For those of you who either haven't played with me before, or didn't bother to check my posting history; I have an unfortunately erratic history with PbP in general, (particularly lately), and a really bad one with running PbP campaigns.
Mostly I am putting that out that so you know what you could well be getting into if you sign on for this little experiment.
That said, I wanna try running a PbP Burning Wheel campaign. As this is Paizo's Website & not the Burning Wheel forums, that may be seen as whimsical to the point of absurdity, but for those of you who know me this should come as no surprise...
"What is Burning Wheel?" You might ask. Well I'm glad you did. Burning Wheel is a skill-focused FRPG, which means instead of 'levelling-up' with the accrual of XP, (Like Pathfinder), you improve your character by improving individual skills at their own pace depending upon personal choice & focused effort.
Character Creation is also much more 'concept-based', rather than 'Class-based'. While your character concept may fall into a particular Archetypical niche (Bruiser, Holy Man/Woman, Wielder of Arcane Forces, Sneaky Git), this has less to do with what Class you chose & more with the choices you make in the course of play, particularly in the game I am intending to run.
Here is the second half of my pitch, You will all be playing Kids to start.
Alrighty then. Here is the rule to start: Only post here if this interests you & you think you can handle a game with an erratic Chronicler & a system with which you may or may not be comfortable. Characters are children who have survived the death of their parents & the effective destruction of their village(s)/homes. Racial Stock available are Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Roden (think Halfling-sized Humanoid rodents), Orcs, Trolls, and Great Wolves (think intelligent, Horse-sized Wolves).
As a further note, while Humans, Roden & Wolves can work out their differences with the other Stock; Elves & Dwarves have severe difficulties dealing with Orcs & Trolls, and vice versa (Largely because all three have a very strong Tolkien-esque vibe to their mechanics. You've been warned.). So the odds are good, if somebody comes to me with an Orc concept & somebody else comes to me with an Elf, I'm likely to chose one or the other, not both.
How old can you be? Early adolescents, just hitting puberty, for the most part. For Humans, that means early teens at the latest. For Orcs, much the same. For Great Wolves, this means you have only experienced one Winter (yes, you are less than two years old). Roden age a bit faster than Humans so you are definitely less than ten years old. Elves & Dwarves will be in their early twenties.
For those of you with some experience with Burning Wheel, Seriously, don't read this if you don't have experience. It will only confuse you.:
No more than two life paths.
Orcs in Play(Only read this if you are interested in playing an Orc):
These Orcs are not mindless, savage brutes hell-bent on flexing their muscles while screaming gibberish. Burning Wheel Orcs are a little bit more complex.
First, they are cowards. Ninety percent of the Orcs created in these lifepaths are going to have an incredibly high hesitation, which means they flinch from pain and run from danger. They may strike quickly, but they flee even more swiftly.
Second, these Orcs have a culture firmly embedded in their lifepaths. Every time you make an Orc, you are birthing the product of a brutal, callous society, prone to hatred and focused on unreasoning revenge. It’s important for an Orc player to be vaguely aware of this (primarily when dealing with other Orcs). Because when that whip cracks, he may find himself brought to heel, and in a whole lot of trouble.
Personally, I don’t advocate incorporating Orcs into a mixed party of Elves, Dwarves and Men. These Orcs have a bad attitude and often don’t get along well with others. However, it can be done. I’ve seen some inspiring examples where Orcs are part of a tapestry of civilized cultures in a game world, no better or worse off than any of their brethren. If that’s your desire, simply shake the Tolkien out of your head and think, “wiry, green-skinned, smart, tough bastards” and you should be fine. Keep the Hatred, though. It’s too fun not to.
Given that I have managed to go over two months without a post, I am acknowledging defeat. On the bright side, this guy seems to be interested in giving it a try. I strongly recommend anyone interested take a look.
I like the idea, but char gen seems daunting. Been watching. Promises to be a decent campaign.
It's actually quite a bit less involved than Burning Wheel, which it is based on. My difficulty, which it is possible I should remove, is that I am trying to make these posts as 'in-character' as possible. I really should just go ahead & slap the mechanics down & save worrying about player immersion for once the game starts...
UltraFennec wrote:
I'd recommend starting over with the big post anyway. The lower the entry barrier, the higher the chance of something coming together and people being genuinely interested.
