Mission: Milking Spider Venom - Version 2 (Help still appreciated from the Forum!)

[b]Mission: Find and Milk the Spider for Its Venom
Season: Spring
Weather: Spring Rain
Obstacles: Wilderness & Animal

GM Dialogue:[/b]

Gwendolyn summons the guard to her chamber with a look of great pressure. To her side stands an elderly grey mouse wrapped in a thick orange overcoat. In his paw he holds a fragile brown scroll.

“Copperwood is experiencing a plague. You must travel to Pebblebrook and secure a portion of spider’s venom for an antidote.” With a graceful step she allows the oldfur beside her to step forward. “This is Areon, an archivist from Blackrock. He has found information from many seasons ago that has driven us to assign this important mission.”

Areon adjusts the spectacles on his face and clears his throat. “As Gwendolyn has said, some seasons ago another town had experienced similar circumstances to Copperwood. They too were ravaged by a seemingly incurable plague. The matriarch at the time sent her greatest Mouse Guard to scour the territories searching for answers. On their quest an old and well-traveled insectrist named Flinn discovered a spider whose habitat was found near Pebblebrook. There, he and his patrol captured specimens of the arachnid and milked their venom, which was then delivered to the sciencemice at a nearby town. With the help of Flinn and his knowledge of lore and insects, they created a remedy for the plague saving hundreds of lives.” He begins to unwind the antique scroll, “This is a log from Flinn’s travel journal recounting the spider you search for now.” He raises the scroll close to his face and continues. “It seems that the spider is all black and carries a distinctive red mark on it abdomen, highly venomous and tends to be aggressive towards intrusion. Their lairs are often found near ground level and resemble a haphazard style of web construction.” Rolling the scroll and tying it back with a leather string, he gestures towards the matriarch and bows slightly.

Gwendolyn stares heavily on the patrol, and says “You must find this spider in Pebblebrook and secure its venom.” She sighs, “Copperwood is a large town with many resources, the medicines they have there are keeping the sick alive, but they still have not found a cure. For now the plague has been contained within the mines behind the waterfall, which is where the point-of-origin seems to be. But without aid, I fear the city may lose many lives.”

[b]Write Session Goals:

GM’s Turn:[/b]

You left Lockhaven without delay, and traveled through an uneventful night before setting camp and sleeping peacefully till dawn. You awoke to an overcast sky, with a steady rain falling overhead. Dutifully your patrol set a quick pace towards Pebblebrook.

After having past Barkstone, you recall that Areon gave you one last bit of help and handed you a glass jar to collect the venom. He also invited you to call upon his assistant, Gillead, who has been searching the archives at Barkstone upon Areon’s request, should the patrol need any food or rest after they found the spider.

Fallen Tree: Wilderness

Nearing Pebblebrook, the patrol stops to find a tree has fallen across the path, a small crew of what looks to be local members from the town are attempting to finish a large tunnel through the rotten trunk and once again reopen the trail.

GM: “You’re going to need to pass a laborer test to get to Pebblebrook.”
Test: Laborer – Ob 3 (factoring rain as well)

Weather Twist: If the laborer test is failed, then read; “You are successful in helping reopen the trail. The patrol may now move forward. However, the rain has made your work wearisome. You must pass an Ob 3 health test or risk getting tired from your labor.”

Arrive at Pebblebrook: Animal

You enter Pebblebrook as the rain dissipates and the sun begins to take back the sky. Quickly your patrol begins asking the inhabitants for clues as to whether or not anyone has seen the signs of a spider fitting your description. An old forager wearing a wide brimmed straw hat, nods happily as you question him, and he answers with delight “Yes’ir, I have seen the likes of that black demon near a favorite spot of mine…” he leans close and whispers his next words, “Don’t tell anyone, but the nest sits right next to a thick patch of fresh herbs I’ve been tending and wait’n to harvest an’ sell.” He winks and begins walking towards the wilderness waving for you to follow, “It’s not far from town. I’ll take you right there. My names Stem by-the-way, Stem Hillongs.”

Stem guides the group to a shaded patch of flat rocks. A natural outcropping of stone juts forward from the mess, and there underneath hangs the spider you are looking for huddled near her egg sack.

GM: “This will be difficult. The spider is surrounded by a cage of thick webs. You must pass an Ob 3 Hunter’s test to reach and trap the spider, then an Ob 4 Insectrists test to extract the venom. Or you could test your Scientist skill to lure the spider out of its web to feed and capture it using a trap, Ob 5.

