so I just returned home from my very first Mouse Guard session, and surprisingly enough, it didn’t go all that bad! Granted, we didn’t get through an entire session, we had to stop before the GM’s turn was even over, but my players didn’t seem half as confused by the rules as I was. Maybe I should make them read Burning Empires and then teach me…
Anyway, as I am still wet behind the ears and I didn’t want to complicate things for myself or my players, I decied to play the Find the Grain Peddler mission with the sample characters, to get them familiarized a bit with the system. By the time we had to break the party up, the players had just succeeded in killing the milk snake. The found the grain peddler dead inside the snake, and they all instinctiely assumed that they had failed their mission. To them it seemed as though finding out if the grain peddler was a traitor died with him. It says in the book that the GM’s turn will end once the players Interrogate the peddler (which won’t happen since he’s now dead) OR find the map. However, the players have no idea said map exists and so has no intention of searching for a it.
In a situation like this, what would you propose I do the next time we play?
Maybe you should have them trace his path back to Barkstone and see if circles brings up anyone who knows something about him. That’s what i’d do. Maybe you can trace him all the way back to Calgero and to Conrad. That would be rad. lol
Off the wall question: Why is this thread titled “The human element”? I’m confused.
Hmm. Well, I had to name it something. ^^ I just feel that often when things go wrong or not as planned, it’s usually the human element that is at fault.
So, you’re saying that if they just stand around poking the dead peddler hoping he’ll come back to life I should give them a Player’s Turn?
Hey, glad you had a good time! A suggestion: If the players weren’t given any hints or clues that a map existed, then how are they supposed to know about it? They can’t search for it if they don’t know about it, and it’s not fun to sit around asking the GM questions about every contingency to see if something exists. You should have thrown them a bone!
Once they found the dead mouse, you could have set an Obstacle like, “You need to determine if the mouse is a spy or not. Test Nature 4 to search the cart for any evidence.” If they succeed, great! If they fail, awesome! Give 'em the map and a Condition.
Do that at the beginning of next session to wrap up the GM’s turn and then give 'em a Player’s Turn.
Well, just give it to them. What’s the harm in that? They dig him out of the snake, right the cart and find the map. Finding the map’s not important. What they do next is important.