I had been thinking something similar. I just really hate scrubbing a Campaign due to my own perceived inadiquacies...
Not the only one. Unfortunately I'm finding that summarizing the steps of Character Creation is taking more energy from me than I have available at the moment. It doesn't help that, having taken so long just to get to this point, everything is now spread out over multiple posts, with several posts between them. If I manage to get the rest of the Character Creation steps posted, I may start a new Recruitment thread with all the necessary Character Creation information together at the beginning. You aren't the only one disheartened either, unfortunately it's pretty much all my own fault. I will push to get the rest of the steps posted & then post an example no later than tonight or the end of this weekend. If no one but you responds within a week after that, I will try starting over with everything posted together.
Besides a Guard Mouse' more directly applicable skills, all mice have a general plethora of skills collectively known as Wises.
A wise is a collection of both common knowledge on a topic & a deeper, though less practically useful understanding. Some examples of Wises are as follows.
Apiary-wise, Brew-wise, Celebration-wise, Lockhaven-wise, Weasel-wise, Winter-wise, 'specific town'-wise, etc...
This list is not exhaustive, feel free to choose wises that make sense to you for your character, wises may overlap with other skills, in fact they often do.
Just as with Skills, each time you choose a particular wise, you improve your rating in that wise. Tenderpaws choose 1, Guardmice choose 2, Patrol Guards choose 3, Patrol Leaders choose 4 and Guard Captains choose 6.
Also as with skills, once you have tallied up your choices, add 1 to each & that gives you your ranking in that wise, once more you may not begin play with a wise higher than 6.
Tallying Wises, Resources & Circles should only require one more post on my part.
Once that is done & I have established who is still interested we will burn up our Patrol(s) & be ready to play!
To preface, thank you all for your, hopefully, patience. I realize a month is quite a while to wait for an update.
On determining Skills
First; in an attempt to simplify matters, how capable you are with a particular skill is affected by how many times you choose that skill. Consequently, if you wish to be very capable in a particular skill, select it more often, if available.
Second, do not choose a skill more than five times as that will cause you to exceed the maximum starting rating in a skill.
As one's 'Rank' within the Guard is often as much a reflection of ones experience as it is of ones authority, the higher 'Ranks' begin with more skills than the lower ranks do, for the most part.
Select one skill from those available to you from your home town.
Second, select a skill that represents your natural talents, Tenderpaws & Guard Captains select two, all other Ranks select one. This may be the same or a different skill than the skill you gain from your home town.
Third, if you have not already, determine your parents' trade skill. If you are a Tenderpaw, select two, otherwise only one. You may select the same skill more than once.
Now, decide which skill you normally use to convince people to agree with/or at least work with you. Patrol Leaders & Guard Captains choose two, all others choose one.
Deceiver, Orator, Persuader
Apprenticeship:
When you first joined the Mouse Guard you were placed in an apprenticeship according to the Guard's need, not your own. Select one skill from the list below. Also note that skill as it will indicate what your original Guard Mentor was responsible for.
Guard Experience:
Having completed your Apprenticeship & proven yourself equal to greater responsibility, you will have been assigned to a guard patrol & expected to handle the tasks of that patrol.
You may choose a number of additional skills dependent on your Rank. Tenderpaws gain 3, Guardmice 6, Patrol Guards 8, Patrol Leaders 9 and Guard Captains 12.
Personal Specialty:
Every member of a patrol has a specific skill they are most associated with in that particular patrol. This is where you choose yours. In general it is a good idea to choose a skill you have already chosen multiple times before. Each skill in this list may only be selected by one, or no, member of the patrol.
Putting this all together.
Now that you have selected your skills, note how many times you have chosen each skill. Your rating in a particular skill is equal to the total times you chose that skill + 1, so if you chose Fighter 3 times, you would start with the Fighter skill at four. You may not begin play with a skill higher than 6.
For those of you still curious about Mouse Guard, I haven't abandoned matters, the holidays are adversely affecting my ability to apply cogent thought to nearly anything other than day-to-day living. Thank you for your patience & I hope to have something posted later this week.
Unrelated...
