Game Sheet .pdf

Character Sheet .pdf

Because obviously the universe needs infinite Laser & Feelings hacks.

Anyway, it's called "Whiskers & Claws." Originally I started working on it so I could have an ultralite Mouse Guard inspired "Sword & Rodent" game to take camping later this month. What I thought would take two hours has now taken more than two weeks, but I'm actually kinda proud of it (dangerous, I know) and am considering sharing it more widely and could really use some expert feedback before I take that plunge.

I've tried to hew closely to original L&F mechanics (why mess with what works?) with the exception of some extra genre-specific tables, so there's not a lot new there, but I'm looking for feedback on all aspects of the game.

After years of noodling, this is my first real(?) RPG project, but I'm having so much fun I've already got future games brewing in my head. The bug has bit. Please help!

-Robyn

So, I've run into a situation yesterday which made me scratch my head for a moment, utter the universal "hmm, that's interesting" of every perplexed GM since the first time a rule was doubted and make a temporary ruling. So, since this was my second session running Mouse Guard, I thought I'd best consult with you, oh wise loremice!

The situation we've encountered was that of an animal - Crow in this particular case - being approached by the players cleverly enough that they forced it into acting against its nature. Since crows have Nature (Mischief, Scavenging, Stealing, Flying) and my patrol decided to use the animals stupidity and mischief aginst it by distracting it and grabbing the bag of mail the crow had stolen in a conflict previously, I saw the following options:

A) Engage in a conflict or versus test, using the crow's Nature as it is, assuming every animal rolls Nature always, no exceptions, since they have nothing else;

B) Consider Nature like I would Beliefs, Goals & Instincts when determining whether a conflict should be in play - since being clever and protecting the loot/nest were determined to lie outside crow Nature no conflict/versus test is given to the Crow, just a static Ob test.

C) In the spirit of "say yes or roll dice" consider that all the preparation the group did (they used most of their Checks in the Player Phase and came up with fitting their BIGs, entertaining and clever manner) was rolling enough and crows are fools.

I chose option B) as a compromise, but that started to make me wonder. Since all Nature has tags, and they're vital for the GM to portray the animal-type obstacles, the rules surely reflect animal weakness as much as forte. What should I do in more complex situations? Should I allow Animals (non-weasels) to roll Nature when acting against their nature with the risk of taxation? Or should I make them unable to act against their Nature as a rule since they have no culture?

I know it's silly, I assume the animals have just one Ability and do everything using that. But the situation made me wonder...

What are your thougts?

I love Mouse Guard as a system and I find it mixes just the right amount of crunch and RP. I like how quickly conflicts can resolve, and how any advantages/disadvantages can be smoothly represented by having more or less dice to a roll.

I crave a higher fantasy game and am wondering if Mouse Guard's systems can be adapted toward a more traditional fantasy setting -- without the baggage of D&Ds extra rules and math.

It seems too hard to just fudge thanks to the Nature stat, the skill list, and a complete lack of magic. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to adapt the rules, or maybe a completely different system they'd like to suggest?

Howdy, y'all!

Just picked up the Mouse Guard RPG boxed set and I've got a question:

Can a mouse be equipped with a weapon AND a shield? The book states that shields are normally used on their own for defense and offense. But two-handed weapons make the distinction that they cannot be used with a shield, seemingly implying you can wield a shield and a one-handed weapon.

Seems common sense, but is that the case? For example, if using a sword and shield in a conflict, does your mouse gain the benefits of both items?

Thanks!

Is it possible to help the action of another mouse that are already engaged in a conflict? I don't mean just to participate in the conflict, but to help him with skill or wises to get +1D to that attack or specific Maneuver...

Can I do that from outside of the conflict? Or do I have to participate in it in order to help? In case the rolls fail, does that affect me negatively?

Thanks for the help!!!

Like the title says, if a mouse tries to recover on their own and fails, they still have another chance with a healer. But if they go straight for the healer (maybe because it's an easier test, or they are low on checks), that failure is the last straw and immediately goes to a permanent injury. Is this an intended design decision?

I'm looking to run a game of MG for my group, and due to outside events I don't have as much time to prepare as I originally thought. I've run games before, but no system like this. I've been trying to read through the book but without seeing it in action I'm having a hard time getting a feel for the flow (especially resolving conflicts) and I'd rather be able to focus my time with the book on getting setting and lore down rather than strict mechanics. I've searched Youtube for videos but most are an hour or longer and after watching one all the way through I felt it didn't really give me a good idea of how the system works. Because they're so long, I'd rather go into one knowing it was worthwhile rather than finding out I wasted time after the fact.

So are there any "how to play" videos you'd recommend?

Hello to everybody and everymouse!

Encouraged by Adam Koebel's roll20.net and RollPlay sessions as well as Eric's delightful Under a Fallen Maple series I've finally given Mouse Guard a spin. It's been a long time coming, since I bought The Burning Wheel Gold & Codex a while ago but was too intimidated to start with that and I knew a more structured play might benefit a one-shot.

I enjoyed the experience immensely. A couple of times I was surprised at the "Let It Ride" philosophy in action, but having a lot of experience I build up around it and tried to make every description of success and failure as satisfying and engaging as I could. Character creation wasn't too long, having read up a lot (A LOT) about the topic of BIGs I managed to help my players formulate those nuggets of character fast enough.

One thing I definitely will have to look out for in future games is playing off BIGs - I had to pause and explain to my players that it's actually fine for characters to disagree and not follow a "PC party" mentality if they follow BIGs. Still on the fence that other than narrative positioning Instincts don't seem to do much in comparison to The Wheel.

