Should I use the pregen characters for our first game?

Mouse Guard Getting Started with Mouse Guard
1

hey guardsmice,

my regular BW group has been playing BW for 8 months and running every sunday, and we’re taking a break over the holiday season because of inconsistent attendance, and decided Mouseguard would be a great interem game, because of the one-mission/session structuring.

that being said, i’m wondering if i should have my players use the pregenerated characters, or encourage them to make their own. i feel that making their own might be a good way to introduce them into the setting/feel of the game, but on the other hand, the pregens will work towards making them less attached.

these guys are fairly experienced BWs (as i said, 8 months under their belt) so i’m not worried about system stuff. what’s the take on characters from those who’ve tried?

2

I say run at least one session using the pre-generated characters and a sample mission from the book. Just playing will get you all introduced to the game and its setting. After that, offer for the players to make their own characters for future sessions.

A nice thing about Mouse Guard is that its rules and structure make it very favorable to players coming and going from session to session. It should serve your purposes nicely.

3

run one session with pregens, then let them tweak templates and/or generate their own.

In either case, let them carry forward the rewards (fate/persona).

This serves several purposes:

  1. the pregens have a range of skill levels, so the players will see the value of given levels of skill
  2. it gets them into play quickly
  3. it models good beliefs and instincts
  4. if you play the matching mission, they don’t even need to write goals!
  5. it guarantees the needed skills for the matching sample mission.
4

run one session with pregens, then let them tweak templates and/or generate their own.

In either case, let them carry forward the rewards (fate/persona).

This serves several purposes:

  1. the pregens have a range of skill levels, so the players will see the value of given levels of skill
  2. it gets them into play quickly
  3. it models good beliefs and instincts
  4. if you play the matching mission, they don’t even need to write goals!
  5. it guarantees the needed skills for the matching sample mission.