Carved deep into solid gray stone, only the ivy-covered face of Lockhaven is visible from the outside. This sanctuary from the wind and cold and violence of the outside is a place of peace and respite for the Mouse Guard. For those brave and noble mice who fall for the cause, Lockhaven often provides the last peaceful night's rest they'll ever get.
For now, in the dead of winter, your duties are minimal, and you are free to relax and prepare. This calm will not last. But for now. For now, you are unneeded.
Just putting up the thread for people to dot. We aren't starting just yet.
Robin gazes out at the gray skies overhead, thankful that it wasn't snowing today. Despite the cold weather, Robin's heart beat warmly in her chest, for the day was fast approaching that she would be able to prove her worth on a Mouse Guard patrol. It had been her dream ever since she was old enough to have dreams, to serve proudly on the Mouse Guard. No mouse would stand in her way!
Baron sits in his cell, staring at a single candle flame. I must build a good name for the Mouse Guard. And I cannot do that if I keep letting my temper get the best of me! Taking a deep breath, Baron begins the relaxation technique, just like the old Mouse-sage showed him. But within a few moments his thoughts are racing...I wonder what chef has made for dinner? I wonder when my next mission will be? I wonder if my new boots will be stout enough in the snow this winter?Ack! he shrieks realizing he's lost concentration...This is impossible, he says standing up in frustration. Stupid sage-mouse. This was suppose to help me keep CALM. He blows out the candle and grabs his gear. Mabe a little sparing practice with Dain would do the trick instead.
Haha, I'm having a terrible time deciding whether to allocate a whole alias to Baron of Elmoss. YOU HAVE MADE SIX POSTS AS "BARON OF ELMOSS". YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR AVATAR NAME UNTIL YOU HAVE POSTED 10 MESSAGES... I can't take the pressure....
Ingrid spends her days sweeping snow from stone on the outer walkways of Lockhaven. She found the chill of winter pleasant, although it bit far less thanks to her thick cloak.
During her free time between drills, she attempts to draw the crystal structures of various snowflakes she finds. An endlessly tedious task no doubt, but a good one to pass time.
Mice can sense these things. There's a smell in the soil. A dampness in the air. New green things are beginning to sprout. Old predators are beginning to awaken.
For the mice, spring is a time of work. The snow is melting and the roads are safe—relatively speaking.
Winter has broken, and so it is time once more for all mice of the Guard who are able to venture forth. This is why Dain and Ingrid were called into the room of Lockhaven's Matriarch.
Since the very first assault on Lockhaven's nigh-impenetrable walls, it has been traditional for the ruler of the fortress—and the Mouse Guard that man it—to be a female mouse. Gwendolyn is the current head, and she has served well under great adversity.
"Dain," she says, "thank you for coming. And you, Ingrid—I did not send for you, but I suppose I should not have expected Dain to come alone. Nevertheless, I have your new mission, and it will be up to you, Dain, to choose your remaining two mice." She pauses. "Well, one, I suppose, since Ingrid should be taking her tenderpaw out this time. It is high time Robin was tested in the field."
She stands, lifting a bag of mail from beside her desk. "The frost is off the road, and mice of the Territories rely upon us to maintain connections. I know mail delivery isn't the most exciting of duties, but I trust you will treat it with the utmost care." Along with the bag, she hands Ingrid a basic map of the territories, guessing the skilled cartographer will be able to improve upon it during the journey.
After the debriefing, Ingrid goes to get Robin, and Dain goes to get the fourth member of the patrol. He's already made up his mind on an ideal candidate: Baron is a skilled and alert hunter, and Dain has learned much in their odd sparring matches. He goes to seek the mouse out.
Ingrid finds Robin atop the walls of Lockhaven. Up here, the cold is bitter—a prelude of what's to come on the road, perhaps. Her tenderpaw appears to be examining snowflakes.
