Well, if you don't like your character and don't care about the story, that is indeed a serious problem.
I mean it's not that I don't care, it's that I'm satisfied with the ending we've achieved and I don't want to do anything else with this character. 2/3rds of my description has to do with drawing maps; it's really not very engaging for me.
Now that we are at the end of the scenario...
I have to say I enjoyed the game, and learning the rules was very nice.
But... I am about to start two campaigns, so I will be hard pressed for time. And I see a lot of people in the recruitment thread asking for a chance.
So I think the best I can do is to quit while I am ahead, say thanks to all, specially our DM, and let others enjoy Mouse Guard.
Thank you very much for the enjoyable game.
Alright, we'll see you, Corsario. Thanks for playing!
It seems that leaves Baron and Robin to resolve this session.
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I'm not sure if Robin will be checking in or not. Kobald, I'm fine if you want to start the next session with all those players on the waiting list. I've had my turn and I very much appreciate learning this game from you, you did a fine job, Thank you. Hopefully we can meet up in another PBP game soon!?
Alright, if everyone feels this is a good stopping point, we'll end it here. Let me know if anyone wants to be added back into the rotating queue!
I will seek out the next batch in a day or so. Only got three hours of sleep last night, so it won't be today.
I'd be willing to play again but I think I'd like to make my own mouse.
Yeah, the pregens were just a one-time thing.
Next time I think I would like to use a mouse of my own. But first let other people have it's turn.
I enjoyed reading the little adventure! Interesting mechanics, for sure!
Alright. Here are the Mouse Guard character creation rules. As you'll see, the game uses a survey style to build up the character. I'll be releasing these in four parts—partially to not overwhelm players, but largely to encourage you all to consider each others' characters when building your own. We want a full-fledged patrol, not a collection of oddballs.
Consider momentarily what kind of character you want to play in the world of Mouse Guard: A grizzled veteran, a young upstart, or something in between. What's their personality like? What's their specialty?
II. GUARD RANK
What level of experience or rank would you like to play? There are five ranks in the Mouse Guard, and four available to play. Choose one, then write down the starting template it provides in an alias.
Tenderpaw
Tenderpaws are fresh recruits. Robin was a tenderpaw. If a tenderpaw is played, one of the other players must be their mentor.
Abilities: Will 2, Health 6
Skills: Pathfinder 2, Scout 2, Laborer 2
Starting age: 14-17 (Birth years: 1135-1138)
Guardmouse
Guardmice are the foot soldiers of the Guard. Baron was a guardmouse.
Abilities: Will 3, Health 5
Skills: Fighter 3, Haggler 2, Scout 2, Pathfinder 3, Survivalist 2
Starting age: 18-25 (Birth years: 1127-1134)
Patrol Guard
Patrol guards are veteran guardmice responsible for complicated or independent missions. Dain and Ingrid were both patrol guards.
Abilities: Will 4, Health 4
Skills: Cook 2, Fighter 3, Hunter 3, Scout 2, Healer 2, Pathfinder 2, Survivalist 2, Weather Watcher 2
Starting age: 21-50 (Birth years: 1102-1131)
Patrol Leader
Patrol leaders are patrol guard who have demonstrated they can think independently and guide other mice. Most patrols have a patrol leader. It is extremely rare for a group to have more than one—it only happens if there are two tenderpaws to a group.
Abilities: Will 5, Health 4
Skills: Fighter 3, Hunter 3, Instructor 2, Loremouse 2, Persuader 2, Pathfinder 3, Scout 2, Survivalist 3, Weather Watcher 2
Starting age: 21-60 (birth years: 1092-1131)
Guard captains are not available.
I.
I'm thinking that I want to play a relatively new Guardmouse. He's just earned his cloak and these missions would be some of his first official missions away from his training and mentor. He'd be a little brash and is still settling into his new role as a full member of the Mouseguard but has been well tempered by his mentor and has lofty ambitions. I'm not certain what his "specialty" would really be...but that can be developed.
II.
Guardmouse
Guardmice are the foot soldiers of the Guard. Baron was a guardmouse.
