MG Zombie Invasion!

Mouse Guard Missions
1

There’s a fungus that turns ants into “zombies” and I thought it would be interesting to extrapolate that idea into a sort of horror / biological attack scenario. You can Google it and read the news / science articles for yourself. Here’s the current idea.

Mission 1: Find Senior Chemist Werner’s Report

Starts in Sprucetuck, the patrol is ordered to investigate why Werner hasn’t seen in his yearly report. His research facility is located past Pebblebrook. If the Patrol is not full strength (3 members), add in template character, he / she will join the patrol for all 3 missions.

  1. Journey to Pebblebrook - Scout / Pathfinder (Failures = Wilderness obstacle).
  2. Get directions to Werner’s research facility - Circles / Persuader (Failures = Angry condition).
  3. Mouse Conflict - Werner’s assistant Heidi is crazed and confused and must be detained: Use Scientist Profile (Failures =
    Tired / Hungry Thirsty)
  4. Interrogate Heidi - Persuader / Deceiver: Use Scientist Profile (Failure = (Angry / Tired if not already applied)
    • Werner went out into the hills past the scent border near Darkheather.
  5. Search the Facility - Loremouse / Scientist / Archivist (Failures = Weather Condition)
  6. Return the report and Assistant Heidi to Pebblebrook
    • Circles / Healer to revive Heidi, she will join your patrol to help find her mentor (Failures = Heidi does not join your patrol)

Mission 2: Find Senior Chemist Werner

  1. Journey into the hills - Scout / Pathfinder (Failures = Animal Conflict - Raven)
    • The patrol must drive off the inquisitive Raven or it will attract attention.
      • If the Raven wins (This will have a delayed effect - Minor Compromise = 2 Weasel Peasants, Compromise = 3 Weasel
        Peasant Patrol, Major Compromise = 2 Weasel Peasant and 1 Weasel Soldier).
      • Heidi will not participate
  2. Locate Senior Chemist Werner - Scout / Survivalist (Failures = Wilderness Condition)
    • Werner is being held by a group of Weasels (See above), if the Raven was driven off then only one Weasel is present
      (After the first conflict round, the second Weasel Peasant will arrive to help).
      • (Failures = Injured)
      • Heidi will participate: Use Scientist Profile
  3. Return Senior Chemist Werner to Pebblebrook - Scout / Pathfinder (Failures = Tired / Hungry Thirsty)
  4. Question Werner - Persauder / Deciever (Failures = Angry)
    • Werner is under strict orders not to divulge the nature of his work. If Heidi is in your patrol, allow a second test to be
      made. (Failures = No preparations can be made for the up-coming invasion).
  5. (Only if 4 was successful) Prepare for Invasion - Smith / Carpenter / Orator / Weather Watcher / Administrator / etc > Look
    at Military Weapons p.121.

Mission 3: Night of Horrors

  1. Gather Intelligence - Weather Watcher / Militarist / Cartographer / Survivalist (Failures = Angry and do not award a point
    to the patrol (See below).
  2. Scout the Enemy (Army of Zombie Weasel Peasants / Captured Mice) - Scout / Pathfinder (Failures = Wilderness Obstacle
    and do not award a point to the patrol (See below).
  3. Prepare to Escape - Scout / Pathfinder / Administrator / Orator (Failures = Weather Condition and do not award a point to
    the patrol (See below).
  4. Defend Pebblebrook!
    • 1 point: You may take a free test to alleviate a condition and you may choose the weather, which will affect the invading
      army.
    • 2 points: There are actually two forces attacking Pebblebrook! One is a band of zombie Weasel Conscripts / Mice and the
      is a zombie Badger.
    • 3 points: You learn that there is an old abandoned mole tunnel under the city.
    • The patrol leader may choose two of the options below:
      • Decide if the patrol will defend against the zombie horde.
        • Patrol vs. Weasel Overlord (Failures = Injured / Significant Trait)
      • Decide if the patrol will defend against the rampaging badger.
        • Patrol vs. Badger (Failures = Injured / Significant Trait / Circles +1 (Fighting a zombie badger is pretty epic)).
      • Decide if the patrol will evacuate the town (Only allow if three points were earned).
        • Chase conflict - Patrol vs Weasel Overlord (Success = +1 Resources) (Failures = Sick)
          *If players do not all agree with the course of action as determined by the Patrol Leader, allow an argument conflict to occur.
          *Dice earned for preparing for the coming invasion may not be applied to the evacuation.
          *If the patrol chooses to fight the Weasel Overlord and the Badger and wins award promotions (In Winter Session) and if they are both not stopped allow the Patrol to escape but apply both sets of penalties and do not promote this year.
  5. Retreat to Barkstone - Pathfinder / Scout / Cartographer (Failures = Sick)
  6. Report to Barkstone Mouse Guard Captain (Award the player who delivers the Epilogue one free skill check) and end the year.