Dain and Baron run into each other in one of the many dimly-lit halls of Lockhaven. Baron has just completed a rather fruitless meditative session and is looking for a sparring partner.
The Mission: The patrol must take the bag and deliver portions of mail to Elmoss, Sprucetuck, Dorigift and, finally, Gilpledge.
Robin straightens up, and wraps her cloak more tightly around herself against the cold. Seeing Ingrid, she snaps a salute, clicking her heels together as best as she can. "Good morning, Ingrid, ma'am! Bit nippy today, innit?"
Robin straightens up, and wraps her cloak more tightly around herself against the cold. Seeing Ingrid, she snaps a salute, clicking her heels together as best as she can. "Good morning, Ingrid, ma'am! Bit nippy today, innit?"
Ingrid joins Robin on the wall, blowing small clouds with her breath before finally speaking "You'll warm up soon enough, tenderpaw. We have a mission to attend to and we'll be departing Lockhaven shortly."
The young mouse's face lights up. Barely able to restrain her excitement, the young mouse merely nods in acknowledgement. She manages to control her excitement enough to avoid repeatedly nodding more than once.
"Yes, ma'am," the young tenderpaw replies dutifully. "In fact, I saw him enter the main halls of Lockhaven, below," she points downward, through the floor they both stand on. "He should still be in there, it was only moments ago that he entered. Let's go find him!" And with that, the young mouse bounds off toward the stairs leading downward.
Dain arrives carrying the mail bag. Every year the cold reach a little deeper in his bones, the rest helps a little less.
He sits, and cleans his spectacles.
"Greetings, Guards. Conrad, my mentor, always told me that mail delivery was the life blood of the territories, something all of us take for granted, except when it doesn't happen. And this, the first delivery of the year, is important. A way to open a new season. I expect from all of you to take it seriously, and strive to do your best. Any questions? Ingrid, do you have a route ready for us?"
"I do" replies Ingrid with a nod "Safe paths have been cataloged by the Guard already and there lies a route directly from Lockhaven to Gilpledge passing through each other of our destinations. The only question lies in the final leg whose path takes us on a large north-eastern detour. We could accomplish the same in a third of the time if we struck out directly from Dorigift but we run the risk of wandering outside of guard patrolled areas."
Baron wasn't much for maps though his player is:) so he left that to the smarter mice. Whatever route we take, the mail will be delivered. Our steel will see to that! he says while wiping down the blade of his halberd with snake-oil so it won't rust.
Out the patrol journeys. Ingrid follows her plotted course, stopping first by Elmoss. Long known as being the elegant home of mouse science, Elmoss is built inside the trunk of a tall, old spruce tree. The hollow trunk provides stories of living quarters, apothecaries, breweries, and libraries. The governor, a red-furred mouse named Laurel, greets the patrol at the entrance and gratefully accepts the mail due her town. Baron's father, Pa Twistwood, is there to greet him—his mother is hard at work within and can't be disturbed.
The mice of Elmoss invite the Guard in to rest and recuperate, but there is no time. Clouds have begun to gather. Spring is a dangerous and unpredictable time, and the patrol must continue its journey.
Next, the patrol heads to Sprucetuck, placed along the Territories' southwestern border. Harvesting sap from the spruce trees in the area, the sciencemice of Sprucetuck, Dain's hometown, brew famous beers and elixirs. It is part of a hollow spruce tree, where within the mice are shuttled along the great multileveled multileveled dwelling using a series of counterweighted lifts.
Damon and Dara are there to greet Dain, and they take the mail for their town—including a missive from Gwendolyn. The scent border will soon need to be reinforced once more, and the chemists of Sprucetuck will be needed then.
They bid the patrol farewell as it sets out once more towards Dorigift.
The stop by Dorigift is a comparatively short one. Nestled within a rotting log, the small hamlet of Dorigift is home to not more than two (fairly mingled) families. This is but a stop along the way to the final destination. However, the mice of Dorigift do furnish the patrol with a warning: A raven has been seen flying around the region and may have made its nest somewhere nearby. An encounter could prove problematic. Ravens are notorious nuisances, but they can kill unwary mice.
