The Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game is a tabletop

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...

created by Luke Crane based on the '' Mouse Guard'' comics and his own

Burning Wheel ''The Burning Wheel'' is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game independently written and published by Luke Crane (game designer), Luke Crane. The game uses a dice pool mechanic (using only standard six-sided dice) for task resolution and a charac ...

system. Boom! Studios' imprint

Archaia Entertainment Archaia Entertainment, LLC, commonly known as Archaia (formerly known as Archaia Studios Press), is an imprint of American comic book and graphic novel publisher Boom! Studios. Archaia Entertainment, LLC was originally an American comic book pub ...

released a second edition of the game in November 2015.

The Game

The game itself has been released in two editions - a hardback in 2008 and a deluxe boxed set was brought out in 2011.

Setting

Mouse Guard is a pseudo-medieval setting about an order of

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to ...

mouse A mouse (: mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

rangers. The setting itself was written by David Petersen in a series of

Eisner award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

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.Petersen talks "Mouse Guard" Role-Playing Game
-

Comic Book Resources ''CBR'', formerly ''Comic Book Resources'', is a news website primarily covering comic book news, comic book reviews, and comic book–related topics involving movies, television, anime, and video games. It is owned by Valnet, parent of publicat ...

, 5 May 2008

System

The game system is a simplified version of the

system, using standard six-sided

dice A die (: dice, sometimes also used as ) is a small, throwable object with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. Dice are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, ro ...

, with each result of a 4-6 being a success. Each character has an overriding

belief A belief is a subjective Attitude (psychology), attitude that something is truth, true or a State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs is the case. A subjective attitude is a mental state of having some Life stance, stance, take, or opinion ...

, an immediate

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

, and an

instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to me ...

that guides them, all with mechanical weight.

Reception

Critical reception was strong, with the Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game winning numerous industry awards. It won the 2008

Origins Award The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, t ...

for best roleplaying game2008 Origins Award winners
and numerous

Indie RPG awards 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. For the purposes of the Awards, there exists a follow ...

,Indie RPG Awards 2008 Game of the Year
/ref>Indie RPG Awards 2008 Best Production
/ref>2008 Indie RPG Awards Best Support
/ref> as well as being silver winner for three

ENnies The ENNIE Awards (previously stylized as ENnie Awards) are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products (including game-related accessories, publications, and art) and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN Worl ...

and shortlisted for the 2009

Diana Jones Award The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The original award was made from a burned book encased in lucite. The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded ...

.Diana Jones Award 2009 Nominees
/ref>

Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

called it "a fantastic game which challenges players imagination and creativity".Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game
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6 August 2009 The 2011 box set was called "easily the most beautiful RPG I have ever laid eyes on" by ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

''.The Mouse Guard RPG Box Set: An In-depth Review
-

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, 13 December 2011

Reviews

*''Coleção Dragon Slayer''

References

{{Reflist ENnies winners Furry role-playing games Indie RPG Awards winners Origins Award winners Role-playing games based on comics