Mouseguard

[Scribble]

Ok- So I know I'm totally late to the party here on this, but I was glancing through the book over the weekend while the wife went clothes shopping.

On a very casual glance it seemed like a really nice product.

I have no idea how the rules actually play, but the artwork and feel really made me happy. I got a "Secret of NIMH" vibe while reading.

I've never read the comics though, and most of my gamers friends are also comics guys, so I don't think I could ever really run the game and not piss a bunch of people off "canon" wise!

For those of you who have played it- Is it fun? Did you follow canon?

 

[Pseudonym]

There is an adaptation using the Mouseguard rules set in Middle Earth that looks interesting. I'd love to play either Mouseguard or Burning Wheel, but I can't find people who understand the system enough to explain it to me. Reading the books has only gotten me so far. I've yet to have actual play experience.

 

[malraux]

Ok- So I know I'm totally late to the party here on this, but I was glancing through the book over the weekend while the wife went clothes shopping.

On a very casual glance it seemed like a really nice product.

I have no idea how the rules actually play, but the artwork and feel really made me happy. I got a "Secret of NIMH" vibe while reading.

I've never read the comics though, and most of my gamers friends are also comics guys, so I don't think I could ever really run the game and not piss a bunch of people off "canon" wise!

For those of you who have played it- Is it fun? Did you follow canon?

I've only read a few of the comics. That said, I don't think canon would be a big deal. If you specifically bring in characters from the comic, then maybe. But to me, because mice live relatively short lives, moving the events a few years from the comic would mean that there's no canon considerations.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Well I read the first "arc" of Mouse Guard and it really does feel like an epic fantasy to me. You should totally read the comic if you can.

 

[Scribble]

I've only read a few of the comics. That said, I don't think canon would be a big deal. If you specifically bring in characters from the comic, then maybe. But to me, because mice live relatively short lives, moving the events a few years from the comic would mean that there's no canon considerations.

Yeah- but the feel of the game I guess... I mean having never read the comics I think I'd be mainly influenced by things like Secret of NIMH, and my own imagination.

Like, I have no idea if say... Owls can talk in Mouseguard, but in mine they would.

Really I was overstating the canon problem- if I told my friends I have no idea what the actual comic is like, but I have X idea they'd be cool with it... Most of them at least.

I guess I'm not sure I'd like to get someone's hopes up if they're a fan of Mouseguard only to have them actually play something that has nothing really to do with Mouseguard the comic whatsoever. If that makes any sense.

 

[Toben the Many]

Mouseguard is a very cool game. Just understand that the game and system are quite different from the traditional roleplaying game. For example, there is a GM's turn and a Player's turn - something that takes quite a bit of getting used to. Also, combat is done very differently. It is done as a group, not individually, with each side deciding stakes for the conflict. That's the quick-quick version of what the game plays like.

 

[lin_fusan]

My friends have played about 11-12 sessions worth of Mouse Guard. It took about 6 sessions for me to grok it, and my players understand the game in "theory", but they occasionally forget the "practice".

The game is very well thought out, but the layout is a mess. The game reads like how I imagine Luke Crane would teach you how to play, as opposed to how a game would teach you how to play. (For example, chunks of the sample adventure are repeated at least three times in the book, and the index will reference a word that appears in the exact same context those three times.)

I highly recommend getting a group of players who like to experiment and learn new modes of play. I'm not going to say that this game will "change your life", but it codifies into its rules system what we probably have all done in any RPG.

Edit: Oh, and I accidentally blew up canon in my game. I mistranscribed the year in the game such that their actions happen at the same time as the comics. Luckily, few of them have read the comic.

 

[Scribble]

Interesting... Maybe I should look into the whole Burning Wheel thing.

Is the player / DM turns thing a BW thing or a MG thing?

 

[Dragonbait]

Is the player / DM turns thing a BW thing or a MG thing?

A Burning Wheel thing, I believe.

Edit: Apparently it is not.

 

[Wycen]

I can't find people who understand the system enough to explain it to me. Reading the books has only gotten me so far. I've yet to have actual play experience.

I've only just played my first session and what you say seems very correct. I've played games long enough to be a grognard, but also enough variety to be excited about small/indie games. So, I recognized certain things, thought they must fit into the context somehow, but do not yet grasp why things are supposed to work the way they do or don't.

I think I tried to explain the same feeling to our GM after the session when he asked what I thought about it.