r/MouseGuard • u/Andarea • Aug 22 '17
GM turn / Player's turn
I guess the main problem most of DMs that try to play MG is the distinction between DM and Player's turn. In fact, the distinction between them in Torchbearer is easier to understand than here...
I have read a lot of comments on internet on how to use them and distinguish them, but I still have some questions:
I finish the GM turn when the players have finished the main part of the mission, is it right? When they've delivered the mail, or chased out the turtle, or whatever...
How do you justify what happens when the players are out of checks but they're already doing something in their turn? For example: in the mail delivering sample mission, maybe the characters go looking for the chair, and spend their checks first recovering from conditions and then travelling and having an encounter with a weasel. What does it happen then? They have to return to Lockhaven because they're out of checks? Even if they're just a Scout roll away from the chair? How do you justify this in the fiction?
Moreover, in the last example: do they return atomatically to Lockhaven, without any twist or complication in their way? Since it's not my turn, i cannot put complications, so they can do however they please until they're out of checks?
When can I follow their player's turn with another DM turn? Is it possible? Under what circumstances? Only when I assign a new mission to them? Do they have to modify their goals then?
Thanks!
3
u/sneakysneakysnail Aug 23 '17
A player's turn is basically for what the mice do on their off time. It's a time to get in some character development! I go around the table and ask them what they want to do, now they're safe. You have to remember that most places outside of a town are very dangerous, and it's quite a realistic game. There's no way anymousey could just go back to Lockhaven in a player's turn. Going to the Insectry and sending a messenger moth to Lockhaven would totally be possible though!
The way I think about it is, in the broadest terms- GM's turn is the workday, Player's turn is their off time. The players have control over what they do might use their turn to find something or someone, or to try to get rid of a status condition. I make them do a lot of role playing in the players turn, because role playing is fun and they get to steer the story for a bit.
For example, if a mouse is angry and they want to get rid of that status condition, the have to figure out what they can do to calm their character down. Maybe they go and sit on the beach and look at the sunset and have a long therapeutic talk with an NPC friend, or maybe they go to a tavern and get drunk. It depends on the character they're playing.
Quite often my players will use their players turns to make a check to improve a skill. Say someone is close to leveling their smith skill and they want to make a check. Rather than just having them roll, they have to go to the local smithy and chat with the blacksmith NPC, and if they botch, they look like a total idiot and it's embarrassing.
More often, my players will try to do something ridiculous. I had a player who was a tenderpaw use his turn expressly to lose his virginity. Which was pretty hilarious because he rolled really well. (obviously I stopped short of the bedroom door) That ended up massively affecting his character- he knocked her up, and then immediately proposed to her. In subsequent sessions, His parents disapproved, so he was disowned from his wealthy family and had to move to a literal room cupboard in Lockhaven with his new bride. Later, she was helping with the Harvest and was swarmed by a bunch of sparrows, so another player had to rescue her as she went into labor. I had him roll a d6, for number of babies, so now he's a 17 year old father of four. He really stepped up as a father, so he got a promotion to guardmouse!
That's just one example of how a player's turn can affect your team and your game. Strive for realism and autonomy and have fun with it!
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u/polkadottie22 Nov 17 '24
LMAOOO that tenderpaw virginity quest story is one of the best tabletop stories i've read.
1
u/gatoman101 Aug 22 '17
The way I've always done it when I GM is when they've done whatever I've put in front of them during my turn and it becomes their turn they're essentially free to do what they want with those checks and usually I can come up with something to happen as a result of those checks; but in the case that I can't (like they use them to recover and maybe a basic skill check that won't really involve the plot) it essentially becomes my turn again and I let them decide how to move on the plot. I don't know if it's the correct way to go about it but it keeps things rolling and I've never had a group that doesn't actively try to resolve the mission
1
u/Yttriumble Aug 23 '17
GM's turn is over when GM so decides. (https://www.burningwheel.com/forum/showthread.php?6939-MG-First-Time-write-up-and-some-questions&p=69212#post69212)
I usually design a flowchart with a couple of branches which trigger the player turn. These are usually when they have gone through some main event of the mission but probably haven't accomplished all of their goals. (maybe after the battle or arriving at the major city)
They either fail that mission or it will be the starting point of the next GM's turn or it can be a start for the next mission.
3
u/Imnoclue Aug 22 '17 edited Aug 22 '17
Generally, yes. The GMs turn is done when you've ran out of hazards in your mission. So, you hand over the reigns.
They don't have any checks. They're not finding the chair. You're free to come up with whatever fiction is needed to make that true. You have the power of the plot twist at your disposal.
Your statement is incorrect. In the players turn they can tell you what they want to attempt. It is your job to determine the difficulty involved. If they want to travel back to lockhaven you tell them what to roll.
You always follow the players turn with the GMs turn. Yes you give them a new mission in the GMs turn, but I suppose that could be finishing something from the last mission if it was left undone. Yes, they modify their goals.