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UserClone
2009-02-10, 08:48 PM
So I saw this on the shelf o' RPGs at my local Borders and thought "Whoa! I've been wanting to do that myself! Gotta have this!"

So it seems pretty sweet from the bits that I've read; it uses the Burning Wheel system (which I'm not sure how many people are familiar with; I'm not one of those people at any rate). My chief complaint with the game is its apparent lack of a blank character sheet for easy copying and filling out. At first, this just annoyed me, until I got to the chapter on character generation, and they have a picture of a very nicely formatted character sheet all filled out...but there is no blank one to be found. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that sucks if I'm not.

So, have any opinions about Mouse Guard RPG? Mouse Guard comics in general? The Burning Wheel System? Feel free to post them here!

Surfing HalfOrc
2009-03-01, 12:05 PM
I did the same thing! I found the game on a bookshelf, thought it looked pretty cool, bought it, and discovered that there wasn't any character sheet.

Then I remembered this new invention, a "series of tubes," and decided to see what, if anything, the internets might have. And lo and behold, I found blank sheets, pregenerated characters, GM record sheets and GM conflict sheets... (http://www.burningwheel.org/wiki/index.php?title=Downloads)

So now that I'm done busting your chops (:smallwink:), let me ask, have you had a chance to play? I bought mine just last night, and haven't had a chance. In fact, I haven't read all the way through the book yet, so some of my questions are inviting of my own chops getting busted...

Is there a magic section? Or are the Mouse Guards and all the associated mice non-magical? Is there any chance of a dungeon crawl? (It would seem that towns could be ruined, trees could be abandoned, and small caves and burrows would make for excellent dungeon crawls for a Mouse Guard patrol to stumble across.

My son, and most of his friends are around eight. How well do the rules fit kids of that age? I'm a member of a Kids RPG group on Yahoo, and I had heard Mouse Guard brought up several times, and decided that they needed a bit simpler rule set than 3.x or anything else I have in my collection.

Also, I haven't had a chance to use the net to search for any pre-written adventures. Have you stumbled over anything since you posted here?

UserClone
2009-03-01, 12:43 PM
Consider your chops busted, sir. :smallwink: There is no magic involved, nor has there ever been in the comics, to my knowledge.

There is potential for dungeon-crawling, but, frankly, it wouldn't be the same thing as a game built for it, like D&D. The consequences of failure are typically either success (but you gain a hindering condition, such as you find the map of Lockhaven amongst the grain-peddler's rice, but it makes you angry, which reduces your ability to focus on tasks) OR a plot twist (You fail to spot the grain peddler, so the GM decides to introduce a twist: the grain peddler has been swallowed by a snake!) which then might lead to a new, different type of conflict, which needs to be resolved in its own right.

I think honestly that younger gamers are going to like this more than old farts like us. Don't be surprised if those kids end up wrapping their heads around the concepts faster than you do. It's a whole new ballgame compared to the RPG's I was used to, and has a surprising amount of depth for what, at first, looked like a VERY rules-lite game. I think I am going to like playing this thing, and if you get the hankering to try it out in a PbP fashion, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM. I think this game lends itself well to PbP.

Lastly, if your kids are at all into "nature spirits of the woods" like pixies, faeries, sprites, leprechauns, etc. you will want to try out Faery's Tale Deluxe (http://firefly-games.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=48) by Firefly Games (though you have to actually purchase it through Green Ronin, it's mother company, known for Mutants & Masterminds and the Freeport line). I love it and can't recommend it enough to people that want to introduce young kids to gaming. Frankly, I've had fun with it with mostly just adults at the table. It is extremely rules lite and requires you to be comfortable adjudicating on the fly, but it is so darn fun you won't mind. I promise.