For those of you who aren't familiar with Mouse Guard, go look at .

Okay, that comic is now an RPG, and my friends and I are going to use WorldWorks Games terrain for it. Mostly Chunky Dungeons and maybe the Gothic stuff. And the wilderness terrain. Because it's so PERFECT for the settings. Heck, Villageworks may even be awesome with the little mouse minis we're going to use (we could use Skaven as well ... ).

I noticed that awhile back, on , that he talked about he uses to visualize the backgrounds in his comic. I thought to myself, "Hey, that looks suspiciously like something that WWG could cover ..."

Now, maybe someone should contact David and mention WWG to him. Maybe he'll find it USEFUL and then mention something to the THOUSANDS of users who may be playing the . I'd do it, but I have no ability to offer anything to him. Maybe a freebee or hints or something.

*pokes Denny, Bob, whoever*

Got the game already - waiting on the hard copy to be shipped but have the pdf.


Love the comics and the game looks interesting, even though I have moved away from RPGs - this would make a great Wilderness bash game.

I have contacted David on doing some cardstock figures - front and back. Still awaiting on his reply since their forum was hacked.



Lord Abaddon of Wormwood

I was coming to job with the idea of open a post about that game... I received it at least - I ask to my comic shop where I usually get my USA comics from the Diamond comics preview...but usually don't have luck with the RPG's books...and so I don't dare to buy online just in case one of that days it appears in the shop (I've also waiting the song of ice and fire rpg- and the mouse RPG it's gorgeus...the look of it...I've begun to read it and for now is quite interesting... I don't see my players playing like mouses...but as a read is a good one...

Any mouse miniature out there ?

Ahh, another one of those games I'll probably buy and never play. Not exactly up the other players alleys, I don't think.

I have two females in my RPG group, and they always ask if there's something "cute" to play.

I'm not touching BESM or Ironclaw with a ten foot pole, but this at least has mice acting like HUMANS to some extent until their nature kicks in and they react to an Instict (that the players set themselves). And it's cute. Which will thrill my wife and her friend to no end (I'm a bit interested to see if it's a challenge for me to GM this thing).

I think the best part of the game is that the "monsters" are actually animals that are bigger than the mice. Bears and wolves are the equivilent of dragons, while snakes are the equivilent of ogres (as far as difficulty goes). The real dangers? Weather and the wilderness can take their toll on the guardmice until they are so worn down that they can't resist larger animals. So the players have to think on their feet to overcome as many obstacles as possible without taking conditions (like Angry, Hungry/Thirsty, Sick and Injured) so if they do meet something dangerous, they will stand a chance.

It's really a great comic. I'm hopeful for the RPG, from as far as I am (more than halfway) through the rules. It's simple - you roll so many d6, and try to score as many 4+ dice as you can to succeed. Of course, there's a dozen or more ways to get two or three dice more added to your roll, which comes in really handy during crisis situations. Also, to learn a skill, you have to try using it on your own a few times and succeed a few times.

If it's simple, it won't be a problem to run with people who are a little less willing to learn a ton of rules. It's definitely a game you can scale for kids.

Kids...that's my next dream (not that my 30 years group not are like kids) get my son and friends to play. I have faery tales and has also posibilities...and now that...but don't let yourself be tricked is not for kids...but as said can be scaled to kids...

macclaud - I've ran similar "cute" games in the past and can honestly say that they run much different than you think going into them. My groups took to their animal characters surprisingly well and those sessions were always loaded with roleplaying. You'd think that people would play up the cartoon aspect of the setting but in my experience quite the opposite happened. If you run it I bet you will be surprised at how satisfying it is. I hope so anyway.

It's not difficult to run at all, since regular encounters are determined by overcoming a number of successes. The GM runs the first half of the session, putting obstacles in the players' way. Second part of the session is the player's turns. The players take turns using up stored checks to perform actions they want to achieve certain goals they have. It also allows them to resolve arguments, heal and do whatever in the downtime before the session ends.

First type of problem for players is Obstacles. Crossing that heavily-flooded stream in the spring? Depending on how the players set it up, it's a Boatbuilding skill plus any wises plus any fate/persona points the player uses. Role-playing the simple obstacles nets you more rewards later on, and can also add or subtract some to/from your possible outcome.

Everything "versus" is played out using conflicts as the main driving mechanic. These are combats, haggling, politics, etc. vs a sentient force. Each side states a goal - "I'm going to kill that snake," or "I'm going to eat that mouse." Each side determines a level of "disposition" (which can be translated as health or willpower or whatever) and then each side chooses one of four possible actions (attack, defend, feint or maneuver) to try and whittle down the other side's disposition to 0.

Depending on your degree of success or failure (how much did disposition the winner lost in comparison to the loser), you may have to compromise your end goal. Your goal is still achieved (you may kill that snake) but if you did it with big disposition loss, you may face a serious compromise (now you are STUCK inside the snake's mouth).

Best part is that I can easily allow good role-playing to change the outcome if needed. However, during the GM's turn, a lot of action is tied to simple die rolls that don't require a lot of role-playing. The players' turns is where all the character development and resolution happens to end a session/mission.

Leveling up is also really easy. You need to fail and succeed a certain number of times to gain a skill (or go up in a skill). When you reach the Winter month and the Year ends, your characters can improve their traits all around. This negates any experience point tracking - your basically earning skills and wises based on what you did with your skills (or skills you didn't have but tried). There's also the ability to get rid of or change traits (such as smallpaws or fearless) if they don't fit your character concept any more. The longer your mouse survives, the more developed they are.

It's not a bad system - my wife and her group find it really easy to get through a mission with me in about two hours. It's the fastest game I've ever played, but that's turning out to be a GOOD thing for the people who are playing with me. If you want a bigger/longer session, just string two or more missions together. I've found that I can basically create a campaign revolving around a single Year or two seasons.

They only had two deals (that I could find): $34.95 for the book and $34.95 for the book and PDF - makes it a no-brainer to get the Book+PDF combo.
International shipping (even at the lowest rate) brings the minimum cost to over US$54 - which means it's not a cheap purchase - but seeing the quality, and volume, of the PDF, I'm happy the book is on its way.

Now would be a time for a moan about international currency fluctuations: The US economy has taken a huge dive. Meanwhile, the New Zealand economy has slowed but is still the healthiest it has been for over 30 years, and with unemployment at its lowest levels in decades. On top of that interest rates in the US are almost non-existent while low risk investments here still earn around 5%.

So what does the exchange rate do? The NZ$ drops (that's right: drops) over 40% against the US$ - with the result that Mouse Guard costs almost twice what it would have three months ago! Go figure!

Zen,
I know your pain.



Lord Abaddon of Wormwood

I need to pick up one of my shop's copies....David Peterson lives in-state, so we actually had him pop in for a minute, and he signed/sketched in both of our copies.. <3 Totally makes up for fielding all those questions about why the comic was delayed - there's tons of original art in the RPG!

I feel like the Mouse Guard RPG could be a really fun gateway game for younger, precocious types, and laying things out with WWG outdoor terrain would be swank!

If you do get to speak to him again please ask him to do some paper minis of his work - front and back.


Lord Abaddon of Wormwood

...that's a fantastic idea, really. I'll see if I have his contact info at work.

Do want.

Mouseguard paper minis - yes, great idea.