The Mouse Guard
considerations. In times of war, drought,
famine or other trials, mice are placed where
they are needed most—as laborers, foragers or
harvesters.
Sadie trained under Quinn the Cook when she
first came to Lockhaven.
Senior Artisans During Play
A guardmouse’s senior artisan will
provide his former charge with aid
whenever the guardmouse is in Lockhaven if he
is able. Senior Artisans can provide him with
supplies relevant to his trade, basic sundries like
food and water, and perhaps a loan.
Friend or Ally
Each character has a friend or ally
whom he may call on for aid. You tell
the GM and the other players about
your friend’s personality and his position—if
he’s in the Guard or not, where he lives, what his
trade is. Thereafter, your friend may be found in
this location in play.
Once play begins, the GM controls the friend
characters created by the players.
Sadie’s best friend is Bonnie. She’s the owner of
the Rustkettle Tavern in Darkwater. They were
childhood friends.
Friend characters, if asked, will always
try to help. They’ll offer whatever they
can—time, resources, advice.
Enemy or Rival
Each character also has an enemy or rival. This is
either a character whom they know from before
their time in the Guard, or another guardmouse
with whom they are not on the best of terms.
You may tell the GM and the other
players about your enemy’s person-
ality and his position in a similar
fashion to the rules for friends.
A trader out of Wolfepointe named Shane
considers Sadie his enemy. They had some bad
dealings a few years back.
Once play begins, the GM controls the
enemy characters created by the players.
He may have them appear in the story at his
discretion.
An enemy character will only help you if it serves
his own self-interest—only if it makes him look
better than you do in the end.
Mentor
After his apprenticeship, the recruit is granted
the provisional rank of tenderpaw and assigned
a guardmouse as a mentor. His mentor slowly
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introduces the tenderpaw to patrolling and other
Guard duties. The tenderpaw’s job is to do the
labor and grunt work so the more experienced
Guard’s paws and mind are free for facing the
dangers they encounter. After a few seasons
under the tutelage of the mentor, the mentor will
recommend the tenderpaw recruit to Gwendolyn
for promotion to guardmouse rank.
It is the mentor’s role to train the recruit as he
sees fit. Some mentors may have more rigorous
training methods or requirements than others.
Some may focus on different aspects of Guard
life—some may emphasize Weather Watching
as one of the most important ways to stay free
of danger, while others may focus on fighting or
stress scouting and pathfinding.
Patrol guard Leith mentored Sadie when she
was a tenderpaw. He taught her how to survive
in the wild in nearly any condition.
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Mentor During Play
During play, you may call on your
mentor for aid. Mentors are busy
guardmice with their own duties and
missions, but most mentors will do what they
can to aid their former students.
Most mentors, unless stationed at Lockhaven,
can be found wandering the Territories, rarely
in the same place twice. You may tell the GM
and the other players about your mentor’s
personality. Each player may state if he is on
favorable or unfavorable terms with his mentor
so the GM has a guideline to follow in play. You
may also tell the GM where your mentor is most
likely to be found in the Territories: patrolling
the Scent Border, doing the mail run to Elmoss,
on station at Calogero, etc. That’s the first place
you’ll find your mentor.