Mausritter Solo Actual Play Mousey Wizard Ep 3

 

Episode 3

Welcome back to my solo play of Mausritter!   When we left Anise last session, she was back in Stumpsville, having found a large boulder (to a mouse at least) to use as a trap in front of the Sumpsville gates.   She was accompanied by Aloe, the apprentice blacksmith, and they had frozen their tails off (not literally) in the sleet as they retrieved this rock.  This session, they will actually set up the trap and then HOPEFULLY start the journey to visit the wizard, Gwendoline, in the Tower of Magnolia to learn more about this spell tablet.

Bold text: mechanics
Italics text: Roleplaying
Plain text: Out of character explanation

Materials: Mausritter Core Book, OPSE, Bernpyle #3 and #8,  Oak Mill Institute by MatthewSteakHam, Knave 2e, Ironsworn Oracles, Hanson Expansion (I can’t quit buying these little add-ons, they are so great!)

To start this session, first we will make progress rolls for each of the factions in our world.  I’m putting this at the end of this post, in case you aren’t as interested in the worldbuilding aspect. 

Set the Scene

d6= 6 Finally lol: Things actually go as planned.  On a 5+ we are supposed to roll an Altered Scene d6= 2 The Environment is Different

Weather: 2d6= 8 Bitter Cold.  At least the sleet stopped.  But Bitter Cold still can give an Exhausted trait during travel.

Since we rolled  “Environment is Different”, I’ll also roll on a Seasonal Event: d6= 1 Snow prevents above ground movement for a week.  Great…we won’t be going to the tower this week.  LOL

Now that we have all of that bookkeeping out of the way, we will start the scene:

Anise and Aloe awaken early the next morning to find the sleet had stopped during the night, and a great snowfall had occurred!  The mice of the hamlet had already begun work removing the snow from the parts of the hollowed-out stump that received the snowfall.  Luckily for them, much of it was partially protected from outside weather.  The heroes had a simple breakfast, and Stilton provided them with some rations to supplement what had been lost to the Sugar Cultists.  [d66 What are rations made of from Hanson addon= 45 Mulberries.  What holds them? D6= 4 small mouse made tin can]. 

Anise and Aloe go outside after their breakfast and begin work on the boulder trap.  Luckily for them, the gates to Stumpsville is in an underground tunnel, and not subject to the snow. [1 and 2]

First we will roll a WIL save for both Anise and Aloe, and we’ll determine how successful they are in setting the trap.  Depending on whether both save/fail, that will determine the severity of the consequences.

Anise WIL d20= 16 vs 10 Fail
Aloe WIL d20= 13 vs 6 Fail

Failure Move: Advance a threat.  OK, I’m going to take this to mean that they set the trap successfully, but that it won’t actually work when it is tripped.

Anise and Aloe work throughout the morning watch, carefully moving the boulder into position, and placing a string to some small sticks that leads to behind the gate.  When trouble approaches, the guard can pull the string, it will release the sticks, and the boulder will roll down the tunnel and smash the attackers. The two mice demonstrate their idea to Emerald Witter, the mayor.

Oracle is he pleased with the work? Likely: 5,6 Yes and.  

For the first time since arriving, Emerald has a smile on his whiskered face.  His sharp eyes pick out the details of the contraption and he is quite pleased.   He congratulates the two mice and offers the hospitality of Stumpsville while they stay here.  This is especially convenient to Anise, considering the snowfall prevents her departure!  But at least the snow should dampen any Dedratz activity as well.

Ok, according to Mausritter rules, we only get XP with treasure, but I like to have a little faster progression, so I’ll also award XP based on accomplishing goals.   While the trap won’t actually WORK, we did build up our relationship with this hamlet, so I’m going to give Anise and Aloe 20XP.  Here’s how I came to that:

Level 1 to 2 in Mausritter is 1000XP. I have two characters in the party, so that would be a sum of 2000. I would multiply that by 2% for each task completed that would reward XP.
2000 * 2%= 40 That would be 40/2 = 20 XP per character per event.

