I loved Mouse Guard. I was thrilled at the idea of a Mouse Guard RPG. Then Burning Wheel happened to it... and Burning Wheel is not something that I enjoy. So I had a thought. Why not strip down Edge of the Empire to have a simple little narrative Mouse Guard RPG? I jotted the following down quickly, and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the matter.

Resolution

Rolls are resolved as usual for Edge of the Empire. You roll your mixed pool, note success or failure, and spend advantage, threat, triumph, and despair.

Characteristics

Characteristics are as follows:

--Health is a measure of physical power, endurance, coordination, etc. It adds to your Wound Threshold.

--Will is a measure of mental acuity, attention to detail, focus, etc. It adds to your Strain Threshold.

--Nature is simply put, what comes naturally to a creature. It describes various actions that are within a creature's nature. Such as a mouse having Nature (Escaping, Climbing, Hiding, Foraging) 3.

Taxing Characteristics

On any check, you may take 2 strain to tax the used characteristic, upgrading your check. However, for the remainder of the encounter, you take a Setback die on all checks using that characteristic to represent fatigue, and you may not tax the same characteristic again this encounter. If you tax Nature, it gives you 2 upgrades. You may tax Nature on a check that is not related to your Nature, but this costs 4 strain and gives you a Setback on all checks for the remainder of the encounter.

Skills

Skills are as follows: Athlete, Deceiver, Fighter, Haggler, Healer, Instructor, Leader, Loremouse*, Militarist, Orator, Pathfinder, Persuader, Scout, Survivalist, Tradesmouse**, Weather Watcher

I have no idea what this is, but it's adorable, so I'm gonna watch this.

I have no idea what this is, but it's adorable, so I'm gonna watch this.

Mouse Guard started as a series of beautifully illustrated comics about a society of mice and the guardians of the trails between their villages. They are constantly beset by snakes, foxes, owls and other dangerous monsters. Definitely check it out. They released a game a few years ago, and I heard good things about it. I haven't played it, but I did get a chance to read through the book a bit. I didn't get it. I dunno, it might be a great game, but I just didn't quite understand how a game is supposed to go. It might be a great game, but I think MuttonchopMac may have the right of it, whipping up a conversion.

I have no idea what this is, but it's adorable, so I'm gonna watch this.

Mouse Guard started as a series of beautifully illustrated comics about a society of mice and the guardians of the trails between their villages. They are constantly beset by snakes, foxes, owls and other dangerous monsters. Definitely check it out. They released a game a few years ago, and I heard good things about it. I haven't played it, but I did get a chance to read through the book a bit. I didn't get it. I dunno, it might be a great game, but I just didn't quite understand how a game is supposed to go. It might be a great game, but I think MuttonchopMac may have the right of it, whipping up a conversion.

Oh, something along the lines of Redwall, sweet~

The big difference between Mouse Guard and Redwall is that normal size differences are maintained, meaning mice can use birds and rabbits as mounts, and wolves and the like take whole armies of mice to combat. Also, communication between species is a lot more difficult.

In terms of the conversion, EotE feels like a good system to use because of the ease with which characters can cross-specialize; guardmice need a broad skill set to do their jobs. That said, it might not make sense to use specializations or careers at all if you're aiming for a stripped down RPG. You might take a page out of WoD and just have the players assign different set scores to their characteristics (say, a 2, a 3, and a 4), and then let them buy skill ranks, wises, and maybe traits with starting XP.

(Personally, I really like the Mouse Guard system despite finding Burning Wheel proper to be a complicated mess, but to each their own.)

I'm glad people seem to be on board with this idea!

The big difference between Mouse Guard and Redwall is that normal size differences are maintained, meaning mice can use birds and rabbits as mounts, and wolves and the like take whole armies of mice to combat. Also, communication between species is a lot more difficult.

Yup. It focuses exclusively on mice as protagonists. Bats and weasels are seen to speak in a tongue that the mice can understand, but otherwise interspecies communication is pretty much out. Insects are used as labor and pets, and large predators (even just a snapping turtle) can level whole towns. The other thing is that it focuses on patrols of mice in the Guard, so all the players would be at least somewhat combat trained. The whole nature of the Guard lends itself well to AoR's Duty system, in fact.

