Sorry, I meant from the quality you were born with section
Ah, I see. Yes, you pick one trait per question.
Wises get their own row.
The previous edition of Mouse Guard did have Wises work similarly to skills, so it's an understandable confusion. :)
Ok,here goes.
X. George always saves for winter. Coming from a long line of Harvesters, he knows that resources can go scarce, and that it is always better to eat something than nothing.
XI. When confronted with a threat George knows can face on equal footing, he will always fight, as well as if the threat is more powerful but not overly so. If the threat is overpoweringly bigger, he will opt for the wise choice and run. Unless someone else depends on him stalling the threat and he'll gladly give his life to save another.
XII. George fears owls something terrible. He was once snatched by an owl, but was rescued and saved by his compatriots. He has hefty respect for wolves as they are a great threat, but does not hold any irrational fear for them. He hates and fears weasels, because they are small enough to cause real problems for the Guard.
XIII.
Blizzard-wise
Freezing-wise
Patrol leader-wise
George is quite knowledgeable about cold weather, blizzards and freezing cold in particular. Since he's been patrol leader for a while now, he is also quite knowledgeable about duties and requirements expected of him.
XIV.
While George receives his pay, he hasn't inherited any of his mother's renowned haggling skills. He can pawn off some interesting tidbits he finds on his voyages, but not for a premium price. He also sends some of his money to his family regularly.
As for circles, George knows a lot of the mice in the Guard, and a lot of mice in his home town, he's also well known by harvester mice as he will always try to lend a helping hand to them.
XV.
Compassionate - George always had a lot of compassion for the downtrodden, weak and unlucky, he always tried to help. He still does, to this day.
XVII.
Bitter - After years in patrols George has seen many a friend perish at the talons, teeth and accidents all the while seeing that the Guard was woefully under equipped and understaffed for the ventures that they were meant for. He's since grown bitter over those issues
And our nameless guardmouse?
So mine's good?
*Checks*
Yeah, it looks good.
X
Living in Lockhaven has allowed [Namless] to always have what he needs, so saving has rarley entered his young mind.
XI
When confrontation happens [Nameless] is always quick to challenge them.
XII
Having never come across such creatures [Nameless] fears them greatly for their feats of savagry and power.
XIII
[Nameless] always had an interest in the arms and armory of the guard, spending long hours looking at and imagining himself in charge of such items. He's quite Armor-wise in many aspects.
XIV
-
XV
[Nameless] is quite Nimble.
Sorry, the next step will be slightly delayed by finals. It'll be up tonight. That's correct, Sach.
Sorry, meant to put this up earlier.
[Nameless]: Your Nature is 4 (brought up by your fear of wolves, weasels and owls, a very natural mouse trait). You may take the Bold, Generous or Impetuous trait (at level 1) for not saving for winter—pick one and add it to your list of traits.
George: Your Nature is 5 (brought up by your fear of wolves, weasels and owls and your habit of saving for winter).
Thom: Your Nature is 4 (brought up by your fear of owls and weasels). You may take the Bold, Generous or Impetuous trait (at level 1) for not saving for winter—pick one and add it to your list of traits.
Vivian: Your Nature is 4 (brought up by your instinct to flee). Your Fighter would normally be reduced by 1 for your flight response, but you don't have it to begin with, so no harm there. You may take the Bold, Generous or Impetuous trait (at level 1) for not saving for winter—pick one and add it to your list of traits. In addition, because you don't fear owls, weasels or wolves, you may take the Fearless, Brave or Foolish trait (same as before).
Nature goes right above Will and Health.
For all names, I've found this to be a really handy resource.
XVIII. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR FUR?
Brown is most common, followed by blonde and gray. Black and white are uncommon and red is rare. Mixes are uncommon but not unheard of, and obviously you can specify between these regions ("light brown", "silver gray").
XIX. WHO ARE YOUR PARENTS?
You've decided where you came from and what your parents taught you. Now it's time to name them. Choose two names (or less, or more, depending on how you were raised) and write them down. Note their professions and where they live—in general, they should live wherever you were born, barring rare circumstances.
