempsey, Bob Doherty, Dice and the Wheel ..................................................................15 Ian Marshall, Phil Kobel, Rich Soto and Pete Tierney. Paper and Pencils. Not Pens. ...........................................................15 Dice Rules ........................................................................................15 Action Reaction, Melee and Martial Arts Mechanics Development Help When Do I Roll Dice? ......................................................................16 Ian Marshall How Many Successes is “Success”?...................................................17 Folios, Section Headers and Graphics General Guidelines for Judging Obstacles ........................................18 The Inimitable Dan Licht How Many Dice Do I Roll? .............................................................18 Shade ..............................................................................................18 Illustrations Dan Licht [ ], Kev Sather [ ], Kira Brooks [ ], Elements of the Game .............................................................19 Characters, Equipment, Materials and Magic ..................................19 Cover Illustrations The Elements of Character ..............................................................20 Wood: Dan Licht [ ], Wheel: Kev Sather [ ], Back cover painting: Jin Kwan The Rest of the Elements .................................................................24 Constant Input, Support, Questions, Insight and Criticism Dan Abram, Chris Allingham, Rick Brown, Eric Cardon, Jason Costa, Danny Dempsey, Bob Doherty, Gameplay Phil Kobel, Ian Marshall, Jami Rodger, Rich Soto, Erin Strumpf, Shy Theerakulstit, and especially Using Your Abilities .................................................................26 Pete Tierney; what would we do without AIM? ;-[ . Rolling Dice for Stats and Skills ......................................................26 The When and Why of Stats ...........................................................27 Thank You: Chris for telling me to just start writing; Thanks to Bob for getting this all started (and for When Do I Use Skills? .....................................................................28 finishing it). A special acknowledgement goes to the Kingmakers: Gentlemen, if it weren’t for you the Wheel would have never made it this far—thanks for your patience and tenacity; And a heartfelt Obstacles and the Real World, .........................................................28 thank you to the Last Dancers, the original inspiration: Jesse, Brian, Bob, Jason, Jon and Pete. Your I Can Do That Without Trying .........................................................32 brilliant fuel drove me along, this one’s for you. Using Attributes ...............................................................................32 luke Tests for Skills and Stats ..........................................................37 autumn.02 Three Kinds of Tests ........................................................................37 N Y C Testing Skills ...................................................................................38 This game is fondly dedicated to my brother, Hart. What if I Don’t Have the Skills? aka Beginner’s Luck ......................39 There is no greater joy than gaming with your little brother Time and Tests ................................................................................40 except playing your own game with your little brother… Failing Tests ....................................................................................40 and having him get it. How Long Do Tests Count for? ......................................................44 thanks, bro. Fun Skill Stuff ..............................................................................46 © 2002 Luke Crane. Burning Wheel is a Registered Trademark (®) of Luke Crane. Helping Out .....................................................................................46 [] Illustrations © 2002 Dan Licht; [ ] Illustrations © 2002 Kev Sather; [ ] Illustrations © 2002 Kira Brooks; Fields of Related Knowledge: FoRK .................................................47 Back cover painting © 2002 Jin Kwan. Following Directions ........................................................................48 Contact: [email protected] Training Skills .................................................................................49 Advancement ..............................................................................50 Armor and Shields .................................................................100 Routine, Difficult and Challenging Tests ..........................................50 What Should I Wear to the Battle? ................................................100 Number of Tests Required for Advancement ....................................52 Armor Bits .....................................................................................101 I Just Learned Something! ...............................................................53 Rolling Armor Protection Dice .......................................................101 Skill Experience Log ........................................................................53 Weapons Versus Armor ..................................................................102 Advancement and Roleplaying .........................................................54 Armor Failure ................................................................................103 Advancement Bits ............................................................................54 Clumsy Weight ..............................................................................104 Advancing Statistics .........................................................................56 Shields, Bucklers, Parrying Blades and Warfans ............................106 Advancing Attributes .......................................................................56 Shields and Versus Armor ..............................................................108 Practice and Training ......................................................................56 Shield Failure ................................................................................108 Beginner’s Luck: Learning New Skills ..............................................59 Shields and Melee Mechanics .........................................................108 Using Traits ..................................................................................62 Shields vs Rocks, Arrows, Bolts and Bullets ...................................109 Defensive Weapons ........................................................................110 Character Traits ...............................................................................62 Anti-Shield ....................................................................................111 Die Traits .........................................................................................62 Shield Notes ...................................................................................111 Call-On Traits ..................................................................................63 Interpreting Traits ...........................................................................64 The Anatomy of Injury ..........................................................112 Using Instincts ............................................................................64 Scope of the Scale ..........................................................................112 Tolerances ......................................................................................112 Using Beliefs ...............................................................................65 Taking the Hit ...............................................................................113 Action Reaction ..........................................................................66 Effects of Wounds ..........................................................................113 The Exchange .................................................................................66 Losing Dice and Compiling Difficulty Number Penalties ...............114 Volleys .............................................................................................67 Steel and Wounds ..........................................................................116 Actions ............................................................................................67 Bleeding .........................................................................................116 Reflexes ...........................................................................................68 The Danger of Damage Stages .......................................................117 Scripts .............................................................................................68