The Life of a Patrol Mouse
So last night we played through one complete round of Mouse Guard (that is a GM’s turn & then the Players’ turn). It was, despite my tentative reservations, fun - in a different sort of way.
As most of you that are reading this will likely know, Mouse Guard spans the boundary between what I call Traditional RPGs and the nebulous idea of Indie RPGs (it’s not a good title for them, but that’s for another day). It has some tight structure and expects the Players and GM to reinforce their actions using conflict mechanics. I’ve never really been convinced by this approach to gaming, despite having seen and played umpteen versions of this type of thing, but as I’ve got older and mellowed out the idea of throwing extra mechanics in to situations has become not so much of a deal for me.
Anyway, last night saw three of the Mouse Guard - Cale, the patrol leader with a tainted past; Rona the Patrol Mouse who had her eye on everyone and everything; and Matthias, the suspicious loner - were assigned a task to escort a Librarian Mouse, Gurney, to the town of SpruceTuck early in the Spring Months.
Darryn, the GM, opened the game with a traditional approach, allowing us all to explain what we were doing and how we were preparing. It also allowed for a bit of foreshadowing, through the contact of Matthias Blue Jay friend Whiree-wee. This intro also brought up the first test of the game - quite unexpectedly - when Gurney asked to bring an apprentice along with him. Cale was disinclined to allow more mouths to join the group, but found himself in a stalemate (the conflict resulted in a tie). Rather than pushing things further (opening a second round of conflict), he acquiesced to the Librarians request, tapping his ‘Open-minded’ trait to gain a couple of checks to be used in the Player’s Turn.
The group then meet up to leave Lockhaven, Matthias having prepared Hero - one of the Guard’s Beetles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_rhinoceros_beetle) to carry the books Gurney had sorted for the trip. Here also it was revealed that the assistant he had acquired was none other than Maria - Matthias Enemy!
Once the troupe left Lockhaven the GM reverted to the prescribed style of Mouse Guard play. This involved a test for Pathfinding (which resulted in Matthias getting angry both at the lack of trails at this point of the year and the constant goading of Maria), a Weatherwatching test (that saw Rona ensure that we had left on a mostly sunny and fine period), and then a trip that was run as a full conflict.
It was interesting, if not a little surreal to run the rest of the trip to Sprucetuck as an extended conflict, and I for one struggled to translate the actions and results of this into any roleplaying or even descriptive situations. That’s not to say that it wasn’t tense and interesting, it was! We started badly when Matthias rolled again badly for his Pathfinding roll, resulting in a fairly low, Disposition, and then he promptly blew most of that in his first action, when both he and the season attacked (5 lost on both sides!). We then struck a bit of luck - first bad (Rona chose Feint while the season attacked), then good (we only lost 2 Disposition), and in Cale’s action he Manoeuvred and managed to equal the season’s successes only by spending a Persona (or Fate, I can’t remember) point to reroll his solitary 6! Back to a second round of Conflict, Matthias attacked again, taping his Nature to say that as Sprucetuck was very close, his Mousey nature saw the group speed up in an attempt to forge the last few miles. He did well this time driving the Season’s disposition down to 1. With both sides Disposition now at 1, both sides knew that the next action was likely the last, Rona stepped up and using a Manoeuvre she saw us to almost the gates of the town, unfortunately this success was met with a twist! As the group clambered through a fallen tree, Hero, the beetle, lost its footing and fell from sight. Carefully making our way down, we discovered Hero dead - from spear wounds rather than the fall - and Gurney’s books missing!!
At that the GM handed the game over to the Players. Matthias had 3 checks (2 for tapping his Hardworking Trait when forging the path - it had been used in a negative way saying that he had driven the group on despite the need for rest, etc.), Cale also had three, while Rona only had one. Matthias started first by saying that he should lead Maria & Gurney to Sprucetuck immediately, expecting a conflict with Cale (who he thought would demand the group stay together), but got none (Cale thought it a good idea). The use of a check saw him and his wards into the town, and the reception committee quite perturbed by the story they heard.
