MouseGuard oneshot

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:34 pm

I want to run a oneshot of Mouseguard. I was thinking of running February 6th. I'm looking for three to five players so let me know if you are interested.

I can host but I don't have to.

In Mouseguard you get to play mice in a middleages like setting. It uses a simplified version of Burning Wheel mechanics.

RSVP
DnD3ePlayer
Mordraine
Mr Lost
Sven
Devlin1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_Guard

jimmy corrigan · Post by **jimmy corrigan** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 4:44 pm

ooooohhh...

mrlost · Post by **mrlost** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 5:24 pm

Oh shit yeah I'm interested. I was just thinking about trying to convince my group down here in the desert to give Burning Wheel another shot, with the help of Mouse Guard.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:46 pm

note, I just submitted this to Orccon. Here is my description. Also, I would appreciate some sort of RSVP so say something like I'm in and I'll put you on the list.

Mouse Guard : Summer 1152

It is the summer of 1152 and everything is well for the Mouse Territories. That is until the town of Appleloft becomes sick with plague. The plague was contained but it is believed a small group of mice left Appleloft just before the town was cut off. It is up to the Mouse Guard to find who these mice where and prevent the plague from spreading any further.

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 11:27 pm

I am a fuck yes for this -- I just got my copy today.

When are you running it at OrcCon? Lemme guess: Sunday at 3:00?

mrlost · Post by **mrlost** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 12:51 am

Well I'm up for it as long as its before Feb 8th. I've got an archaeological survey scheduled for the 9th and two weeks afterward on tribal land in Arizona and I want to be rested and stuff for work. However my schedule is free the week before that.

Besides I was planning to skip Orccon and save my money for Wonder Con at the end of the month. So if your only running it at Orccon I'll have to pass otherwise I'm down for driving up to San Diego to give it a shot.

The sixth would be perfect, btw. But I'm sure you can find a bunch more players for Mouse Guard...so I don't matter.

jimmy corrigan · Post by **jimmy corrigan** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:29 am

put me down as an alternate (i'll have to wait until my schedule firms up).

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 7:46 am

I plan on running Mouse Guard on the 8th and at Orccon. Orccon game will be Sun 10am. I'm not completely comfortable with running the game as Burning Wheel (even the lite version in MG) is a little more complicated then what I'm use to. So, Feb 8th group is my test case.

SpaceMonkey · Post by **SpaceMonkey** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:44 am

I would be interested in trying this out...

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:59 am

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~I plan on running Mouse Guard on the 8th and at Orccon. Orccon game will be Sun 10am. I'm not completely comfortable with running the game as Burning Wheel (even the lite version in MG) is a little more complicated then what I'm use to. So, Feb 8th group is my test case. :mrgreen:[/quote]
Wait, 8th or 6th? Because up above you said 6th....

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 11:29 am

~~[quote="devlin1"]~~Wait, 8th or 6th? Because up above you said 6th....[/quote]

Sorry, I'm getting all confused now. It is the 6th, 1st Friday in February.

mordraine · Post by **mordraine** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 11:36 am

I'm in if there's still room

mrlost · Post by **mrlost** » Sat Jan 24, 2009 4:09 pm

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~I plan on running Mouse Guard on the 8th and at Orccon. Orccon game will be Sun 10am. I'm not completely comfortable with running the game as Burning Wheel (even the lite version in MG) is a little more complicated then what I'm use to. So, Feb 8th group is my test case. :mrgreen:[/quote]

What aspects are you having trouble with? When I ran Burning Wheel most of the trouble stemmed not from the rules but from the players confusion with the rules which reflected back on me.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:29 am

~~[quote="mrlost"]~~What aspects are you having trouble with? When I ran Burning Wheel most of the trouble stemmed not from the rules but from the players confusion with the rules which reflected back on me.[/quote]

I'm not having trouble with any specific aspects. It just seems like there are a lot of rules to remember and there is more complexity that what I'm use to. I thought I would be more comfortable running this game with people I know first.