Black Widow: Nature (Spider) 3
Web spinner, Secretive
Black Widow weapons:
Venom - +1s to attack. Eight Legs - +1d to maneuver.

Mouse Twist: If the patrol fails at either of the tests, allow the group to secure the venom in the glass jar but invoke this next scenario. “The spider venom has been successfully milked and stored in Areon’s glass jar. However during the ordeal, the spider has perished from the stress. You group moves to leave the nest as Stem shouts in sudden horror, “MY HERBS, my precious herbs!” You turn to see that the spider’s egg sack has just split open. Erupting from inside are hundreds of freshly hatched spiderlings. They begin to spread and climb all over the place including Stem’s herb garden. He points a single claw in your direction and exclaims, “This’s your doin! Weren’t for you all, I’d be able to come back here t’morrow and collect a fortune.” He throws his hat to the ground and kicks dirt on it. “Now I’ll never be able to come back! Before, I only had one black demon to deal with, now I got thousands of em’! You Guards cost me everything!” Clearly Stem wants recompense.

Conflict: Argument

Stem Hillongs
Forager
Nature (Mouse) 5
Will 3
Health 4
Resources 1
Circles 1
Skills: Harvester 5, Haggler 4, Persuader 4, Underbrush-wise 4
Traits: Fiery (1)

GM’s turn is now over, but the threat to Copperwood is still extremely dire. Don’t forget to stress the need for action and fidelity.

Player’s Turn:

“You can recover from your conditions; quickly make your way to Elmoss to deliver the spider venom, return to Blackrock to meet Gillead, or whatever you want. But hurry, Copperwood is in trouble.

Continuing the Adventure:

  • Copperwood is still in trouble; the Guard must get to Elmoss and make a cure for the plague!
  • Where has the plague come from?
  • Why did the plague start in the mines?
1 Like

I think this is much better and things are much more clear. There are still some things I would tweak:

Weather Twist: This reads much more like a CONDITION, than a TWIST. Consider allowing the road to be cleared (they get their intent…) and just give them the Condition Tired on failure (but with a condition). Another tactic would be to make it a TWIST, by having some interruption, like rain causing the creak to rise and needing to make Health test to avoid being washed downstream.

Mouse Twist: If you want this to be a TWIST, then consider having Stem run in to save the herbs and interrupt their attempts to get the venom (they don’t get their intent…), when the egg sac bursts and the little beasties encircle the gardener in a deadly swarm of baby spiders (because the story is twisted in a new and unexpected direction).

Then you can end the players turn. If the Player’s turn starts with the spider having run off and Stem poisoned and needing aid, all the better.

Okay. Now I think I’m starting to get the idea about twists.

I will revise with that new information.

Thanks noclue!

Updated Verison. 2.5

[b]Mission: Find and Milk the Spider for Its Venom
Season: Spring
Weather: Spring Rain
Obstacles: Wilderness & Animal

GM Dialogue:[/b]

Gwendolyn summons the guard to her chamber with a look of great pressure. To her side stands an elderly grey mouse wrapped in a thick orange over coat. In his paw he holds a fragile brown scroll.

“Copperwood is experiencing a plague. You must travel to Pebblebrook and secure a portion of spider’s venom for an antidote.” With a graceful step she allows the oldfur beside her to step forward. “This is Areon, an archivist from Blackrock. He has found information from many seasons ago that has driven us to assign this important mission.”

Areon adjusts the spectacles on his face and clears his throat. “As Gwendolyn has said, some seasons ago another town had experienced similar circumstances to Copperwood. They too were ravaged by a seemingly incurable plague. The matriarch at the time sent her greatest Mouse Guard to scour the territories searching for answers. On their quest an old and well traveled insectrist named Flinn discovered a spider whose habitat was found near Pebblebrook. There, he and his patrol captured specimens of the arachnid and milked their venom, which was then delivered to the sciencemice at a nearby town. With the help of Flinn and his knowledge of lore and insects, they created a remedy for the plague saving hundreds of lives.” He begins to unwind the antique scroll, “This is a log from Flinn’s travel journal recounting the spider you search for now.” He raises the scroll close to his face and continues. “It seems that the spider is all black and carries a distinctive red mark on it abdomen, highly venomous and tends to be aggressive towards intrusion. Their lairs are often found near ground level and resemble a haphazard style of web construction.” Rolling the scroll and tying it back with a leather string, he gestures towards the matriarch and bows slightly.