Abilities: Will 3, Health 5
Skills: Fighter 3, Haggler 2, Scout 2, Pathfinder 3, Survivalist 2
Starting age: 18-25 (Birth years: 1127-1134)
I think I'd like to play a Patrol Guard, with a focus on scouting, tracking and knowing the lay of the land - a 'ranger' in other Systems.
A veteran of many patrols and missions, but still requires a steady leadership hand as this character is not confident enough to shoulder that responsibility.
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I
I'm thinking I want to play a grizzled veteran mouse, covered in scars, grumpy, but still a good guy who has a soft spot for tenderpaws although he would never admit it.
His name would be George
II
I was thinking of playing a patrol leader. George has weathered a lot during his time as a guard, and seen, maybe too much, but he still knows that he can contribute to the kingdom.
George the mouse reporting for duty :) Filling out stats right now.
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Just waiting for Ffordeson (probably screwed up that spelling) to post...
I'm here! Checking in. I'll put together an alias tomorrow.
I
I want to go tenderpaw - a kid who's got the potential to be a great tactician someday. For now though, she's so starstruck by even getting INTO the guard that she can barely keep from tripping over her own feet. Name will be Vivian. Her father works as a chef, so she's pretty handy with a knife (as far as specialty).
Anyone volunteering to be my mentor? George, you're probably a great fit. (Didn't even notice your tactics take until I finished my concept.
II
Tenderpaw
Abilities: Will 2, Health 6
Skills: Pathfinder 2, Scout 2, Laborer 2
Starting age: 14-17 (Birth years: 1135-1138)
EDIT: Oops, sorry about that. Dotted the gameplay thread to add it to my campaigns tab, not realizing it would add this alias as a player. My other PbP I GM, so I couldn't make that mistake... >.>
Ha! Third time's the charm!
Alright, we have a full group now. Let's start moving along. We have a tenderpaw who wants to become a tactician, a grizzled veteran patrol leader, a fresh Guardmouse, and an experienced wilderness-roaming patrol guard. We now move to the second, longest stage of Recruitment.
Your skills determine basically everything you know how to do. When you don't know a skill, you have to either use your Nature (relying on instincts, which can fail you badly at times) or rely on Beginner's Luck (which is much more unlikely to succeed).
Choosing skills involves a few steps—whenever you choose a skill below, you either increase its total by +1 or, if you didn't have it before, fill it in as a "2". This means you shouldn't have any skills at 1.
III. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Choose a mouse town or city in which your character was born. Each city has its own culture as represented by the skills and traits it provides.
Traits are little aspects about your mouse that can contribute either positively or negatively, though exactly how you interpret them is up to you. Choose one skill and one trait from the selection your birthplace offers you. Traits are not skills, so make a new row for them.
Barkstone
A busy working-class town.
Skills: Carpenter, Potter, Glazier
Traits: Steady Paws
Copperwood
One of the oldest cities and home to one of the two mines in the Territories.
Skills: Smith, Haggler
Traits: Independent
Elmoss
A once thriving city known for its medicinal moss.
Skills: Carpenter, Harvester (Harvesters make sometimes dangerous forays into the wild to gather food and other supplies)
Traits: Alert
Ivydale
Renowned for its bakers and bread.
Skills: Harvester, Baker
Traits: Hard Worker
Lockhaven
The home of the Mouse Guard, Lockhaven does also include a small population of artisans.
Skills: Weaver, Armorer
Traits: Generous, Guard's Honor
Port Sumac
A busy little port town between Darkwater and Rustleaf.
Skills: Boatcrafter, Weather Watcher
Traits: Tough, Weather Sense
Shaleburrow
A simple town known for its delicious drinks!
Skills: Mason, Harvester, Miller
Traits: Open-Minded
Sprucetuck
Known for its scientists, medicine and scent concoctions.
Skills: Scientist, Loremouse (beast expert)
Traits: Inquisitive, Rational
IV. PICK AN AREA IN WHICH YOU'RE NATURALLY TALENTED
Tenderpaws choose two. Everyone else chooses one.