If you guys have any ideas or comments, let me know. I left out the obstacle ratings because I thought that would be more case dependent. Anywho, let me know ^^

2

I love the fungus idea and your delayed twist (various sizes of weasels showing up), very good stuff.

3

I really like this adventure, and think I will run it for my players. A few things I’ll probably change:

  1. During the first session, I’ll make sure that when the patrol encounters Heidi, there is also a zombie ant detained in the lab (presumably for study). Heidi will not know exactly why it is there, other than that it showed up just before Senior Chemist Werner went missing. At some point during the patrol’s questioning of Heidi, she will release the ant. This is due to her being under the control of the zombie fungus, which is informing her to release the ant and flee. She is still in the early stages of infection, so the patrol could possibly save her from zombification. This change introduces the zombie aspect early in the game, helping to foreshadow the horrors that are to come. It also allows the players to know that it is possible to save at least some mice from the fungus. Speaking of horror, I would make sure to fully describe the dark, creepy feel of Werner’s lab.

  2. In the second session, the encounter with the Raven will happen at dusk. Again, setting the creepy tone. I will make sure that the Raven shows up at the precise moment that they have spotted “something” ahead (“It looks like maybe the flicker of several torches coming from a cave, not far away.”). This will give incentive to the patrol to run off the Raven, unless they simply do not care that it is giving up their position. In which case, the Raven has a total victory, and the patrol encounters the full force of what is lurking in the cave (or, rather, it encounters them). I’ll make sure to let the patrol know that they do not know what is in the cave, and that it’s too far away to hear anything (especially with that Raven squawking!), and that if they want to sneak up on it to get a better look and/or listen, it’s going to be nearly impossible to do anything stealthy until the Raven is dealt with. By the time the Raven is killed or run off, dusk will have turned to dark.

I will replace weasel peasants in the second session with mouse zombies. Fighting weasels, it’s too easy to set “Kill the weasels” as their Goal – no real thinking or inner conflict involved. All of these zombie mice are “fully zombinated”, so there is no hope for them other than a clean death. Heidi will be able to glean this fact if no one in the patrol has the appropriate skills or wises. If they have been captured or somehow contained, they can be easily put down by the patrol. If they are not killed, they will die on their own within a few days anyhow (see below).

I generally don’t like the “after the first round, another combatant enters” kind of scenario, unless it really, really adds something to the encounter. I’ve seen too much of this in D&D, and it leads to a relationship between the players and GM where the players can often feel like they’re being penalized, especially if they’re doing well against the first wave (and even more so if they made a plan and are following it). With zombies, however, you kind of have to expect them to come at you wave after wave. The mechanic I would use for this would be something more along the lines of having the zombie mice perform a lot of Defends, and explain that with each successful Defend, more zombie mice stagger into the conflict, rebuilding the initial mob.

  1. I love the third session! Escalation to full military action! This is definitely where I would use zombie weasels and the zombie badger (but also make sure to include a hoarde of zombie mice, just to add to the horror and turmoil).