Well, semi-related,
For those curious about how game mechanics/character creation work in Mouse Guard, this is another campaign I am taking part in here on the Paizo Messageboards which uses the Burning Wheel system. Mouse Guard is, as I posted earlier, a very simplified version of Burning Wheel. So if you read all the way through the thread you will have more of an inkling of what we are going for. Hopefully that won't scare you off.
Further side note, if you are interested in taking part, GM Peanut & I would be glad to have more players as there is a strong possibility we may be losing our other player soon...
I'm working extra shifts this week & I have family in town, so I will likely not be able to check more than once a day or so until next weekend at the earliest.
Best Friends, swell chums, the one you call to help you move (a body!..) I.E. Somebody out there you can call on with unreasonable demands & their response is 'let me get my coat'.
First define Crunch or Resolution. Otherwise, mechanically, it uses pools of d6' with 1-3 a failure, 4-6 'success'. Varying numbers of 'success' necessary in a check/test/challenge, dependent on how much of the result you want to be able to dictate as the 'winner'. Most 'stats' are actually skills. It can be argued that there are only three 'stats', Will, Health & Nature; everything else really falls into some subset of skill-ishness. But you comparatively rarely test with the three 'stats'.
Hopefully that answered most of your question.
One of the interesting things about the mechanics of the game, as Bilbo may have noticed, is that it isn't polar. none of the checks, tests, or challenges are pass/fail. Consequently, being a 'great healer' is only partly to do with your score in the Healer skill.
My apologies, writing up the example is taking longer than I expected. The actual process of Character Burning, takes comparatively little time, at least after you have been doing it as long as I have, it's documenting the process that is taking me so long...
I should have the finished post later today.
Once more, thank you for your patience.
Or rather, I will have a post, but I may wind up making two posts, if the second half takes much longer...
Healer mice are quite well regarded within the Guard. As there is no 'magic' in Mouse Guard there is no magical healing, so more than one Healer is probably a good idea.
@Bilbo: Oh yes, an older mouse is fine. I only recommended a younger mouse for players not acquainted with the world/system as it will aid them in learning as they go. Given you have a copy of the rules, if you have questions, you are better able to find the answers yourself.
Alright, this is it. I will be burning up Uther, the Guard Captain your Patrol will be answering to most often. As soon as I have him done, I will be posting the example so you all have an understanding of what is to come.
The lists are so you have an idea what they are/do. Your choices will be affected by a number of factors once we start actually putting the Patrol together. I will be posting an example of total Character Creation later tonight, it will also provide you guys with a kind of 'mentor' NPC to interact with 'in-game'.
Every mouse possesses (or is afflicted by...) qualities of character which do not readily equate themselves to mere sums in a ledger. These qualities we call Traits. Some will, at first observation, seem positive while others will seem negative. In truth, they all are boon & blessing in their own measure & at the appropriate (or inappropriate, as the case may be...) time. Some mice possess a great many traits, some mice only one or two. Most Traits are self-explanatory, those which are not, I will describe in greater detail.
Alert: You are notably talented at noticing things.
Bigpaw: Your paws are larger & stronger than average.
Bitter: You are definitely a 'glass-half-full' sort of mouse...
Bodyguard: Most of your life, you have devoted to the protection of another, not necessarily the same other.
Bold: You give little concern to potential dangers inherent in your actions.
Brave: You have faced your fear & risen above it.
Calm: You lack an impetus to excitability.
Clever: You possess a keen mind.
Compassionate: Your ability to perceive another's woes is strong.
Cunning: Your mind, while keen, is more attuned to tricks & deceit.
Curious: Often the first thought in your head is why?
Deep Ear: All mice have a keen sense of hearing. Then there is you...
Defender: You have survived direct action during the Winter War of 1149, or you have been called upon to defend your home against other predation.
Determined: You are difficult to sway from your goals.
Driven: It is difficult for you to acknowledge goals other than your own.
Early Riser: You are a morning mouse. Note: for those of you who are aware that actual mice are nocturnal, Mice in Mouse Guard are diurnal, much like people.
Extrovert: The phrase, 'I don't know any strangers', might have been coined just for you.
Fat: It takes you a while to really go hungry...
Fearful: You are very much aware that you are a small, small creature in a very big world...
Fearless: You aren't, somehow. See above.
Fiery: You are passionate.