Administrator - - Apiarist
Archivist - - Armorer
Baker - - Boatcrafter
Brewer - - Carpenter
Cartographer - - Cook
Manipulator (lies, intimidation) - - Fighter (all combat)
Glazier - - Haggler
Harvester - - Healer
Hunter (fighting animals, tracking, stalking, trapping) - - Insectrist (managing insects like beetles and silkworms)
Instructor - - Laborer (general low-skill labor)
Loremouse (beast knowledge) - - Militarist (leading troops—RARE)
Miller - - Orator (addressing groups)
Pathfinder - - Persuader
Potter - - Scientist
Scout - - Smith
Stonemason - - Survivalist
Weather Watcher - - Weaver
V. WHAT WAS YOUR PARENTS' TRADE?
Choose one skill from the following list and increase your own ranking in that skill accordingly. Also, note this skill next to your parents' names later on when you determine who they are.
Apiarist - - Archivist
Armorer - - Baker
Boatcrafter - - Brewer
Carpenter - - Cartographer
Glazier - - Harvester
Insectrist - - Miller
Potter - - Smith
Stonemason - - Weaver
VI. HOW DO YOU CONVINCE PEOPLE THAT YOU'RE RIGHT OR TO DO WHAT YOU NEED?
Patrol leaders choose two, all others choose one:
Manipulator, Orator or Persuader
VII. WITH WHOM DID YOU APPRENTICE FOR THE GUARD? WHAT WAS THAT MOUSE'S TRADE?
A young mouse seeking to join the Guard applies in either the spring or fall. They meet with a guardmouse in charge of new recruits and are welcomed into Lockhaven. These raw recruits are them distributed among the various tradesmice in Lockhaven to act as assistants, laborers and apprentices. For their first two seasons of service, they are apprenticed to these senior artisans. In this capacity, they help see to the material needs of the Guard.
Choose one skill from the list below to increase for yourself. This is the trade of your Senior Artisan (more on them later).
Apiarist - - Archivist
Armorer - - Baker
Brewer - - Carpenter
Cartographer - - Cook
Glazier - - Harvester
Healer - - Insectrist
Laborer - - Miller
Potter - - Smith
Stonemason - - Weaver
VIII. WHAT DID YOUR MENTOR STRESS IN TRAINING?
Or, for tenderpaws, what does your mentor stress now? :P
After their apprenticeship, the recruit is assigned a mentor. This guardmouse slowly introduces the tenderpaw to patrolling and other Guard duties. The tenderpaw's job is to do the labor and grunt work so the mentor's paws and mind are free for facing the dangers they encounter. After a few seasons of tutelage, the mentor will recommend the mouse recruit to Gwendolyn for promotion to full guardmouse status.
It is the mentor's role to train the recruit as they see fit. Some mentors may have more rigorous training methods or requirements than others. Some may emphasize Weather Watching as one of the most important ways to stay free of danger, while others may focus on Fighting and others stress Scouting and Pathfinding.
Patrol leaders choose two. All other ranks choose one:
Fighter
Healer
Hunter
Instructor
Pathfinder
Scout
Survivalist
Weather Watcher
VIV. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIALTY?
Each player, except for tenderpaws, choose a skill from the same list they just chose a "mentor stressed skill" from above. Specialties must be unique—no two players can have the same skill here.
Bold this choice on your sheet.
III
George was born in Elmoss (I'll have to read up on it for the game), to a family of harvesters
IV
George is naturally talented in fighting, was always able to learn new techniques quickly.(I put an asterisk next to the skill)
V
George comes from a long line of harvester mice who bravely ventured outside to gather important resources. His parents were disappointed that he didn't want to continue the family trade, but were very proud when he was made a guard mouse. His father always used to joke that the mouse guard are almost harvesters.
VI
Orator and Persuader, George doesn't like manipulating people, he is up front and direct.
VII
George's mentor always stressed that weather watching was the most important skill for a mouse, but also that George should know how to pass his knowledge to the next generation.
