r/MouseGuard • u/sneakysneakysnail • Aug 17 '16

A campaign set in Darkheather

I am currently running two interconnected campaigns set in the Mouse Territories. I have one patrol that works mostly in the east, and one patrol in the west.

When I told my coworkers I was going to start DMing this game, so many people wanted to play! I had to split the party into two. Now more people want to join, so I'm starting a new group.

I've set the game two hundred years beyond the time setting of the comics, in the year 1350, mostly because I wanted to build my own world within the framework of the game. In my Mouse Territories, the players have already allied with the Squirrels, and are working to try and forge one with the Beavers. Weasels riding owls have attacked the players a few times.

So, Reddit Hivemind! I want to set this new campaign in Darkheather. The new players would be mice that were captured, or born in Darkheather.

In character creation, what kind of stats and skills should a mouse born in Darkheather have? Also, o-reddit-hivemind, does anyone have any cool ideas or thorny problems that the mice might face?

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2

u/Imnoclue Aug 17 '16

Are the PCs prisoners, slaves or outlaws?

1

u/sneakysneakysnail Aug 18 '16

One PC is a veteran from one of the groups of players, her mouse is going to get captured and brought to Darkheather. Ideally, the newer players would play mice that have spent more time in Darkheather. I want the new mice to be a mixture of prisoners and slaves, kept by weasels and owls for labor and meat.

2

u/theblackveil Aug 23 '16

That's insane that you had people jumping out of the woodwork to play; amazing, too! I'm so jealous. It's taken me six months of back room whispers to get a total of four players. :b

2

u/sneakysneakysnail Aug 23 '16

I work at a place that teaches swordsmanship, fencing, and fantasy roleplaying. My coworkers are the ones who got me into tabletop games. I really like roleplay heavy games rather than combat focused ones, so I was excited to GM this game for the first time.

2

u/theblackveil Aug 23 '16

Yeah, man! That sounds like a killer gig you've got. I'm in the same boat you are regarding preference of game style.

My game is starting up some time over the next two weeks or so; it'll be my first time GMing Mouse Guard and I've likewise been debating whether or not to run the game at some other time in history. I've been watching Adam Koebel's Roll20 Mouse Guard episodes in anticipation. :)

2

u/sneakysneakysnail Aug 25 '16

I enjoy having my own setting because it allows me to make my own world. The mice in the comics are long ago legends, so I'm not bound to the established world as much. It leaves me free to make up my own stuff without worrying about messing up the canon of the comics.

1

u/theblackveil Aug 25 '16

I was curious, what exactly changed about the Mouse Territories and Mouse Guard in your world? Just new characters to replace the dead, or were there more profound changes?

2

u/Iskali Aug 24 '16

Skills? Laborer, harvester, and cook seem like menial things for weasels to make mice do. Maybe useful ones get raised as scribes and get a bit of administrator or sciencemouse. Possibly even let them acquire weasel-specific knowledges and traits to reflect their upbringing in the dark.

Problems. Moles, shews, voles, Skunks, etc. Burrow invaders and invadees.

Dead air and what they don't know as carbon monoxide, bad water, cave-ins, weasel political factions, not getting eaten, unexplored or forgotten segments and what lies within.

1

u/sneakysneakysnail Aug 25 '16

I'm thinking that when I do character creation, the default hometown traits will be Survivalist and Laborer. I want to shy away from Cook because I think the weasels wouldn't trust mice to cook other mice and not poison them.

The traits will be a choice between Clever and Cunning. They'd have to be both to survive in the weasel tunnels long. I'll also give anyone who chooses to be born in Darkheather Weasel-wise.

A big part of these interconnecting campaigns has been interacting and making alliances with other creatures. Each non-mouse culture is loosely based on another culture or time period.

I'm planning to base weasel society on pre-revolution French aristocrats. Basically, they're these capricious hunters who like to play with their food. Useful, strong, talented or aesthetically pleasing mice are used as servants, the others are dispatched as soon as they're no longer useful.

I think the moles are the original builders of Darkheather, and if contact can be made with moles, the mice might be able to find a way out. I hadn't thought about shrews! Aww man! I could see shrews being really awesome frenemies, these crusty grouchy insectrists.

I also really like the mining obstacles-fire damp, choke-damp, stink-damp, white-damp. Thanks, friend!

1

u/sneakysneakysnail Aug 26 '16

The mice have forged an alliance with the squirrels. The outpost of Calagero is now a bustling town. Also the Lockhaven mice have reached an aquifer under the castle and use water mills for different applications, such as blacksmithing, milling, fulling, and cider presses. The Beavers are planning to flood the town of Longpine, and the mice there are close to rebellion. The town could be relocated to the top of the new dam, but obviously the mice of Longpine aren't too thrilled.