Now, that’s something I’m currently struggling with. On the one hand, Nature is one of the strongest mechanics for emphasizing the ‘us against the world’ attitude and style of the game, so it would be better just to flat out ditch it. On the other hand, it gives an interesting drive and, perhaps more importantly, leash for the characters, so I’d like to keep it in. Now offering multiple Natures for the characters does straddle the middle ground nicely, but it does potentially open up a couple of problems
Firstly, giving multiple paths could potentially make characters opt for the one that most benefits their particular character concept, which means that they can keep using it and it will rarely be taxed or challenged. This means characters will have to metagame taxing their Nature so they don’t go off the deep end.
Secondly it slightly downplays the core drive of the mechanics - most of the Mouse Guard system is about choices, following your Goals, Beliefs, Instincts and Nature. There should be some sort of internal struggle in regards to choosing whether to use your Nature or not, particularly for inappropriate actions.
My first instinct is to put the ‘Nature’ (though whether I keep the term or not is still debatable) of the characters into looser, more generic terms. Let’s have a quick think about this in fantasy RPG terms. The core archetypal characters in fantasy RPGs (and, to a lesser extent, literature) are, of course, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard and Cleric. If we spin those out into the basis of Nature…
Fighter becomes Perseverance: The willingness and drive to take things on head-on, sword to sword
Rogue becomes Gather Wealth: Greed and ruthlessness, combined with a natural cunning
Wizard becomes Knowledgeable: Gather knowledge, both mystical and mundane
Cleric becomes Faithful: Abiding by the tenants of their devoted deity
This is nice, but it doesn’t necessarily go against the points I made before. There’s no drive to really go against it, and what’s the real problem if they do? If you go to Nature 0 or 7 in Mouse Guard, you’re too ‘far gone’ in one direction or the other to really be a member of the Guard anymore. So what happens if the people with this Nature go over the metaphorical edge? I could have them become become amoral, power-hungry, war mongering crusaders at Nature 7, but that somehow rings hollow. Having Nature 7 doesn’t mean you’re bad, it just means you’re very in tune with what you naturally are.
Hmmmm… Let me think on this, and I’ll get back to you. Any suggestions from people are, of course, welcome