VIV
George, despite his gruff attitude, has become a very experienced instructor, and knows how to teach, and more importantly give life lessons to young mice. So instructor is his specialty
III
Vivian is from Shaleburrow - her parents run a local tavern. Her mom's in charge of business and service, her dad of the food & drinks.
IV
Vivian has a near-savant knack for knowing the right bit of knowledge about bestial threats. She picked up her father's talent for cooking as well.
V
VI
Vivian has always been taken in by the heroic speeches given by the mouse guard, and seeks to emulate that herself.
VII
Boasting her talent in the kitchen, Vivian's cooking skills were put to the test in her apprenticeship.
VIII
IX
Sure, it would be interesting if we already developed a rapport. Weather watching and hunting seem good.
@Kobold Cleaver you OK with that?
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Yes, I would absolutely encourage pre-existing relations, especially since odds are good at least some of you have already met as Guardmice. The Mouse Guard is perpetually understaffed, after all.
See, I was trying to avoid stepping on Thom's toes when I made mine by avoiding Scout, which is where I really wanted to put a bit more focus. And look where it got me. Since it lines up better with my original concept, let's revise.
III
Vivian is from Shaleburrow - her parents run a local tavern. Her mom's in charge of business and service, her dad of the food & drinks.
IV
Vivian is a great scout - not only is she stealthy, but she knows what information to bring back. She picked up her father's talent for cooking as well.
V
VI
Vivian has always been taken in by the heroic speeches given by the mouse guard, and seeks to emulate that herself.
VII
Boasting her talent in the kitchen, Vivian's cooking skills were put to the test in her apprenticeship.
VIII
George's tough talk doesn't as get under Vivian's skin, and she learns a lot from him. With her head in the clouds, George figures that she might keep an eye out for bad weather while she's at it. He also recognizes her scouting talent, and wants to ensure the Guard gets the most out of it.
IX
Yes I am. :-D
Alright, so to reiterate (this may not have been clear), when you select a skill—like saying your parents were Harvesters—that means your own Harvester skill increases. Demonstrated below. I italicized the ones that changed from your choices.
George's Skills: Fighter 4, Harvester 2, Hunter 3, Instructor 4, Loremouse 2, Orator 2, Persuader 3, Pathfinder 3, Scout 2, Survivalist 3, Weather Watcher 3
Vivian's Skills: Brewer 2, Cook 2, Laborer 2, Orator 2, Pathfinder 2, Scout 3
Thom's Skills: Cook 2, Fighter 3, Haggler 2, Healer 3, Hunter 4, Pathfinder 3, Persuader 2, Scout 2, Smith 2, Survivalist 3, Weather Watcher 2
Traits: Independent
Patrol Guard
Patrol guards are veteran guardmice responsible for complicated or independent missions. Dain and Ingrid were both patrol guards.
Abilities: Will 4, Health 4
Skills: Cook 2, Fighter 3, Hunter 3, Scout 2, Healer 2, Pathfinder 2, Survivalist 2, Weather Watcher 2
Starting age: 21-50 (Birth years: 1102-1131)
Yes, that is part of the Patrol Guard's base skills. It is incredibly hard to advance to a rank like Patrol Guard without having a rounded set of skills for helping the mice of the Territories.
Go ahead and make changes. It's fine—everybody misses stuff!
Ah, I see. That confused me to be honest. Thanks, making changes.
Alright, Sach, what's the deal with our guardmouse?
Sorry. I haven't decided on a name for my mouse but I think his story is coming along nicely.
III.
Lockhaven
Skill: Armorer
Trait: Guard's Honor
Name Unknown has grown up close to the home of the Guardmice and has idolized them for as long as he can remember. Now that he is a fully fledged Guardmouse he does what he can to bring honor to the name.
IV.
Hunter
He always spent long hours of his youth away in the forest, sneaking and stalking, hiding, and playing with his fellow mice. Now that he is much older it's occured that Hunting has always come with ease for him.
V
Archivist
His parents were Archivists by trade.
VI
Orator
With his brash attitude the subtelty of manipulation and the careful give and take of persuasion are far from his mind as he takes to sweeping emotional speeches for all to hear.
