This post was inspired by a brief discussion I had with another BM player recently. The thoughts I had seemed to grow from that discussion, so I thought to share them here. This is what resulted:
There are several ways one can play BattleMaster. Here are some of my suggestions.
The Level of Power
On this level a player seeks to maximize his personal power. Success is measured with such things as skills, income, lordships and titles. On a realm level it can be the size of the realm or the strength of its armies. This is the entry level for most new players who attempt to win battlemaster with any means available to them. If there is a story, the story is about the strength of his own character at the expense of the others, if necessary. It can be an exciting journey especially as the challenges on the way up are many, but therein lies the trap as well. Power for the sake of the power itself is devoid of any deeper meaning. What can one do when the limits of growth are met? Start over again elsewhere, where every climb to the top is an experience duller than the the previous one, leading to inevitable frustration and departure.
This is the level of play of turn junkies, clans and exploiters. This is the level of frequent confusion between OOC and IC communication, where the character is but an extension of the player, where the inalienable rights are most often violated.
The Level of Influence
On this level power is seen as a tool for influence, and like any tool worth having its desirability is measured by how good a job it does. In order to accomplish anything meaningful in BattleMaster, one needs friends. The raw power of the previous level is useful in making friends and gaining allies. This is where a player set some sort of a goal for the character, be it converting the continent to the true faith or changing the culture of the continent to something more desirable, perhaps in a form of a guild or a secret society. The goal can be destructive as well, such as a bloodfeud against a family or a desire to destroy a realm or bring some character to utter ruin.
On this level the player makes choices that may at times reduce his immediate power. The main drive is a story created by the player, and the power is used to make that story happen often at the expense of the other stories. In this sense a player may get frustrated about someone else "ruining his roleplay". Still there is immensely more depth on this level of gameplay compared to the previous one.
The Level of Narratives
Finally there is the level of narratives. Here the choices of the player are governed by what he sees as good for the story that he creates together with the other players. Towards this end the player is willing to create handicaps for his character that at times work contrary the goals of power and influence. They may be anything for personality problems that his character has to physical handicaps. The character may fear entering forests and refuse to do so at the crucial moment, perhaps causing his realm to fall. Or he be paranoid and prone to depression, which makes it difficult for him to make friends. We all have weaknesses, and so do the characters on this level. This is partly what makes them interesting.
The downside of this is that this makes the characters weaker in the powerplaying sense. Powergamers may take ruthless advantage of this weakness, which is why it works the best in an environment where majority of the players are interested in playing on this level. This is where it is not only about my own stories, but about the stories we create together as players. This is where the misery of your character is as good as his success, if it provides opportunities for drama - kind of creative chaos and destruction which enables further growth elsewhere, perhaps in unexpected directions.
Not surprisingly, this is the level of play that I feel is the most rewarding in BattleMaster. Though I must admit I do not always manage to stay on the level of the narratives, but rather find the levels mixing at times and blurring on the edges. But still, whenever the third level is the strongest, the likelihood of thrilling experiences also increases dramatically.