Generous: You are always willing to give to others.
Graceful: You are a figure of poise & grace.
Guard's Honor: As a scion of the longstanding traditions of service & self-sacrifice inherent to the Guard, you are keenly aware of it's Honor & those actions which may affect the Honor of the Guard.
Hard Worker: You don't shirk your tasks.
Independent: You have experience getting things done by yourself.
Innocent: You have yet to be exposed to some of life's harsh, cruel realities.
Inquisitive: While a Curious mouse may ask 'why?', the inquisitive one will go looking for the answer.
Jaded: You have seen a bit too much of life's harsh, cruel realities.
Leader: You have a talent for motivating others.
Longtail: Your average mouse has a tail noticeably longer than he is. Your tail is noticeably longer than that.
Lost: For reasons known or unknown, you just can't seem to keep straight where you are & where you are going at the same time.
Natural Bearings: You always know where you are & where you are going, especially when you ave been there before...
Nimble: Particularly when you have an audience, you are light on your feet.
Nocturnal: For whatever reason, you find yourself more comfortable at night.
Oldfur: No matter your actual age, you have passed your physical prime.
Open-Minded: You are quite willing to contemplate new ideas.
Quick-Witted: You respond quickly to stimuli.
Quiet: By nature mice are quiet creatures, then there is you.
Rational: You are best able to communicate your ideas through reason & logic.
Scarred: You have been marked, physically, mentally and emotionally, by the experiences of your life.
Sharp-Eyed: Your eyesight is keener than normal. What was that?
Sharptooth: You have very sharp, strong teeth.
Short: Just so.
Skeptical: Somebody always has an angle. You always know to look for it.
Skinny: Perhaps a sandwich is in order?
Steady Paws: You may not have the strongest grip, but you certainly have the surest.
Stoic: Things happen, you deal with them, you go on.
Stubborn: You believe what you believe, no matter what.
Suspicious: Somebody somewhere is up to no good. You just know it.
Tall: There hasn't yet been a top cupboard you couldn't reach.
Thoughtful: Planning & preparation are first, second & third nature to you.
Tough: You may not be the strongest, or the quickest, but nobody lasts longer or through worse than you do.
Weather Sense: Mice may train for years to be able to scent the wind the way you've done since birth.
Wise: Seems like you're the smartest mouse in the room.
Wolf's Snout: That tidbit of food there, the one on the back shelf, in the back cupboard? Yeah, you knew it was there before you opened the door.
Young: No matter your actual age, you maintain a vigorous exuberance.
Traits are generally positive, even when they seem negative. Some traits are obvious oposites, you won't see any mice who are bothShort & Tall a an example...
There are also traits which are unavailable to certain mice, you rarely see a mouse with a strong Nature who is also Fearless or Fierce...
I ask you all now to gather in your Patrols to attend to my next topic, soon you will be released from Lockhaven to make your way & perform your missions within the Territories...
Glad to hear that UF! I would be gladder if they were more than me just copying them from the book, but there are reasons I have been wanting to play this game since I first picked it up.
No Mouse is an island. The Bear acts alone. So too the Bull Moose & the Sick Wolf. Mice, however, are communal creatures. A Mouse alone is an affront to nature, and nature. Circles represent how well connected & regarded you are among the Guard & by extension, the Territories as a whole. These questions will aid you in determining your standing.
Are you gregarious? Do you have lots of friends? Do you make friends easily?
Do you have strong ties to the Guard? Familial or Filial perhaps?
Have you accomplished some great task within the Guard? Do you already have a reputation?
Do you have powerful enemies within the Territories?
Have you been convicted of a crime?
Are you a loner, tough & cool?
Keep track of your answers, in addition to affecting your starting Circles, they will affect what Traits you may select from.
Your Resources reflects not only your personal wealth, but also your ability to make best use of the materials you have available to you.
In winter, do you still practice a trade such as weaving, smithing or pottery for the Guard?
Are your parents smiths, politicians, merchants or apiarists?
Do you like to buy gifts for yourself &/or your friends?
Are you thrifty?
Have you ever been in debt? Are you generally bad with money?
Do you always pack carefully for a journey, ensuring you have everything you need?
As with Circles & previous questions, keep track of your answers as they will affect more than just your Resources.