In terms of the conversion, EotE feels like a good system to use because of the ease with which characters can cross-specialize; guardmice need a broad skill set to do their jobs. That said, it might not make sense to use specializations or careers at all if you're aiming for a stripped down RPG. You might take a page out of WoD and just have the players assign different set scores to their characteristics (say, a 2, a 3, and a 4), and then let them buy skill ranks, wises, and maybe traits with starting XP.

I contemplated talents, but honestly, they may not be needed. You could add three or four purchasable talents to each skill maybe, with a minimum skill level, but part of me would rather just focus on really savoring the narrative bent of the dice themselves. Do you think it would add anything? If nothing else, talents could be added later if they seem needed.

Actually, I already considered World of Darkness and like the idea of just having scores assigned to characteristics, such as a 2, 2, 3. I exclude a 4 because Boosts are easier to come by, upgrades can be gained with strain, and I don't want the mice to feel too powerful... Since you're familiar with the Mouse Guard RPG proper, what do you think about the inclusion of the Resources and Circles characteristics? I'm on the fence.

Heresy! Mouse Guard rpg is wonderful, I cannot praise it high enouogh. One of the best ever! (Sorry for not being constructive, but I had to say it)

Said that, good luck with the adaption.

Heresy! Mouse Guard rpg is wonderful, I cannot praise it high enouogh. One of the best ever! (Sorry for not being constructive, but I had to say it)

Said that, good luck with the adaption.

I played a couple of one-shots and I like it a lot, too. It has some very nice concepts about resolutions and together with Fate et al made me think about how I like to play and GM, which, in my opinion, is high praise for any RPG.

But I can understand that it is not for everybody. I think a narrative game like EotE is a pretty good fit and not that far away in spirit , so I'll second that: good luck!

Actually, I already considered World of Darkness and like the idea of just having scores assigned to characteristics, such as a 2, 2, 3. I exclude a 4 because Boosts are easier to come by, upgrades can be gained with strain, and I don't want the mice to feel too powerful... Since you're familiar with the Mouse Guard RPG proper, what do you think about the inclusion of the Resources and Circles characteristics? I'm on the fence.

I like Resources as a way to avoid having to track pennies, but I'm not sure how well it will port over without the Mouse Guard's success/failure advancement rules. I would be inclined to either treat it narratively, i.e. having a static score that changes based on events in the game, or to draw on WoD's Resources trait, with characters being able to improve their means by spending xp.

Circles I think it might be better to just leave out. In the Mouse Guard RPG it fits into that system's more regimented way of distributing narrative authority, which doesn't apply as well to EotE. If you want to preserve that feeling of guardsmice knowing people and having connections in every town, maybe you could run it like the Destiny point system. Players can flip a "light" point to introduce a friendly/receptive contact that can help them in the current situation, while the GM can flip a "dark" point to introduce a rival/enemy (or turn one of the PC's existing contacts into a rival) to complicate the situation.

Heresy! Mouse Guard rpg is wonderful, I cannot praise it high enouogh. One of the best ever! (Sorry for not being constructive, but I had to say it)

Said that, good luck with the adaption.

I played a couple of one-shots and I like it a lot, too. It has some very nice concepts about resolutions and together with Fate et al made me think about how I like to play and GM, which, in my opinion, is high praise for any RPG.

But I can understand that it is not for everybody. I think a narrative game like EotE is a pretty good fit and not that far away in spirit , so I'll second that: good luck!

Don't get me wrong, guys; I wanted to love it. I just don't connect with Burning Wheel's "set up three moves that are kinda like paper rock scissors plus rolling" conflict system. It's just a gimmicky head game between the players and GM in my mind, though some might like this. Everything else was beautiful.

Actually, I already considered World of Darkness and like the idea of just having scores assigned to characteristics, such as a 2, 2, 3. I exclude a 4 because Boosts are easier to come by, upgrades can be gained with strain, and I don't want the mice to feel too powerful... Since you're familiar with the Mouse Guard RPG proper, what do you think about the inclusion of the Resources and Circles characteristics? I'm on the fence.

I like Resources as a way to avoid having to track pennies, but I'm not sure how well it will port over without the Mouse Guard's success/failure advancement rules. I would be inclined to either treat it narratively, i.e. having a static score that changes based on events in the game, or to draw on WoD's Resources trait, with characters being able to improve their means by spending xp.

