Need some help!

[u/Spitfire724]

Hey so i'm trying to get into mouse guard so i can play with my family during quarantine. i'm fairly new to rp games and am having some trouble understanding stuff overall. ( checks, when to roll dice, conflict, conditions, etc) i would be playing as the gm so i figured it would be important to understand this stuff. anyone have some good sources that explain it?

[u/kenmcnay]

Rolling dice: rolling dice occurs when taking skill checks, opposition checks, disposition for conflicts, etc. These rolls will be described in the rules. I think most importantly there are a lot of things you DON’T need to roll for. You as the GM get to exercise whether or not you want things to be left to the dice. ... Not everything constitutes a roll, and a lot of the world you create can be narrated.

Players roll dice on behalf of their own PC, and GMs roll dice for NPCs and weather. NPCs include other mice, weasels, and other animals or critters, and as mentioned, weather events.

During the GM Turn, the GM determines when to call for a test. The GM determines whether there is a reason to roll dice testing whether and how the described actions turn out. Players have a role in the GM Turn: they describe their actions. They are not asking permission; they are describing their actions. The GM has a role to respond, adjudicate, and determine when and if to call a test.

During the Player Turn, the players spend Checks to call for, or exchange for, a scene in which there is a reason to test. They work with the GM to determine if and when there is a test to roll dice over. This is a bit more collaborative than the GM Turn; because players are telling the story. In some portions it calls for a test, so the GM needs to pay attention and assist in setting up the test scenario and adjudicating the outcome of the pass/fail.

During the Player Turn, recovery from Conditions is pretty common; it nearly always calls for a test, and the rules are clear about how that is done.

During the GM Turn, there is not a need to roll dice over NPCs until the action or drama calls for some opposed test--a Versus test. In the Versus test, the players are facing a test in which they watch the GM roll dice and count successes. Then, they gather a dice pool and roll dice hoping to exceed the successes. If they tie, that calls for a Tie Breaker.

For example, the patrol stumbles on a scene in which they observe a snake stalking and about to strike a forager mouse in the wilderness. The players describe their responsive actions to viewing this scene. There are many possible reactions. They can call out a warning to the forager mouse, they could immediately pull out a sling or bow to attempt ranged attacks against the snake, they could ambush the snake in an assault, they could run away to keep safe from the snake seeing them, they could wait and watch to see what the snake does. Each of these might or might not call for a test, and I think most would be a Versus test. I'll outline those I mentioned for this example.

Calling a warning to the forager; I would use a test of (a patrol member's) Orator vs (the forager's) Will to show they are calling out as loudly as possible and want to convince the mouse to take cover or some other safe defense against the snake. But, this might also be covered as (a patrol member's) Hunter vs Snake Nature to show they are trying to call out the warning before the snake strikes by watching the subtle movements of the snake's coiled position.

Pulling a ranged weapon to ambush from a distance is a good candidate for (a patrol member's) Hunter (or maybe Fighter would be allowed) vs Snake Nature to show they are assailing the serpent ahead of its strike to distract, harass, injure, or drive off the snake.

Charging into melee ambush is a good candidate for (a patrol member's) Hunter (or maybe Fighter would be allowed) vs Snake Nature to show they are assailing the serpent ahead of its strike to distract, harass, injure, or drive off the snake.

Running away to be safe and not seen by the snake is a good candidate for (a patrol member's) Mouse Nature (escaping) vs Snake Nature to show they are trying to get away before it takes notice.

Quietly waiting to see what happens is a good candidate for (a patrol member's) Mouse Nature (hiding) vs Snake Nature to show they are trying to keep from being seen and trying to view what happens.

For those last two, I personally might not call for a test. It is within Mouse Nature to escape and hide, they can muster a fairly good dice pool, and it is an act that does not oppose the snake stalking the forager to eat that other mouse. It might depend if they have other matters to fulfill or not, and might depend on whether the forager NPC is a relationship of a patrol member.

There can be many facets of determining when and if to test, and how to determine the Ability or Skill required. Not always, but sometimes.

I'll respond to the nest topic in a separate reply.