And it is on the way to Gilpledge that the patrol runs into trouble. The path has been obscured by patches of snow, pools of melt water and stretches of mud. It's very hard to tell which way to go.
Obstacle: It's going to be, fittingly enough for these forums, a Pathfinder 6 test to find your way to Gilpledge without trouble.
How This Works:
Here's how it works when you make a roll: The player to volunteer first or think of the plan to overcome the obstacle must make the roll. It's okay if you don't have the highest ability in the group or don't even have the skill! The highest-skilled mouse is not supposed to dominate those skills. Everybody needs practice.
A good description can go a long way towards earning rewards at the end of the session. Always keep in mind your Beliefs, Goals and Instincts when roleplaying a description.
Now, here's how the roll works. If you have Pathfinder, roll as many d6s as your skill's rating. Every result of 4 or better is a Success. Any result of 3 or lower is a Snake—it doesn't count. In this case, if you get at least six successes, you succeed. If you get fewer, you fail, and must deal with a twist or a condition. Coward dice!
If You Don't Have Pathfinder:
You can act with your Nature skill instead, but since this task probably isn't related to the four aspects of Mouse Nature (foraging, escaping, hiding, climbing), you run the chance of taxing your Nature skill, which isn't good. That said, your Nature skill is likely quite high, so it might be worth the risk!
Alternatively, there's Beginner's Luck (which is what lets you actually learn new skills). This means you use your Will (for mental tests) or Health (for physical ones). In this case, you can choose either depending on how you roleplay it.
When using Beginner's Luck, the total dice you get to roll (counting teamwork, wises, gear, etc) is halved.
Ways to Boost Your Roll:
Keep an eye on your Wises when making tests. If you think a Wise applies to the roll, you can use it to aid a friend making the roll, adding +1d6 to the roll (you can't use a Wise in this way to help yourself). I can nix this if I think the connection is weak.
If you have a piece of gear or equipment that you want to use, it might also grant a +1d6 advantage. Again, it's the GM's call whether or not it helps.
Finally, you can use Teamwork. To do this, you must describe how you are helping the main mouse (and they must not decline your aid). This allows you to donate +1d6 to the roll. This is called a helping die. However, you must use a skill or wise that is relevant to the activity. It need not be the same skill, but it must be related (for instance, you can help a friend use Armorer to make armor out of a beetle carapace, but you must use a skill like Insectrist or Scientist).
You can't aid with both a Wise and Teamwork. Also, if you provide a helping die, you are bound by the results just as the mouse you're helping is. You Reap What You Sow.
A Tie: Is something special. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
There are other ways to boost rolls and stuff (different ways to use Wises, Persona Points, Fate Points, etc), but we won't get into that here.
Dain gets close to Robin.
"Weather is important in what we do. If you know the weather, you have half the road advanced, without getting out the door. Do you feel like finding a path for us to follow?"
I'd like to be with her, Dain. I'll let her do the pathfinding, just want to make sure she doesn't get hurt. What do you think Robin, shall we take a look?Following my goal to keep the members of my patrol safe. I have 3 Pathfinder dice, so if I understand your explanations, I can offer +1d6 to Robin...but if she fails and gets stuck in the mud to her neck, then I'm stuck with her!
"It's alright Robin, lead on." says Ingrid, placing a reassuring paw on the young mouse's shoulder "Baron and I will be right behind you. Look here, see how the rain has washed away the path? Pay attention to the topography of the area and you may be able to pick it up again."I'm helping Robin too. I have 2 pathfinder dice, but I'd rather use my Instructor 4 or rain-wise abilities
Rain-wise works. Rules-wise With regards to rules, using Pathfinder or Instructor are entirely equal options—both give +1D. Instructor probably doesn't work as a "wild card" aiding skill, but I'll look into it for future reference.