If anything I curious to see how extended conflicts go. I know when Count Zero ran BW we didn't like them at all and we dropped them. However, the options in MG have been reduced to four actions and seem a lot more clear. I'm just wondering if it will be a fun mechanic or if is slows things down and annoys people.

mrlost · Post by **mrlost** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 2:17 pm

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~
If anything I curious to see how extended conflicts go. I know when Count Zero ran BW we didn't like them at all and we dropped them. However, the options in MG have been reduced to four actions and seem a lot more clear. I'm just wondering if it will be a fun mechanic or if is slows things down and annoys people.[/quote]

How did things go with Burning Empires? I never did hear how that played for you guys.

Down here in El Centro, one of my players (and by proxy his wife) whined and begged me to run Burning Wheel but unfortunately it wasn't to the group's taste. It took several sessions to get all the mechanics down but ultimately the issue of co-authorship brought an untimely end to the game.

Half the regular players never liked the idea of combat scripting (believing it to be too unrealistic was Redfox's complaint because of all his experience with Taekwondo or something) but when we actually tried it (more than twice) it led to some pretty cool fights. Including one against a Balor-like monster from the Monster Burner at the underground gates to a Dwarven Fortress that guarded one path into the hollow dinosaur infested earth. We always had to fall back on the cheat sheets though and I always had a copy of the books on the table to assist.

The idea that its been simplified down to four maneuvers is something awesome. Four sounds a lot more manageable than lets see how many are in regular BW?

*leans over to look at gaming shelf, browses through dog eared BW Fantasy Roleplay System* 12 + stances.

You can read all about it on the ~~[url=http://burningwheel.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5920]~~Fevered Circle BW Clinic[/url] if you want a laugh at my expense.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 3:23 pm

~~[quote="mrlost"]~~How did things go with Burning Empires? I never did hear how that played for you guys.[/quote]

Burning Empires was cut short due to CZ moving. It took us two and half sessions to create characters, longer then it took me in Star Hero. Of course we also had to create the planet which was fun but creating characters is such a long over done process that I will never make a BE/BW character again.

However, once characters were made the game started to be a lot of fun. I was playing the king of the planet who inherited the planet at the age of 13. We avoided the alien plots and focused on internal politics. We also decided not to use the complicated conflict mechanic because we knew we didn't like it from BW. We only got in two sessions but it was starting to get interesting. I don't remember the details but I do know that there was a group that was trying to over throw my character.

Actually, it was a lot like Sven's D&D game that was my favorite game last year. However, we found that the DnD4 skill challenges and the army mechanics from Reign were perfect for the game. I found skill challenges to do a lot of what a BW conflict does with out being needlessly complex.

Anyway, Mouse Guard should be fun, you should come.

mrlost · Post by **mrlost** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:17 pm

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~Anyway, Mouse Guard should be fun, you should come.[/quote]

Oh, I will be there. Should I bring pie?

Sven · Post by **Sven** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:05 pm

Is there room for me?

SpaceMonkey · Post by **SpaceMonkey** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:15 am

~~[quote="mrlost"]~~Oh, I will be there. Should I bring pie?[/quote]

everyone should always bring pie.

jimmy corrigan · Post by **jimmy corrigan** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:13 am

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 7:40 am

~~[quote="mrlost"]~~Oh, I will be there. Should I bring pie?[/quote]

I got Mr Lost and Sven in the game. There is room for one more. And yes, I think you should bring pie.

mordraine · Post by **mordraine** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:25 am

Did you get me?

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:29 pm

~~[quote="mordraine"]~~Did you get me?[/quote]

I'm updating the rsvp list on the original post. Here is what it currently is:

~~[b]~~

RSVP[/b]

DnD3ePlayer

Mordraine

Mr Lost

Sven

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:28 pm

~~[quote="mordraine"]~~Did you get me?[/quote]
And me? WTF? I was, like, the second positive reply.

SpaceMonkey · Post by **SpaceMonkey** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:51 pm

~~[quote="devlin1"]~~And me? WTF? I was, like, the second positive reply.[/quote]

could be third, depending on if albert's "ooooohhh..." was an actual 'i'm interested' type response or if he just saw something shiny next to his comp... oooooooh! Hold on, I'll be back... I just saw something.