Assuming your parents are alive, they might occasionally serve as valuable sources of aid in difficult times. They're also, of course, good roleplaying fodder for when you need something to do in town.
XX. WHO WAS YOUR SENIOR ARTISAN?
Again, assuming they're alive, note their trade and their name. They, too, can serve as providers of some meaningful assistance.
XXI. WHO WAS OR IS YOUR MENTOR?
An easy question for Vivian, but everyone else must invent an NPC (since nobody has the Oldfur trait). A brief description of what they're like is useful—remember what skill they taught you.
XXII. HAVE YOU GOT A FRIEND?
Decide if your mouse has a good friend who can be relied upon. Pick a name, a profession, and a town or city they can usually be found in or near (assuming they aren't nomadic).
XXIII. HAVE YOU GOT AN ENEMY?
Similar deal. If your mouse has an old enemy or rival, choose a name, profession or specialty, and a region. They can be on the Guard, a childhood enemy, an old foe or anything in between. You can even choose common enemies or the like.
XXIV. CLOAK COLOR
This is a deceptively important choice, so give it some thought. Those of you who aren't tenderpaws will have a cloak bestowed upon you by your mentor when you were formerly inducted to the Guard. If your mentor was no longer alive, Gwendolyn herself would have given it to you. The color of cloak is chosen deliberately to reflect a facet of your personality, ethics or identity (for instance, a mouse with a free spirit might receive a blue cloak to represent the blue sky, or a mouse with a temper might receive a "fiery" red cloak).
XXV. BELIEF.
Now we get into the big ones. Your Belief is a philosophy that guides you. You can check out the previous four mice for some examples of what they are and how they're written. A Belief is an overarching ethical or moral stance that will guide you in how your mouse might act and make decisions.
This is a very important step—keep your Belief in mind at all times. Sometimes mice act against their Belief, and that's an encouraged aspect of character growth. But you should always know why they're doing it.
XXVI. INSTINCT.
If Belief is overarching, Instinct is immediate. How does your character react? What have they been trained to do? An Instinct should generally contain some sort of "trigger" for when they come into play. For instance, "I draw my sword at the first sign of trouble." This would be contrasted with a related belief, "The solution to any problem lies at the end of my sword."
Instincts should be interesting—we're not talking some minor tic. The one I just mentioned (drawing the sword) is interesting because it immediately suggests scenarios where it might complicate matters immensely.
I fully expect people to need help with the latter two, especially since I'm tired and I'm sure I'm not explaining them perfectly. Let me know if you have any questions!
XXVII. GEAR
What weapon does your mouse carry? Common choices include: shield, knife/knives, sword, staff, spear, hook and line, halberd, sling, and bow. Feel free to pick those or suggest something else! Each weapon offers certain advantages, but consider how they might reflect your mouse as well.
Also, note any tools or devices (consider what they might use in their learned trades, for instance). The technical rule is "whatever you can draw your mouse carrying". Since we don't have drawings, though, just try to keep a mind's eye. There's no "gold pieces" limit, but don't be greedy!
And finally...
XXVIII. STARTING REWARDS.
All characters begin he gave with one fate point and one persona point. Write those down—I'll explain them later on.
Sleep now.
I'll take Bold and Foolish.
Vivian has dark blonde fur - it's often mistaken for brown indoors, but it shines brightly when in direct sunlight.
Gale and Lawrence run their tavern in Shaleburrow to this day. Outside of teaching her cooking and good financial sense, Vivian learned to take pride in all her work from her parents.
Red-furred Ingrid oversaw Vivian's apprenticeship. Talking fast and changing tasks on a dime, she trained Vivian to not only be a better cook, but a better listener.
George the Mouse
Astor, from Mapleharbor, started her apprenticeship as a baker around the same time. They would spend their evenings reading about and musing on old Guard legends, and this eventually formed a strong bond.
Joseph grew up with Vivian in Shaleburrow. At harvest festivals, one of the events had children competing in footraces, and due to their close age, Vivian and Joseph always ran against each other. She won a lot of those races, though by no means all of them, but Joseph always, ALWAYS placed exactly one spot behind her. She likely doesn't think about it much, but he holds a grudge over it still.
