BWGR and BW Codex

Burning Wheel First Reading
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Hi all

I’ve just bought Burning Wheel Gold Revised. Will the Burning Wheel Codex benefit me or is it superseded by BWGR?

Edit: Specifically, I would like the rules that help you to create the world/setting. Not sure of the details but some book in the Burning Wheel series has advice about how to include players as a part of the world-building process, and advice on creating the setting as standard. That sounds handy to have.

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Hi there! The Codex has not been superseded. The Adventure Burner chapter in it is what you’re looking for.

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Thanks for clarifying.

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Can BW do sword & sorcery, with humans only?

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Everything works perfectly with just humans.

How well BW does swords and sorcery as-written depends on what you are thinking of when you say swords and sorcery. The default setting is medieval Europe and the default magic is hard to control and can temporarily sicken the user; so it isn’t a perfect map of Conan but can be run with the same feel; equally, it can do a lighter style.

If you are prepared to make a few superficial tweaks to change the names of jobs to something of a different period and perhaps swap one skill for another, I could imagine using it for any swords and sorcery setting I can think of.

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Thanks for the reply. Yes, I should have clarified, the sword & sorcery I’m after is more Conan than anything else.

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The Codex has a variety of optional magic rules that can ramp up the S&S feel dramatically:

  • Corruption is a new emotional attribute.
  • Blood Magic lets an evil sorcerer fuel their magic with torture and sacrifice.
  • Death Art lets necromancers do their thing.
  • Spirit Binding can let people force elementals to serve them.
  • Summoning can bind demons and their ilk.

You could also replicate some things with Circles or relationships — Elric was able to call on various elementals who had sworn to serve his family. No special magic systems needed for that.

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Thank you for the info, much appreciated

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