VII
Healer
Although he had originally bemoaned his post of healer, Clement showed a new world of charitability and compassion that comes with the post - something that was long missing from his tutalage to this point. The teachings helped to temper his harsh nature towards other mice, so although he was still quick to act and bold in his decisivness it was rarer for him to act harshly or turn away those in need.
VIII
Fighter
For a long while after his term learning the art of Healing he could no longer stomach the thought of the combative arts. Horace drew that out of him soon enough. He learned combat as well as compassion had there places and balancing was a important and difficult act.
VIV
Scout
As a full Guardmouse, with his years of tutalage behind him, Scouting seemed to fit in perfectly. He was a capabable mouse alone or teamed with a group. It was a joy to be entrusted with such responsablity, and only drove his ambitions within the guard even higher.
Alright, to update:
George (patrol leader)
Abilities: Will 5, Health 4
Skills: Fighter 4, Harvester 3, Hunter 3, Instructor 4, Loremouse 2, Orator 2, Persuader 3, Pathfinder 3, Scout 2, Survivalist 3, Weather Watcher 3
Traits: Alert
Thom (patrol guard)
Abilities: Will 4, Health 4
Skills:Cook 2, Fighter 3, Haggler 2, Healer 3, Hunter 4, Pathfinder 3,Persuader 2, Scout 2, Smith 2, Survivalist 3, Weather Watcher 2
Traits: Independent
[No Name Yet] (guardmouse)
Abilities: Will 3, Health 5
Skills: Archivist 2, Armorer 2, Fighter 4, Haggler 2, Healer 2, Hunter 2, Orator 2, Pathfinder 3, Scout 3, Survivalist 2
Traits: Guard's Honor
Vivian (tenderpaw)
Abilities: Will 2, Health 6
Skills: Brewer 2, Cook 3, Laborer 2, Orator 2, Pathfinder 2, Scout 4
Traits:
We'll be moving onto the next stage shortly, as soon as I can get to my book.
X. DO YOU SAVE FOR WINTER EVEN IF IT MEANS GOING WITHOUT SOMETHING NOW? OR DO YOU USE WHAT YOU HAVE WHEN YOU NEED IT?
XI. WHEN CONFRONTED, DO YOU STAND YOUR GROUND AND FIGHT OR DO YOU RUN AND HIDE?
XII. DO YOU FEAR OWLS, WEASELS AND WOLVES?
Here's where you pick your wise/s. Wises are basically things you know stuff about. Tenderpaws and guardmice get one, and tenderpaws have extremely limited options—they must choose between Code of the Guard-wise and Legends of the Guard-wise. Patrol guards get two wises, and patrol leaders get three.
You can make up your own, or take one from the list below:
Apiary-wise, Armor-wise, Autumn stormwise
Badger-wise, Barkstone-wise, Bird-wise, Blizzard-wise, Bramble-wise, Brush fire-wise, Burrow-wise
Celebrations-wise, Clear and warm weatherwise, Coast-wise, Cold rain-wise, Cold snap-wise, Coyote-wise, Craft-wise, Crime-wise
Deer-wise, Drought-wise
Epidemic-wise, Escort-wise
Famine-wise, Flash flood-wise, Forest firewise, Forest-wise, Fox-wise, Freezing-wise, Frog-wise
Governor-wise, Grain-wise, Guard captainwise, Guardmouse-wise
Harvest-wise, Hawk-wise, Heat wave-wise, Herb-wise, Hidey hole-wise
Ice storm-wise, Ice-wise
Lake-wise, Leaf cover-wise, Lockhaven-wise
Mail-wise, Medicine-wise, Moose-wise, Mosswise, Mouse Guard-wise, Mud-wise
Night-wise, Nut-wise
Open ground-wise, Owl-wise
Path-wise, Patrol guard-wise, Patrol leaderwise, Planting-wise, Poison-wise, Pond-wise, Predator-wise
Raccoon-wise, Rain-wise, Raven-wise, Rebellion-wise, Recipe-wise, Road-wise, Rocky terrain-wise
Scent Border-wise, Shieldwise, Shore-wise, Shortages-wise, Snake-wise, Snow-wise, Squirrel-wise, Star-wise, Stream-wise, Swamps-wise
Tall grass-wise, Tenderpaw-wise, Thorn-wise, Thunderstorm-wise, Tide-wise, Tradesmousewise, Trail-wise, Transport-wise, Trap-wise, Tunnel-wise, Turtle-wise
Unseasonably cold-wise, Unseasonably warm-wise
War-wise, Weasel-wise, Widget-wise, Wild country-wise, Wild mouse-wise, Wolf-wise
XIV. RESOURCES AND CIRCLES
No choices here, just a brief explanation—depending on your rank, you'll have higher or lower Resources and Circles scores. Resources is basically your "money" number: It shows your pay, as well as how good you are at finding what you need at shops and stuff. Circles, meanwhile, reflects how good you are at finding the mice you need (like locating a healer in town, or happening to have a friendly innkeeper nearby).
