 |
| The digital edition of Mausritter is PWYW at itch.io |
I'd read some comments about Mausritter, and was curious to find out what was creating all this buzz. I picked up the Pay-What-You-Want version from itch.io and ended up ordering the boxed set pretty soon after I'd read it. The thoughts here are all based on the PDF copies as I'm about a week off the boxed set arriving.
TL;DR: I'm hugely impressed with this game; it has everything you need to have fun and perilous adventures in a setting that's both dangerous and whimsical. Simple mechanics, clearly and beautifully presented, underpin a game which has more depth than you'd first imagine. As a gamesmaster, I found myself immediately scribbling maps down of our back garden and surrounds, thinking of how I could run this. I did immediately think of running it for the kids, but it'd work equally well with adults. I liked it enough that I ended up ordering the gorgeous looking boxed set from Games Omnivorous.
In concept, Mausritter reminds me of Mouseguard, in that it's about the adventures of mice in a dangerous world, and that it would easily be suitable for younger players. Settled mice live on the edge in a dangerous world; a cat, bad weather or human activity can easily cause their world to be destroyed. However, there are brave mice, adventurers who can make the difference between death and survival. The game is focussed around the (often brief and violent) lives of these mice.
Written by Isaac Williams, the game wears its influences on its sleeve, building on work done in 'Into the Odd' and others (all of which are referenced at the start). It has a simple and effective game engine, and summaries what players do in a set of best practice guidelines (which Powered by the Apocalypse games would call an agenda):
"Ask lots of questions - make notes, draw maps
Work together - devise schemes, recruit allies
Dice are dangerous - clever plans don't need to roll
Play to win - delight in losing
Fight dirty - Run, die, roll a new mouse"
There are three core attributes - strength, dexterity and will. These are rolled on 3d6, taking the highest two dice for each. You can swap any two around. The attributes are used for the core mechanic of the game, the save. You roll a d20 to get less than or equal to the attribute to succeed. You can roll with advantage or disadvantage if appropriate. If you are in an opposed roll, the lowest successful save wins.
You have a level of hit protection, rolled on a d6. Once this is burned through from damage, your attributes are reduced directly. You also have a number of 'pips'. These are currency in the mouse world and track experience. Like Into the Odd, you cross-reference the hit protection against the currency (number of pips) and that gives you a past career, which gives you equipment. If your best attribute is less than 9 you'll get extra equipment to provide some balance. You also get torches, rations and a weapon. Character generation rounds out with a birth sign (which influences your mouse's behaviours), details of your coat, and some physical detail about how your mouse looks and stands out to others.
 |
| The online mouse generator, which is a delight. |
You can roll a character manually, or you can use the online generator, which is great fun. Inventory is important; you have a limited amount of slots you can carry things in. There are four that are immediately to hand (usually used for weapons and armour) and a further six that need an action to access. Most items of equipment have a maximum of three uses.
 |
| The inventory system is clever and effective. |
If you take a condition (damage or some other negative effect such as poison or magic) then it will occupy an inventory slot. It describes what its impact is (for example, being injured gives disadvantage on some saves) and what you need to do to recover from it (for example, a long rest).
Combat is dangerous - weapons typically do between d6 and d10 damage depending upon the type. If you achieve surprise, then you go first; otherwise, you need to make a DEX save to go first. Attacks always hit, and you roll damage immediately. It can be reduced slightly by armour (typically a single point), but the remainder is applied to hit protection. If this is all used up, STR is reduced, and you must make a save against the current value. If you fail, you take critical damage, an injured condition and are out of the fight until tended to by an ally in short rest. If you don't get attention in a set number of turns then you die. It's a short and brutal life for your mouse adventurer if you aren't careful or lucky.
Time is broken into rounds (which are under a minute and used in combat), turns (around ten minutes, all combat is assumed to take a turn in total) and watches (36 turns, or six hours) used for wilderness travel.
Experience is based upon bringing treasure and useful goods back to your community; if you send them to support the community then you gain extra XP. If you level up, you get to roll to improve your attributes, and also to roll a number of hit dice to increase hit protection. If your dice roll above the current value, then your HP is increased to the highest level rolled, otherwise you increase HP by 1. A second level or above, you get Grit. Each point of Grit allows you to ignore a condition's effects by placing it on special grit inventory slot (but you will still need to clear it to remove it).