Anise: 360 XP
Aloe: 35 XP
During their 1 week stay, let’s just roll to see what the mice get up to.  Aloe Downtime roll: [Hanson Downtime in Hamlet d20= Playing a game with local kids you accidentally damaged a mouse's window. Pay 20 pips] LOL, oh Aloe. That is all of his pips.  He’s down to zero now.  Besides this event, Aloe will work daily at the smithy as per his usual job.  5d6 pips earned= 25 pips

Anise, will obviously use this time to study the stone tablet. I’ll make a progress bar of 5.  Each opportunity Anise gets to study the tablet, she will make a WIL roll and a Save will increase her progress.  I’ll also roll an Oracle roll, increasing in likelihood, as she progresses to see if she can figure out what the spell does.  If she succeeds in this roll, we’ll roll on the spell table(s) to see what the spell is and she can begin to use it with a higher chance of miscast/usage until she reaches 5/5.

Anise study tablet day 1 WIL d20= 9 vs 10 SAVE!  1/5
Oracle does she figure out the spell? Unlikely d6=  5,1  Yes, but.   Great!  We’ll roll on a table for the spell, but we’ll also roll on an advanced Miscast table for the effects of a miscast that can be pretty nasty until she completes her study.

I have two 2d8 spell tables…I think I’ll roll a 50/50 to see which one to roll from.  1-3 is Mausritter.  4-6 is Hanson expansion. D6=6 Hanson
2d8=7 Frenzy.  Cause [SUM] enemies to attack the first person they see. Effects last for [DICE] Rounds.  Recharge: Place in the current of white water rapids for 1 day.

Miscast from Maus Hack Bernpyle #8 d20: Alopecia Universalis.  Your hair falls out and you feel cold.  You will catch cold if you stay 2 watches without protection.  Social interactions are also awkward and at a disadvantage, unless the person takes pity on you or finds you funny.

As a reminder, when you cast a spell in Mausritter, you roll a d6 for each power slot you want to use.  For each 4-6 that will mark a power usage that will require a recharge.  If you roll a 6, that’s a Miscast and you gain that condition until Long Rest (or otherwise specified).

Wow, interesting.  Let’s find out what happens on this first day of study.

Anise sits alone in the room provided to her in The Crooked Wedge inn.  She busily records her research on the mysterious stone tablet with her quill, smudging ink on her paws and robes. She found if she traced the runes inscribed on the stone in a certain pattern, the runes in the stone begin to glow faintly.  She repeated the experiment again, but this time really focused on her paw movement across the runes.  The flickered into a bright light briefly…but then nothing observable happened. 
 Anise will cast the spell for the first time 1d6= 3.  So, if she saw 3 enemies, they would all 3 attack the first person they saw for 1 round.  No miscast this time, whew!  There are no enemies around, so Anise isn’t certain still what the spell does.

Anise study tablet day 2 WIL d20= 13 vs 10 Fail.  No progress 1/5
Anise study tablet day 3 WIL d20= 6 vs 10 SAVE!  2/5
Frenzy cast 1d6= 4  Mark 1 usage on the spell.
Oracle Even- Does Anise realize what the spell does? D6= 6,3 Yes.

Anise spends another 2 days studying the stone tablet.  During that 3^rd day, she elicits a reaction from the runes once again, but it still isn’t clear what is happening.  She hears the call of 2 crows sitting on the top of the stump, and she walks out of her room to take a break.  When she glances at the birds while holding the tablet, it pulses with energy in her paw.  Suddenly, the 2 crows begin to argue loudly in their avian language that Anise cannot decipher, but it is apparent that the spell somehow made them angry with one another.  This could be dangerous if not used carefully…

Anise study tablet day 4 WIL d20= 10 vs 10 SAVE!  3/5
Frenzy cast 1d6= 5  Mark 1 usage on the spell.
Oracle Even- Does Anise realize how to recharge the spell? D6= 5,3 Yes.

Anise continues in her scholarly approach of testing different outcomes from the tablet.  She asks a few of the village mice if they would consider helping, and she elicits similar angry reactions from them when it is cast upon them.   Since they aren’t enemies, they do not attack each other, but she has a suspicion that the response would be different depending on the hostility of the spell target.  She thinks it is probably much like a river flowing over rocks…the water gets much more violent when opposed.  She can tell the tablet is beginning to lose its power.  She will need to find a way to recharge this thing.  Perhaps the wizard Gwendoline can tell her more…

Anise study tablet day 5 WIL d20= 2 vs 10 SAVE!  4/5
At this point, she will not risk the tablet losing power further, she is confident that she has the item’s mysteries almost unlocked.  We’ll continue the study to see if she can get rid of that miscast reaction.