XV. CHOOSE A QUALITY YOU WERE BORN WITH.
And now we get into the meat of the traits. These are the personality quirks and special qualities that guardmice possess.
You can choose a trait multiple times, if it's offered on multiple lists below. If you do, you increase its rank. Note that traits are basically whatever you make of them.
Bigpaw - Bitter - Bodyguard - Bold - Brave - Calm - Clever - Compassionate - Curious - Deep Ear - Defender - Determined - Driven - Early Riser - Extrovert - Fat - Fearful - Fearless - Fiery - Generous - Graceful - Guard's Honor - Innocent - Jaded - Leader - Longtail - Lost - Natural Bearings - Nimble - Nocturnal - Oldfur - Quick-Witted - Quiet - Scarred - Sharp-Eyed Sharptooth - Short - Skeptical - Skinny - Stoic - Stubborn - Suspicious - Tall - Thoughtful - Tough - Weather Sense - Wise - Wolf's Snout - Young
XVI. CHOOSE SOMETHING YOU LEARNED OR INHERITED FROM YOUR PARENTS.
Tenderpaws only. Take one check on this list.
Bigpaw - Brave - Calm - Clever - Compassionate - Curious - Deep Ear - Defender - Determined - Early Riser - Extrovert - Fearful - Fearless - Fiery - Generous - Graceful - Longtail - Lost - Natural Bearings - Nimble - Quick-Witted - Quiet - Scarred - Sharptooth - Short - Skeptical - Skinny - Stubborn - Suspicious - Tall - Tough - Wolf's Snout
XVII. LIFE ON THE ROAD.
This is patrol leader-only. Pick a trait that represents a lesson learned during your tenure in the Guard.
Bitter - Bodyguard - Brave - Calm - Clever - Compassionate - Cunning - Curious - Defender - Driven - Fearful - Fearless - Jaded - Leader - Natural Bearings - Nocturnal - Oldfur Quiet - Scarred - Sharp-Eyed - Skeptical - Skinny - Stoic - Tall - Thoughtful - Tough - Weather Sense - Wise
Pretend that says "Part 3".
No. You answer each trait question that you're allowed to.
That's what I get for revising it in a rush. Added brewer, and totally borked reading-comprehension with one hometown skill - taking Harvester. I will try to do better with this next part when I get there. ;-)
The future is a concept very far from Vivian's mind. She uses what she has when she needs it.
Vivian's never so much as slapped anyone - any fighting she's done has been a part of her Guard training, and only in strictly controlled environments. When confronted, her instinct is to run and hide.
Without any true first-hand encounters with them, Vivian does not fear owls, weasels, and wolves.
The heroic tales of the Mouse Guard have always fascinated Vivian, and she there have been phases of her upbringing where you couldn't make her talk about anything else. Legends of the Guard-wise.
Vivian's always sought to learn as much as she can - even if those things aren't of any real value. Curious
Her mother's quite the dancer - her impressive moves at a harvest festival is what lead her father to approach in the first place. Nimble