Let's Burn Up a Character

I vote for Sackrilege, Barcrawler, and Incompetent Thief

C, F, and H

F
B
A

A
or
BHI

F: The dwarf who stole the Krundlhorn, then lost it to bandits is the clear winner, and also my personal favorite.

10 points left for a relationship or two. More than two relationships is probably too many, though I guess three wouldn't be totally unreasonable. Remember that one of these relationships is someone to whom the dwarf has sworn an oath, and dwarves take their oaths very, very seriously.

The prices are:
15 points for a relationship with a character who is powerful and plays a large role in the game setting, such as the king.
10 points for a relationship with a character who is significant and important to the game setting.
5 points for a relationship with a character who plays a minor role in the setting, such as the local grocer.

However, these prices can be reduced:
-2 points for an immediate family relationship, like a brother.
-1 point for an extended family relationship, like a cousin.
-2 points for a relationship involving bonds of romantic love.
-1 points for a forbidden relationship, such as an elf being best friends with one of those hated orcs.
-2 points for relationships involving hatred or rivalry.
The modifiers stack. It's only 1 point for a fierce rivalry with a father who is insignificant in the setting.

So, let's hear some proposals! I encourage you guys to go back and look at some of the answers to the attribute questions, as I think there are some interesting possibilities for relationships in there.

The master dwarven hornsmith and one of the six high-guild members of [whatever guild makes things] is the oathsworn and brother of our dwarf. However since birth the two dwarfs were selected for various life-paths upon birth, contact between the two was forbidden. In fact, it was only by an accident that our lower-class dwarf realized that that particular dwarf noble was his brother. Our dwarf then set out to learn more about this dwarf, ever growing more bitter and resentful of his success. He stole his prized creation, lost it, and then swore to retrieve it. The high-guild member doesn't know this lowly dwarf is related to him, and should the fact come to light, both dwarfs would be in danger of exile for breaking one of the basic laws of their caste-system.
(15 pts -2,-2,-1)

A forbidden incest would get -5 points
a setting-insignificant relationship would be a base 5 points.
so excuse me I'd like to order 700 rather questionable relationships between fathers, sisters, sons, daughters, mothers, brothers, and family pets please

15(queen)-2(she is our sister)-2(they are in love)-1(but it is love that transcend royal boundaries, so forbidden. oh yeah, it is also incestuous i guess)-2(after she seized the throne from the previous royal family, she explicitly ruled that this does not make the rest of her family, including us, royal, because she doesn't want competition)

that leaves us with 2 points

With a hate-filled forbidden incestuous relationship with our other sister, we can get -2 points,

so with those last 4 points we buy our knudlhorn person who is our cousin and we owe back for stealing from and we swore an oath to

Gnauga, I believe there's a minimum price of 1. So that's a maximum of ten forbidden incests. Two parents and eight siblings, one great big family who celebrates special occasions with great big orgies of incest?
Frankly, it might be more cost effective to just buy a minor Affiliation with the family and then have the flexibility to make up new family members to find as situation warrants, at the expense of having to roll for it. Though either way, it could make for some interesting gameplay if the players are willing to deal with those themes.

Crowstone, I think the "hateful" condition assumes more direct antagonism. To be both in love and hateful, the relationship would have to approach a Homestuckian kismesis. Also, see the "minimum price of 1" bit.

Let's also not forget that our dwarf was apparently raped by some wizard and had a baby from it. Either the wizard or the child could be a relationship. Just throwing that out there.

I think we all just want to forget about the wizardbaby...it scares us.

Takes care of the wizardbaby as (in his mind) an adopted daughter. He has no recollection of the incident, and obviously, neither does the child. As far as he's concerned, the baby was left next to him as he woke up in a backalley one morn. Not being completely heartless, he at first tried to find the kid's parents before giving up (perhaps too easily) and taking her under his wing.

