(edit: Luke finished typing up his reply before I submitted mine. So the comments below did not have Luke’s latest response accounted for.)
Wait wait … the two of us have been reading the same set of threads over the past 2 weeks, I think. So this may make a lot of sense to just the two of us, and completely confuse every other reader. Aramis and Wanderer may know what we’re driving at, but I think they also have a lot more practical experience to apply.
Anyway, let me take a step back and just reflect on some of the things I remember. (Serpine, the rest of this post is really not directed to you, but to all the other new people to MG.)
Take is as coming from one formerly-blind person speaking to other blind people about a miraculous cure! “Look, I once was blind, but now I see! I don’t claim to be an expert on theology, but my life has certainly changed!”
I think a lot of it actually came from reading Luke Crane’s reactions to various discussions. I’ll try to add in references to threads if that is necessary. Right now, I’m operating on memory.
The only time that the “plot” of the story is completely in the GM’s control is on the very first session the group gets together. It is possible that the GM and the players talked about what kind of game they’ll play prior to that first session; but for most of us who just started playing Mouse Guard, we’re following one of the three sample missions.
So, for something like 2 sessions, depending on how many iterations of GM/Player turns it takes, the GM’s turn would be based on a plot that the GM has near-absolute control.
Now … as Luke Crane pointed out in some other thread … the GM starts collaborating with the Players once the initial mission is completed and the first Player’s Turn starts. If you look at those sample missions in the book, they all stop after describing the very short list of obstacles and twists. What happens next is really up to how the players pick up the story on the Player’s Turn.
Just for example, take the Grain Peddler mission. The only thing that didn’t have any input from the players is the initial set of obstacles and twists – the wilderness, the traitor mouse, the snake, and the hidden map. There’s no “script” after that. And that big blank page is what the Player’s Turn is for. Will the players proceed to Barkstone and investigate there? Will they report back to Gwendolyn instead? The players decide what happens next …
and it sets up the next GM’s turn. The GM can’t ignore what happened during the Player’s Turn, he has to follow through. So the obstacles and twists that eventually come up during the GM’s turn are simply a natural flow from what the Players did during the Player’s turn.
At least … that’s the ideal that I’ve read in the rulebook, and I’ve seen Luke verify that in at least one thread.
Now, here’s the reality: many players are not used to “leading” the storytelling, especially if they’re not used to Mouse Guard in the first place! So, instead of pursuing the story by having their characters take an active role in the Player’s turn, they take a passive role. They make recovery checks. They go shopping. They do “idle work”. And possible one reason they do this is because they expect the GM to continue making up the story (because that’s what usually happens in other RPGs). So when the players don’t take an active role in the Players Turn, the GM is left “high and dry” on what the players want to pursue.
And that’s why I think GMs and players should play more than just 1-3 sessions. People don’t pick up “earning more checks” on the first session. GMs don’t get into the habit of prompting players to look for alternative solutions on the first session. People confuse “failing the skill test roll” with “failing the mission” (failure just makes the game more interesting in Mouse Guard). It takes some time for the GM to start plotting based on what the Players have already done, rather than on what the GM wants to do.
Do you need to break the game to go off mission during the GM turn, or is that an inherent expectation of advanced play?
Once the dynamic between Player’s Turn and GM’s turn is working in rhythm, there’s no need to “go off mission” during the GM’s turn, because (1) the players have had every opportunity to pursue idle work during the Player’s turn, and (2) the GM’s turn should be based on “expectations” set by the players during the Player’s turn.
And I’ll end with my usual disclosure … “Hey, I’m new to Mouse Guard too! If I got any of this wrong, I certainly welcome being corrected. I’ll tax my Nature as I obviously had to tap it to get this much out!”
