Playing – Mausritter TTRPG

Last week, I finally got a game of Mausritter to the table (the core rules are available for free as are many adventures).

I did up a quick game pitch and we did up characters for this very simple TTRPG and played for a couple of hours, saw the death of a character, the rescue of mice, and finding a potential ally with a neighbouring crow. For those familiar with Cairn 1E, the character creation is very similar but aimed at keeping it small. Inventory is represented with small chits that take up space in something that reminded me greatly of those classic video game inventory systems but not nearly as spacious –

I very nifty concept here is that as the mouse gains harmful conditions, they fill the inventory slots (at higher levels, a mouse can ignore a limited number of conditions). Spells take up inventory slots as well, carried on obsidian shards that can be used with some risk, but can be recharged through unique means, like being kept in a fire for three days or give it away freely to a creature of another species. I’m pretty sure it took us longer to cut out an assortment of the equipment and condition chits than it did for rolling up two characters each (6 total, 3 to play and 3 for back ups).

The core book recommends that for a quick start, just roll characters and start at the entry of the dungeon, but that didn’t really capture the exploration aspect that I felt was so core to the experience of Mausritter. Our table hadn’t done much hex crawling except for recently playing Tomb of Annhilation, but the starting map is very small (19 hexes total) and I used landmarks and rumours to guide the exploration to one of four planned encounters (two being dungeons, two being roleplay challenges). The core book includes a short and simple map generation system of terrain and landmarks and encounters. The player copy was filled in along the northern part of the river and around the starting village of Pine Bridge, leaving the rest to be filled in through exploration.

The biggest challenge for long time d20 gamers is to stop rolling for EVERYTHING. There are far too few points of hit protection (6 points maximum for a starting PC, additional damage goes to strength, potentially causing critical harm) and it’s s serious challenge to be rolling a d20 under a characteristic between 5 and 12 (twelve being the maximum for starting characters, 3d6 drop the lowest). On the other hand, it was this simplicity that the players spoke highly of. We also struggled a bit to not fall into the standard D&D combat slog of trading blows with the enemies instead of getting creative solutions, but that’s the benefit of playing different systems – it gets you thinking about encounters in different ways.

The second major mental shift was the combat. Weapons always hit and deal damage and rolling for initiative every round. The latter the old grognards at the table did way back when, and combat rounds were short enough that it didn’t seem to bog things down. We had done a similar initiative set up with a Mothership game we did a few months ago.

Finally there was the very limited effect of working together against a single target. Rules as written, those working together would all roll damage dice, the highest roll being used. In rounds where one mouse went before and another after, it was still two dice of damage happening instead of the combined so it was actually better for someone to lose initiative, assuming they survived long enough to make that attack. It’s something that we’ve tossed around some ideas of either adding +1 to the higher rolled damage for each additional attacker or using a larger die for the attacker being assisted, but we’re still undecided at the moment.

Like so many Old School inspired games (Into the Odd, Mork Borg, Knave, Mothership, etc.), hacking the core system is encouraged, so we did on a couple of counts, some planned and others improvised for the moment.

• Not falling unconscious after taking critical damage
  We quickly discovered how squishy the PCs were and for the sake of keeping characters active longer so we ruled that the character would add the Injured condition and miss an action but still remain conscious.
• Alchemy
  I really wanted some form of crafting system to test, so crunched together a couple of systems I had found on itch.io and a little bit of inspiration from Bunnies & Burrows. Most importantly, the use of an Ingredient Pouch that could hold up to six ingredients.
• Conditions to pay for a reroll
  I wanted a mechanic for players to be able to tip luck their way a few times. I narrowed it down to either Pushing the Roll as per Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed. and Take a Condition as per Dragonbane, but in the end as a group we decided on the latter, still limitting it to one condition per characteristic.
• Milestones by Expeditions
  The entire system of experience by ‘pips’ acquired was a bunch of paperwork I just didn’t want to deal with, instead keeping it to a quicker progression lifted from the closely related Liliputian system. After a certain number of expeditions survived (there was some discussion about success vs survived, as survival should count as a learning experience), the PC would advance in level (one, then three more, then five more).

After the game and debrief, there were a few more things we talked about trying out next time:

• Bundles of smaller items
  There were a number of items that just didn’t seem like they ought to take up an entire slot on their own. I recall something from Ultraviolet Grasslands talking about ten soap sized items equalling one slot so we’re going to try six trinkets (fits in a paw) to one inventory slot.
• Advancing hirelings
  Rules as written bases advancement for hirelings on them being paid a share of treasure meant that an alternative should be found if we were disconnecting that from PC advancement. Currently, we are looking at doing what we did with the D&D Sidekick rules and have them starting at one level lower than the PCs. For the three NPCs rescued and the hireling another PC started with, they would be level 1 after that first survived expedition while the PCs advance to level 2.
• Shields and Helmets
  We’re looking at having armour broken down a bit more, with a shield for a point (either on it’s own or making it work on a 4-6 roll) and a helmet similarly. This means potentially going all the way up to an armour of 4 points of damage reduction, even if one or two of them is conditional. Still undecided at this point.
• Building up the Settlement
  We might have to count pips brought back to the village after all or find some other mechanic for determining how it fares, like setting some clocks towards growth and adding bonus dice if the PCs successfully complete a mission that benefits the village. It seems like that should be something important.

Overall, the feedback was positive and the players (including myself) are willing to play again. It’s simple, quick, and it encourages using creative solutions over combat. It isn’t quite the grimdark setting of many OSR games but it certainly can be brutal.

The Game Pitch we started with …

Mausritter – Of Mice & Mystery

“Judge not the hero by their size, but by the bravery of their actions.”
– Nicodemaus the Elder

The Pitch
In a world of ruins and feral beasts, mice like you struggle in hidden settlements to survive. A harsh winter or a heartless cat could spell your end! Unlike the rest of those mice, you are an adventurer, living by your luck, wits, and the aid of your friends. Leaving the safety of your settlement, it’s up to you to seek out the life saving resources and the relics to aid you on your quests!

The Setting
The world is old. Great empires of mouse and beast have risen and fallen. Even older are the ruins of the giants long gone. Small pockets of mouse settlements are what remains of the once mighty kingdoms of old. Fragments of magic wait to be rediscovered while birds have created a sorcery of song all their own. Rat bandits prey upon the weak and hungry cats prowl the shadows.

The Characters
You are a band of heroic mice explorers. Your expedition might seek to uncover secrets and resources for the community or perhaps find new allies against a hostile world.

Situation
The settlement of Pinebridge was born of tragedy, with the fall of Mayfield Hollow. Following the tattered map of a forgotten scout, a new home had to be found. Little is known of the region surrounding Pinebridge, but there are some features that bear promise.

Mechanics
Technically there are no classes but there are backgrounds. I’m tinkering with adding some special abilbities ripped from another system of warriors, scouts, scholars with a special ability each (after the frist expidition)