I am very new to Mouse Guard and while a lot of it flows very naturally, I am still grappling with the turn structures.
When designing my own missions, how many obstacles should I prepare for each GM turn? I know the player’s should come “when it feels right”, twists can delay it, and every mission is different, but does anyone have a general guideline they like to use for their turn length?
How many GM/Player turns do you try to have per session? Again I know this changes a lot based on the session, but I was just wondering if anyone had a guideline they like to follow.
Any broad recommendations on how to get players to use their checks creatively? My group loves the IDEA of the player turn but is struggling to come up with things to use their checks on.
I try to plan two different obstacles for each GM turn. I will also try to have loose ideas of what I might do for twists.
I plan on one GM turn and one Player turn per session, with each session coving one mission. I try to have a couple of follow up missions ready as sometimes the turns can click by really fast and there is time for a second mission in a single play session. I find 2-4 hours per mission is to be expected.
The rules say pick two of the four obstacle types: weather, wilderness, animals, mice.
You should play through at least one of each turn per session.
To get your players into their turn, first make sure they have a few conditions so they have a reason to spend a check or two. And next, get them into a bad position in which they’ve failed their mission or are about to. Then end your turn and hand the reins over to them. That usually serves to drive home the power of the player’s turn!