A few other questions/comments/observations:

I did a quick google search on zombie fungus ants. Cool! I will make sure to describe at least some of the zombies (and the ant in session 1) as having what looks like a small branch stuck into their heads, with some kind of fungal mass on it. The less-infected ones (like Heidi) probably just inhaled some of the spores. It also looks like the infected ants are pretty much given a single task to perform, and die shortly thereafter. This really fits well into this scenario and the Mouse Guard world in general, since it is a spooky effect caused by natural science, and not some kind of “magic”.

How did the Weasel Overlord come to know about the fungus? How did he know to use Werner to forward his goals? Are they even truly his goals, or is he perhaps also being manipulated by the fungus. Is Werner a traitor, or simply under the effect of the spores? I have to tell you, the alien-ness of a field of fungal material that takes over other sentient creatures, bending their will to its own, is much more frightening to me than a weasel with delusions of power and grandeur.

I am also thinking that as cool as all of this sounds, it seems a bit too fully scripted for how Mouse Guard plays. I would not put it past my players to do all kinds of things during their Players Turns to make all of the planning past the first mission difficult to implement.

4

Your comments are great. Ill copy / paste them in and format a revised version. I like the defend idea bring in more zombie mice. Also, I had the idea that the fungus was being researched at the behest of sprucetuck but because of how it works as a weapon it raises lots of concerns. Also, maybe on the evacuation if you fail, maybe have a group of guard mice set up a quarantine. Lots of fun ideas here.

5

Mission 1: Find Senior Chemist Werner’s Report

Starts in Sprucetuck, the patrol is ordered to investigate why Werner hasn’t seen in his yearly report. His research facility is located past Pebblebrook. If the Patrol is not full strength (3 members), add in template character, he / she will join the patrol for all 3 missions.

  1. Journey to Pebblebrook - Scout / Pathfinder (Failures = Wilderness obstacle).

  2. Get directions to Werner’s research facility - Circles / Persuader (Failures = Angry condition).

  3. Mouse Conflict - Werner’s assistant Heidi is crazed and confused and must be detained: Use Scientist Profile (Failures =
    Tired / Hungry Thirsty)

  4. Interrogate Heidi - Persuader / Deceiver: Use Scientist Profile (Failure = (Angry / Tired if not already applied)

  • Werner went out into the hills past the scent border near Darkheather.
  1. Search the Facility - Loremouse / Scientist / Archivist (Failures = Weather Condition)

*The facility is dark and cluttered. There are shelves everywhere and the burnt out stubs of candles litter the many desks. Clearly, Chemist Werner had been terribly busy. On one of the tables is a rack for holding vials. All but one remain and inside is trapped an ant that seems to be behaving quite odd. If inspected the ant will appear moldy. Hidden behind one of the desks is Werner’s report. It is in a secret code (Loremouse / Archvist), the report states that the “weapon” is nearly ready and that he thinks he is being watched.

  1. Return the report and Assistant Heidi to Pebblebrook
  • Circles / Healer to revive Heidi, she will join your patrol to help find her mentor (Failures = Heidi does not join your patrol)

*On the road to Pebblebrook, Heidi seems to be feeling ill and will occasionally start to babble, it’s evident that something is affecting her.

Mission 2: Find Senior Chemist Werner

  1. Journey into the hills - Scout / Pathfinder (Failures = Animal Conflict - Raven)

*It is night time and the forest is very dark. Build up a tense atmosphere by having the Players take Scout / Survivalist tests that suggest danger (Snapping branches, unnerving silence, insects moving in the opposite direction, weird mold on the trees, etc)

