In this thread, Luke talks about allowing players to call for and then roll Weather Watcher during the GM turn. My question: what kind of power is there for players to do this in the GM’s turn? Is it only for Weather Watcher, because of the particulars of how that specific skill works? Or can players call for skill tests beyond the one alternate the GM must provide for Obs if asked?
I know the spirit of the law; player’s can’t just be walking down the road to Pebblebrook during the GM’s turn and say, “We practice our Fighting. Do we get a test?” That’s for the Player’s Turn.
But is the kind of player-called test during the GM’s turn that I describe in the first paragraph only limited to Weather Watcher?
I dunno what page 70 says, but in my own campaign, I’ve found a good bit of success by simply looking at the difference between the GM turn and the Player turn as who has the authority to control the pace. In the GM turn, the players can propose all the courses of action/tests they want, but the GM has the authority to say “not right now, move along”. In the player turn, as long as they have a check to pay for it, players can do what they want.
Now I’m going to go read page 70
Edit: okay yah, that’s pretty much exactly what page 70 says.
Yeah, it is. Thanks. I think the problem is that in our session, there wasn’t any of this table chatter between players of “what are we going to do?”, making plans or casting about for different ways to approach the Obstacle, and then offering up to the GM what they wanted to do. It was just me saying, “Okay guys, you have to hack your way to Pebblebrook. That’s a Pathfinder 6.” And then they rolled.
I may start a new thread asking how, as GM, to best prompt the players to do more than roll against Obs. Once we had character creation done the character’s names weren’t mentioned once during the session.
It’s really a balance of power. For instance, the player has the power to alter the missions (Weasel-wise: Look, a tuft of weasel fur. My suspicions are confirmed. I knew they were behind this. It has weasel writen all over it. makes role) and the player also has the power to even alter other characters (Crime-wise: Look, in Celborn’s bedroom chest. There are lockpicks and a black bandit robe. He must be working for the secret society of bandits. makes role)
On the other hand, the GM has the power to shoot down any role at his discretion. It’s kind of exciting and stressful at the same time. I could see arguements arise, but as long as you have a good GM and what he says goes, everyone should be fine. I think I’d always make the player cough up two checks for wises.
I think as long as what they’re doing applies to the mission, then it’s fine. If they’re just trying to get extra skill points, then don’t let them do it. The GM turn is not about skill points, it’s about the mission. In fact, the player turn isn’t about skill points. The whole game is about the story. Your person growing in skills is part of the story, but it should come naturaly. It’s not the reason you play.
One thing I was wondering, what if they want to do some resource, persuade, or any other roles to prepare for the mission. Extra gear can mean extra dice. Would you let them do that Luke? I think I’d make 'em cough up two checks, but how would you punish them if they fail it? Something I’ve thought about.
Explicitly, specifically this: NO. Never. Ever. This is what the Players’ Turn is for. In the GM’s Turn? There’s no time. Mission’s on the line. Gotta get moving. Danger awaits. Lives are in peril. No time for shopping or washing your hair.
Yes, if I understand them rightly. The wises are for a player to be able to change the outcome or direction of the story. It’s amazing. I think you can use them in the ways described above by me. If not someone let me know. On page 37 it says “You can test to bring in a new fact about something in the game that’s relevant to your wise’s area.” I could be abusing the rule, but I think I’ve heard this interpretation confirmed before here on the forums. I’m pretty sure that the player has to give up two checks unless the GM calls for him to use the wise. Then it’s free.
Oh…
Sweet, I love throwing people into extreme situations unprepared.
I don’t know how Luke holds it together. I honestly wonder if people ACTUALLY read the book rather than just skim it and come to conclusions? I don’t know if it is how different the system is from the standard dice fest RPG’s or what? But the book is pretty explicit and straight forward. I’m not meaning to be a jerk but I honestly don’t get how folks seem to be having a hard time with this game?
I really find it a breath of fresh air to the world of RPG’s.
Well, to be honest, it was a lot to take in for me. Note that I can be an airhead at times, but keep in mind, some of the people reading mouse guard are first time RPGers like me. They’ve never seen a rule book that size. They’re used to playing simple board games. When I read through the book for the first time, I was haveing trouble remembering what the last chapter said. I really thought I’d never remember it all. Thankfully, there were so many questions on the forum about it and after reading through the old threads on a regular basis the information in the book solidafied in my mind. I’m glad people ask so many questions.
I’ve full-on read the book twice. Skimmed it a couple more times.
I’m kind of anal in general, and not experienced when it comes to RPGs, so I err on the side of caution and ask a lot of questions. It’s not like I read MG and went, “Oh my God, how do I run this game?!” I read it and thought, “Oh my God, I can run this game really easily.” And I did. It’s just that I like to be really clear when it comes to rules, so after I play, I ask a lot of very niggling, narrow questions about things that I wasn’t quite positive about during the session itself*. It’s not as if I can’t play the game or enjoy it if I don’t have comprehensive answers to those questions. It’s just that I like to have comprehensive answers, so I ask 'em anyway.
Also, roleplaying games are just really complex things. Most of them take a good while to really internalize. Call me dumb if you want, but that’s how it is for me.