Sorry! I'm almost always away on weekends because I have split custody over my baby and it's the only time during the week that I see him. I will post rigorously on weekdays though.
So I get that I get +1d6 to my Pathfinder roll, and I have a skill of 2 in Pathfinding, but I looked all over the recruitment and discussion threads and couldn't find what size die to use. Is it 2d6?
Dain will help too, with his own Pathfinder skill. So you get yet another 1d6. So in total you get 5d6. I think. That means we can not get a Pathfinder 6 test done?
Yeah, it's all d6s. "Now, here's how the roll works. If you have Pathfinder, roll as many d6s as your skill's rating."
Alright, apologies, another crash course.
There are ways to boost or improve your chances. First, you can act with your Nature (using your Nature skill in place of Pathfinder), as mentioned above. Failing the test in this case taxes your Nature by the margin of failure. This would make success possible, though narrowly.
The other ways involve spending Fate points and Persona points.
Fate and Persona Points:
You start out with one Fate Point and one Persona Point, and earn more at the end of a session by acting your Belief, using your Instinct and achieving your Goal.
Fate Points are spent after a roll in which some of your dice came up 6s. If you choose to spend a Fate Point, you get to roll bonus dice equal to the 6s you rolled. So if you rolled two sixes, you get to roll 2d6 more and potentially increase your total successes. Those new d6s are also exploding, so if you keep rolling 6s, you get to keep rolling more.
Persona Points can be used to add +1D to your roll per point spent. You can also spend one point to Tap Your Nature.
Tapping Nature means you get to add your Nature ability rating to any skill or test. So, you'd get to treat your Pathfinder as 2+4=6, and roll 6d6 even without the aid. However, because this test is probably not fitting within mouse Nature, your Nature would be temporarily reduced by 1 afterwards (and if the test is failed, the reduction is bigger).
If you succeed, explain what your mouse does to succeed. If you fail, the GM takes temporary control to show how things go wrong.
I'll just trust in my own abilities, with Dain's help.
Smiling gratefully over her shoulder at Dain, and nodding at Ingrid's advice, the young mouse furrows her brow in concentration. She studies the path, imagining each footstep and trying to extrapolate where the walker might have gone.
Oh, I added your D6 to my roll, Dain. I only have pathfinder skill of 2, so I would only be rolling 2d6 normally. Should I let you roll your assist dies?
Robin leads faithfully, with her fellow guardmice's guidance, and the journey passes in safety in spite of the obscured path. But it is getting close to nightfall, and so Robin leads the patrol to a hollow stump where they can rest for the night.
Inside, they find a rather surprised raven.
The bird, caught rummaging about for insects, squawks and flutters. It zooms out past the patrol. "CAW! CAW!"
The great bird turns. It seems to be looking closely at Dain.
Its gaze zeroes in on the mailbag. The raven enters a dive. "CAW!"
CONFLICT!
Alright, this is a Conflict—a more complex and high-stakes Obstacle, essentially. First off, you need a Team Leader. I'll assign one for you this time—Dain makes as much sense as any.
The Team Leader, Dain, must choose a conflict goal (though I encourage anyone to pitch in suggestions). This is what you hope to accomplish in this scene. Depending on how well or poorly you do, you may be able to accomplish part, all or none of it.
Awesome, so I'm Fearless with a Fighter skill of 2, so can I use 2 dice for a Maneuver roll? I'd like to show off to my patrolmates against our first opponent and prove my worth! To do this, I'd like to jump at the Raven and grapple it around the throat, wrestling it to the ground!
You're on the right path, but we haven't gotten to turns and stuff yet. First will be establishing goals, followed by rolling Disposition. What skill Dain uses for Disposition will depend on the conflict goal.
Alright, this is a Fight Animal Conflict. What I'm going to need from you, Dain, are two things.