Cale then spend a check to remove his Hungry condition - poor Hero! (the GM allowed him to spend two checks to also remove Rona’s Hungry condition), while Rona’s single check was spent to following the mice prints that lead from the scene of Hero’s death. With a success in Scouting, she discovered an encampment of mice - one of whom held the books the group had lost!
Back to Matthias, he couldn’t let the reception feast the scientists of the city had prepared for the travellers, so he spent a check to remove his own Hungry Condition. Meanwhile, Cale attempted to surprise and convince the mice they had encountered to surrender! But a tied roll resulted in a stalemate.
Finally, a very full and happy Matthais used his last check to visit the Cartographers Guild, where he attempted to purchase a map of the Sprucetuck area. The cartographers seemed rather suspicious of the young mouse’s story, and where, they asked, was his patrol leader? A few extra silvers (the result was a tied), saw the map secured and the Player’s turn over! Next session sees the conflict with the stranger mice commence - and the patrol one mouse short!
As I said, it was fun game. I definitely had trouble reconciling the extended conflict with the season - it just felt awkward and not very satisfying - despite the closeness of the result. Then again, I think it did suffer from a lack of narration, but that was something we missed in most of the session. Next time out we need to spend time describing the results of such tests and conflicts in a more dramatic and story-like way.
I also, personally had trouble keeping my goal, instinct and belief in focus during play. I think Darryn said that he might have to step up in this regard as well (giving us stuff that feeds those), but nothing I really did tapped into those guides for me (in fact at one point it was the opposite!)
The other think I’ll mention is the organisation of the book. Have access to a physical copy (Luke’s) was good, but while the book looks fantastic, the layout of the sections is terrible. I was constantly needing to flick from page to page to find the info I needed, and as some sub-systems where spread out through the entire text, I’m still; not sure we did some things right (for example if you use your trait to hinder yourself, can you still use it a beneficial way at a later date?).
Still this was this first time out for all the group in anything resembling Burning Wheel, so we will learn as we proceed!
P.S. For those who need to know - here's Grand Experiment's comments on the upcoming Box set. As well as his review of the game (parts 1, 2 & 3) ... oh and his AP experiences - as a Group - and with his Wife - Part 1 & Part 2)
As most of you that are reading this will likely know, Mouse Guard spans the boundary between what I call Traditional RPGs and the nebulous idea of Indie RPGs (it’s not a good title for them, but that’s for another day). It has some tight structure and expects the Players and GM to reinforce their actions using conflict mechanics. I’ve never really been convinced by this approach to gaming, despite having seen and played umpteen versions of this type of thing, but as I’ve got older and mellowed out the idea of throwing extra mechanics in to situations has become not so much of a deal for me.
Anyway, last night saw three of the Mouse Guard - Cale, the patrol leader with a tainted past; Rona the Patrol Mouse who had her eye on everyone and everything; and Matthias, the suspicious loner - were assigned a task to escort a Librarian Mouse, Gurney, to the town of SpruceTuck early in the Spring Months.
Darryn, the GM, opened the game with a traditional approach, allowing us all to explain what we were doing and how we were preparing. It also allowed for a bit of foreshadowing, through the contact of Matthias Blue Jay friend Whiree-wee. This intro also brought up the first test of the game - quite unexpectedly - when Gurney asked to bring an apprentice along with him. Cale was disinclined to allow more mouths to join the group, but found himself in a stalemate (the conflict resulted in a tie). Rather than pushing things further (opening a second round of conflict), he acquiesced to the Librarians request, tapping his ‘Open-minded’ trait to gain a couple of checks to be used in the Player’s Turn.
The group then meet up to leave Lockhaven, Matthias having prepared Hero - one of the Guard’s Beetles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_rhinoceros_beetle) to carry the books Gurney had sorted for the trip. Here also it was revealed that the assistant he had acquired was none other than Maria - Matthias Enemy!
Once the troupe left Lockhaven the GM reverted to the prescribed style of Mouse Guard play. This involved a test for Pathfinding (which resulted in Matthias getting angry both at the lack of trails at this point of the year and the constant goading of Maria), a Weatherwatching test (that saw Rona ensure that we had left on a mostly sunny and fine period), and then a trip that was run as a full conflict.