All jobs, even small ones, are worth doing right - the Guard's reputation suffers when we give less than our best.
My mind often wanders, so whenever I'm tasked to do something, I'll triple-check before I consider my work finished.
Vivian carries a chef's knife, along with a few that are balanced for throwing - she sticks these in her belt. As well, her belt holds a compass hanging from a small chain. She also carries a sharpener, some spices, a cutting board, and a leafy netting (designed for camouflage) in a rucksack over her shoulder.
Fate: 1; Persona: 1
|
XVIII.
George's fur is a mottled grey, darker on his back and lighter on his front. His snout began going white around the whiskers and eyebrows.
XIX.
George's parents are Reyel and Elspeth Roseburr, Reyel comes from a long line of harvester mice, ones who venture outside to gather important resources. His family name and his name is well known in Elmoss. Reyel met Elspeth on one of his forays, and they both had to hide from a hungry fox in a tree stump.
XX.
George's senior artisan, Gerald, is long dead, he died of illness. He thought George all about harvesting before his death, however.
XXI.
George's mentor was a cocky old guardmouse called Michael. He taught him may things but amongst those, the most important was the ability to predict weather and the skill to pass that knowledge on to the next generation. He is, unfortunately, also dead, eaten by an owl on one of the night missions.
XXII.
George has one true friend among the micedom, aside from the mouse guard whom he regards as family. He is an inkeeper in Elmoss, his name is Tim. His inn is rather pleasant to stay in and George has free room and board there as he saved Tim's life a long time ago when they were both young. George will also lay his life on the line for Tim without a second thought.
XXIII.
There is one mouse whom George really hates, and the feeling is mutual. His name is Velizar and he is a guard captain. A long time ago, on a patrol, when they were both tenderpaws, Velizar's stupidity and irresponsibility caused the deaths of the entire patrol aside from him and George. Coming from a well wespected family, Velizar managed to allay the blame on the deceased current patrol leader and to keep his name clean. George's testimony was thrown away as ramblings of a terrified mouse who didn't see what was happening. Since then George has hated Velizar with a burning hatred, and Velizar, knowing that George could spell doom for his career has tried to indirectly end Georges life several time over the years by getting him to go on very dangerous missions. The fact that George survived all that makes it worse for Velizar.
XXIV.
George carries an orange/black cloak to denote his fiery temper and his gruff demeanor. It is paritally a joke and partially true.
XXV.
George firmly believes in community, duty and protecting the weak. While his stance may have soured over the years, he is still determined to do his duty to his utmost, protect the mouse community and render aid to all that need it. He will just to it while complaining or being tough on the people whom he is helping.
XXVI.
George's first instinct upon danger is to draw his weapon and get ready to fight. He also does not do false bravado, and will immediately attack if provoked, aiming to disable the opponent as quickly as possible.
George will also immediately go to the aid of someone in need. Sometimes even against better judgement.
XXVII.
George always carries a shield, one-handed sword and a two-handed sword slung across his back. He also carries two daggers on his belt, just in case.
As for useful tools, a spool of rope and a grappling hook will always be attached to his backpack. Flint and steel for starting fires, a small sickle for cutting herbs, he also carries a weather chart, a useful device of concentric circles, which, when used correctly helps with predicting the weather. His pack also has all the necessities of travel, like bandages, poultices, small mortar and pestle, small bag of spices and a canteen always filled with good brandy.
XXVIII.
Noted.
Looks good, George, but an Instinct and Belief should be specific. For instance, I could see your Instinct being, I will immediately go to the aid of someone in need.
Your Belief should espouse a single guiding philosophy or center. You can keep the rest in mind, but the core Belief is important. Here are a bunch of examples:
I must embody the true ideals of the Guard.
Reason is the best guide to right action.
A guardmouse never gives up, no matter the danger.
It’s not what you fight, but what you fight for.
Knowledge is a Weapon.
One day I’ll be done with this, but for now, once more into the fray.
To know the truth is to know freedom.
The Guard knows what is best for all mice.
The law of nature outweighs the law of rule.
The place for the Guard is in the wild, not in Lockhaven.