His former commanding officer in the Dwarven Host. Being the communications technician, he was always next to the people issuing orders. Our dwarf is noticeably more relaxed around his CO, especially while having one of their drinking contests. After escaping capture, our dwarf was wracked with survivor's guilt as he realized many of his abandoned friends were not coming back. His CO talked him through his grief.

His tinkering mentor set him up with the Krundlhorn job in the first place. Angry as a steamed bull because our dwarf went and wrecked his reputation with his greed. Our dwarf avoids his birth-hold as best as he can, mostly to avoid the chance of running into his tinkering mentor again. The old coot scares him shitless. Oathsworn to restore his mentor's honor?

Man. I'm kind of surprised that's how it works. I feel like having a king for a brother should be more expensive. I guess the idea is that it's easier to have developed a relationship with the King if he's your brother, but him being your brother changes so much about the world, and puts you in a more powerful position that I'd think it'd cost more.

Huh.

Uhm, I think he should have - wait, how old is this guy? and how old do people live? .. I guess if someone is too many years his elder you couldn't have a relationship with them could you? ... could you? Can you have a relationship with a dead guy?

Anyway, and old cherished instructor would be cool.
Also be nice to get some connections to affiliations we aren't part of. Get your foot in the door, y'know. .. I'll leave that up to you guys.

He's 80 years, which is pretty young for a dwarf. The stats table goes up to 600. There's no reason why he couldn't have a relationship with a much older dwarf. Or a non-dwarf, of course. I think a dead dwarf is somewhat less reasonable.
My guess for the family relationship thing is that it ties the character in more closely, and therefore maybe opens them up to the possibility of familial obligations? Or else Luke Crane just thinks that family relationships are juicy and wants to encourage them.

A: The master dwarven hornsmith and one of the six high guild members, creator of the Krundlhorn and, unbeknownst to him, our character's hated sibling.
B: His lover and sibling, the Grand Monarch. ("Queen" seems wrong in a dwarf-gendered culture.)
C: His cousin, from whom he stole the Krundlhorn.
D: His wizard-rape baby, though he has no recollection of his offspring's creation.
E: His former commanding officer who supported him through his grief.
F: His tinkering mentor, whose reputation he ruined via the Krundlhorn affair, and who is scarily furious with him.
G: His old, cherished instructor.

Rank your top three. I'll buy whatever gets the most votes, then whatever has the most votes from what's affordable after that, then so on down the list.

B, D, A

D
F
A

A, E, G

A D E

D, A, B

The winners:
-His own child via wizard-rape, though he does not know it. He has no recollection of the child's creation but raises him as his own adopted son. (Dwarves are all dwarf-gendered, remember?)
-The master hornsmith who created the Krundlhorn. Our dwarf is his brother, unbeknownst to him, and carries a deep grudge as he is resentful of the hornsmith's status.
I downgraded the hornsmith to 10 points base, minus 4 for a total of 6. Combined with the wizardbaby's 3 point price, that takes 9 of the 10 points.
What should the last point be spent on? A 1 point relationship? Another bit of gear? I'll go with whatever the first person to answer with something reasonable says.

Also, someone name these two relationships!

An ornate bracelet! It sybololic of an oathsworn and let's our dwarf have a little leeway when talking to those who have a high respect for the duties of an oathsworn, which is probably most dwarves.

"Why are you rummaging in my stuff!?"
"Uuuuuhhhh...." Points to bracelet "oathsworn?"
"Oh well, I understand."

minor reputation: smells particularly dwarflike

His child is named Oleg "Wizardschild" Ourdwarfsson! Our dwarf has no idea why he gave his son that patently ridiculous nickname.

And his brother is named "Krundlhornmakr" Ourdadsson; since he's so famed for making the Krundlhorn no one even remembers his first name anymore.

kid is Danny Fenton

bro is Javelin Airsworth

Sold on the bracelet. We'll keep working on the names.