Though to be honest, Wises are merely a particular, broad category of skill. These are how you do what you do. Most activities will fall into the purview of a particular skill, though many are affected by many sills. Which is to say, if you know about more than one thing & they are related, you will be better able to accomplish your tasks. Most skills should be self-explanatory, however I shall add a brief description of each.
Administrator: An administrator manages towns, cities and other groups of mice.
Apiarist: An apiarist is a specialist who raises bees and harvests their honey & wax.
Archivist: An archivist is a mouse who specializes in documenting events for historical purposes. They are also adept at interpreting said documents of history.
Armorer: Armorers forge armor & weapons.
Baker: A Baker makes savory bread, delicious cookies, and sweet cakes.
Boatcrafter: The Boatcrafter knows how to build & effectively use boats, ships & barges.
Brewer: The brewer turns water, grain and/or fruit into the elixir of life.
Carpenter: A Carpenter makes useful items out of wood.
Cartographer: A Cartographer creates & interprets maps.
Cook: A Cook is capable of turning otherwise unpalatable (if nutritious) matter into tasty food.
Deceiver: A deceiver uses lies, half-truths, ugly truths, soothing platitudes and intimidation to get what he wants.
Fighter: The Fighter is one who has taken up the entirely un-mouse-like pursuit of combat, and is good at it.
Glazier: A Glazier crafts glass objects. Bottles, windows, objets 'd art...
Haggler: To Haggle is to drive the best bargain for you & yours.
Harvester: Harvesters are skilled in the best means of gathering food for the community.
Healer: The Healer knows how to keep mice whole & healthy.
Hunter: As Mice are not predatory creatures, the Hunter does not hunt prey, rather the Hunter acts to locate & neutralize the threats posed by other animals on mouse communities.
Insectrist: The insectrist is a specialist who uses insects, and other like creatures, for a variety of purposes.
Instructor: An instructor knows how to commit knowledge to mouse brains.
Laborer: Laborers are the backbone of the mouse community, gathering material, moving objects & performing the physical labor necessary to accomplish the community's goals.
Loremouse: Loremice study the ways & habits of animals. As Scientist deals with the physical characteristics of the world around mice, Loremouse investigates how animals deal with each other.
Militarist: A Militarist knows how to effectively direct large numbers of mice into combat as a whole. Necessary for dealing with Large Animals in a direct, forceful, manner.
Miller: The miller knows how to grind substances into powders for use in cooking, brewing & industry.
Orator: The Orator is skilled at touching the hearts & minds of large groups of mice with the power of their words.
Pathfinder: A Pathfinder makes & marks paths between the mouse towns, villages, and cities. All Guard Mice will have some skill as a Pathfinder...
Persuader: A persuader is skilled at showing other individuals how a particular course of action may be in their own best interests.
Potter: Potters work clay, crafting vessels , containers, and other items from that material.
Scientist: This skill combines the disciplines of astronomy, biology, chemistry, the earth sciences & physics. In short, Science!
Scout: The scout is adept at spotting predators on the prowl, sneaking behind enemy lines, trailing targets & finding hidden things.
Smith: Smiths work with & make tools of, metal.
Stonemason: Stonemason's cut & build with stone.
Survivalist: The survivalist knows how to make & find shelter, find water, build fires, and other vital activities for survival outside the confines of mouse communities.
Weather Watcher: This skill pertains to accurately predicting the weather, an ability of life-or-death importance for individual mice& communities alike.
Weaver: A Weaver can manufacture fabric and create garments and other items of fabric.
Wises, varied: A Wise is an area of knowledge or expertise which does not precisely fall under one of the other skills. Examples include: Boarder-wise, Border-wise, Weasel-wise, Guardmouse-wise, Lockhaven-wise, and many others. Usually, you will not use a wise by itself; instead, a wise may aid you in other skills.
@Bilbo: Right now we are pretty open. I still need to post at least Three more subjects (Skills & Wises, Circles & Resources, and Traits) Then we should be able to put a Guard Patrol together.
@Hassan: The system is a modified, simplified version of 'the Burning Wheel' RPG, by Luke Crane. So far as I have been able to tell there are no PDF versions available. However, both Burning Wheel & Mouse Guard have some rather active support communities.
