Overcoming the steep learning curve

Torchbearer An Adventurer's Essentials
1

I am about to run my first session of Torchbearer, and I’m super excited. I want to provide my players a smoother learning curve than I myself went through trying to comprehend all of the rules. I wrote up a brief summary of the reward rules for my players to read before beginning the first session.

This game is designed to kill you, slowly but surely. Every four turns, a mechanic called the grind occurs, which gives you the next condition on your list immediately. You can also gain conditions by failing at obstacle tests or conflicts, ultimately until you have reach the final condition, dead. There are various ways to remove these conditions, mainly during the camping phase. When you camp, you’re able to spend a resource called checks to attempt to recover a condition. You don’t start the game with checks, you have to earn them. You earn them through a feature called Traits. When you use a trait against yourself - by imposing a disadvantage to your PC, you gain a check. Traits can also be used in a positive manner, granting benefits, but they don’t grant a check. Level 1 traits can be used once per session, either as a positive or negative effect.

Getting checks will help you recover from conditions, but they can also be used for other things as well (p.23). The other features of the game that won’t be obvious until the second session, use the resources Fate and Persona (p.109). At the end of each session, if you roleplay towards your Belief, Goal, and Instinct, you’ll earn Fate points, a max of 3 per session, one for each. If you roleplay against your Belief or accomplish your Goal, you’ll earn a Persona point. Spending these points give you bigger benefits towards a roll, but also function as XP, eventually leveling you up if you undertake a town phase (p.111).

Quick context: We play every two weeks and have experience playing different RPGs, mechanics generally aren’t a problem, but do require time. Everyone has read a little about what Torchbearer is like, and I really want them to enjoy the game. I figure reading those two paragraphs will help them figure out how to hit the ground running on the first session, hopefully leading to them enjoying it and wanting more.

My question to you all is: Do you think the summary is accurate and effective at summarizing how the PCs can make the system work for them? and is this kind of quick summary of “how to win” supposed to be discovered instead of summarized?

2

I’ve found a good way to teach the rules is to introduce each rule when it comes up. Learn by doing!

Have them play. If they’re chewing their lip over a die roll, let them know if their trait applies and explain what it does. If they can’t possibly make it, advise them to use the trait against themselves. When they hit turn 4, tell everyone they’re hungry and thirst and THEN let them know why.

It will be a lot easier to digest if they take small bites.

3

Well you have more experience than I, so I’ll heed your advice. I guess writing it out like that helps me understand how I can explain it to them when the time comes. Thanks for the timely feedback Jared.

4

You can also tell them that the hardest session is the first—unfamiliarity with the rules and no rewards to spend!

5

It’s not so easy to die!

When I first tried to sell this game I positioned it as Dark Souls. Where dying a lot was a thing, and you slowly learned. It wasn’t until I started to play the game, that I learned it was actually hard to die. As long as the player’s avoid kill conflicts, the PCs can get rid of injuries and sickness by lowering a stat/skill. Meaning they can keep going with their character and watch them get weaker and weaker as they play. (It can be pretty demoralizing) Until the player elects to let an injury stand in hopes that their character will just die, so they can make a new one. Death is a mercy, so be merciless!

If you have time I would do character creation in my opinion. I feel it builds familiarity with the character sheet nicely. While they are liable to make mistakes, afterwards they’ll hopefully be excited to go back to the drawing board and make a new character. The nature questions are really good for sliding into character.

Go a slower tempo. The way the rules are written, it can be very easy to move from mechanic to mechanic, but that can be very frustrating. Even when conflict comes out, take your time describing the monster’s nature and what ‘weapon’ its readying. Whenever possible try to speak to the players from within the fiction. if you want them to use description forward, its best if you do the same. Don’t just say no, when the player’s ask to do something the rules disallow. Explain through the fiction why that’s not possible. It’ll keep the players in the headspace of their characters who are trying to survive, and less as the players fighting against the rules.

