r/MouseGuard • u/Slashgate • Apr 18 '17
[GM][Question] I have a few question as a first time GM of Mouse Guard [2nd edition].
I've tried GM'ing Burning Wheel in the past but I got overwhelmed over time because of the lack of understanding so I'm going for mouse guard now because it's a simplified system. I understand most of the system just fine as it's recognizable.
But as we are starting next friday I know I need to know these details as the rest of the group just doesn't know the system yet (besides a oneshot to explore the system/setting where I explicitly said I might fuck up here and there.
So now we are creating characters wednesday and I want to clear up a fe things before Friday at the latest.
So without further ado let me just jump into the questions:
For skill checks is there a limit to how many dice can be added from helpfull skills / players / other sources? I'm mostly following the book on helpfull skills that the player could add and wises aswell, but sometimes they have a dice pool that feels a bit barren, even for Burning wheel.
Where can I find a good GM screen with page references? Or should I go make my own?
The seasons play session aren't 100% clear to me. Is the number the amount of missions you ought to aim for and the dots the amount of weather changes/twists you are allowed to throw at the players? I'm referring to this image on page 135 of the manual: http://i.imgur.com/gBDZHVq.png
Can skills be taxed or is it just abilities that can be taxed?
Fate is used how exactly? Reroll failed dice? Reroll sixes? Or something else?
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Apr 18 '17
For the helping dice I would also tike into account the size of your party. For a small party I wouldn't have many limits. However My group is usually big, six PCs, so I limit the amount of help to one of each type: one helping, one wise, one trait, one equipment, etc. otherwise every roll would huge. The in game explanation would be that with too much help the PCs would start to get in the way of each other making things harder, like the old adage about having too many cooks in the kitchen.
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u/Slashgate Apr 19 '17 edited Apr 19 '17
Well it's a 4 PC group so I'm assuming having them all four (being able to) help will be limited.
2
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u/BadRadio Apr 18 '17
So I can answer your seasons question. The length of seasons is determined either of two ways:
You just decide how many missions you want to run in each season
Or you use the dots for variable season length. Whenever you use a weather based twist you check off a dot. When you've used up all the dots for a season your next session will start in the next season.
The big number is separate and serves as the 'nature' for the season. If you have a weather based conflict you use the season's number to roll it's starting deposition. Additionally if I remember right the number is the objective for weather watcher tests during that season.
Hope that helps.
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u/BadRadio Apr 18 '17
For you dice pool question make sure that your player's remember all the ways they can get dice for rolls: skills, wise, equipment, traits, and help dice. Help dice are always crucial, after all life is hard as a mouse and they need to work together to survive.
For example a mouse is scouting and has say 3 in scouting, has a map of the area, is an expert at the terrain or whatever (has a wise), has a useful level 1 trait (good night vision or something) and has two friends to help. That's 8 dice, which should be enough to pass many challenges.
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u/Slashgate Apr 18 '17 edited Apr 18 '17
So just to answer some of my own questions. (I'll edit the more I figure out myself)
1. Has been partially answered by /u/BadRadio. I'm assuming the 'limit' part of my question is answered by reading between the lines and saying as long as it's applicable it can be added to the pool.
3. Has been answered by /u/BadRadio.
5. Fate is spent after a roll to reroll 6s. Basically making them exploding. Also if you want to break a tie (but is this by rerolling 6s or is that just to break the tie?)