Anime MouseGuard fall 1152

[Lagi]

This comic has great concept. Mouse kingdom trying to thrive, while being harassed by bigger animals. Very good idea, i feel like a kid after reading Hobbit. Dreaming about world that don't exist.

Setting is nice. Few interesting surprises here and there.

Plot is serviceable. Could be more grim, or at least less plot armor - but Im still happy.

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it makes no sense for the mouse to build pitch roofs. Pitch roof is complicated construction used to mitigate the snow and rain load. It's especially not necessary, when the city is build inside a tree trunk !

If they all have chimneys they would choke on the smoke, if they don't burn them self down after few days anyway.

mouse weight 50 gram. They could literally stack one habitable cube on top of another, and the construction material - wood will sustain its weight even for a long span. They could use plants or spiders web to suspend some element to the ceiling.

this city should look more vertical build inside long cylinder.

Spoiler

this is locust tree. it must be ancient one if the trunk interiors are dead:

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different settlement - stronghold

Walls make sense to stop humans (if they were up to scale), who are very bad at climbing. but mouse? i saw mouse running upside down. Besides, the mouse could just jump over the wall, using the boulder on the left. Moreover this keep is build to protect from bigger animals, who are giants compare to mouse, they could just step inside or maybe devour mouse from top (like dog eating from the bowl).

"covered with thick layer of ivy" extra entanglement with plant make it even easier to breach the walls. But maybe it hides the settlement position a little from wandering animals.

how to make good mouse keep - go underground, dig a tunnel under a big boulder. I know then it could be flooded. But if you are smart mouse you would create a drain system. Or check where the ground has the best percolation. Or maybe go above ground level. The rock often has tiny tunnels, in the cracks. Even if you make a pile of boulders and live at the bottom of it, it would be a better fortress. Or maybe you could dig tunnels in chalk rock? Chalk cliff are quite common.

 

[agris]

Darth Roxor

 

[lightbane]

There's a quite cool-looking MG RPG that is pretty much focused on the players' conflict against the environment and each other, as every PC is meant to have goals and motivations that do not necessarily play nice to each other. Interesting stuff, but it's somewhat experimental. Unlike the later comics, the game doesn't let you simply stab the bigger predators to death (ie: say a bear), instead forcing you to use cunning and tactics to have a chance to drive it away (or appease it somehow).

 

[Semper]

There's a quite cool-looking MG RPG that is pretty much focused on the players' conflict against the environment and each other, as every PC is meant to have goals and motivations that do not necessarily play nice to each other.

that's burning wheel's duel of wits. luke crane took one of his gameplay pillars, simplified character creation and built a whole ruleset around this one conflict resolution. there's also torchbearer, using a refined system of the same rules; now in second edition. it's novel in its approach, but also takes a lot of effort around the table to make it really shine.

 

[Lagi]

Fall was interesting because of the setting, with an average plot. Don't get me wrong, still better than any mainstream movie you will watch nowadays.

Winter has much better thought out setting, much more details pack in the pages, and the plot .... oh plot is great. The story divides into few separate plots line, and each has lots of captivating twists or lore bits, that make all deeper, but without boring stuff - i even wish for some deeper explanations. Everything is exhibit briefly. Even the characters has nice arches (they change as the story goes). I still keep thinking about the events, and I fantasize what could have happened.

more species-faction, more creatures' interaction, more politics - its all served very lightly. i understand its a comics not a WHM lore, but I need moar...

oh you remember when i bitch about the architecture in first post?

Spoiler

city done properly in the tree trunk!!

lifts!! i assume they still have stairs, not only ladders.

they use hot stones instead of open fire as a heating system, to minimize fire risk. Its maybe not so appealing nowdays, when we all live in the house made of concrete, but back then fire could engulf 87.5% of cities

 

[lightbane]

Sadly, not much was done after this one. There's the prequel comic, which is a bit over-the-top, and collections of tales made by different authors drunken mice of variable quality, and that's it.
We've been waiting for the sequel for years now, and still no dice.

The rpgbook provides some interesting scenario ideas outside of simply repurposing the comics' story at least, but the game is meant for veteran players who fully know and trust each other, as drama within the party is expected. You also can't play as bad guys, probably because everything else is trying to kill mice, even fucking squirrels (wut).

 

[Major_Blackhart]

That always upset me about the comics.

I get that you can't play as bad guys per se due to mice being prey animals and constantly at risk, but in the first comic series with the introduction of the Black Axe, there was a rebellion.

Has anyone seen the rules? Is it D20 or d100? Or something else altogether ?

 

[lightbane]

I get that you can't play as bad guys per se due to mice being prey animals and constantly at risk, but in the first comic series with the introduction of the Black Axe, there was a rebellion.

Which, once the leader of the rebellion was subdued, its members folded rapidly. Mouse Guard takes a realistic approach that being a bad guy in a deathworld (from a mouse's perspective) will make your life quite short, unless you have the power to back it up, and mice definitively don't, they're the bottom fodder and fighting against the laws of nature all the time. What does it matter if you're the tyrannical warlord of a city if suddenly a giant fox out of nowhere steps in and eats you? Or heavy rains crushes and washes away everything?

Regarding mechanics, IIRC it uses D20 with some twists, as you can spend points to alter results, penalize yourself to gain special points to do additional stuff, roleplay your character to gain bonuses AND penalties depending on the situation, etc.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

What sort of conflicting agendas does it recommend? Like this guy cares about grain stores for the upcoming winter, this one is more interested in finding who murdered so and so, while this one believes it knows who the murderer might be and wants to protect him, and so on?

 

[Lagi]

this mouse rpg is insanely expensive, and pnp rpg is a waste of time anyway.

What does it matter if you're the tyrannical warlord of a city if suddenly a giant fox out of nowhere steps in and eats you? Or heavy rains crushes and washes away everything?

hmmm you are quite right. The MouseGuard comic is like the mice are on the top of food chain. While in reality it should be an apocalyptic vibe, with all settlement fighting for survival quite on its own. Because you never know when a town get nuked by pack of wolves or martens/weasels.

In such a cruel world, I doubt anyone would chase such agendas as who murder whom, when your life could end suddenly.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

That's too bad about the mouse RPG being so costly. Wish the Trove was still up.

 

[lightbane]

What sort of conflicting agendas does it recommend? Like this guy cares about grain stores for the upcoming winter, this one is more interested in finding who murdered so and so, while this one believes it knows who the murderer might be and wants to protect him, and so on?

Besides character motivations, everyone is recommended to have short term and long-term objectives that fit the mission. Coupled with character quirks, conflict is ensured. Then add the fact you can (and should) use your social contacts if available to spice things up. Interestingly, you also can have enemies and rivals who act in a reasonable manner (meaning, they can aid you in the right circumstances and/or price, instead of being chaotic evil).
The Mouse Guard are kinda like a police-force, so you're usually doing investigation and such.

he MouseGuard comic is like the mice are on the top of food chain.

They're not though. Outside of the comic with the drunken mice hyping themselves, fighting large creatures carries extreme risks and costs, even in a victory. There was that panel in one of the comics where the mouse guard left food for a bear to hopefully leave them alone if it was appeased enough.