I would like for everyone to create a mouse that is a member of the Mouse Guard. Since I doubt many of you have much experience with the FATE system, we’ll be starting with a simplified system. We’ll unfold more advanced rules when we’re all ready for it.

There are many roles to fill within the Guard, each requiring different skills, talents and traits.

These skills, talents and traits are how we will define the characters of the game.  In most cases, you may choose up to four from the following lists to apply to your character.   You can also come up with any traits you like, and may take a trait more than once, gaining what amounts to multiple “levels” in that trait.   It is worth noting that not only do these traits define what the character can do, but also who the character is and how it behaves.  Playing your character to match its traits will be rewarded with Fate Chips.

Most characters will start with a level in Mouse, which is a trait that covers all of the things that mice can do (run, hide, swim, see, listen, etc).  It also carries with it a certain amount of caution, cleverness, and an instinctive sense of community.

Many adventuring characters would also take a level in Guard or Soldier, each of which provides the corresponding abilities necessary to engage in and survive combat.

Many traits overlap, and often are worded to describe their tendency toward different approaches or different foci within similar realms.  For example, a Guard is different from a Soldier, and a path finder is different from a path seeker.

The difference between Seeker vs Finder    
Seekers are better at seeking out the new and Finders are better at finding the already known. Path Finders are better at finding the existing paths and keeping to them. Path Seekers are better at blazing new paths.

Guard vs Soldier
A Mouse Guard is distinct from being a soldier.  Soldiers are better at wearing armor, wielding specialized weaponry (pikes, lances, siege weapons), moving in formation, military tactics, and engaging in warfare with other soldiers.  The Guard , on the other hand, are trained in combat as it relates to unknown and wild enemies, thinking independently and working in small groups.  They are trained in survival, cross country navigation, given a grounding in dealing with various sorts of animals, the chemistry and techniques of maintaining the Scent Border, and other things that mice of the wood and wild will need to know.   In D&D terms, it could be compared to the difference between Rangers and Fighters.

Fierce vs Guard
Mice are not aggressive by nature, even mice of the Guard.  Occasionally, however, a mouse will exhibit a trait known as the Fierce.  Mice with the Fierce are looked upon with pity by other animals, because they’re usually somewhat pathetic and generally short lived.  Most mice with the Fierce either die young or grow out of it.   The Fierce trait is similar and roughly equivalent to the Guard trait, meaning that they both apply to combative actions, but the Fierce is applicable to aggressive combat and the Guard is only applicable to defense.

The Fierce is the only skill/trait that is capable of doing aggressive damage to creatures larger and/or more predatorial than the mice.  The Guard is useful for defending, driving off, trapping, and/or living long enough to get away.

One can only gain a level in the Fierce by starting with it, or by playing Fierce.  If you survive long enough to gain a level in it, then you can actually get good at it.   However, once you have the Fierce, you must continue to play that trait, because it is a fundamental trait of your character.

To grow out of it, you must give up at least one level of it… which might be something of a painful prospect on the meta level, when you’re talking about actually giving up a whole level.   I will stress that as long as your mouse has the Fierce, you must play the Fierce.   If you want your mouse to grow out of the Fierce and still have one or two levels in Fierce (and therefore still be able to use it as a skill), you’ve got to work at it long enough to get really good at it.

Broad vs Specific
Some traits will cover a broader definition than others.   The difference will primarily play out when compared in a direct contest, and when determining whether the character has an advantage in a particular situation.  Broad traits cover a lot of possibilities, but specific traits imply focus and will give the character an advantage when applied to something particularly appropriate.

::: Starting Levels :::

A starting mouse will each typically begin with four total levels.   Every mouse starts with at least one level in Mouse, which is the skill that covers things that mice do naturally:  run, hide, climb, jump, see, listen, etc.   A character can apply the other three levels to different skills, but generally at least one skill ends up with two levels in it.

A mouse can claim additional levels by taking disadvantages:

Leader
The mouse is compelled to take responsibility for other mice in the party, to be the first to accept dangers or hardships and the first to make sacrifices for the sake of the others.  For every level in Leader, the mouse may take an additional trait or a bonus level in an existing trait, but the mouse will feel that much more compelled to put the needs of others ahead of its own.  It will also be that the mouse will be called upon more often by others in need.   The penalty for competence is responsibility.  In game terms, for every level in Leader, the mouse has an increased disadvantage in resisting the pressures of leadership.

Aged
The mouse has gained in experience, but also in years.   For every level in Aged, the mouse has an increased disadvantage in physical challenges.  A mouse gets one bonus level in any desired trait (new or existing) for every level of Aged it adds to its character.

:::Areas where a mouse guard might take levels, please come up with more:::

Pathfinder / Pathseeker
Path Finders are better at finding the existing paths and keeping to them. Path Seekers are better at blazing new paths

Weather Reader

Beast worker
a mouse that is good at working with the pack and work beasts (rabbits, bugs, moles, and other useful and helpful animals)

Beast Finder
a mouse that is good at following and tracking animals

Mouse Finder
a mouse that is good at “urban” inquiries and figuring out where a mouse has gone

Food Worker / Cook
every party wants at least one of these in the party, or it’s trail mix and pemmican all the time

Food Finder / Seeker

Metal Worker

Leather Worker

Carpenter

Archer
Guard mice all learn the basics of archery, but if you want to do better than hitting the broad side of a barn, you’ll need at least one level in Archer.

::: Optional non-skill trait examples that can be used as additive bonuses when attempting a task with another trait :::

Athletic

Cunning

Quick / Fleet

Tiny
Adds a bonus when the character attempts something that would be easier when particularly small.

Charismatic

Stealthy

Scrappy

::: Adding / Increasing Traits :::

At the end of each story arc or major chapter of the campaign, the players may each choose a trait they wish to increase or add to their characters.   The GM will assign a difficulty target reflective of how much the character has practiced or applied effort towards gaining in that trait over the course of the game. Certain unlikely or difficult traits may require multiple successes and/or very high difficulties, utilizing the rules for extended tasks.

Players may spend Fate Chips in order to guarantee their success in this process, since the guaranteed improvement is certainly worth it (and the opportunity for improvement will not necessarily come every game session.)  

Originally, my thinking was that a new or improved trait would require spending a Fate Chip, but this method allows a chance for improvement to players that do not have any fate chips to spare.  It also creates a mechanism by which GMs can make some skills harder to acquire/improve than others.

I imagine the baseline for calculating these difficulties would be:  

• adding a new trait that the character has been practicing in-game: Average difficulty
• adding to an existing trait that the character has been practicing:  +1 difficulty per current level in that trait
• If the character hasn’t been practicing in-game: +1 additional difficulty
• If it’s a trait that is out of character, but considered possible by the GM: +1 additional difficulty
• If a trait is markedly difficult to improve: +1 additional difficulty

Optional traits that could apply towards these rolls:
Fast Learner (essentially, skill in learning or increasing knowledge-based traits)
Talented (skill in learning or increasing physical-based traits)