Mouse Run/Shadow Mouse

Mouse Guard Hacks and Expansions
21

Bugs (RFID Tags, microelectronics, etc.)

Stolen passcodes (security codes, credit card numbers, SSNs, etc.)

Intel (blueprints, company directory, work schedules, etc.)

Silencers

Holdout weapons

Private room (hotel, motel, club, with privacy features, safehouse)

Time at a data terminal/kiosk

Electronic paper

Holoprojectors

Wireless jammers

Skillsofts

Tools, Workshops, Labs

Biotech

Bioware

Magical spells/supplies/fetishes

Docwagon services/contract

Lone Star Security services

Hiring a specialist (assassin, mage, shaman, hacker, lawyers)

22

duh. Renting time on a botnet.

Hiring a black hat lab to test your malware payload against security measures.

23

Also, what about Resources rules for fencing …acquired… goods?

24

Thanks!

I think I want to just forget about bioware and skillsofts for this hack. I feel like they’re too fine-grained and problematic for the detail of a MG hack.

The black market stuff is hard to price!

The other suggestions are great, too.

And I definitely need to do a “Getting Paid” rules section.

25

I was thinking about ammo. AP, incendiary, etc. But that may fall under being too fine-grained.

26

Fair enough. Though I think there’s something cool in being able to go out and purchase a new Wise, for instance. It takes a check to swap in the GM’s Turn. And you wouldn’t be able to Advance it. I can definitely see how they would be problematic for general skills.

27

Yes, unfortunately I think the ornate weapon fetishism won’t make the cut. I think the ammo, recoil compensation and other crazy hardware is just too much crunch for MG.

28

Could you possibly purchase skillsofts and then roll something like Cyber as a replacement skill, much like you’d use Nature in place of skills? Though this could lead to the possibility of Taxing Cyber.

29

I hesitate to make Cyber flexible like Nature because I feel like it’ll become Uber rather than Cyber.

30

Nothing’s jumping out to me as a perfect solution, but I’ll throw out what comes to mind first and maybe it’ll inspire someone.

My first thought is a Getting Paid rule could be some sort of cash dice rule like BW. But if you’re trying to keep it in the existing structure of Mouse Guard, that might be too much of a stretch.

Another thought is sort of the same thing with the serial # rubbed off. Getting paid is just a bonus to your next resources check – might need some way to get more than one thing off one resources check, though, so a runner could go out and load up on equipment in one trip.

My last thought was just to hand out some number of passes for Resources. For higher paying gigs it might even mean a straight-up increase in Resources. Part of me likes the feel of that, because it means runners are going to have to fail actual resources checks to eventually improve them, but I’m pretty sure that breaks things pretty quickly.

None of those feel quite right, but like I said maybe it’ll give someone an idea to run (HA) with.

31

Well, I think this ties into the turn structure of the game, too.

You are hired for a job. You perform the job during the GM’s Turn.
After completing the job or after the job goes pear-shaped, you hit the Aftermath or Players’ Turn. During the Aftermath, you can go to ground and recover, get upgraded, tie up loose ends, tool up and buy gear or ??.

I think the key here is that recovery takes time.
Here are my suggestions:
Hungry: As long as it takes you to get to Stuffer Shack
Angry: according to the action taken to relieve it
Wasted: three days.
Injured a week.
Burned Out: a week.

Why is this important?
Because we if we have a month between maintenance cycle tests, then you need to do as many jobs as possible in that time. And you need to stay healthy to do them.

Or you can hit your jobs with conditions, or you can just suck up being injured or burned out and let the GM wreak some havoc with your abilities and skills.

So, getting paid.
Each job has a cash value equal to cash dice (as in Burning Wheel).
Low profile target - 1D
Moderate profile target - 2D
High profile target - 4D

Heat:
1-2: 1D
3-4: 2D
5-6: 3D
7-8: 4D

Security:
Tribal: 0
Squats: 0
Sprawl: 1D
Downtown: 2D
Arcology: 4D

Action:
Shakedown: extorting or threatening — 1D
Smash and grab: stealing something in a fast, messy manner — 2D
Assassination: killing a target — 3D
Extraction: removing personnel or data from a secure location — 4D

Sketchy Jobs: pay on delivery. No upfront, no expenses.
Trusted Jobs: pay half up front, half on delivery. Expenses only rarely paid.
Big Jobs: pay on delivery, no upfront. However, all expenses are paid on delivery as well.

Fixer:
Your fixer takes 10-20% of the cash dice for a mission depending on your arrangement with her. Minimum of 1D.