Correct. There are certain skills which are only available in certain ways. The only one that jumps out at me at the moment is Militarist, which is only available to starting characters who are either Guard Captains or from Grasslake, but that & a Home Trait are the only mechanical effects of the choice of Hometown.
The really important 'answer together' questions haven't come up yet. Hopefully I will have the remaining Questions up either tonight, or tomorrow morning. That said, it might not hurt to hold off any more until I have done so. My thanks for everyone's patience.
The Mouse Territories are composed of vast swaths of wilderness punctuated with occasional pinpoints of civilization. While there are several more Mouse towns & villages than the ones I will mention, these make for an acceptable representative sample. Where you were raised does much to influence who you will become.
Barkstone A busy, working-class town, Barkstone is known for it's Carpenters, Potters & Glaziers. Mice from here are known to have a Steady Paw.
Copperwood One of the oldest cities & home to one of the two mines in the Territories, Copperwood mice tend to be Smiths & Hagglers. They also have a habit of being Independant .
Elmoss A once prosperous city, known for it's medicinal moss, now Elmoss mice are best known as Carpentes & Harvesters. All that work outside tends to make you Alert.
Flintrust A town suffering from neglect & societal decay, the mice of this former city are known for their Smithcraft & their Tools-wisdom. They are also known for their Determination & Boldness.
Grasslake The second-Easternmost town in the Mouse Territories, Grasslake has it's share (some Grasslake residents grumble more than it's share) of outlander predation. Consequently they have a disproportionate number of Insectrists & Militarists among their population. Grasslake mice tend to be Defenders & Nimble.
Ivydale Renowned for it's Bakers & bread, Ivydale mice also are able Harvesters. It's difficult to be an Ivydale mouse & not be a Hard Worker.
Lockhaven First true City of mice & home of the Mouse Guard, Lockhaven has few residents, now being more military command & less civil center. Lockhaven mice aid the Guard as Weavers & Armorers. They are renowned for being Generous & having a Guard's Honor.
Port Sumac A busy little port town situated between two bays of the Great Northern Water. Port Sumac mice are noted as Boatcrafters & Weather Watchers. They also tend to be Tough with a keen Weather Sense.
Sandmason A sandstone castle surrounded by ever-shifting dunes. The sands make for superior glass, consequently Sandmason Glaziers are well regarded, they also are known for their Dune-wisdom. Sandmason mice tend to be Nocturnal & Quiet.
Shaleburrow A simple town known for it's delicious drinks! Most Shaleburrow mice are Brewers, Harvesters or Millers. They have a reputation as Open Minded.
Sprucetuck Known for it's scientists, medicine & scent concoctions. Most Sprucetuck mice are Scientists & Loremice. They are also generally Inquisitive & Rational.
The town (or City, or village) of your birth is considered your home when away from the Guard (not that you get much time away from the guard...) Your Parents (so long as they still live) can be found there, as can likely your Trades-master. It will also affect the skills & traits you have available to choose from. Consider the descriptions of mice from each locale & think of which ones sound most like who you see yourself as...
Well. If we're talking tangentially, practically anything which could be of concern to motile, sentient beings is something that might concern anthropomorphic field mice.
If we look at literary history, some of the first (and still ongoing), most prevalent, uses of anthropomorphic animals in general is for allegory.
Therefore, allow me to clarify my previous post.
The story I have been developing involves subjects I have no interest in exploring in a PbP about anthropomorphic field mice.
I apologize for the lack of activity. I will have posts tomorrow. Life got complicated...
On the bright side, My son & I thoroughly enjoyed 'Wreck-it-Ralph' & watching it helped me with character development for the story that has been percolating in the back of my brain for quite some time...
Unfortunately, the story in question has absolutely nothing to do with anthropomorphic field mice. Sigh
Sweet! That makes three. Which is enough for a Patrol as soon as Bilbo sounds off with at least a Concept. I will try & have the remaining question posts by tonight. If I am able I will also see if I can post a 'walk-through' example on my avatar page.
@UltraFennec: That is actually only about half the questions total. Briefly I still have to post questions & information about Birth towns, Skills, Resources, Circles, and Traits.
I will probably post Towns, Skills & Traits individually as they are each fairly significant subjects in terms of amount of information in each. Resources & Circles will be grouped together.
