Second Thoughts - Mausritter

Mausritter, running on playrole.com

Tonight I finally got to run Mausritter, which is something that I've wanted to do for quite some time. I originally wrote a post about it back in November 2020, but both times I wanted to organise a game it just didn't happen. Tonight, I got another chance, as half the Strahd players weren't available (either being interviewed on TV in Canada, or with other commitments). Alex and Dr Mitch were up for trying the game, so I agreed to run.

I decided to use the Honey in the Rafters scenario which came with the box set. Reading the game was swift and a delight, and the quick reference material detailed most of what I wanted. I decided to use Role as the VTT as I'd created an official Mausritter sheet some time ago and wanted to test it out. You can find details of the sheet here in a past post here on the blog. Neither Paul or Alex had used Role before, so we had about 15 mins orientation before we ran. The VTT was stable throughout (better than my internet connection as the kids were both streaming and gaming) and was just right for the rules-light approach for the game.

We had three characters in play - Saffron, Ada (an upgraded drunken hireling torchbearer) and Stilton. They were all generated using the online tools at mausritter.com which are excellent.

I used two of the scenario hooks; they were looking for a missing farmer and also to get some honey. They arrived at the deserted garden and shack and went unerringly straight towards the sunflowers with a daring plan to drug a bee and milk it for honey. Stilton was certain that was how you get honey. Fortunately, a well handled encounter with a skunk (warband scale so pretty much the equivalent of a dragon in effect) led to information that milking bees was unwise. They snuck into the shack, past the hive's messenger corps and infiltrated the mouse sugar cult that was present. A desperate escape followed with them losing a chase and then being drawn into a short and brutal fight that left Saffron injured, two cultists down and the rest ran away. Our heroes escaped with their ill-gotten gains by a squeak.

The game ran like a dream; the only issues were my lack of familiarity when I fumbled to find the page to check a rule. The combat is brutal, but clever play avoids it. The sandbox was dangerous, but the players picked up well on telegraphed threats. 

In summary, a fun evening of play and I'd like to revisit this again, perhaps once the Estate boxed set arrives. 

13 April 2022