Some questions after our first session

Burning Wheel First Reading
1

I just GM’d my group’s first session of the BW and it went quite good! :slight_smile: Some doubt arose during play about some rules; I report them here.

  1. In a Bloody Versus, are the dice from the “skill pool” divided openly or secretly?
  2. In a Bloody Versus lasting more than one round, how do you count tests for advancement?
  3. During the session, the knight charged a couple bandits with bows ready to fire. I gave them a free shot; did I do it right?
  4. With Haggling, can you reduce a test’s obstacle below 1, making the purchase not even worth a roll?
  5. Is treatment of any use with Light and Superficial wounds? There are difficulties for it in the table, but apparently it has no effect.

Thanks. :slight_smile:

2
  1. Openly
  2. Like any other series test
  3. Maybe? Depends on the setup.
  4. No.
  5. Treatment gets rid of the wounds immediately (i.e. in this scene) for Light and Superficial. Sometimes that is important.
3

Thanks!
I forgot this one:

  1. How do Steel tests work in Bloody Versus, since there are no actions to hesitate during which?
4

Don’t worry about the Steel test unless someone wants to act while the person is incapacitated. Just use the conditional steel tests for advancement found in the Steel chapter instead. If someone wants to act while the other person is incapacitated, I would then call for the Steel test. If the player fails the Steel test, I would allow his opponent one roll of the dice to do something.

5

Sorry, i maybe i’m just lost in the translation but i would need a clear example of this.

Are you suggesting that we should roll the Steel test after the Bloody versus?

Regards,

6

If appropriate. If one side has a much higher Steel than the other, you might want to give them an advantage die for Bloody Versus. BV normally isn’t that fine-toothed, though.

7

You don’t need to roll it; you could if you so choose just award a steel test at an Ob given by the list in the Steel chapter.

8

Ok, now I have some questions after our second session… :stuck_out_tongue:

  1. Can you give helping dice to the roll to determine the Body of Argument in a DoW?
  2. What happens when you make a standard, but unskilled, roll in a DoW? You should normally double the Ob, but there isn’t one. Do you halve the successes or something?
9

Yes, if it’s appropriate to the scene and you speak the part (i.e., roleplay your help). If you help with the DoW, you are bound to that side and cannot switch sides or go back and forth, as you could if you don’t help.

  1. What happens when you make a standard, but unskilled, roll in a DoW? You should normally double the Ob, but there isn’t one. Do you halve the successes or something?

Halve the successes.

10

Halve the successes.[/QUOTE]

P29 - Either Double Ob or Double your Opponents successes.
Clearly, as to do otherwise your 5 successes against his four would be a draw.

11

That’s a versus test. This is, like, what if we both script Point? You test your Will as Beginner’s Luck for Persuasion, but then what? There is no Ob to double, and I am not testing against you so you cannot double my successes.* So what then? As Thor says, halve your successes.

*I guess you could if you really wanted to, in that case, but it’d be weird and wrong. It still doesn’t cover all cases, since I might be hesitating or whatever and not testing at all.

12

Is this helpful?

13

That standard Ob1 you need for a success is Doubled to Ob2, so essentially you’d loose a 1 success if you had multiples. This would be the consistent answer within the limitations of the rules as laid out.

14

Does Ob 2 sound reasonable to you knowing how costly skills are to open?

15

I believe DD is correct with regard to something like a Point. Usually it’s an Ob1 test, but with Beginner’s Luck it’s an Ob2? Beginners luck makes simple things still accomplishable, while complicated things are nearly impossible.

16

What Ob1? There is no Ob for a Point unless it’s scripted against a defensive action. Notice where Klaus says “You should normally double the Ob, but there isn’t one.” You directly subtract all rolled successes from your opponent’s BoA.

You’re correct about what would happen if there were an Ob. For instance, in Fight that’s how an unopposed Strike works. But Point is different.

17

I made that mistake myself for a while. Point is Ob1. Remember, you only have to meet the Ob, not exceed it.

That said, there are a lot of posts on the forum saying you halve the successes and round down with beginner’s luck.