Skyman · Post by **Skyman** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:03 pm

~~[quote="dnd3eplayer"]~~could be third, depending on if albert's "ooooohhh..." was an actual 'i'm interested' type response or if he just saw something shiny next to his comp... oooooooh! Hold on, I'll be back... I just saw something.[/quote]

Obviously interested since he followed up with I'm interested clarification later after getting past the emotional rapture of it all...

Maybe Chris thought Mikes reply was a sarcasm...but then I don't see how

Neuro · Post by **Neuro** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:40 pm

I think this is /Awesome/ looking and want to know how it goes, having always wanted to play a Redwall kind of game. I'm a little overscheduled this minute and trying to make room for a one-shot of my own, still, so I hope it goes well and we can do another one.

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 4:12 pm

~~[quote="dnd3eplayer"]~~could be third, depending on if albert's "ooooohhh..." was an actual 'i'm interested' type response or if he just saw something shiny next to his comp... oooooooh! Hold on, I'll be back... I just saw something.[/quote]
That's why I said "like." But there's no denying I was the second person to explicitly say "I want to play in this," although what I actually said was "I am a fuck yes for this" -- taking PK's "shit yeah" a profane step farther.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:04 pm

~~[quote="devlin1"]~~That's why I said "like." But there's no denying I was the second person to explicitly say "I want to play in this," although what I actually said was "I am a fuck yes for this" -- taking PK's "shit yeah" a profane step farther.[/quote]

Sorry, got you in. For some reason I thought you were pushing to play in the Orccon game.

If it goes well I could do another oneshot or run it for Hyphen Con.

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 5:38 pm

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~Sorry, got you in. For some reason I thought you were pushing to play in the Orccon game.[/quote]
Well, I'd play it either time. I'd just rather play sooner than later, because I'm, y'know, eager. Will it be the same scenario both times?

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 6:07 pm

~~[quote="devlin1"]~~Well, I'd play it either time. I'd just rather play sooner than later, because I'm, y'know, eager. Will it be the same scenario both times?[/quote]

That is what I had planned. However, I might change things for the con game depending on how it goes and any feedback I get.

Last time I did this was for the Witchcraft game and it drastically changed for the con.

mrlost · Post by **mrlost** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:54 am

Just saw something cool that we could all bring to the game and maybe give Czernia as a show of appreciation or I guess someone could bring punch to go with my pie...

Mouse Guard finger puppets

jimmy corrigan · Post by **jimmy corrigan** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:33 am

those are so cute, i just threw up a little.

mrlost · Post by **mrlost** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:51 pm

I'm hoping someone has figured out where and at what time this is going down? Anyone? Private message us Czernia?

Also I'm going to be bringing Pecan Pie and Punch (either Kool Aid "Oh YEAH!" or Hawaiian Punch--preferences?).

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:57 am

Game will be at Mordraines starting at 7pm. PM Mord for his address.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:42 am

I just wanted to thank everyone for showing up and playing (especially those who had to drive for awhile). Sorry the game didn't go better. Maybe if I had finger puppets.

If you have any suggestions on how to make the game go smoother let me knw

jimmy corrigan · Post by **jimmy corrigan** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 12:00 pm

i'm telling you, show up with the comic book. conveniently forget the rulebook at home.

micromouse20? mice-crolite20?! mousepunk: 5211?!?!

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 2:42 pm

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~If you have any suggestions on how to make the game go smoother let me knw[/quote]
For the con, I'd suggest sticking to formula just to make it go more smoothly. If you make the GM's Turn all about kicking the PCs' asses I bet it'll flow more easily.

I'd make the mission "Find out why we haven't heard from Appleloft" instead of "Cure the plague at Appleloft" -- it's both more open-ended and more direct, and puts the emphasis on getting to Appleloft instead of what to do once they get there. (Personally, when you said the mission was to cure a plague, I looked down at Sloan's character sheet -- "Scout, Deceiver, Glazier, Poison-Craft... I won't be of any real use once we get there"). That way, when they discover the answer to the lack of communication -- plague -- they complete the mission, then you do a short Players' Turn wherein they discover a new mission -- "Stop Vivian from reaching Copperwood" -- and off they go again.

