I’m going to be running a Mouse Guard One Shot this Thursday and I’ve been having a great deal of trouble coming up with a mission appropriate and exciting for 6 Players. Our time frame is roughly 4 Hours but some of that is going to involve explaining the rules. I’ll be providing characters and they’ll most likely be drawn from the two patrols in “Trouble at Grass Lake” and “Deliver the Mail” with some slight modification (I’ll be allowing players to choose from the 8 Mice Available as well as allowing them to choose their weapons, for example)
Does anyone have any advice on running a mission with 6 players? Any recommendations for encounters or twists?
Split the number of other players into two groups. You should be able to get though any of the sample missions in about two hours. Everyone will get a better feel for the game.
I want to avoid running the sample missions if I can as we’ve all read the comics (hence “The Grain Peddler” feels like rehash) and half of us have done Trouble In Grass Lake before.
So, having the people who played Trouble in Grasslake play Deliver the Mail instead, and then the other people play the Grasslake mission, won’t work?
Six players really messes with things like helping, conflicts, and spotlight time. Split the group into two distinct patrols with complimentary missions: perhaps one group has to replace an area of the scent border while the other runs off a large predator that made its way inside. During the GM’s turn, cut back and forth on the mission obstacles; avoid twists because that’ll slow things down. Afterward, bring everyone together for a big Players’ Turn.