First, roll Disposition. This will determine how long you can stay in the fight. Test your Hunter or Fighter (your choice) and add it to your Health score. Assume the other three are all helping you for this. For instance, if you have a 4 Fighter and a 5 Health, you'd roll 7d6 (4+3 helping dice) and add the total number of successes to the base score of 5.
Second, choose three actions (from Attack/Maneuver/Defend/Feint) and assign one to each of your teammates in the order you want them to be carried out (in a spoiler, so I can't see it). These three actions will constitute the first round, and will oppose three actions I choose privately for the raven. You can choose one action multiple times (so, "Robin Attack/Ingrid Attack/Baron Attack" is a valid, if risky, strategy). Because this is a Fight Animal conflict, Fighter or Hunter are used for Feint and Attack actions, while Nature or Loremouse are used for Defend and Maneuver actions.
Conflicts comprise the main crux of the game, so let me know if you have questions. But don't sweat it too much—failure is always an opportunity in Mouse Guard. When in doubt, just pick and assign three at random and hope for the best.
One trick is you can't assign an action to yourself (mainly because you already have the job of designation). You can roleplay helping in the fight, but this round of the conflict will focus on the other three's actions.
Okay Crow. I can see you want to take our mail bag and fly off. Well, you may do the flying off. But... Baron twirls the Halberd in expert fasion, it's silver sheen reflecting in the crows mirror-black eye...I insist you leave the mail!
Testing Fighter (3) + 3 helping dice.
Test:6d6 ⇒ (2, 2, 2, 5, 3, 4) = 18
2 successes, plus 4 health, 6.
About the actions, they would be:
Ingrid Defend.
Robin Maneuver.
Baron Attack.
Alright! You can read the spoiler now, if you like.
The raven dives straight for the mice, talons outstretched, seeking to snatch the pretty mailbag!
ROUND ONE. Ingrid goes first, Defending against the raven's Attack. Roleplay the way you defend, and up to two teammates who offer helping dice should roleplay their assistance.
This is a versus test, pitting your Loremouse or Nature against the raven's Nature test.
Raven Attack:8d6 ⇒ (2, 6, 4, 5, 1, 6, 2, 2) = 28The raven has 4 successes, so you need at least a 4 to negate any damage to your Disposition. Your Disposition raises or lowers by the margin of success or failure—if you get 5, your Disposition increases by one, if you get 2, your Disposition decreases by two, and if you get 4, you completely negate the attack.
Yes, in this case, absolutely, that matches perfectly. You can only do this once per session, and it will grant you a +1d6 bonus on your test.
You can also tap your Nature here to add your Nature ability rating (6d6) to your roll. This will cost a Persona point. In this case, your action is definitely not within Mouse Nature, so your Nature would be taxed by 1 if you succeeded.
Note that no matter what, you'll be reducing the raven's attack. It's not a Versus test—the margin of victory is how much the raven gets to hurt your Disposition.
Robin, Dain and Baron should feel free to volunteer how up to two of them are helping Ingrid.
After Ingrid's arrow is loosed I tackle her, knocking both of us down just as the Raven's talons close inches over our heads...bloody ravens seem to be getting faster every year!helpings:1d6 ⇒ 6
We'll let that roll serve as the trait bonus (I'm assuming Ingrid uses it here)—she already included the teamwork in her roll. Ingrid now has 3 successes.
Dain moves behind Ingrid and Baron, waving his sword.
"Robin, come! If we keep together the raven will have a harder time attacking us!" Helpings:1d6 ⇒ 5
Okay! Corsario, Johnnycat, Mooshybooshy and Nixie, you guys are in for the first session! Anybody who's not them but who's interested in joining can feel free to pay attention and learn stuff.
Let's go over some system fundamentals—stuff you'll need to know immediately. That means it's time to explain one of the most unique things about Mouse Guard: The session structure.
Sessions:
Each separate mission/quest/adventure will, in this go-over, be referred to as a "session". PbP or no, it's a useful terminology.