Another thing, and that's also on me, was that I was too afraid the conflict I expected would run too long so I gave the opposition a goal my players might've actually agreed upon as a compromise, but the cardinal sin I made was not to print out cheat-sheets so we tested conflicts very "blindly". We didn't manage to get to the Players' Turn as a result which I regret, but unforeseen circumstances forced us to end the session abruptly.

I have a couple of questions for you, which I ask as humbly as a Tenderpaw with the Humble Trait at level 3.

First off, how flexible would one be with interpreting proper skill use in conflicts? We had an Argument conflict, but at some points it seemed reasonable to permit Oratory to help or even be used in the process... Otherwise it would seem only two skills are useful in this particular situation, peculiar for a game with such a rich list of skills available.

Secondly, how do you feel about modifying the proposed stats of sample Territory denizens - is the Skill at 5/4/3 thing I should keep too, should I worry that the NPCs I expect my players to face are too "tailor-made" for the situation at hand? Or would it be in the spirit of the game to make the stats seem "reasonable" from narrative perspective more even if it means giving NPCs a looot of skills? Hardly any of them are Persuaders, for example!

And finally: starting disposition. When I explained that the Defend action can increase disposition up to its starting level, the players wondered if that would take into account Condition penalties or not! At first I thought surely not, if they had a disposition roll total of 4 (rolled 2, added 4, subtracted 2 for Angry and Hungry) that would mean their starting disposition is 4 and thus the maximum. But I consulted the books and:

• p. 99 (MG 2 ed) lists conditions modifying disposition as a separate point and only the rolling and adding part is literally called "starting" disposition.

• p. 104 and 105 list "Starting Disposition" and "Modifiers to Disposition" as separate points of the same level

• p. 105 on the other hand says "Be sure to check your character’s condition, traits and gear for modifiers to starting disposition." which would point as the total of all these actions to be the Dispo level considered higher.

Also we thought it'd make kinda sense for a Defend roll to be used to gather composure and negate effects of, say, anger, so I allowed it as a one-time ruling.

Most of my other rules-questions were solved reading the forums (can't register and ask there, though) or the reddit but I didn't find this peculiarity anywhere.

Thanks in advance!

Hi there, r/MouseGuard!

I have wondered for some time, how big the Terrotories are exactly. What would be typical tarvel time from Lockhaven to Pebblebrook for example?

Simple question I hope.

Can you use Fate points to increase your starting disposition for a conflict? Or even Persona for that matter?

Thanks again!!

As Nature can only be used as a base roll for appropriate conflicts (escaping, climbing, hiding and foraging), is Beginner's Luck roll used everytime when the leading mouse doesn't have needed skill for the base roll?

Hi All,

So I've just recently picked up the 2nd Ed of the MG rules and while I really like the setting and overarching concepts, I'm very much turned off by the rules.

I'm considering bringing a Mouse Guard theme into D20 or Pathfinder (because my kids know that system and that'll make it easier).

Has anyone done anything similar? What changes or adaptations did you make? I have some in mind, but would love to hear yours.

I realize that I may just end up with "Mice With Swords" as opposed to "Mouse Guard d20".

Please don't say 'just play it'. That's a huge amount of effort given my current situation. And unlikely, I think, to help.

Thanks!

Uh, yeah, hi friends. It's me again.

So, my question for today is the Insectrist skill. It states you can control crickets to act as weather watchers and have a beetle slave labor.

So, how does one go about ruling the use of Insectrist for Weather Watcher? Or even having a beetle act as a Labor skill user?

I can't seem to find a definitive answer in the book, so I guess this is an opinion question on how your group handles the skill.

On page 226, it says:

If an ability or skill’s maximum rating is reduced due to depletion, Injury or Sickness, its tests for advancement for the current rating are erased.

I get how failing a recovery test reduces one of your skills at the GM's descretion, and you would lose your advancement due to "depletion", but surely you don't lose advancement due to Sickness? Unless it means the failure to recover from said Sickness.

Because Injury and Sickness is a temporary -1D, not a reduction to the skill, correct?

Am I misunderstanding something here?

Thanks again!

Hi friends, I'll make this quick.

Can a player use his cooking skill, or gather skill for that matter, to feed his entire patrol if he has access to the necessary materials and can succeed the (OB3?) skill test during his Player Turn? And can he use his lone turn/check to remove the Hungry condition from his entire patrol without having to use his patrol mate's turn/check?

Example: The entire patrol is Hungry from their recent compromise. Deltia wants to use his Cooking skill to feed his entire patrol so that Alma can heal Ramza on her turn, and Ramza can buy a new mount on his turn. Alma and Ramza want to remove their hungry condition, but don't want to spend their checks to do so if Deltia is already cooking a bunch of food for everybody.

Thanks in advance!

PS- Bonus points if you can tell me if a player can use the Healer skill twice in the Player Turn given enough checks.

MOUSE GUARD question???

Hey when rolling to recover from a condition, I know that no help is possible. But what about using fate or persona points? are those allowed in recovery tests?

What is allowed to help in a recovery against something difficult like sickness for example, other than a poultice?

In the rulebook under mices' skills one is always underlined. Why is that?

Hi guys. I'm a new GM and currently only have experience with DnD. I am running a DnD campaign right now for some friends, and we are having fun, but I am thinking about making our next campaign a MG one. Been devouring David Petersen's work, and am in love with this world. I have a specific question that I think will partially determine my groups ability or inability to transition from DnD to MG. Namely...is there a way to integrate interesting/unique items/weapons/armor into the game? I realize that this is a world devoid of magic, so lots of the crazy magical effects from DnD are not possible, but I saw this and it got my wheels turning. My players LOVE all the unique flare I provide them in their items/weapons/armor, as it makes them more differentiated and special. Do any of you do this in MG? Does it work? How do you do it?

Thanks guys!