  • The patrol must drive off the inquisitive Raven or it will attract attention.
  • If the Raven wins (This will have a delayed effect - Minor Compromise = 3 Zombie Mice (Choose an assortment of profiles), Compromise = 4 Zombie Mice (Choose an assortment of profiles), Major Compromise = 5 Zombie Mice (Choose an assortment of profiles).
  • Heidi will not participate
  1. Locate Senior Chemist Werner - Scout / Survivalist (Failures = Wilderness Condition)
  • Werner is being held by a group of Zombie Mice under the direction of a Weasel Spy (See above), if the Raven was driven off then only 3 Zombie Mice are guarding him. (There is a Weasel Spy in the background and every conflict round (3 Actions) make a test (4+) to see if he calls in an additional zombie mouse to reinforce the group, add 1 dice to the Disposition pool when this occurs.
  • (Failures= (Major Compromise = 1 Infected Character, Compromise = 2 Infected Characters, Minor Compromise = 3 Infected Characters) Sick (Zombie Infection! Players must make a Health Test once every conflict round (3 Actions) otherwise the Player will fall temporarily into a Zombie state and turn on his/her teammates).
  • Heidi will participate: Use Scientist Profile.

  1. Return Senior Chemist Werner to Pebblebrook - Scout / Pathfinder (Failures = Tired / Hungry Thirsty)

  2. Question Werner - Persauder / Deciever (Failures = Angry)

  • Werner is under strict orders not to divulge the nature of his work. If Heidi is in your patrol, allow a second test to be
    made. (Failures = No preparations can be made for the up-coming invasion).
  1. (Only if 4 was successful) Prepare for Invasion - Smith / Carpenter / Orator / Weather Watcher / Administrator / etc > Look
    at Military Weapons p.121.

Mission 3: Night of Horrors

  1. Gather Intelligence - Weather Watcher / Militarist / Cartographer / Survivalist (Failures = Angry and do not award a point
    to the patrol (See below).

  2. Scout the Enemy (Horde of Zombie Mice and Weasels) - Scout / Pathfinder (Failures = Wilderness Obstacle
    and do not award a point to the patrol (See below).

  3. Prepare to Escape - Scout / Pathfinder / Administrator / Orator (Failures = Weather Condition and do not award a point to
    the patrol (See below).

  4. Defend Pebblebrook!

  • 1 point: You may take a free test to alleviate a condition and you may choose the weather, which will affect the invading
    army.
  • 2 points: There are actually two forces attacking Pebblebrook! One is a horde of zombie Mice and Weasels being led by a Weasel Overlord and the other is a zombie Badger.
  • 3 points: You learn that there is an old abandoned mole tunnel under the city.
  • The patrol leader may choose two of the options below:
  • Decide if the patrol will defend against the zombie horde.
  • Patrol vs. Weasel Overlord and Zombie Horde (Failures = Injured / Significant Trait)
  • Decide if the patrol will defend against the rampaging zombie badger.
  • Patrol vs. Zombie Badger (Failures = Injured / Significant Trait / Circles +1 (Fighting a zombie badger is pretty epic)).
  • Decide if the patrol will evacuate the town (Only allow if three points were earned).
  • Chase conflict - Patrol vs Weasel Overlord and Zombie Horde (Success = +1 Resources) (Failures = Sick (Zombie Infection! Players must make a Health Test once every conflict round (3 Actions) otherwise the Player will fall temporarily into a Zombie state and turn on his/her teammates))
    *If players do not all agree with the course of action as determined by the Patrol Leader, allow an argument conflict to occur.
    *Dice earned for preparing for the coming invasion may not be applied to the evacuation.
    *If the patrol chooses to fight the Weasel Overlord and the Badger and wins award promotions (In Winter Session) and if they are both not stopped allow the Patrol to escape but apply both sets of penalties and do not promote this year.
  1. Retreat to Barkstone - Pathfinder / Scout / Cartographer (Failures = Sick)

*A Guard Captain is waiting for you at Pebblebrook when you arrive, you are being summoned to Sprucetuck (Use this as a hook to continue the adventure if you like).

  1. Report to Barkstone Mouse Guard Captain (Award the player who delivers the Epilogue one free skill check) and end the year.
  • If you choose, keep the players infected into the next year until they recover from it or do something suitable. It’ll be a fun reminder of past events.

Edits: RP Fluff added, Werner’s Guard situation changed, Zombie Infection added.
Credits: Arseniy, Slashdevnull

6

I can’t wait to throw this at my players!

Maybe they’ll learn something Animal Planet-ish too on the way.