A session comes in two stages: The GM's Turn, and the Player's Turn.
The GM's Turn: At the start of the GM's Turn, the mice will be given their mission, and they will work out their session goals. A session goal is a short-term directive separate from the mission itself. You will pursue this goal during the overall session. We'll discuss this more when it comes time to write them.
The GM's Turn has been called "the railroad turn". Essentially, you have your mission, and you don't have a ton of time in which to accomplish it. Remember, the Mouse Guard is understaffed! You won't have time to stop and heal, or go on a shopping spree beforehand to buy everything you might need. You go out, deal with obstacles (put in place by yours truly), and either succeed or fail (or partially succeed or partially fail) at your mission.
And then...
The Player's Turn: The second half of the session is taken up with the Player's Turn, where you get to jump off those rails and rest up, relax, ask around for supplies to purchase, pick fights with mice you dislike, or start working towards a new objective. If you haven't completed the mission yet (which is entirely possible), you can start taking the initiative and coming up with ways to do so.
Sometimes the Player's Turn means you reach town. Sometimes it means you're stranded in the woods, having found the mouse you were seeking dead in an owl's gullet. What matters is, it's entirely up to you how to proceed.
The Player's Turn is also an opportunity to complete your personal goals, if you haven't already.
How much you can get done in a Player's Turn depends on how many checks you earned in the GM's Turn. You earn checks by using your traits against you, accepting disadvantages when trying to circumvent obstacles in order to have more to do during the Player's Turn. We'll talk more about traits later.
Once the Player's Turn is done, the session is over! The mission may not be, however. Rewards are awarded—benefits for achieving your Goals and playing true to your Beliefs and Instincts, among other things. Then, for the time being, the story is finished.
Now, there's a big question here. Is there a strong preference towards starting out with newly-made characters, or would we be alright running the first session with pregens?
Pregens can be very helpful, since they're built with the book's missions in mind, but I understand the wish to start out with fully customized mouses. It's entirely up to you guys.
Mind you, there could be a tradition incorporating mice called "wizards" who specialize in science or insect taming or Loremouse* or the like, if the title and "mysticalness" are what you're after. But they wouldn't actually be able to do magic. :P
*"Loremouse" refers to the skill that lets you communicate with and generally understand beasts smarter than bugs but dumber than or very different from mice.
I might just do some alchemist equivalent then. Not sure what the range of stuff that the game handles. I'll try and come into possession of the books soon.
The rules are very simple and abstract when it comes to your abilities and equipment. And because combat is only one of many possible challenges you'll be facing, alchemy will have plenty of possible applications.
Basically, when you're in a conflict, your choices come down to four options: Attack, Defend, Feint and Maneuver. They are chosen in advance, like a game of Rock/Paper/Scissors. This system is used for all major conflicts, not just combats.
Each of these options has very specific consequences:
Attack lowers the enemy's Disposition (their ability or motivation to stay in the conflict). Examples: Stabbing with a sword, exposing a key weakness in your opponent's argument, pushing through bad weather.
Defend boosts your own Disposition and holds off their Attack, if they made one. Examples: A good rebuttal in an argument, covering your tracks in a chase, picking a safer route during a journey.
Feint employs "tricksy means" to either lower the enemy's Disposition, if they Defended, or totally fails, if they Attacked. For this reason, it's a bit of a gamble. Examples: Faking a blow, agreeing with a rival negotiator only to turn around and trap them later, or sending one mouse off in another direction during a chase to confound the pursuers.
Maneuver is the most flexible of these. It basically modifies things in some way, either by disarming, impeding, or gaining position. Impeding and gaining position give, respectively, a penalty to the opponent's next roll and a bonus to your next roll. Disarming lets you eliminate an item from the field, like a weapon or article of armor, for the remainder of the conflict. Examples: Gathering food from a nearby berry bush to make the journey easier (gaining position), forcing an opponent to stop making a certain point in a debate via a call for civility (disarm)*, or leaping over a mud puddle to force your enemies to wade in after you (impede).
