Unpacking the Duel of Wits

What we're talking about is the Duel of Wits in the Burning Wheel game system. It remains one of the very few roleplaying mechanics that actually focuses on playing a role itself.

First of all it's a player conflict resolution mechanic. For many the simple versus test would work out just fine and to be honest BW operates just peachy without Fight! and Duel of Wits (DoW). What the DoW offers us is an opportunity to get a little more granular and take time to parse out and focus on aspect of the conflict that most interest us. How this is different than standard conflict systems is that often they are all about fighting. The Duel of Wits allows characters to interact in different ways and make the players of social characters just as important to the story as fighty PCs.

It also acts as a framework for player conflicts in a way that many players can relate to - "oh, so you're trying to convince me that your story line is cooler than mine, well fine, now convince my character or the audience." Okay so let's be clear. Player conflict resolution. Let's not get lost in what's really going on here. It took a lot to convince me of this but I had to eventually concede - the characters don't actually exist. Sure the conflict is framed in relation to the character's abilities but that is to allow the conflict to happen in context to a rich fictional backdrop. In reality the players are either disagreeing or no one has any particular direction and they all want to see what direction the story is going.

The former is best. Disagreement means people have strong opinions but are willing to let the rules channel that passion.

So there is so much to talk about here but I want to deliver this in easily digestable chunks. Here is my last point my discussion about the general purpose of the Duel of Wit's mechanic:

So now we have a social and a fighty conflict mechanics. We also have one for speedy characeters but the scope is a little more narrow than the other two. So why do they get their own means of control? Why, as a player, do I only really have those two modes of impacting the story through adversity at the table?

This was something that Burning Empires is really trying to address. In Burning Empires the conflict mechanics are big and sweeping and cover a myriad of possible outcomes. Through the Infection mechanics we can ustilize a 100 skills to make things happen and move the narrative forward. I think that once you've played Burning Wheel enough that you can start developing your own conflict mechnics that fit the tenor of your own stories. You could tell stories about two scientists combatting one another for acceptance of a scientic journal entry over the other. You could have two ballorinas dancing their toes bloody for a shot at Juliard or the MET. It all depends on what your game is about. If these people aren't social and probably wouldn't be in your little piece of fiction in your collective minds then you could develop similar mechanics like Sorcerous Dules, Firefight and other sub-systems to explore those ideas your players thing are the areas they want to explore.

For now we have, basically two conflict resolution sub-systems that really drive home story and push the game in dynamic directions.

Next up in the Burning Wheel arena we'll talk about intent, the Statement of Purpose and when NOT to enter a Duel of Wits. Also check out Mel White's Virtual Play and we hope to get some DoW's on audio.