Towns will be next as that is the last category in which your choices made affect the options you will have available to you later.
Given that I originally started this in response to this thread, and I have yet to hear a further responce fom anyone who posted there, I may well just go with the first three or four that post an interest here.
I Intend no more than Two Patrols. If players are interested, I may go for the 'Two Patrol Leaders/Two Tenderpaws' structure on one or both. Otherwise, I am trying to hold to the traditional Three Guard configuration.
If I get three people interested & characters burned, I will likely start play then, with the possibility of bringing another patrol later if more people take an interest.
If you have the book & have given it a read you will understand the importance placed on burning characters together. Which is why I would ask you to mostly keep an eye on this thread for a bit rather than jump into anything more than a Character Concept. Of course if you are asking because you have friends interested feel free to direct them here!
All living things act according to their Nature. Just as it is in a Weasel's Nature to be Aggressive, to Gloat, to be Clever & to Steal into and from Burrows. So too it is in a Mouse's Nature to Climb, to Escape harm, to Forage and to Hide.
Do you save for winter even if it means going without something now? Or do you use what you have when you need it, even though it might mean coming short later?
When confronted, do you stand your ground & resist, or do you run & hide?
Do you reasonably fear such predators as Owls, Weasels and Wolves? They are all much larger & more deadly than we, after all.
Consider each of these questions. Keep track of your answers, they will affect both your Nature& other things about you.
Now you will consider more obviously concrete questions.
How do you see yourself?Are you the wide-eyed idealist? A curmudgeonly veteran? The 'roughest toughest guardmouse this side of the Legendary Black Axe'?
What Rank do you currently hold within the Guard?Below Gwendolyn, our current Matriarch, there are five general Rankings within the Guard. All Guardmice begin as Tenderpaws. With time & experience, they prove themselves as Guardmice. A Patrol Guard has proven him/ or her/self equal to a greater degree of responsibility & autonomy. Patrol Leaders are responsible for themselves & the patrol below them. Guard Captains direct specific Missions for the Guard overall.
PC's will not start above Patrol Leader, most will not start above Guardmouse.
Your starting Rank will affect your starting Age, Will & Health. Will & Health measure your overall Mental & Physical capability.
First, you, the recruit must ask yourself these questions.
What is my name?I can hardly refer to you as 'Hey You!' At least not for long, not when there are as many Tenderpaws & Apprentices as I see here before me.
Who are, or were, your parents? What was their trade?All we are is the culmination of what has come before us. Great mice have come from humble beginnings, just as mean mice have fallen from on high.
Who taught you your first trade?All mice answer the call of adulthood. All mice take a trade, even if it is for the first time here, within the walls of Lockhaven.
Besides your Parents & your Teacher, who speaks up for you?A mouse is known by his boon companions, sometimes even more than his family.
Who would speak against you?One does not volunteer for the Guard if one is not a Mouse of strong convictions. Mice of strong convictions make enemies, sometimes without even meaning to or noticing, until too late.
The Weasels, long our enemies, became our bane, as they smashed through our Southwesterly borders.
By the wit, wisdom, and leadership of Gwendolyn, Matriarch of the Mouse Guard; and no small measure of Guardmouse sacrifice & blood, we beat back the Weasel horde, but at great cost.
Our Southwestern border is not what once it was. Several mouse communities were lost, their citizens now homeless, or worse.
The Weasels threaten our borders no more, but in their absence a new danger threatened.
Disgruntled by the 'performance' of the Mouse Guard, various 'free Mice' answered the call of Midnight, to usher in a new era of Mouse dominance, both over other animals, and over other mice.
By the actions of the Guard, Midnight's army was broken at the gates of Lockhaven, the Mouse Guard's home & Sanctuary, but Midnight's poison had spread far & wide among those mice who had grown fat & powerful in their homes, and who saw little need to recognize the efforts of the Guard when it meant letting go their own dreams of empire.
The Winter War is done.
Midnight is banished,
but the Mouse Guard, and by extension all the Mouse Territories, are the least stable they have ever been in several lifetimes.
Are you the mouse to step forward & do what needs to be done?
Below, there will be a series of questions, thinking of your answers to them will guide you through creating your Guardmouse.
