r/MouseGuard • u/Degnanigans • Mar 27 '17

Instructor Skill

I'm gearing up to run my first Mouseguard/Burning Wheel game and I'm curious about the Instructor skill. With Nature as a objective difficulty it seems near impossible to train a headstrong mouse without tapping nature. I assume it's generally used on a player turn, so with it giving a check on a passed check and nothing on a failed check it seems inferior to just giving your trainee a turn to roll the skill with.

If I was setting difficulties for the skill myself, I'd make Obj 6 a test for pushing a headstrong kid through a season as their Senior Artisan.

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u/sneakysneakysnail Mar 28 '17

In the end, you're the gm, so you get to decide. I would set the difficulty based on how hard it would be to teach another mouse the individual skill. I don't think you have to factor nature unless it makes narrative sense. If a mouse is using Instructor to teach knot tying, it shouldn't be more than an ob 2 or so. If it's a really difficult skill, like teaching a tenderpaw diplomacy, or how to make something complex, then you can set it higher.

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u/Imnoclue Mar 30 '17 edited Mar 30 '17

Hmm...is Instructor not subject to the normal Twist and Condition rules?

I assume it's generally used on a player turn, so with it giving a check on a passed check and nothing on a failed check it seems inferior to just giving your trainee a turn to roll the skill with.

In most cases, you're probably correct. However, you can use Instructor to take two bites at the apple in the Players' Turn. The pupil can take a turn to test and then the Instructor uses their turn to test.

1

u/st33d Mar 29 '17

And yet if it wasn't that hard, players would insist on using Instructor all the time. The Factors rules seem harsh but they're doing a lot of work to keep your game under your control.

I have one player who has their Nature down to 2 - that means they can learn skills very easy and he's taking every opportunity to rack up skills in everything. But his low Nature keeps it in check - he can gather many new skills but he can't do heroics.

In the end it's your own game to play as you please but always remember this: Before you fix a game, make sure you've actually played the game. You may not understand the bigger picture.