Required Traits

Burning Wheel First Reading
1

I don’t really understand how the required traits rules play out into burning believable characters and settings.

If I’m burning a five lifepath priest, who used to be a brewer, why should he still have to Reek of Alcohol? Why can’t there exist a merchant, or indeed ex-merchant who’s not Distracted? Some of the required traits work really well, like cobblers having comfortable shoes, but others seem wrong for obligatory character aspects. Others only fit assuming the character is still on that lifepath. Just because I was a Baker fifteen years ago, why am I eternally Floury? Why is every Plumber in the worlds of Burning Wheel cursed with A Touch of Madness?

Do you just ignore traits that don’t fit your vision, and wait for them to fall off at the first trait vote?

2

This thread might help :slight_smile:

Also, see Quiescent.

Traits are a way to mold your characters in the world, and they’re things that everyone with a given lifepath will express in varying degrees. If you don’t want them, don’t play to them for artha. Yeah, they’ll fall off.

3

Pretty much. There really isn’t anything forcing you to play a character trait.

PS: “A Touch of Madness” is a reference to lead poisoning.

4

Cool, thanks for the answers :slight_smile:

Lead poisoning, of course!! I like that, now I know. I thought Luke had met exclusively crazy plumbers in his time.

Thanks for pointing out Quiescent, well worth knowing.

5

Yeah, it was useful for a character I was burning up where I wasn’t totally happy with one of their Traits. Don’t remember which one.