Circles I think it might be better to just leave out. In the Mouse Guard RPG it fits into that system's more regimented way of distributing narrative authority, which doesn't apply as well to EotE. If you want to preserve that feeling of guardsmice knowing people and having connections in every town, maybe you could run it like the Destiny point system. Players can flip a "light" point to introduce a friendly/receptive contact that can help them in the current situation, while the GM can flip a "dark" point to introduce a rival/enemy (or turn one of the PC's existing contacts into a rival) to complicate the situation.

I like Resources as an alternative to counting coins, but it is kinda weird. How about this?

Resources

Your Resources is a measure of your wealth. There are no skills associated with Resources, and you roll only Ability dice equal to the rating when you wish to buy something, rolling against the difficulty established by the rarity of your desired item. If you succeed, then you acquire the item, and advantage may mean that it was of surprising quality or that you simply found it quickly. Failure means that you couldn't acquire the item. Perhaps there are none for sale in this town, or you don't have the coins, or maybe this town doesn't accept your form of currency. Whatever the reason, you can't get it here. Threat may be spent by the GM to add Setback dice to the next Resources check you make, or even increase the difficulty, to reflect you being strapped for cash..

Your Resources rating never decreases, and only increases by you spending XP to advance it. If the GM sees fit, selling something or receiving a monetary reward may give you one or more Boost dice or additional Ability dice that you may spend on future Resource checks. These dice are lost once used.

You may tax Resources like any other characteristic, but doing so increases the difficulty of your next Resources check, instead of adding a Setback die. This difficulty increase doesn't vanish with the end of the encounter.

Basically, bonus dice - good or bad - represent the varying weight of your coin purse. This lets it fluctuate a little, while still having the player's chosen rating be the base value. No Triumph or Despair simplifies the whole thing, though Destiny Points could influence this.

Also, I like the Destiny Point friends and foes idea. Keeps things simple.

-----

Weapons

Weapons are pretty simple, since varying blaster models aren't a thing in the Guard. (although imagine the Guard as the Jedi in Mouse Space Guard for a minute...)

Name                | Dam | Crit | Range     | Encum | Special                             |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Axe                 | +3  | 2    | Engaged   | 5     | Cumbersome 4, Vicious 2             |
Bow                 | 5   | 3    | Long      | 2     |                                     |
Halberd             | +2  | 3    | Engaged   | 4     | Cumbersome 3, Vicious 1             |
Hook and Line       | +1  | 4    | Engaged   | 2     | Ensnare, Knockdown                  |
Knife               | +1  | 3    | Engaged   | 1     | Thrown (Short range)                |
Shield              | +1  | 4    | Engaged   | 3     | Defensive 2                         |
Sling               | 3   | 4    | Medium    | 1     | Disorient 1                         |
Spear               | +2  | 3    | Engaged   | 3     |                                     |
Staff               | +1  | 4    | Engaged   | 3     | Disorient 1                         |
Sword               | +2  | 3    | Engaged   | 3     |                                     |

As long as I'm on a roll. Tentative character creation is as follows:

You get to assign the following values to Health, Will, Nature, and Resources: 2, 2, 3, 3.

You get 1 free rank in 4 skills, plus 2 free ranks to put into Trademouse and Loremouse as you see fit.

You get 2 free traits.

You get 120 XP to spend.
-Buying a skill works just like EotE
-Buy a trait costs 10 XP, times the number of traits you already have. I.E. A third trait costs 20, a fourth costs 30, etc.

Saxon

Kenzie

Lieam

I'm convinced this role-playing system re-skinned can truly enhance any game in any genre.

OP, you should take a look at the Fantasy Conversion thread on this forum and get his document to help you out. My buddy is using it to re-skin this role-playing system for Primeval Thule .

Enjoy!

Z

edit: added links

I'm convinced this role-playing system re-skinned can truly enhance any game in any genre.

As a fan of Savage Worlds, I am naturally inclined toward tinkering and re-skinning systems. This one seems like a good fit for a lot of things, though building a bunch of talent trees from scratch seems very daunting.

That said, I got this game shortly after converting Legend of the Five Rings to Savage Worlds, and thought, "Boy, this could be a good fit, but I ain't doin' all that work!"

Then FFG bought the L5R License.

I never heard of this game but ever since I befriended a mouse in our local park (who now lives with my wife, my 2 dogs and myself) I like all things mice.