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For gear, just 3-5 items is generally good. The Mouse Guard aren't adventurers, and they rarely pack every tool (not least because resources are generally pretty limited). If you forget to write something down, that just offers potential Players' Turn actions.
Sach?
Where's our pumpkinhead
Okay, it's been a week since Sach's last post. I hate to say it, but I think we're going to have to go on without him.
Is everyone else still here? Thom, are you going to be able to choose gear, or do you just want to be assigned a few basic items?
I'm here
Present.
Alright, Thom's a pathfinder, so I'll give him a compass, a map of the territories, a sword, a bag of herbs, and a spear.
Also, you may want to reexamine Thom's Instinct—it's better if it has a tangible means of being enacted. A trigger can help. Otherwise, "I must prove my worth" has more of a Belief feel than an Instinct feel. Where does Thom try to prove his worth, and how will he try to do it? Will he always try to show off when executing his duty? Will he always try to be first to act when faced with a problem he has experience with? Will he always insist on his voice being heard when he judges one of his skills to be relevant?
We'll be starting over the next couple days! Sorry it's taken so long. People and mice are hard to corral!
Sorry all, RL and work got in the way. I just wanted to post an apology to you all for holding up the game, and to say that I would like to officially be removed from the list for the time being as I'm not sure when my work will stop being in the way.
I apologize again to you all.
Cheers,
Sach
That's alright, Sach. No hard feelings.
Thom, that sounds okay. We can always retool it if it doesn't end up feeling intuitive during play. Instincts and Beliefs tend to be the hardest parts of the Recruitment process for most people, I've found.
Sorry, I was hoping to get the new post up today, but both my PbPs are expecting big updates and a lost wallet scare (now resolved) has taken up a lot of my day so far.
I'll be aiming to get the game started late tonight or tomorrow. Have your mice at the ready! We might extend roleplaying in Lockhaven a little bit, just to give Thom a chance to get settled before we go into any big encounters.
Sounds good. I'll have Vivian on the up-'n'-up before we start.
Rootin' tootin' and ready for shootin'
Classes start up again tomorrow. I can't say how that'll affect my posting—sometimes it seems like I post better when I have a fixed schedule—but just keeping y'all informed.
George, are you rootin' tootin', or still just rootin'?
Did I forget to write something down?
We're just looking for you in the gameplay thread, George. :-P
Sorry, I probably should have put something up in here—I forget that some people use the Campaign tabs differently. We've started in the Gameplay thread. Entirely my bad.
As we prepare to set out (I believe Thom should be back pretty soon, too), there is one final component to determine: Your characters' Goals.
Your Goals are for this session only, and don't have to match the stated mission exactly. For instance, the goal of Robin in the last game I ran was, "I will prove to Ingrid that I am a worthy tenderpaw on this mission."
Each mouse should have one. It should be something relatively short-term; attainable during this session.
Just narrate what Thom's doing at the moment. Where is he in Lockhaven?
Vivian, as a Guard-legends buff, is interested by the concept of a Guard who retired early. I'm thinking her goal will be:
Learn what motivates mice like Rosalee to retire from the Guard.
Sound good?
Definitely.
Yes, certainly. And George?
Sorry, guys, I know I'm not doing too great of late as a GM. I'm just exhausted. This is a really rough schedule and I'm using up a lot of my energy adjusting to the biking I'm now having to do. It's stressing me out a lot to know I've been neglecting both my PbPs for so long.
I need to take a day off posting, and pretty much all internet stuff. We'll get things moving again this Thursday once I have my s$%% together.
Yup! No worries from me either - do what you gotta do, we'll be here. :-)
And I'm back in the game. Post will be up in a few hours.
I will be off the internet for most of tomorrow. Computer problems mean I can't take the 'top to classes with me! Gonna be a boring day, I'm sure—I'll have to use this weird primitive computer from the 3100s called a "book". It doesn't require energy, and while it can break, it's pretty cheap to replace. Not much versatility, unfortunately. :/
"Ida B. Wells: A Sword Among Lions" is a pretty good computer edition to have, at least. I heartily recommend it!