No, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. But just one general descriptor for each level. Keep it focused.
I’m confused. It’s not my intent to add multiple descriptors to a condition. Those were only examples. I may just be communicating very poorly. Anyways, I’m going to take a break from the thread and come back after other examples are up that are approved so that my own examples don’t confuse anyone.
Right. I’m just saying that in the final version, make sure that each mechanical effect only has one descriptor:
Hungry/Thirsty -> Shaken
Angry -> Mad
Tired -> Exhausted
Injured -> Hurt
Sick -> Insane
The color is important, simplicity is key and the supporting game mechanics will step in to make these very interesting and dynamic.
You’ll be able to recover from Insanity, but go insane often enough and you’re going to get voted for a trait at the end of the investigation.
Mouseion Impossible?
I endorse this idea!
I do have an unrelated question though: does MG have scope for “problems” within the team? People have been suggesting Ars Magica hacks and you do need to have scope for horrible internal rivalries in such a game.
I sort of suspect the answer is “yes”, since there is rivalry in the MG comics, but I am curious…
Just do it in the Players’ Turn.
Starmice: SG-1
Paul, I was thinking the same thing while watching Prince Caspian last night. That is, there are these cool warrior mice that are part of Narnia. It would be fun to play the mouse’s part in within the larger framework of the setting, and possibly even play out challenges of the more specific story. It might be possible to interact with humans in that case since Narnian mice are large - maybe a quarter-size of humans. I could see Prince Caspian or any of the 4 kings and queens acting like an uber-Gwendolyn. But if that was too much of a stretch, it could totally be human-free (especially if you wanted to adventure during the absence of the 4 kings & queens when Narnians became more legend than life).
I don’t think hacking in magic would be too big of a deal, assuming you don’t just try and cram the existing BW system in.
Something based on Spirit Binding would work well, I think. You can recolor it as needed, retribution can be a matter of getting conditions flipped for getting the aid of spirits. Also, the spirits of the earth are easily modeled with Nature (Spirit) instead of strength. You could scale it from the nameless spirits of the earth to things with a bit more personality with a great chain of being, and similar impositions on what sort of bindings you can do with various skills. Look out for going after those Supreme Deities with Nature (God) 20.
Also, Luke, what would be the problem with extra conditions? I agree that the core mechanics should be left alone for the most part, but I’d like to understand the particular objection to understand the mechanics and intent behind them more (especially as I was musing about hacking the game into a D&D-esque fantasy thing with Elf Nature, Orc Nature, Dwarf Nature, and Human Nature with humans able to have a “class” like descriptor for their nature that varies but is picked from a list, and I was tempted to add an extra condition but thought that the decision with human nature and a variable descriptor was as far from the core mechanics as I wanted to get).
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They are not supported by the rest of the game.
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There’s a lot of easier hacking work that can be done without immediately diving for the fine controls.
Hmm! It’s not a Mouse-related hack per se, but the role of Nature seems to be a bit like how I was imagining the role of the environment in a Dark Sun inspired BW game.
I was thinking about a “journey as a conflict” type thing, with maneuvers available to the environment and the protagonists (protagonists could “steal water”, “follow a caravan”, etc; the environment could offer “salt bed”, “cannibal raiders”, etc).
These are obviously “weapons” in MG parlance (I’ve still not got the book, so I am reaching a bit I realise).
I’m pretty pleased that Luke has made a mechanic for me to nick, since I was dreading fooling around with specific conflict mechanics. Yay!
OMG Mouse Guard Dark Sun!
I thought you did actually mean DangerMouse!
I’ve been mulling over the idea of using MG to portray the resistance fighting the Weasel Overlord’s occupying army after their rapid victory of the 2nd Great War. A la Secret Army, Black Book, and Casablanca.
The last remnants of the shattered Mouse Army managed to escape the invading Weasel’s at the battle of Dawnrock, when a flotilla of small boats appeared from the North and spirited the demoralized mice away. Rumours abound of a great Mouse army, led by Gwendolyn, building on an island to the North, ready for the great invasion and liberation of the Mice nation from the cruel subjugation of the Weasels.
At home small bands of determined mice come together to form cells of resistance against the fascist Weasels and their occupation and slavery of micedom. With great secrecy and enthusiasm despite little training or equipment, these valiant groups of heroes take on the might of the Weasel occupation force.
One of their more important missions includes spiriting away those Mice who the Weasels want to get hold of and who frequently are ‘sent east’ never to be seen again. A secret railway operates across the occupied Mice territories moving hunted mice from cell to cell towards the North shore and then to be spirited away across the sea to the safety of the Northern Isle.
The resistance also carries out acts of sabotage and assassination against the occupiers as well as gathering intelligence to be sent to Gwendolyn so that, when the day of liberation come, the vanquishing mouse army will be victorious.
The main enemy of the resistance is the secret police of the weasel Overlord. Through the use of informers, midnight ‘disappearances’, torture, and the mass execution or deportation of Mice to the dreaded ‘East’, the Weasels seek to destroy the resistance and make them pay dearly for every act of defiance towards weasel rule.
Help does come, sporadically, to the beleaguered mice from Gwendolyn in the Northern Isles who oversees and coordinates the resistance effort across the mouse territories, and secret mouse agents clandestinely slip onto the mainland by small boat in the dead of night with missions, arms and information for the resistance.
Just a thought, and probably a hack that’s not one for the kiddies.
John
That’d be a sweet MG campaign.
I’d ask John to run it, but out track record for our BW games makes horrific reading 
- Neil.
I thank you. Unfortunately, with life being so hectic, it’s going to be just a germ of an idea until real life settles down, ie, when I’m about 70.
Yeah, we’re bad BW players. But 2009 is going to be our year for BW-goodiness. Please…
John
We should persuade everyone to kick Burning Zeestad in to touch and work on fleshing out this idea. 
- Neil.
To get this thread back on topic, I’ve PM’d you Neil.
John
In fact, I’ve created a new thread for the newly retitled ‘Free Mouse’. It’s amazing what i’ll do instead of write an essay…it’s only due in Friday after all.:rolleyes:
John