I know the examples rely on failures to create twists, but there's nothing saying that's the only way for the GM's Turn to play out. I'd plan additional obstacles whether the players succeed or fail. F'rinstance, if a failed Weather Watching test means the rains come and we have to cross a stream, a successful one could mean that because we aren't slowed down by a stream we come upon a snake en route to its nest.

Also, like we were saying last night, when it comes to extended conflicts everyone needs to describe his actions and make sure there's always a narrative justification for everything so it doesn't turn into "I Maneuver -- three successes -- they're Impeded and we're Well-Positioned -- who's next?" People need to tell a story, not just roll dice.

Plus, here's something that occurred to me later: Once those mice were disarmed, and once the badger was dead, and once Vivian was nearly dead, why were those three militiamice still fighting? In retrospect, it struck me as a little silly. They were weaponless, their goal ("Kill Vivian") had pretty much been accomplished, and they had no real motivation to fight us other than self-defense. If they'd surrendered, we wouldn't have had to go through that endless fight, but I think that at some point we got so caught up in the back-and-forth that we didn't even think about what made sense in the scene anymore.

Anyway, I don't envy you running this either last night or next weekend. It's one thing to sit back and ruminate on how it should or shouldn't be run, but another thing entirely to actually do it. And I don't think I'd want to do it.

mrlost · Post by **mrlost** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 4:02 pm

Finger puppets because it will distract everyone. Or what Devlin1 said

EDIT: btw the oneshot write up is here. Though on review is not exactly the same as I recalled.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:41 pm

~~[quote="devlin1"]~~For the con, I'd suggest sticking to formula just to make it go more smoothly. If you make the GM's Turn all about kicking the PCs' asses I bet it'll flow more easily.

I'd make the mission "Find out why we haven't heard from Appleloft" instead of "Cure the plague at Appleloft" -- it's both more open-ended and more direct, and puts the emphasis on getting to Appleloft instead of what to do once they get there. (Personally, when you said the mission was to cure a plague, I looked down at Sloan's character sheet -- "Scout, Deceiver, Glazier, Poison-Craft... I won't be of any real use once we get there"). That way, when they discover the answer to the lack of communication -- plague -- they complete the mission, then you do a short Players' Turn wherein they discover a new mission -- "Stop Vivian from reaching Copperwood" -- and off they go again.
[/quote]

I like this idea. I think I'll go with it.

~~[quote]~~
Plus, here's something that occurred to me later: Once those mice were disarmed, and once the badger was dead, and once Vivian was nearly dead, why were those three militiamice still fighting? In retrospect, it struck me as a little silly. They were weaponless, their goal ("Kill Vivian") had pretty much been accomplished, and they had no real motivation to fight us other than self-defense. If they'd surrendered, we wouldn't have had to go through that endless fight, but I think that at some point we got so caught up in the back-and-forth that we didn't even think about what made sense in the scene anymore.[/quote]

Actually, Vivian wasn't dead. Here being badly injured was the compromise. I don't think that was clear because like you said we were so caught up with the system we forgot to roleplay.

devlin1 · Post by **devlin1** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 5:51 pm

~~[quote="cczernia"]~~Actually, Vivian wasn't dead. Here being badly injured was the compromise. I don't think that was clear because like you said we were so caught up with the system we forgot to roleplay.[/quote]
Well, by the book, she very easily could've been dead. There was no compromise in the conflict with the badger -- each side reduced the other to zero disposition, so both sides achieved their goals. If those goals were "Eat Vivian" and "Kill the badger," then we definitely could've ended up with a dead badger and a dead Vivian.

The thing I don't really know how to reconcile is, if the militiamice had a goal of "Kill Vivian" and lost, but the badger's "Eat Vivian" goal is realized, then... like, how does that work? Is she in his gullet but not dead?

Of course, if Team A's goal were "Save Vivian," then it's even ~~[i]~~more [/i]complicated, because she's simultaneously eaten and saved.

cczernia · Post by **cczernia** » Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:31 pm

~~[quote="devlin1"]~~Is she in his gullet but not dead?[/quote]

Well, I was thinking in the badger's mouth and wounded. Sort of like Liem and the snake.