I’m still trying to unlearn some of the rules from Mouse Guard so I can run this game more effectively. As a player, when I’m putting together my dice pool, what are all my options for increasing the dice that I can roll?
Skill rating + Help + Wises + Supplies + Gear + Traits + Persona Points + Tapped Nature + Fresh + Other bonuses (eg from magic)
So does the following example work:
[ul]
[li]I’m a human cleric and use Pathfinder 2 to go on a long journey on an infrequently used path through the forest (ob 5), starting me with 2D
[/li][li]The elf in my group scouts ahead and gives me +1D
[/li][li]The warrior hunts for any game along the way, giving me +1D
[/li][li]The halfling is Pine Forest-wise and knows these woods, giving me +1D - to be clear, I’m unable to use a wise to help myself without spending rewards after the roll
[/li][li]I use a map I bought from a cartographer as supplies for +1D, which uses up the map
[/li][li]I use my favorite pair of boots for +1D to make the hike through the forest, taking the rocks and vines like a champ - I can use these again later since they’re gear
[/li][li]I have the trait Early Riser to give me an early start on the day, giving me lots of sunshine and +1D - this gets marked off for the session since it’s a level
[/li][li]I spend 3 persona points to give +3D
[/li][li]I spend 1 more persona to tap my nature of 4/5, giving me +4D
[/li][li]I’m Fresh, so I get +1D
[/li][/ul]
In all, I have a dice pool of 16D and roll 7 successes, beating the obstacle by 2 and taxing my nature by 1 and allowing me to mark a pass on my Pathfinder test.
Does everything look right? Is there anything missing or wrong?
Yes, that looks right to me. Whether you would want to invest quite so much in that roll is another thing!
That is correct. You can indeed nova in Torchbearer, but it’ll expend your resources. I also find that there’s a particular momentum to things: you start with a lot of dice to throw at things, and then you take a condition, and it all starts spiralling downhill from there…
Do boots have some kind of set advantage? I thought the only interaction was that you were penalized if you don’t have it. Are these special boots?
All the rest looks correct.
I imagine these are special boots in this case, probably magical. Even well crafted boots loose their edge after one test (Elven and Dwarven gear or weapons are an example of this).
If I’m reading the table note at the bottom of page 145 correctly, they might alternatively give a permanent bonus, but only in very specific circumstances.
Now that I look at it again, I would probably read it that way too. I remember a discussion with Thor in another thread about how the effect should only ever work once, so maybe the intention is different than how we are reading it. It does say “to one action” so maybe after that one action it’s spent even though that would be redundant with the “or can only be used once” clause. Not sure.
Can you use both a I Am Wise and a Trait in the same role? I thought it was one or the other but I could be making that up.
Yes, you can use both.
In my example, the boots were not magical, they were just boots. I assumed from the original reply, that a piece of gear that works for the situation could add a die. So, now having read through the other comments, I take it that any old piece of gear does not give a +1D bonus, correct?
correct. It has to be really special gear or gear that says it gives bonus dice. Take a look at the gear chapter, for example a 10 foot pole gives +1D to test for traps, and it probably isn’t completely destroyed after the first test you use it in.
Yeah. Supplies always give a +1D bonus, but are also always used up in the process. Normal gear may give bonuses (for example, a shield gives +2D to a Defend maneuver in fighty conflicts) but doesn’t necessarily do so (shoes/boots don’t give a bonus–you just get a penalty if you don’t have them). Special gear acts like normal gear but has a one-time bonus to a specific action, or a permanent bonus that activates under narrow conditions (maybe boots that give +1D to Pathfinder tests in a certain terrain type or specific region). Magic stuff is magic, and can do a variety of things.
Which is why those peasants have to keep rebuilding their granaries. 
Hunter does not count as help for this test. And there’s no way I’d grant you a die for boots.