Mergzok: World Burning

We're gonna do it, folks. Yes, we're going to finish a freaking campaign. of Burning Empires. It may take us awhile, going every other week, but at this point I'm bound and determined. Burning Empires has long had a reputation as being almost unplayable, which I think is not accurate. A lot of overhead and a challenge to learn? Well yes! But unplayable? Naw. And the bits I've played of it are too good to leave it on the shelf. Revisiting it I am most intrigued about how artha and the trait vote have been repurposed into a competitive framework, which I think is really interesting.

So I pitched the game at my Torchbearer group. They accepted trying it. We sat down to burn up a world, and this is what we got. The numbers are to each stage of play: Infiltration, Usurpation, and Invasion. This is a series of negotiations. By making these mechanical decisions the setting materializes, making  unique world.

Interior World V 2 | 2 | 2 / H 1 | 2 | 3

We all wanted to be a bit more conservative at the start. I made the pitch and this one was a pretty simple agreement.

 

Partial Life (irradiated areas) V 3|0|3 / H 2|3|1

This option is about how much of the planet is actually livable. We agreed to Partial Life Support, with the areas that are unlivable by having heavy radiation.

Mostly Land V 2|2|2 / H 1|2|3

Oh, this one was specifically because they didn't want me to have Mostly Water, because I would have a huge advantage.

Naturally Tame V 1|4|1 / H 2|2|2

Again, this one was the one that everyone was the least uncomfortable with.

Low Tech Index V 2|3|1 / H 2|2|2

I rejected High Tech Index, flat. No way in hell. Lena requested Low Tech Index, and the rest of us thought it alright.

Civilian Commune V 2|2|2 /  H 2|2|2

Literally no one wanted any of the options. None. But man, Civilian Commune was the one we were the least offended by.

Factions Exist V 4|1|1 / H 0|0|0

This one was literally done because everyone thought it would be fun, the boost to my dispositions be damned. I cackled. Audibly. My glee was noted as a concern, but ignored.

Factions So Far:

Military Junta 0|1|5

Organized Crime 2|2|2

Cult Church 0|3|3

Psychologists 2|3|1

Slaves 4|1|1

Volunteer Force V 2|3|1 / H 2|2|2

Considering we already have a military junta, we figured a volunteer force made the most sense. And, again, the most even.

Paranoid Culture V 3|3|3 / H 4|4|4

Again, everyone hated it the least.

Raw Materials  V 1|2|3 / H 1|3|2

Thanks to Lena's decision to have slaves, we decided to have the planet have valuable raw resources of all kinds. It works for China, so why not us??

Standard Quarantine V 3|3|3 / H 2|2|2

This is where things got a bit tense. The players pitched a strict quarantine to me. I refused. Flat. I was already at a disadvantage in Invasion, which means that I'll have to make sure to grab a couple of different factions (military junta here I come!) and play some catch up if I wanted to have that in my back pocket.  The players, obviously, were not so willing to move. I offered them a clear advantage by having the advantage of economy. After some conferring we came to a compromise, and we wound up with a Standard Quarantine and Loosely Regulated Economy

Loosely Regulated Economy 1|1|3 / 2|2|2

And this is what we got at the end! I have a good advantage in Infiltration, and have to work to catch up in Invasion.

V 26|26|25 / H 21|26|29