Anise study tablet day 5 WIL d20= 5 vs 10 SAVE!  5/5.  Boom!  Nailed it!  I’ll award her 20 XP for her work on the tablet. She’s now at 380 XP. 

For the last 2 days, we’ll roll downtime: Anise d20= 20 Under an abandoned residence you found forgotten treasure. Gain 1 treasure worth 200 pips.  WOW!  Anise is now at 220 pips.

After completing her studies, Anise helps the village clear out the snowfalls, and while doing so, she finds a vial of rat poison under one of the village residences.  She delivers it to the mayor, Emerald Witter, and he rewards her with 200 pips. 

During this week of downtime, let’s see what happens in the bond between Aloe and Anise. 

Do Anise and Aloe spend some time getting to know each other better? Oracle Likely d6= 4,2 Yes

In between Anise’s studies and Aloe working at the smithy, there is not much time for them to get to know each other better.  But every evening, Aloe goes to Anise’s room in the Crooked Wedge and invites her to eat supper with him and Stilton.  After the 3^rd day, Anise does not need an invitation and just shows up at their house, already feeling very welcome.

What do we find out further about Aloe and Anise:

We know Aloe is industrious and vain.  What else d66 on Hanson Dispositions= 11 Brave/reckless 
Goal Ironsworn Oracles:  d6=6 d100=16  Seek wisdom and knowledge.  I think this is specifically geared toward getting to know Anise more.  She intrigues him with her expansive knowledge, and he wants to be “smart like her”.   Does this mean he is developing feelings for Anise? Oracle Likely d6=1,1 No, but.   I think this means that he doesn’t feel romantic toward her yet, but he certainly finds her very interesting, and a friendship is developing.

Anise additional disposition d66: 36 Talks in a whisper.  Makes sense, working in a library.
Goal Ironsworn Oracles:  d6=1 d100=01 Obtain an object. I think she wants more spell tablets.  So, we’ll definitely be going to the Tower of Magnolia once this weather clears up!

That’s going to be it for today’s session!  I hope you enjoyed it, and I’ll see you next time!

 

WORLDBUILDING

I want to add in a couple more factions to round everything out.   As a reminder, these are the factions currently and the new additions.  I’ll roll a d6 for a single goal that they work on this session, then add 1 for each of their resources, and subtract 1 for any conflicts between forces.  On a result of 4-5, progress 1 mark.  On a result of 6 progress 2.  If a goal is completed, it will add a resource to that faction and they can create a new goal.

Sugar Cult – Mouse religious cult; Leader: ?; Faction Trait: ? 
Base: ?
Goals:
Recruit members 0/3  d6+2= 6; 2/3
Gather faction info 0/2
Summon the Sugar Lord 0/5

Resources:
Secret Hideout
Rare Item (currently unknown to Anise and you as the reader, but I have it written down in sekrit)

Grand Library – Mouse Scholarly Circle; Leader: Iris Maker; Faction Trait: Global Reach
Base: Oaksgrove

Goal:
Build up local chapters in each village: 2/3 d6+2= 5; 3/3 I will add a new resource for Local Chapters

Resources:
Grand Library
Extensive Knowledge of region and history
NEW: Local Chapters

Dedratz Gang – Rat Gang; Leader: ?; Faction Trait: ?
Base: ?

Goals:
Establish Protection Racket 1/3 d6+2= 7; 3/3  I will add a new resource for Protection Racket
Build Wealth 0/5

Resources:
Ruthless gang
Secret hideout
NEW: Protection Racket

Balthazar – Cat Lord; Leader: Balthazar; Faction Trait: Predictable
Base: Balthazar’s Gate [8]

Goals:
Raise bribes from settlement 0/3
Kidnap mouse servants 2/3 d6+3= 5; 3/3 Add new resource for Mouse Servants
Subjugate a settlement 0/5

Resources:
Terrifying presence
Hired mercenaries and bandits
Exorbitant wealth
NEW: Mouse Servants

Lord Larkspur – Mouse Noble; Faction Leader: Lord Larkspur; Faction Trait: Gullible
Base: Menhir Mot [16]

Goals:
Raise tax revenue 0/3 d6+2= 8; 2/3
Acquire new land rights 0/5

Resources:
Indolent Knights
Menhir Mot stronghold

We’ll add new Goals next session.  But what this tells me is that the Earldom of Ek is becoming lawless from the Dedratz and plagued by the cat lord, Balthazar.  I’ll keep that in mind as we have random encounters/adventure seeds.