I just got married 2 days ago and Luke Crane, who is a beautiful man, gave Terry and I the first copy of Mouse Guard as a wedding gift!

I don't have access to a scanner but here is a picture of the cover I found online:

I wish I could show you the back cover. There is this gorgeous picture of one of the mice in full platemail armor!

I will stand by this statement: Mouse Guard is one of the best written, organized, laid out, useful, easy to use, and streamlined RPGs I've ever owned.

It's easily as readable and clear as Dogs in the Vineyard. Possibly more so in certain ways. From what I can tell so far, it's one of the easiest games to GM I've seen. It comes with 3 sample adventures and pre-generated characters tailored for each adventure!

You know how amazing the Dungeons and Dragons 4E Dungeon Master Guide is? Imagine it was part of the player's handbook and the advice was actually supported by the game itself! That's what this is like.

I really like D&D 4E. Our Thursday group has played over 20 weekly sessions. In terms of a game that is accessible to new players and GMs in terms of rules, instructions, and reference... Mouse Guard tops it. And production wise is on par or even better. It's that good.

And it draws people in! My sisters and family who are all non gamers couldn't stop looking at it and asking questions about what it is. There is just something about it.

The chapter on Seasons is beautiful. The Index is extensive and just infinitely useful. I wish all games had an Index like this. I wish D&D 4E had this index! It uses iconography to highlight important rules and text for the GM ad the player. It's so well organized!

I love the comic which you can read more about here. According to the game text, David Peterson, the creator of Mouse Guard has included new details about the Mouse Guard world in the RPG to fill in the blanks left by the comic book that apparently is going to inspire future Mouse Guard comic books! David also created a slew of new art for the book! There is a piece of art on at least every other page! We played triangles to get our Mouse Guard fix initially but it didn't seem to hold for play longer than a session or two. Definitely a cute game but it didn't feel as connected to the comics as I would have liked. So I was even more excited when I found how intimately involved David Peterson was with the official game!

It's also the best version of Burning Wheel I've played. It's like the Burning Wheel crew took most of the fan requests for a streamlined Burning Wheel and delivered perfectly! And the game is very hacking friendly. I could easily see playing D&D, Shadowrun, Earthsea, Conan and more with Mouse Guard!

I can't wait for Mouse Guard to officially come out so I can share the love! This is my game for 2009 and I can't wait to play the hell out of it.

We're visiting family before we head out on our honeymoon but if you have questions, please post them. If I can't get to them I'm sure a playtester or one of the Burning Wheel crew can jump in.

Happy holidays everyone!

Quote from: jenskot;270328We're visiting family before we head out on our honeymoon but if you have questions, please post them.

How did you make it past the spam filter?

QuoteHappy holidays everyone!

And to you, bucko.

I didn't know they'd made a game out of the book. I liked the book, I'll have to check out the game.

It's nice that the creator participated in creating the rpg.  I might check it out.

Having played Burning Wheel for over a year, I am somewhat incredulous that "streamlined" can be applied to a game written by Luke Crane -- except perhaps as "streamlined compared to BW".  :-)

However, I haven't seen the Mouse Guard book yet, and I would be happy to be wrong on this point.  I also loved the comic.

Quote from: jhkim;270354Having played Burning Wheel for over a year, I am somewhat incredulous that "streamlined" can be applied to a game written by Luke Crane -- except perhaps as "streamlined compared to BW".  :-)

That's definitely a fair point!

I've played twice but haven't GMed yet. I'm trying to think what I would compare it to that I play now. I think it's as or more streamlined than D&D 4. Definitely not rules light. Although there is a much simplified conflict mechanic that is applied to all conflicts. Less and more focused skills, stats, instincts, beliefs, and traits. Character creation is quicker. Damage is much, much simpler. Skill advancement is way easier.

In the meantime, doing a search on this board for "stealth marketing" or "snake oil merchant," alone or in conjunction with "story games," or "luke," might turn up fun results and put this thread in perspective.

This should be in "off topic," or if one feels charitable, in "News and Adverts."

Quote from: jenskot;270358That's definitely a fair point!

I've played twice but haven't GMed yet. I'm trying to think what I would compare it to that I play now. I think it's as or more streamlined than D&D 4. Definitely not rules light. Although there is a much simplified conflict mechanic that is applied to all conflicts. Less and more focused skills, stats, instincts, beliefs, and traits. Character creation is quicker. Damage is much, much simpler. Skill advancement is way easier.

I liked Burning Wheel, but it's way too crunchy for me (and this comes from somebody who likes Rolemaster). Could you tell us more, give more details about the streamline? How does combat work? How long is the skill list? Etc.

That ad was the first thing I've seen about it that didn't make me want to pick up Mouse Guard. The funny books are great and Burning Wheel is ok. I'm curious to see what it looks like "streamlined."

Quote from: Pierce Inverarity;270363In the meantime, doing a search on this board for "stealth marketing" or "snake oil merchant," alone or in conjunction with "story games," or "luke," might turn up fun results and put this thread in perspective.

This should be in "off topic," or if one feels charitable, in "News and Adverts."

And links like confetti shall rain down on the heathens. Verily, we shall vex them because we can't resist it.

Moved and Pundit can move it back if he feels it is the wrong call.

Quote from: Claudius;270364I liked Burning Wheel, but it's way too crunchy for me (and this comes from somebody who likes Rolemaster). Could you tell us more, give more details about the streamline? How does combat work? How long is the skill list? Etc.

There are about 34 different skills but most of them are professions. On average I would say a character would have around 10 skills. The stats are Nature (Mouse), Will, Health, Resources, and Circles. You have 1 Belief, 1 Goal, and 1 Instinct. Character creation is very quick. It's around 17 pages for the basics and the game comes with many pre-gens and sample adventures / missions. It's pretty much Burning Wheel boiled down to its basics with lots of Mouse Guard flavor fused directly into the rules.

Combat is essentially rock/paper/scissor like in that you have 4 actions: attack, defend, feint, and maneuver. Maneuver lets you spend successes for effects like disarms. Most of the rules for combat are included on the back of the character sheet.

Hopefully that answers some of the basics in terms of how it is streamlined.

My favorite part of the game so far is how you can succeed on a failed roll by accepting story twists or conditions. And that conditions change in frequency and severity depending on the season.

Not that anyone cares, but since this thread has been moved to the Ads forum:

Mouse Guard is now available for preorder over at the IPR site:
http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16758&cat=0&page=1

And if anyone is interested in learning more, Luke has a list of podcast interviews (of which I am one) on this thread.