Some examples:

PC: The elf wants to use his nature to sneak for his manuever
GM: You try to disappear from view, but run straight into one of the kobolds

PC: I want to use my knowledge of the world to help us along our journey to the dungeon
GM: do you have hunter, or scout?
PC: No, I was thinking scholar?
GM: * shakes head * do you have an appropriate wise?
PC: No
GM: Alright well along the journey you have your book out and you’re telling them of how soil erosion can make natural paths from time to time, but its way above everyone else’s head and you aren’t very helpful.

PC: I want to take that sword the skeleton was using.
GM: You pick it up and it turns to dust in your hand, as well as the rest of the bones. A silent wind picks it all up and blows it deeper into the dungeon.

PC: I want to rest and recover from exhausted [has no checks]
GM: You lay out your bedroll, trying to get some sleep, but noises from elsewhere keep waking you. Also there seems to be a bumpy rock digging into your back.

If they are having a hard time understanding camp and checks let them return to town and see why they want to stay in the wilds. Tally up all the resource obstacles it would take to recover their conditions, and then watch them fail their resource roll. As a twist have debt collectors run them out of town. If the questgiver is there, well that’s another problem.

Also watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fTuOT81sDA&list=PLTj75n3v9eTk5iJ4qr4Uq2pIXxhZNYjWZ

6

It’s also OK to give them suggestions as the GM. Help them understand the consequences of their actions.

“So that was the second turn. You may want to consider picking up a check on your next turn and then camp before the fourth turn so you can preserve your fresh condition.”

“Do you want to listen at the door before you open it?”

“She failed her Recovery test to get rid of Afraid? Well, you still have a check between you. Someone could try to make a potion to help her using the Alchemist skill.”

I’m all for being a remorseless GM, but it’s OK to guide a little bit when they’re learning the game, especially if they’re not sold completely on it.

Also, if possible, recruit an ally from among the players. Do you have a friend that likes learning new rules or you think might be drawn to this game? Encourage him or her to read the game and help you teach the others when game time comes around.

7

I’m all for being a remorseless GM, but it’s OK to guide a little bit when they’re learning the game, especially if they’re not sold completely on it.

I agree. The “not completely sold on it” part is the hitch.

If they are having a hard time understanding camp and checks let them return to town and see why they want to stay in the wilds. Tally up all the resource obstacles it would take to recover their conditions, and then watch them fail their resource roll. As a twist have debt collectors run them out of town. If the questgiver is there, well that’s another problem.

That doesn’t really fit how I like to run a first session. I’d rather see their eyes light up as they see how nicely the mechanics play together, instead of watching them go dark with frustration as they are marched through the phases, failing mostly due to ignorance of the rules. I get that the spirit of the game is to endure the metaphorical dungeon exploration of mechanics in a game about exploring dungeons, but I think my players would enjoy it just as much, if not more, if they had a quick explanation of the rules.

Also watch this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fTu...Uq2pIXxhZNYjWZ

I’ve watched it and really appreciate the quality of his VODs, both in production and the session itself. I feel like he’s doing a lot for the RPG community by making easily accessible examples of well-executed games, most of which aren’t mainstream RPGs. But as I read the Torchbearer rules and the forums, it seems he omitted or simplified the rules a bit for his players. Or got them confused with one of the many other games he runs. I’ve been looking for a good quality video of people playing Torchbearer, the link above being the best I’ve found. Does anyone know of any others? It really helps people learn the game.

8

While I agree with most of what is said above (especially explaining the mechanics as you go along), I would like to point out a couple of minor mistakes in the original post. (Correct me if I’m wrong.)

You can also gain two checks in a vs. roll by allowing the GM to roll two more dice or by breaking a tie in your opponents favor before the tie breaker.

Level 1 traits can be used once per session, either as a positive or negative effect.

L1 traits can only be used once per session in favor of the character. You can use them as much as you want against the character and earn as many checks as you want. You could potentially earn a check on every test (assuming you could tie a trait to it), though that isn’t likely and we don’t even try to reach that lofty goal.