SPQM: Philosophy

Mouse Guard Hacks and Expansions
1

I’m working on my hack Senatus Populusque Muris and is thinking about philosophy. I want it to be a part of the game since it feels as an important part of the ancient mediterranean cultures I’m getting the inspiration from. At first I thought it was obvious that philosophy would be one or a few wises but then it felt good with the skill ‘‘Philosopher’’ but I don’t really know, is it ‘‘practical’’ enough to be a skill, can you be doing stuff with it? One thing that might be done with it is to reason on philosophical matters and write down philosophical matters both in a way that ‘‘usual mice’’ understands and in the way philosophers are supposed to write amongst themselves.

What do you say? Is there a place for a skill ‘‘Philosopher’’ and what would it contain?

2

There’s a Philosophy skill in Burning Wheel. It’s the primary skill of one of the Outcaste paths… a “free thinker”.

It could be a “wise” to support Oratory. It could also be used to challenge Law or Bureaucracy or any such (thinking along the lines of Socrates, challenging the social order), especially if there’s some sort of Political contest in your setup. In Burning Wheel, Philosophy is described as an opposite of Law.