It was interesting, if not a little surreal to run the rest of the trip to Sprucetuck as an extended conflict, and I for one struggled to translate the actions and results of this into any roleplaying or even descriptive situations. That’s not to say that it wasn’t tense and interesting, it was! We started badly when Matthias rolled again badly for his Pathfinding roll, resulting in a fairly low, Disposition, and then he promptly blew most of that in his first action, when both he and the season attacked (5 lost on both sides!). We then struck a bit of luck - first bad (Rona chose Feint while the season attacked), then good (we only lost 2 Disposition), and in Cale’s action he Manoeuvred and managed to equal the season’s successes only by spending a Persona (or Fate, I can’t remember) point to reroll his solitary 6! Back to a second round of Conflict, Matthias attacked again, taping his Nature to say that as Sprucetuck was very close, his Mousey nature saw the group speed up in an attempt to forge the last few miles. He did well this time driving the Season’s disposition down to 1. With both sides Disposition now at 1, both sides knew that the next action was likely the last, Rona stepped up and using a Manoeuvre she saw us to almost the gates of the town, unfortunately this success was met with a twist! As the group clambered through a fallen tree, Hero, the beetle, lost its footing and fell from sight. Carefully making our way down, we discovered Hero dead - from spear wounds rather than the fall - and Gurney’s books missing!!
At that the GM handed the game over to the Players. Matthias had 3 checks (2 for tapping his Hardworking Trait when forging the path - it had been used in a negative way saying that he had driven the group on despite the need for rest, etc.), Cale also had three, while Rona only had one. Matthias started first by saying that he should lead Maria & Gurney to Sprucetuck immediately, expecting a conflict with Cale (who he thought would demand the group stay together), but got none (Cale thought it a good idea). The use of a check saw him and his wards into the town, and the reception committee quite perturbed by the story they heard.
Cale then spend a check to remove his Hungry condition - poor Hero! (the GM allowed him to spend two checks to also remove Rona’s Hungry condition), while Rona’s single check was spent to following the mice prints that lead from the scene of Hero’s death. With a success in Scouting, she discovered an encampment of mice - one of whom held the books the group had lost!
Back to Matthias, he couldn’t let the reception feast the scientists of the city had prepared for the travellers, so he spent a check to remove his own Hungry Condition. Meanwhile, Cale attempted to surprise and convince the mice they had encountered to surrender! But a tied roll resulted in a stalemate.
Finally, a very full and happy Matthais used his last check to visit the Cartographers Guild, where he attempted to purchase a map of the Sprucetuck area. The cartographers seemed rather suspicious of the young mouse’s story, and where, they asked, was his patrol leader? A few extra silvers (the result was a tied), saw the map secured and the Player’s turn over! Next session sees the conflict with the stranger mice commence - and the patrol one mouse short!
As I said, it was fun game. I definitely had trouble reconciling the extended conflict with the season - it just felt awkward and not very satisfying - despite the closeness of the result. Then again, I think it did suffer from a lack of narration, but that was something we missed in most of the session. Next time out we need to spend time describing the results of such tests and conflicts in a more dramatic and story-like way.
I also, personally had trouble keeping my goal, instinct and belief in focus during play. I think Darryn said that he might have to step up in this regard as well (giving us stuff that feeds those), but nothing I really did tapped into those guides for me (in fact at one point it was the opposite!)
The other think I’ll mention is the organisation of the book. Have access to a physical copy (Luke’s) was good, but while the book looks fantastic, the layout of the sections is terrible. I was constantly needing to flick from page to page to find the info I needed, and as some sub-systems where spread out through the entire text, I’m still; not sure we did some things right (for example if you use your trait to hinder yourself, can you still use it a beneficial way at a later date?).
Still this was this first time out for all the group in anything resembling Burning Wheel, so we will learn as we proceed!
P.S. For those who need to know - here's Grand Experiment's comments on the upcoming Box set. As well as his review of the game (parts 1, 2 & 3) ... oh and his AP experiences - as a Group - and with his Wife - Part 1 & Part 2)