Master of Eight

Burning Wheel Character Burner
1

The Master of Eight Orc lifepath gets Spider Husbandry, and can also pick up Riding & Mounted Combat Training. My assumption there is that the character could ride a spider.

Before I read through the available resources, my thought had been to buy a relationship with a Great Spider as a bodyguard, which is 10 rps. Now I see that a great wolf mount can be purchased for 15 or a regular mount for 9. I don’t have a good enough sense to say whether a great spider or great wolf should be roughly equal or if one is really more potent than the other.

So now I’m not sure what the right call is.

2

I’d go with 9 points. It’s a mount and it’s not a great wolf.

3

I am all for riding a giant spider, but I think you could make an argument the inclusion of Riding and Mounted Combat Training are necessary not to ride the spider itself, but that an Orc would need to be riding a horse or something in order to successfully do his job, like a ranch hand.

And I would assume that the Mounted Combat Training is because forcing a giant, intelligent, autonomous spider to reproduce and work in conditions tantamount to slavery CANNOT be an easy task.

4

I’d go with 20 pts, honestly. A great spider is an aware, intelligent being and is far more versatile than a great wolf. Can your wolf climb vertical surfaces? Can your wolf lay traps? Can your wolf tangle up and subdue your foes with ease?

A Great Spider bodyguard is appropriately 10pts because he’s not allowing you to ride him.

5

The idea was, unstated, that you can’t buy a great spider mount, you have to earn it.

1 Like
6

Ha. Interesting. I like that.

I’m just showing some people how BW character burning works and they really latched onto the idea of riding a spider, so I’ll probably just have them spend 20 rps so they feel awesome with a spider mount shown on the character sheet.

7

They might think the concept of earning a spider mount through play is awesome, too, though, if your goal is to show off the system.

8

Isnt a Great Spider, alien and unbreakable, more a Squire/Bodyguard/Apprentice and partner than simple mount? Sounds like a you spend 10rp, Spider spends 10rp, burden is on you to manage kinda deal.

9

I’d agree, the Spider is a relationship, maybe a male wanting protection from his potential mates [because it sounds fun].

10

Most spiders are also going to be a little on the small side for riding but still very dangerous and useful to have as part of a military force. Master of Eight as spider wrangler just makes sense. Getting one of the big ones, and getting on good enough terms that you can ride it without getting eaten by it, is serious interspecies diplomacy.

11

The spider should be another PC, of course.