We played the Deliver the Mail( With the connected group )
It rather well and we were happy with how tings turned out.
They decided to escort Loretta to Darkwater to help her find Gunnar, since
they felt guilty losing her letter.
This is my planned Mission for the Next Session, It’s not 100% done but it’s enough to show off and get imput.
Mission - A Strong Love
With success the patroll escorts Loretta to Darkwater
to help her find her beloved Gunnar. Their journey has been
long and it has finally come to and end. With much aniticipation
the young mice is finally about to be with her love once again, or is she?
Obstacle(Mouse) - Where is Gunnar?
When the patroll finally arrives at Darkwater the first place
to visit is the local Inn to get a bit of food and rest after their hard journey
through the woods.
Whilst eating the Guard(and Loretta) ask the Inn Keeper about Gunnar and
where he might be living or when to expect him to be back from work.
The Inn Keeper gives them a look and tells them that she dosn’t know anyone by the
name Gunnar.
Before she leaves the patroll she tells them that they might have better luck if they ask around
the docks of the city since either Merchants or Sailors might have seen him or done buissnis with him.
Tracking down anyone that knows “Gunnar” is a hard task since it looks like he has either not arrived at Darkwater
or is using a fake name. To find anyone that knows anything about this “Gunnar” it will require a Circle test of Ob5; Loretta can help* with +1D
since she know his looks and habbits.
Twist(Mouse) - Mixed feelings.
If the patroll fails to find anyone with information of Gunnar or where he might be
Loretta is devestated by the posibility that he didn’t make it to Darkwater and that he
might be dead.
However the Patroll finds the situation a little bit fishy and have been noticed the reaction
of the sailors and merchants when they ask about Gunnar. They leave Loretta back att the Inn
and dicedes to shadow some mices that leads them to the back of an Wherehouse for goods.
A meting occurs with a Merchant, Sailor and a Weasle and what seams to be Tuk the Bandit!
They breifly discuss the matter of Guards(That is the Players.) showing up from nowhere
and figure that they might be on to something.
The Weasle who goes by the name Ferd seams impatience and says in a irretated voice that
they should ignore the guards and that they are probobly just out on their normal rounds.
This is diclined by the Merchant which reminds Ferd that they persistently keept asking
for Gunnar.
After some hectic discussion* they come to the conclusion to keep follow the plan and
leave for Camp outside the City as soon as possible.
Some hints in the dicussion points to that Gunnar might be in the Camp they were talking
about.
The Merchant and Sailor leaves the Wherehouse which leaves Tuk the Bandit and Ferd
alone together.
Ferd tells Tuk to be quiet and tells him that he can sense( noise or smell ) that they are not alone.
They move out of sight from the Guards hiding place and without a warning they are suddenly behind them
with their weapons ready!
A Fight Conflict is Engaged! Tuk and Ferd’s Conflict Goal is “Capture the Mice and find out why they are spying”
Obstacle(Wilderness) - He better not be hiding!
The patroll leaves Darkwater behind and takes the road to the East to find the Camp
that Gunnar supposedly might be at.
To make the way they will need to make a Scout test against Ob4.
If they successfully make their way to the camp they stop outside it
and here the GM hands over the turn to the Players.
Twist(Weather) - Outlook not so good
If the Scout-test fails the weather changes from spring sunny to
be damnd rainy. All players must make an Health-test with Ob3
to avoid being made “Sick”
Hi Siffner. Welcome to the Forums! (Do you have a real name? Mine’s in my sig).
I think you have the makings of a neat little mission there. However, I do see two things to worry about. First the investigation part in the beginning seems to be based on road blocks, when MG has a philosophy that failure equals total success with a condition, or an interesting Twist that sends play off in a new and exciting direction. The twist of “Loretta is worried and the patrol decides to shadow some mice instead” doesn’t really do that. Look at the mission you recently played. How did it handle twists?
That twist also highlights another concern. There’s a lot of “playing before you play” in your setup, where you have everything planned out, right down to how the Patrol thinks, feels and acts. I’d loosen it up. Throw things at the patrol and let them respond. Based on their response, call for tests.
First the investigation part in the beginning seems to be based on road blocks, when MG has a philosophy that failure equals total success with a condition, or an interesting Twist that sends play off in a new and exciting direction. The twist of “Loretta is worried and the patrol decides to shadow some mice instead” doesn’t really do that. Look at the mission you recently played. How did it handle twists?
If I’m getting this right. The Twist and Success of the Obstacle acually leads to the same Obstacle( The Scout Test ).
The Twist is basicly a Mouse type Fight Conflict.
It’s my bad for not writing down what happens when they succeed on the Circle Test.
That twist also highlights another concern. There’s a lot of “playing before you play” in your setup, where you have everything planned out, right down to how the Patrol thinks, feels and acts. I’d loosen it up. Throw things at the patrol and let them respond. Based on their response, call for tests.
Yeah i thought it might be. Good to know! Could you give me an example how to loosen it up?
Sure. Look at the way the Mice Obstacle is handled in Deliver the Mail. It gives Martin’s background and his motivations and then says what he’s going to do. Ask for help from the patrol, start an Argument Conflict if they refuse, and go ahead alone if he loses. It’s all about Martin.
So, your first obstacle could just read. Finding anyone someone with information as to Gunnar’s whereabouts requires an Ob 5 Circles test, etc. Failure doesn’t lead to them
Then you write your Mouse Twist as either “while the patrol is out hunting down a lead to find Gunnar, they notice a shifty mouse following them. Ambushing their shadow requires an ob 4 scout test. Just flat out catching him is a Chase Conflict.”
