[Burning Wheel: Rome] Iceni politics

The Burning Rome game with Mick and Rich as players and Ogre (of Stabbing Contest) as GM continued into the first full session.

Set-up:

Sapius and Juba were sent by Marc Anthony into the occupied British Isles to unseat the chieftain of the Iceni people, a Celtic tribe that if angered, could muster a couple legions of warriors against Rome.  the pair picked six Roman soldiers to accompany them along with a local guide.

Scenes:

• Nearing the big chief’s village, the party encountered a chieftain of a small village who intercepted them and demanded tribute.  After the shock of being asked for tribute when the lands were under Roman control, Sapius began a tirade of insults.  Juba interceded before the translator passed the comments along and reminded Sapius that their mission lie ahead of them.  Sapius agreed to give tribute and when the chieftain, who was named Colm, held out his hand, Sapius revealed that his tribute was not money but… a merry dance.  Colm was amused and the PCs ended up with a minor contact.
• Arriving at the big chief’s village, the party headed to the house of the chief’s brother Bran and informed him that Rome wants him in charge, not his brother.  Bran took the news well, but advised the PCs that they couldn’t walk up and kill the chief without angering the people into riots and Bran couldn’t kill his brother and take over the tribe and still keep their loyalty.
• Next morning, Sapius and Juba enter the longhouse of the Iceni chief and meet his household and champion (his cagey uncle called Cormac).  While Juba keeps Cormac busy talking, Sapius takes the chief aside and advises him that Rome would rather have Bran in charge and that he should just fake his own death so he could survive.  Yes, Mick decided to try the direct route!
• The chief didn’t agree with the options presented, so we had our first Duel of Wits!

A DoW is a minigame for social conflict where the opposing forces roll up a Body of  Argument (BoA) that acts like hits points and the two opponents script out with social maneuvers and compare blow by blow tactics in order to roll dice for each move.  The die results are used to affect the BoA and the combatants duke it out until one loses all their BoA points or gives.  Then based on the remaining BoA points of the victor, the loser can ask for concessions, meaning they get some slight give and don’t completely lose out on what they put at stake.

• Mick scripted well.  Ogre scripted based on how the chief would have seen Mick, and it ended up ugly for him.  Mick won the Duel of Wits and DID NOT LOSE A SINGLE POINT FROM HIS BODY OF ARGUMENT!  I have never seen a route like that!  Needless to say, the chief tucked his tail between his legs and arranged for his fake funeral.
• The next scene took place as the capper for the night.  Sapius and Juba arrived to see Marc Anthony and present the new Chief Bran and found that Marc Anthony was hurriedly packing for a trip back to Rome, stating that he must be there as Octavian arrives.

Next time the pair travels to Rome?  We shall see…