Expenses: Expenses paid depends on the level of the job and the negotiations surrounding it. Expenses usually include any material expended and travel fees. It can include medical expenses and materials necessary for the job, too. For game purposes, it’s usually best to just provide the service or item in question, rather than paying out to the player.

For really big jobs, expenses can include a per diem. A per diem gives the player +1D to his lifestyle maintenance test at the end of the month.

Getting Jobs
via Circles: A player can look for work on his own using his Circles ability.
via Fixer: Alternately, a player can use his Fixer to provide work. The Fixer will generally provide safer, more reliable work, but at a fee.

32

Can you pop some stim tabs and painkillers and maybe some happy pills and push on through?

33

Oh yes. You read my mind. Drug rules coming up!

34

In our ancient roman mice campaigns The Pretorian Guard sometimes have given the patrol a pouch of cash for mission related expenses. At those occasions I have handed over some replica coins. They are all divided into either small or big. The small ones being +1 D on a Resources Test (a Tool) and the big ones shielding them from one Resources Depletion. I think that have worked well. It’s partly like your ideas and could that maybe be useful in some way?

35

I think Luke blew my half-formed thoughts way out of the water :slight_smile:

36

Condition | Penalty | Recovery | Time | Drugs
Hungry/Thirsty | Must go to Stuffer Shack ASAP | Trip to Stuffer Shack | Eat Shack Snacks (Ob 1 Res) | Stim
Angry | Can’t Help or use Wises | Ob 2 Willpower Test | According to relief action | Tranq
Wasted | Can’t remember. Have it at home. | Ob 3 Body test | 3 Days | Stim and Tranq
Injured | -1D to all actions | Ob 5 Body test or Ob 3 Medic test | 7 days | Tranq x2
Burned Out | -1D all actions except recovery and can’t use Mage, Shaman, Rigging or Decking skills | 7 days | Ob 4 Willpower test | ?Stim and Tranqx2?

Drugs
Rather than make a test for recover, at any time before a test (so long as the action is appropriate), a player may have his character take drugs to temporarily nullify the effects of a condition.

Tolerance
Each time you take drugs to alleviate a condition you increase your tolerance to the drug. You have two tolerance lines: tranqs and stims. Next time you take the drug, add your tolerance to the number of doses you need to use to alleviate your condition. So if you’ve used the drug two times, the next time you alleviate Hungry with a Stim, you need to take three doses instead of one.

Once your tolerance reaches your Body for Tranqs or your Willpower for Stims, you suffer Wasted (for Body/Tranqs) and Angry for (Stims/Willpower) when you are not at your current necessary dosage.

Stealing Your Neighbor’s TV
Once you’ve hit your Body or Willpower tolerance, you are considered addicted. When not in play, your character is assumed to be medicating himself as necessary. Increase your lifestyle maintenance obstacle by one for each addiction.

37

What about addiction? If your tolerance gets high enough, add new trait: Addicted or Addicted to <x>?

38

Let me see if I can work out these Tolerance rules. They might work to that end. See edits above.

39

Some thoughts for your consideration:

Infamy
What if we use a system that ties into Heat, Security and Action? Every time you complete a Big Job, or the Heat comes down and you are not gunned down or detained, your current Handle’s Infamy increases. It’s kind of like long-term Heat that the GM can add on to Heat because of your reputation. If your Infamy gets high enough, the powers that be assign a special task force to take you down.

Perhaps the character that has the highest Infamy serves as the base and everyone else with Infamy helps. So if your Street Samurai has an Infamy of 6, the Magician has an Infamy of 5 and the Adept has an Infamy of 3, the Samurai’s Infamy serves as the base for the mission. The Magician helps with +2 and the Adept helps with +1 for a total Infamy of 9 (calculate additional according to the Heat chart?). This could get ugly…

You can reduce Infamy by lying low or shed it completely by switching to a new identity.

However…
Infamy isn’t all bad. If you can get your Infamy over a certain threshold, your rep gets out there and people start coming to you with more delicate and lucrative gigs. Of course, if your Infamy goes above a second threshold, then you become more trouble than you’re worth.

40

Yes, I think we need a rep mechanic that ties into Heat and Sec. But I’m going to backburner it for the moment.

Right now I am noodling around with modified conflict rules and dreaming about character creation mechanics.

Also, Thor showed me magic rules that he made for another hack. They are excellent, but they made me realize that I don’t think I can incorporate magic into this hack. I think I’d rather focus on the future-heist-noir aspects. Therefore, I am going to change Shaman and Mage to Tech and Armorer.