Or you could make that Twist a straight out Ambush and launch into a Fight Conflict immediately.
Or you could invoke the emnity clause and have their Circle lead to the Innkeeper but she’s scared, so it’s an Argument Conflict to get her to give up the info.
So, I guess just focus on setting up the Obstacle or Twist and what tests might be needed to overcome them.
Okey! I Rewrote the Mission, so is it better? worse? or the same?
What do i need to change or add?
OT:
After the first Twist is resolved do i end the GM Turn or move on the the next(Wilderness) Obstacle? Or is it time for the Players Turn? I found it a bit confusing in the Sample Mission.
Bottom Line after Clearing 2 Obstacles(Counting Twists as an Obstacle) do i end the GM’s Turn or move on to the Next?
You would resolve the Wilderness obstacle after the first twist. Don’t start the players turn until you have resolved all the main obstacles that are in your GM’s turn.
Quick Question: You have a weasel sneaking around in Darkwater- Has something happened in Darkwater that weasels are now welcome, or would other town folk also be surprised and frightened to see the weasel as well? The image of a creature that is the height of a two story mouse house sneaking around in the streets trying not to be noticed not only by the patrol, but any mouse at all kind of struck me as odd.
Quick Question: You have a weasel sneaking around in Darkwater- Has something happened in Darkwater that weasels are now welcome, or would other town folk also be surprised and frightened to see the weasel as well? The image of a creature that is the height of a two story mouse house sneaking around in the streets trying not to be noticed not only by the patrol, but any mouse at all kind of struck me as odd.
Oh i didn’t realize they where THAT big!
Well it’s no big deal, i can replace Ferd with another Mice.
I’ll keep it in mind and thanks for pointing that out.
You would resolve the Wilderness obstacle after the first twist. Don’t start the players turn until you have resolved all the main obstacles that are in your GM’s turn.
Yeah that’s what i though, but it seamed a bit strange when i looked at the first sample mission " The Grain Peddler".
Because the Obstacles are Wilderness and Mice. If the Wilderness fails, It’s an animal twist and the Mission tells me to end it after they defeated the Snake.( It says that the players MIGHT suggest to search the area but i can’t count on it. ).
“noclue” said i should loosen it up. But what if the Players decide to do something else that dosn’t lead them to my next obstacle should i make a new one up on the fly or tell them that they simple must do it like this and railroad them to the next obstacle?
MG is based on a mission structure. So, your opening of the GMs turn essentially gives them a mission “Find Gunnar for Loretta.” That’s the game here. So, getting them to the second obstacle is as simple as narrating and calling for a test after the twist is resolved. “Gunnar is in their hideout in the woods, it’s an Ob 5 scout test to follow their tracks back to the source.”
If the Mice trail Tuk back to his lair during the Mice Obstacle, that’s okay too. You can call for a different test to free Gunnar (maybe a fight with Tuk’s stakes drive the Mice off) or you could call for your Scout test to get back to town after they get him. Or you could just end your turn with them finding Gunnar’s location and leave saving him as part of their turn. It really depends on how much has happened in your turn and how many checks they’ve earned.
MG is based on a mission structure. So, your opening of the GMs turn essentially gives them a mission “Find Gunnar for Loretta.” That’s the game here. So, getting them to the second obstacle is as simple as narrating and calling for a test after the twist is resolved. “Gunnar is in their hideout in the woods, it’s an Ob 5 scout test to follow their tracks back to the source.”
It’s so confusing, kinda hard even.
I need to loosen it up but i must keep narrating(railroading…) 90% of the GM’s TURN?
PS. Could i get some imput on the Rewritten mission?
Don’t think of the GM turns as railroading as such as laying out the objectives and providing possible solutions. The players are always free to come up with alternative solutions to deal with the objectives. For example, if they end up catching Tuk during the chase twist, instead of using the information he gives to make a pathfinder roll, his friend may try to persuade him to show them the way. Or his enemy may try to intimidate (deceive) him into doing so. You just set the objectives infront of them and offer possible solutions. The players a free to try to solve the problem in other ways.
I think your rewritten mission is fine. If the players don’t specify where they are looking then feel free to say it happens at the docks. If however they do specify, such as we go to the market or the tavern to look for clues, then Tuk just follow them there instead. The only thing is you may want to add an additional test to the twist after the chase to get the information from Tuk, unless you feel he would freely offer that information to his friend (this test could be part of the condition of the chase, depending on its outcome).
Thank you for making it a bit clearer. It was my groud though aswell.
Hm, like a third Obstacle? Or should i handle it like in the “Grain Peddler” Mission? That if the players surgest it i can allow the test?( Like if they surgest to search the Area in the Grain Peddler Mission. )
My initial though was that the players would have it in their Conflict Goal to make the captured mouse spill the beans.
Well if they set that as there goal for the conflict, then no need for the test. If that isn’t there goal, you could tie it to end disposition- if they win the chase with out losing any disposition, maybe Tuk offers information to his friend, if they lost disposition, you could tie it to their condition and require a test or possibly a whole argument conflict. Or you could have them catch him and then say ‘now what’ and see if that is the route they want to go. You have a number of options.
The rewrite looks good to me. You may want to read through the Characters’ BIGs to see if there’s anything you can target with these twists. Poking and Prodding at the stuff they put on their character sheets is a good thing.
