So many questions, don't hate on me... thanks for looking

Mouse Guard Lockhaven
1

OK so I love the game thus far, I’ve had it for a few weeks and have looked over it extensively and read (and I mean this) pretty much every post on the forums here as well as listen to some podcasts and interviews/reviews. I haven’t gotten to play it yet (I have a strong base of friends and we regularly play rpgs but getting them to want to play a mouse with a sword for some reason is tough but I do have a couple of people for possibilities), so that is hurting me, on the following lengthy questions and such so please forgive me. So having said this, I want to ask several questions and mind you I don’t need re sent to other parts of the forum I have read them, If it looks like a repeat I just want full clarification, thanks so much for your time and effort looking at this.
(i actually got some friends together the other day and made some chars next week hopefully get together to do some test runs and a short mission hopefully)

I love the idea of this game and its aspect, I keep looking out side and thinking how freaking hard it would be for a mouse to endure just a mile of travel, a lot of my questions will probably focus on it being as realistic as possible(ya I know it’s a fantasy rpg but I see it as being very realistic already, just with mice and swords :P)

#1) being a long time rpger of 2nd dnd (none of that 3,3.5, 4+ shit) shadowrun, d6 star wars, west end games masterbook, 7th sea etc… I am use to different play styles, this one is very different for me but none the less I am excited to try it out, with regard to the gm turn/ player turn, could this continue for a long long time? And in tying with this could you have a season last for a season, meaning if the guard started off on the first day of spring and traveled around for a week, instead of the new season coming within a weeks time as opposed to a more realistic time frame like 3 months, could you go around for time allotment? Play out the three months(it may not all be traveling and true adventuring with stops here and their staying for days etc.)

#2) sorry for the lengthiness, ok so the travel time is one day per inch, that is awesome, now, how far can a mouse in mouse guard travel in a day? (I know one day travel thus the inch) but I mean how far is the one inch? (please no link posts to the size of the territories posts as they don’t give an answer to this) so with that a true measure of the territories could be done. (and an idea of the water sizes and such and scent border length. (someone had a nice post on the mice lab studies somewhere and closest I saw was somewhere about a mile a day avg., although that also had mice going almost 15 miles too)…

#3) I plan on writing out some of towns not fully described and adding them to the selections for players making chars (with skill choices and trait options) for more variety this would be ok right?

#4) I’ve seen some posts but no answers to this(this would most likely be a David question) but is there a true religion? Or significant cultural aspect? It looks like to me the apiary keeper is forefront when ‘the black axe’ has his funeral, with the incense burner thing, are they like priests? Do they worship something like the bees or their honey or the queen? Or is like spirits of nature?

#5) can the missile weapons (bow/sling or other or thrown) be used in direct melee? (I mean upclose)

#6) in a podcast a gm used a ‘swarm’ of ants and had nature and things for them, am I missing that somewhere in the book or a way to ‘create’ animals/insects not in the book? (I don’t see ants either) on this note, in the natural order scale, squirrel is shown yet no squirrel exists or are they referring to the ‘larger form’ of ground squirrel?

#7) would the best skill combo for a musician be orator and then have like lute-wise?

#8) making up your own traits is fine right? Like the drunk and pretty on npcs?

#9) a note regarding equipment (weapons/armor) I saw on a few other posts that yes you can make your own weapons and have the good advantage ie deadly without the bad ie slow… right? Does this include armor? And also does the -1d for heavy tests on fatigue after using mean you have to make a test or be tired after battle or it’s a -1d if you have to test for this? I don’t see fatigue elsewhere. Also can I use a mace (yes I saw the posts) and just use the stats for an axe? Or a crossbow and use bow?

#10) animal/creature aspects ie otter nature 7 aspects, swimming, fishing, playing and whistling… does this mean they can’t attack a mouse? Even though in there description they say they can have a mouse-snack… if so what exactly do the aspects tell us?

#11) Is the bucket and spoon from the travel to the well in the darkheather from the weasels? If so are they a little big even for them? Or is there a human influence, also conrads hook (also a weapon) seems pretty large too, or is this just to try and get the big fish?

I know I have others… but this is quite lengthy enough, sorry about this just wanting to know… I appreciate your time. Thanks.

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  1. Yes, the game is designed for long term play. And yes, you can play in the Season per Session mode. It’s described in the book!

  2. A Guard Mouse travels as far as he needs to. Use the Pathfinder factors to determine how hard it is for a character to get from one place to another. Roll the dice and impose twists/conditions as appropriate.

  3. Don’t do this for your first game. You already said the game is different from what you’re used to. Why add to the confusion the first time out?

  4. Combat in Mouse Guard is a swirling, chaotic affair. There’s opportunities to get in close and to peal off daring shots with your bow. So yes.

  5. There are no rules for creating animals, but based on their stats, animals are pretty simple to create, don’t you think?

  6. Sure!

  7. Certainly, but again, be conservative for your first game. You can always add new traits when you get to the winter session – in fact, you’re supposed to.

  8. What do the rules for Armorer say?

  9. Otters will attack mice when they’re fishing. They’ll also play with mice – to death.

3

thanks for your timely response Luke! I know somethings are not easily answerable, but thank you. I just woke up but will look more in depth for other questions. Thanks again.

4

The apiarist has his thurible for practical reasons… smoke vs bees. It’s his primary tool!

Reigious significance aside, it’s clear there is respect for the dead, and some form of belief system, but it’s not been defined beyond the recounting of the deeds of heroes over winter, and adding one’s own tales, for both education and entertainment. It might be animist (spirit worship and/or propitiation), possibly deist (some form of supernatural being(s) in charge), or even ancestor worship, or it may be just a ense of manifest destiny. Not enough there to tell.

5

Do mice age in seasons or years??? They have aged almost everything in seasons… it would match real mice years more correctly to say that they are (blank) seasons old. It is the way we play anyway.

6

Harvey, one of the cool things about Mouse Guard is that the game is loose enough for you and the players to answer some of your setting questions yourselves. Take a look at the rules for Wises and for Twists; you’d be surprised about what you can define about the world with these.

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I guess you’re right. It is pretty awesome the different ways you can develop your story into your own. I have one friend that ased if other people have played as another race… I wasn’t sure if anyone else had any ideas on that or not.

One thing I noticed pretty early on was that there is no race of rats in the game… maybe the designers are holding that tid bit back for a future volume two… or a major plot line in the comics?

My friend josh mentioned that rats could be like the barbarians of the story… but then i thought, maybe it could be interesting to have the mice be the more backwards race and the rats are maybe a distance advanced culture like that of the romans or greeks. Not gonna lie, the way the map is set up. The mice are sort of “Israel” ish and the weasels dress and act sort of like ancient egypt. It might just fit to have the Rats be a northern kingdom. Just a thought… open to critic.

8

Sorry, I meant for my reply to be directed toward sarelk, but I guess it works for the thread overall! Lack of sleep leads to a tired mouse.

9

There is NO influence from humans. In the world of mouse guard humans do not exist. The comics will eventually explain Conrad’s hook.

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Not to seem like a glory hog or anything, but as far as the question about other races I have been working on a few here.

I don’t claim to be great but it may be a starting point if you want something extra in your world.