I'm a big fan of making conversions...

and while I actually like some things about Burning Wheel, I can also certainly see where people have some issues with it.

For *my* money, FFG's narrative dice system is the best game mechanic that I've come across in 35+ years of gaming (yikes!)

(Pic of me and my pet mouse on top of my head)

Oh, and this is her by the way!

I'm a big fan of making conversions...

and while I actually like some things about Burning Wheel, I can also certainly see where people have some issues with it.

For *my* money, FFG's narrative dice system is the best game mechanic that I've come across in 35+ years of gaming (yikes!)

Double yikes here because I second that statement. In all the years I've been roleplaying (since the early 80s), this is the best game mechanic hands-down. For the shear amount of engagement I get from my players around the gaming table. Amazing!

Grand Falloon - my buddy is referencing the specialization/talent trees from the core rulebooks and renaming them as makes sense, plus tweeking the skill list for something fantasy like Astrogation becomes Navigation. Piloting (Space) becomes Sailing and Piloting (Planetary) becomes Riding. Things like that. Oh, and I'm a huge fan of Savage Worlds . Easily the best $10 you will EVER spend on a complete roleplaying system.

DanteRotterdam - Best selfie ever!

Z

I'm a big fan of making conversions...

and while I actually like some things about Burning Wheel, I can also certainly see where people have some issues with it.

For *my* money, FFG's narrative dice system is the best game mechanic that I've come across in 35+ years of gaming (yikes!)

Double yikes here because I second that statement. In all the years I've been roleplaying (since the early 80s), this is the best game mechanic hands-down. For the shear amount of engagement I get from my players around the gaming table. Amazing!

Grand Falloon - my buddy is referencing the specialization/talent trees from the core rulebooks and renaming them as makes sense, plus tweeking the skill list for something fantasy like Astrogation becomes Navigation. Piloting (Space) becomes Sailing and Piloting (Planetary) becomes Riding. Things like that. Oh, and I'm a huge fan of Savage Worlds . Easily the best $10 you will EVER spend on a complete roleplaying system.

DanteRotterdam - Best selfie ever!

Z

Zszree -

you might want to point your buddy at the link in my sig - if he's re-skinning for something Conan flavored, we've already done a bunch of the 'heavy lifting'...

(plus we'd love the feedback if you do any play-testing)

Bishop69,

Oh yeah. That was the other source he was looking at for inspiration. I just couldn't think of it off hand. I took a look at it and I must say, you absolutely DID do some heavy lifting there! I'm very impressed by the thoroughness of the supplement. And even though I've read all of Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, I didn't realize the amount of diversity or choices you have in there. Well done!

If you haven't taken a look at Thule, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I backed the Kickstarter for their 5E D&D conversion and just looking at the map, I can tell you there are SO many adventuring seeds it's not even funny. I believe my buddy will be posting up his Primeval Thule conversion for FFG's EotE after we've play-tested it a bit.

Thanks for the link and I'll make sure to take gander at your supplement again soon. =)

Z

I have checked out Thule, and it's pretty **** cool...

Thanks for the compliments... any feedback from this community is well received, so it's very much appreciated. And I can't wait to see your work, so get it out there! Let me know if I can be of any help.

We're already at work rolling in some new stuff from F&D, and assorted other supplements, but are going to wait for the BH book before releasing version 4...

While my Scoundrel/Rigger is stoked about the new Tech book coming out, I have to say I was hoping for BH first...

So for all the talk of conversions, does anyone have feedback on what I created thus far?

Mice are disgusting little creatures. The game should be about hunting down and killing them.

That said I fully endorse using the NDS for other games.

Rude...

I'm confused by this project. You start by stating you don't like the MG system, and then proceed to find ways to emulate that system. Is it just the d6 dice pool you are looking to replace?

Why not just take the setting and apply EotE's rules to it? Use the same abilities, modify the skill list and create a few talent trees (or maybe just free-floating talents) and you are good.

I'm confused by this project. You start by stating you don't like the MG system, and then proceed to find ways to emulate that system. Is it just the d6 dice pool you are looking to replace?

Why not just take the setting and apply EotE's rules to it? Use the same abilities, modify the skill list and create a few talent trees (or maybe just free-floating talents) and you are good.

I don't like Mouse Guard's conflict system. Basically, the combat system sucks* (totally just my opinion), but hte rest is good. So a certain degree of emulation is desirable. But replication is not.