As you can tell, these options all leave a lot of room to interpret. Different weapons can offer different advantages (a shield benefits Defend, for instance), but otherwise the choice of tool is purely flavor for the action.
*This would mainly only apply if that point was being treated as a particularly effective one and giving them an inherent bonus. For instance, you screwed something up earlier and they get a benefit for Attacking when they bring that incident up.
Hi guys! This is Mooshybooshy's mouse. I know that my avatar is the same as Macario's, but I figure as mice, we probably look very much alike already anyway. Maybe we can be twins!
So I hope nobody minds. If it's a big problem I can change.
I also have a preference for pregens if they're cool for everybody else, because it's my first time playing Mouse Guard. Could we get a Gameplay thread active so I can post in it and track it from my Campaigns tab?
Alright, here we are. Here are the characters you'll be choosing from for the first session.
For this first mission, we'll be tackling Deliver the Mail, which will get more explanation when we start.
THE PREGENS
Dain Image.
Dain is a senior member of his patrol. Together with his lifelong friend, Ingrid, he serves the guard in the name of reason and right action.
Belief:Reason is the best guide to right action. Goal:I will ensure the mail is safely delivered to Elmoss, Sprucetuck, Dorigift and Gilpledge. Instinct:Check the weather early each morning.
Robin Image (sans cloak).
Robin is a tenderpaw from Barkstone. Fresh out of her artisan apprenticeship in Lockhaven (Mouse Guard recruits spend some time apprenticing under an artisan before they move into patrols), Gwendolyn, the Mouse Guard's Matriarch, has assigned her to learn under the steady and reliable Ingrid. Robin has a fearless heart and steady paws. She's ready to prove her worth to the patrol!
Robin Fine Info:
Birth Year: 1135 (17) . | Parents: Kem & Bram
Home: Barkstone . . . . . . . | Senior Artisan: Vernon the Weaver
Fur Color: Light Brown . . . . . | Mentor: Ingrid
Rank: Tenderpaw . . . . | Enemy: Thom (Patrol Leader)
Cloak: None* . . . . . . . . . | Friend: Curran
*Ignore the pictured cloak. Assume the picture is wrong, in the future, or out of context. Don't look at me like that. I only just now noticed this discrepancy.
Raw Abilities Nature (MOUSE): 4
Will: 2
Health: 6
Special Abilities Resources: 4
Circles: 2
Belief:I must embody the true ideals of the Guard. Goal:I will prove to Ingrid that I am a worthy tenderpaw on this mission. Instinct:Always create useful things in my free moments.
Belief:I'll build a good name for the Mouse Guard. Goal:I will ensure that none of my patrolmates come to harm on this mission. Instinct:Anticipate what the patrol leader needs.
Ingrid Image.
Ingrid is a lifelong friend of Dain's. She's a self-educated mouse from Sprucetuck. When she was young, she wanted to be a scientist. She was on the path to a life of learning and research when her young friend persuaded her to join the Guard.
Belief:All possibilities should be explored for the well-being of the Guard. Goal:I will map our route from Lockhaven to Gilpledge. Instinct:Always draw maps of all the new locations through which our patrol travels.
Many of those stats, like Skills and Raw/Special Abilities, you can probably guess: These are numbers you'll be called upon to use during the game when you attempt something. You can get a fair idea of what they mean (italicized skills, by the way, are your mouse's Specialty), but it's not that important yet. Let me know if you're curious about any of them.
The wises are basically things your mouse knows about. When they come up (for instance, when Ingrid encounters rain), the wises can be used to help in certain ways.
Traits can be used for you and against you, depending on which you prefer. When you use a trait against yourself, you get extra Checks (which means more options during the Player's Turn). They're fairly self-explanatory and open to interpretation other than that. Think about how a given trait, like Inquisitive, might be helpful or harmful. You'll see how traits can be used in this fashion during the game.