Magic is through casting spells, which are living spirits trapped by runs in obsidian tablets. A mouse can choose to cast the spell at different levels of power to create different levels of effect. However, the more power that is used, the more likely that the spell's energy will be expended; if it is, then certain conditions will need to be met to recharge the spell (for example, a light spell needs to catch the first light of sunrise and the last light of sunset for three days). The expenditure rules are simple; a d6 is rolled for each level of power used and a roll of four or more results in usage being marked. A roll of six results in a miscast, causing d6 WIL damage and a WIL save. If you fail the save, you get the mad condition.
There are simple rules for recruiting hirelings (if you can afford them) and also forming a Warband of twenty or more mice. Warbands are important because some creatures (such as cats) are too powerful for a small group of mice to fight. Warbands are given attributes like a player character and need funds to keep together.
There are also rules for construction; building rooms, tunnels and more, should your mouse want to invest in the community or build their own home.
All these rules are presented in a really focused and clear thirteen pages (which include three pages of play examples). It is a fantastic example of brevity and focus; it's a shame that many roleplaying games aren't this well written.
The gamemaster's section has a separate set of best practices:
"Make the world seem huge
Create situations, not plots
Present the world honestly
Telegraph danager
Reward bravery"
These are expanded on, giving the agenda for running the game very clearly. The guidance is clear that saves should only be used because of a player's action or choice and when there are consequences to failure. The consequences should be obvious to the players. There is an option for a luck roll if a save is inappropriate (an 'x-in-6' chance of success).
There are rules for tracking time (and torch usage). Overland travel, including weather, the terrain, foraging and rest is covered with simple and effective rules. Guidance is given for encounters, including how to build an encounter table, along with reactions from those they meet.
There is a well-developed bestiary; each creature has attributes, a summary of their wants and a random table which may give powers or agendas.
There's a great section on building your sandbox to play in; the hexcrawl toolbox. It walks you through the process and has some random tables to spark your imagination. This is really useful. It included the development of factions with their own goals to make the world seem real. Examples of such are given using the creatures from the bestiary; a Cat Lord has many resources, not least its terrifying presence, hired mercenaries and bandits and exorbitant wealth. Goals could include raising bribes from settlements, kidnapping mice as servants and subjugating a settlement.
An example hexcrawl is given, the Earldom of Ek. This includes the 'Honey in the Rafters' adventure site included in the boxed set. Even if you just get the PDF of the game, the adventure site is work picking up as it is a masterclass in clever design which also shows how the game expects situations to be presented rather than plots.
 |
| An example random adventure site generated using the online resources. |
There's a similar toolbox for creating adventure sites, including random tables to create and stock a site. You can even generate them randomly on the Mausritter website. There are tables for treasure and magic items. The section rounds out with an example site, Stumpsville, which ties back to the examples of play. In two pages, there's enough for an evening or two of play.
The book rounds out with some 'useful tables'; random tables for creating non-player mice, a d66 table for adventure seeds (creature - problem - consequence) and finally tables for the weather in each season. This includes seasonal events which can easily set up situations for play.
The last page is a short summary of the rules for players.
I'm hugely impressed with this game; it has everything you need to have fun and perilous adventures in a setting that's both dangerous and whimsical. Simple mechanics, clearly and beautifully presented, underpin a game which has more depth than you'd first imagine. As a gamesmaster, I found myself immediately scribbling maps down of our back garden and surrounds, thinking of how I could run this. I did immediately think of running it for the kids, but it'd work equally well with adults. I liked it enough that I ended up ordering the gorgeous looking boxed set from Games Omnivorous.
 |
| The Boxed Set. |
Recommended.
Useful links.
- The game's website - https://mausritter.com/
- PDF version plus extras here - https://losing-games.itch.io/mausritter
- EU hardcopies here - https://gamesomnivorous.com/
- USA hardcopies here - https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/mausritter-rulebook?_pos=1&_sid=b1bab4018&_ss=r
No comments:
Post a Comment