Stats:

Show Content

Spoiler
Stock: Dwarf
Age: 80 Years

Lifepaths:
Born Artificer
lead to Clansman
Tinkerer
lead to Guilder
Wordbearer
lead to Dwarven Host
Horncaller

Traits:
(Dwarven Common Traits)
Curious
Quirky
Thousand Yard Stare

Stats:
Will: B4
Per: B5
Pow: B4
Forte: B5
Agi: B5
Spd: B4

Attributes:
Mortal Wound: B10
Reflexes: B4
Health: B4
Steel: B8
Hesitation: 6
Greed: B8
Stride: 6

Resources: B1
Circles: B2
Reputations:
-The dwarf who stole the Krundlhorn, then lost it to bandits (2D)

Skills:
Dwarven Rune Script: B2
Stuff-wise: B2
Hold-wise: B2
Links: B2
Scavenging: B4
Rumor-wise: B3
Conspicuous: B2
Cadence-wise: B2
Mending: B3
Oratory: B3
Suicidal Bravery-wise: B2
Hammer: B2
Stentorious Debate§: B2

Relationships:
- His brother, the master hornsmith who created the Krundlhorn.
- His offspring, born of wizard rape. He repressed his memory of the incident, but adopted the child anyway.

Gear:
-Shoes
-Clothes
-Dwarven tinkering toolkit
-Traveling kit
-Gambeson greaves

Physical Tolerances Grayscale:
Superficial: B3
Light: B6
Midi: B7
Severe: B8
Traumatic: B9
Mortal Wound: B10

His Greed went up two points for a hateful immediate family relationship. B8 makes him an incredibly greedy dwarf! I've also added in his Resources and Circles attributes. With a Resources of B1, he's nearly penniless. His Circles of B2 means he isn't particularly well-connected, but he can leverage his Reputation to help him find people as long as he's willing to put up with them giving him a hard time for being that guy who lost the Krundlhorn.
I've also factored his wound tolerance grayscale, which is based on his Mortal Wound attribute, which in turn is based on his Power and Forte stats. This is what Burning Wheel uses instead of hit points. Any wound will be marked as a point somewhere on that scale, and cause horrible die penalties depending on what category it falls under. (Or death, if it meets or exceeds Mortal Wound - unless he has the Will to Live, in which case he's merely in for at least a year of recovery time and some permanent stat penalties.)

The next step is the hardest and also the most important. We need to come up with three Beliefs and three Instincts. These, along with Traits, are what tie the character as a fictional character into the rules and mechanics. They set the conditions for the reward/advancement cycle and ultimately drive the plot of the entire game! We need three of each, plus one Oath Belief that the dwarf has sworn to a relationship.

BELIEFS are the character's major, passionate motivations. They are ideological, but it also is good if they contain concrete goals that can be completed: "The duke is an evil man. I will remove him from the seat of power." Concrete goal or no, they should contain clear action: "I will protect the weak at any cost."
In play, the player earns points for pursuing these Beliefs, so the action component is important. "The king is a good man" might sound like a reasonable Belief, but how do you pursue it? How do we know when you've accomplished it? How the heck do you get those points? "I will rally the outlying towns and villages under the king's flag" is a much better Belief. Now there's action! If you're persuading town councils to declare an allegiance, you're earning those points!

INSTINCTS are things the character does instinctively, so the player doesn't even have to say anything - it's assumed that the character did it. "Always draw my sword at the first sign of danger" means that if a fight breaks out, the player doesn't need to spend an action drawing the sword - we assume the character already pulled it out. They should be conditional statements: "Always," "Never" or "If/Then." When the conditions are met, the character does the thing.
The player can choose not to have the character follow Instincts if they'd get him into trouble, but following Instincts into trouble also earns points, so troublesome Instincts are good too: "If asked a direct question, answer honestly" might not work to the character's advantage much, but it's rich for point-earning when those suspicious chaps from the city watch come calling with some awkward questions.

So, go ahead and toss out some ideas!