 Cover of the first edition | |
| Designers | Luke Crane David Petersen |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Archaia Studios Press |
| Publication | 2008 |
| Genres | Anthropomorphic, fantasy |
| Systems | Burning Wheel |
The Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game is a tabletop role-playing game created by Luke Crane based on the Mouse Guard comics and his own Burning Wheel system. Boom! Studios' imprint Archaia Entertainment released a second edition of the game in November 2015. [1]
The game itself has been released in two editions - a hardback in 2008 and a deluxe boxed set was brought out in 2011. [2]
Mouse Guard is a pseudo-medieval setting about an order of anthropomorphic mouse rangers. The setting itself was written by David Petersen in a series of Eisner award winning comics. Many details of the setting such as "how does a mouse become a member of the Mouse Guard" were fleshed out specifically for the RPG. [3]
The game system is a simplified version of the Burning Wheel system, using standard six-sided dice, with each result of a 4-6 being a success. Each character has an overriding belief, an immediate goal, and an instinct that guides them, all with mechanical weight.
Critical reception was strong, with the Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game winning numerous industry awards. It won the 2008 Origins Award for best roleplaying game [4] and numerous Indie RPG awards, [5] [6] [7] as well as being silver winner for three ENnies [8] and shortlisted for the 2009 Diana Jones Award. [9]
Tor.com called it "a fantastic game which challenges players imagination and creativity". [10]
The 2011 box set was called "easily the most beautiful RPG I have ever laid eyes on" by Wired . [11]
Basic Role-Playing (BRP) is a tabletop role-playing game which originated in the RuneQuest fantasy role-playing game. Chaosium released the BRP standalone booklet in 1980 in the boxed set release of the second edition of RuneQuest. Greg Stafford and Lynn Willis are credited as the authors. Chaosium used the percentile skill-based system as the basis for most of their games, including Call of Cthulhu, Stormbringer, and Elfquest.
Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos. The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium; it was first released in 1981 and is in its seventh edition, with licensed foreign language editions available as well. Its game system is based on Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing (BRP) with additions for the horror genre. These include special rules for sanity and luck.
Fate is a generic role-playing game system based on the Fudge gaming system. It has no fixed setting, traits, or genre and is customizable. It is designed to offer minimal obstruction to role-playing by assuming players want to make fewer dice rolls.
The Burning Wheel is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game independently written and published by Luke Crane. The game uses a dice pool mechanic for task resolution and a character generation system that tracks the history and experiences of new characters from birth to the point they begin adventuring.
Dogs in the Vineyard is an independently published role-playing game published by Lumpley Games in 2004 that is loosely based on the history of the Mormons.
An indie role-playing game is a role-playing game published by individuals or small press publishers, in contrast to games published by large corporations. Indie tabletop role-playing game designers participate in various game distribution networks, development communities, and gaming conventions, both in person and online. Indie game designer committees grant annual awards for excellence.
Mouse Guard is an American bi-monthly comic book series written and illustrated by David Petersen and published by Archaia Studios Press. Differently from American standard comics size, it is published in a square format.
David Petersen is an American comic book creator best known for the series Mouse Guard.
Pelgrane Press Ltd is a British role-playing game publishing company based in London and founded in 1999. It is co-owned by Simon J Rogers and Cat Tobin. It currently produces GUMSHOE System RPGs, 13th Age, the Diana Jones award-winning Hillfolk RPG, The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, and other related products. It publishes fiction under the Stone Skin Press imprint.
Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. They are best known for the free indie RPG system Fate, Blades in the Dark, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians, all of which have won multiple awards.
Owen K.C. Stephens is a game designer who has worked on a number of products for the Starfinder, Pathfinder and Star Wars Roleplaying Game and other games.
A tabletop role-playing game, also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines, usually involving randomization. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise, and their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
Fiasco is a role-playing game by Jason Morningstar, independently published by Bully Pulpit Games. It is marketed as a "GM-less game for 3–5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with six-sided dice and no preparation". It is billed as "A game of powerful ambition and poor impulse control" and "inspired by cinematic tales of small time capers gone disastrously wrong—films like Blood Simple, Fargo, The Way of the Gun, Burn After Reading, and A Simple Plan."
The Indie RPG Awards were annual, creator-based awards for Indie role-playing games and supplements. They were established in 2002 by Andy Kitkowski. The final round of awards was given in 2017.
David Vincent Baker is a designer and theorist of tabletop role-playing games and the owner of indie role-playing games publisher Lumpley Games, which also hosts the archives of The Forge. He and his wife Meguey Baker designed Apocalypse World, the first game in the Powered by the Apocalypse system. Apocalypse World won Game of the Year, Best Support, and Most Innovative game at the 2010 Indie RPG Awards, and was 2011 RPG of the Year at both the Golden Geek Awards and Lucca Comics & Games. Baker also designed Dogs in the Vineyard, which won the 2004 Indie RPG Game of the Year and Innovation Award and was one of three games shortlisted for the 2004 Diana Jones Award.
Jason Morningstar is an American indie role-playing game designer, publishing mostly through Bully Pulpit Games. Morningstar's games often forgo a game master and are set in situations that quickly take a turn for the worse for the player characters. Grey Ranks, for example, is about doomed child soldiers in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, and Fiasco is about impulsive crooks pulling heists that are sure to go terribly wrong. With these two games, Morningstar became the only named person to have won the Diana Jones award twice as of 2023. He also won an IndieCade award for Desperation. In addition to designing games, Morningstar works with academia and industry, consulting on using games for teaching and learning in education, with a focus on health sciences.
Emily Care Boss is an indie roleplaying game designer, theorist and publisher. She was a foundational member of The Forge, an early leader in the indie role-playing game movement and is considered the creator of the American Freeform genre of roleplaying games, which combine indie RPG principles and mechanics with Nordic freeform and American chamber live action role-playing techniques. She has been referred to as the "Dean" of the North American school of structured freeform game design.
Paul Czege is a designer of tabletop role-playing games. Czege was a member of The Forge and later became a publisher of indie role-playing games. He has won the Diana Jones Award and several Indie RPG Awards.
Stephen Christy is an American film and television producer, entertainment executive, and former graphic novel editor. He is the President of Development at graphic novel publisher Boom! Studios, where he oversees Boom!'s first look deals with Disney/20th Century Studios and Netflix. He was formerly editor-in-chief at Archaia Entertainment, where he won two Eisner Awards, as the editor of Jim Henson's Tale of Sand and Return of the Dapper Men.
Luke Crane is a game designer specializing in indie role-playing games.