I assume the Goals are similarly clear (enough for the time being), but the Instincts and Beliefs will require some explanation. Basically, these, along with your traits, are your two greatest tools for working out what your character will do in a given situation and how they'll feel about it. Choosing to play to them or against them is a major part of the game!
Let me know if you have questions!
EDIT: Also, it's worth noting the ranks. Note that Robin is a Tenderpaw. The playable rankings are basically:
Patrol Leader
Patrol Guard
Guardmouse
Tenderpaw
A tenderpaw must have a mentor, being completely new to the field. They haven't earned their cloak yet. Ingrid is Robin's mentor.
Alright, so we have Johnnycat taking Ingrid. That leaves Baron, the hunter guardmouse, Robin, the fearless tenderpaw, and Dain, the rational leader of the patrol.
Bear in mind that none of these character choices are final. We're just stating preferences. If Mooshybooshy has a strong antipathy towards Robin, we can rethink this.
That said, also bear in mind that this is only for the first session. You're under no obligation to keep these characters after.
You might potentially want to save that original concept for when we're done with the pregens. But you can feel free to use the name in place of Ingrid's, if you prefer.
And there we go. It's time to learn how Obstacles work in Mouse Guard.
Some Obstacles are more open-ended, and I'll let you suggest ways to tackle them before giving you the default, but this one is fairly straightforward (and we should keep things simple the first time anyways).
As of now, Robin has obtained 1/1 Failures and 0/2 Successes for her next advancement in Pathfinder.
You need to both fail and succeed at something in other to get better at it. This means that tests are precious things, since they're the only way to improve. It also means it gets harder and harder to keep advancing as you get better at a skill: You start failing less and less often. This is part of what makes Instructor so useful—during the Player's Turn, it allows you to offer other mice "free" tests toward improving their skills.
Thanks for bearing with this, guys. I know it's tricky at the start of a new PbP with a new RPG, but everyone's been great so far. I'm enjoying exploring this system with you all.
GM, in this post I don't understand why Robin only rolled 3 dice. She rolled 2d6 for her Pathfinder and 1d6 for Dain helping. But should she have rolled an additional 1d6 for me and another for Ingrid helping, for a total of 5d6? I'm sorry for my confusion. But if I don't understand that roll then I'm not sure how lending helping dice to ingrid as she right now should be done?
Yes, I think Mooshy just didn't notice that they were helping. There can be limits on how many mice can help (such as in a conflict, where only two mice can help at once), but there weren't any in this case. She could have rolled 5d6 in total.
Of course, it's also possible that she just deliberately turned down their aid so she could show off her skills. :P
Mmmm I may be missing something. I thought you said we could use nature to defend. Is there a Nature skill and then our mouse nature as two separate things?
Didn't I say either Loremouse or Nature would work?
Let's give some explanation of the Nature skill.
You each have a Nature skill. Your nature represents how close you are to your mousey roots. Mice are not inherently killers, or scientists. These things go against Mouse Nature
Mouse Nature encompasses four things: Foraging, Hiding, Escaping, and Climbing. As long as your activity involves one of those things, you can use your Nature skill without penalty. This is why Nature is a valid choice for Defend and Maneuver—those activities match your Nature.
Everything has a Nature skill, but what it uses that Nature skill for depends on what it is. Most animals use it for literally everything—they're incapable of acting outside their natures, being basic beasts. Only mice and weasels are really known to go against it.
The reason tapping Nature doesn't work here is that the action does not match Mouse Nature. Nature can always be used as the test skill for the Defend test (because Defend matches Escaping), but tapping nature always relies on what you're doing.
Ingrid's action (interposing herself between the threat and her comrades) does not match Mouse Nature, so tapping it taxes her Nature slightly.
Well, that's the first of what I'm sure will be many Goof Master errors over the course of this PbP. Could this be the start of a beautiful relationship?