Gwendolyn stares heavily on the patrol, and says “You must find this spider in Pebblebrook and secure its venom.” She sighs, “Copperwood is a large town with many resources, the medicines they have there are keeping the sick alive, but they still have not found a cure. For now the plague has been contained within the mines behind the waterfall, which is where the point-of-origin seems to be. But without aid, I fear the city may lose many lives.”

[b]Write Session Goals:

GM’s Turn:[/b]

You’re patrol left Lockhaven without delay, and traveled through an uneventful night before setting camp and sleeping peacefully till dawn. You awoke to an overcast sky, with a steady rain falling overhead. Dutifully you pack up and set a quick pace towards Pebblebrook.

Just after having past Barkstone, you recall that Areon gave you one last bit of help and handed you a glass jar to collect the venom. He also invited you to call upon his assistant, Gillead, who has been searching the archives at Barkstone upon Areon’s request, should the patrol need any food or rest after they found the spider.

Fallen Tree: Wilderness

Nearing Pebblebrook, the patrol stops to find a tree has fallen across the path, a small crew of what looks to be local members from the town are attempting to finish a large tunnel through the rotten trunk and once again reopen the trail.

GM: “You’re going to need to pass a laborer test to get to Pebblebrook.”
Test: Laborer – Ob 3 (factoring rain as well)

Weather Condition: Tired - If the laborer test is failed, then read; “You are successful in helping reopen the trail. The patrol may now move forward. However, the rain has made your work wearisome and you are tired from your labor.”

Arrive at Pebblebrook: Animal

You enter Pebblebrook and quickly your patrol begins asking the inhabitants for clues as to whether or not anyone has seen the signs of a spider fitting your description. An old forager wearing a wide brimmed straw hat, nods happily as you question him, and he answers with delight “Yes’ir, I have seen the likes of that black demon near a favorite spot of mine…” he leans close and whispers his next words, “Don’t tell anyone, but the nest sits right next to a thick patch of fresh herbs I’ve been tending and wait’n to harvest an’ sell.” He winks and begins walking towards the wilderness waving for you to follow, “It’s not far from town. I’ll take you right there. I’d be mighty happy to see y’all kill that spider, or run it off, either way’d be fine by me. My names Stem by-the-way, Stem Hillongs”

Stem guides the group to a shaded patch of flat rocks. A natural outcropping of stone juts forward from the mess of stone, underneath hangs the spider you are looking for huddled near her egg sack.

GM: “This will be difficult. The spider is surrounded by a cage of thick webs. You must pass an Ob 3 Hunter’s test to reach and trap the spider, then an Ob 4 Insectrists test to extract the venom. Or you could test your Scientist skill to lure the spider out of its web to feed and capture it using a trap, Ob 5.

Black Widow: Nature (Spider) 3
Web spinner, Secretive
Black Widow weapons:
Venom - +1s to attack. Eight Legs - +1d to maneuver.

Mouse Twist: If the patrol fails at either of the tests, explain the following twist.

During the ordeal, the spider leaps from your party’s grasp and streaks away into the underbrush. As you move to pursue, you hear a loud shout from behind you. Turning toward the noise you see Stem brandishing a large stick, he is swatting at the ground and shouting loudly, “You keep away from my herbs, demon spawn!”

In the confusion, the spider’s egg sack has split open. Almost on cue with their mothers escape a hundred of freshly hatched spiderlings erupt from the nest. They begin to spread and climb all over the place including Stem’s herb garden. And they also begin advancing toward Stem. He’s backed into a rock, swinging wildly, and repeating “MY HERBS, my precious herbs!”

Stem Hillongs
Forager
Nature (Mouse) 5
Will 3
Health 4
Resources 1
Circles 1
Skills: Harvester 5, Haggler 4, Persuader 4, Underbrush-wise 4
Traits: Fiery (1)

GM’s turn is now over, but the threat to Copperwood is still extremely dire. Don’t forget to stress the need for action and fidelity.

Player’s Turn:

“You can recover from your conditions; quickly make you way to Elmoss to deliver the spider venom (or chase the spider/save Stem), return to Blackrock to meet Gillead, or whatever you want. But hurry, Copperwood is in trouble."

[b]Continuing the Adventure:

  • Copperwood is still in trouble; the Guard must get the venom to Elmoss!
  • Where has the plague come from?
  • Why did the plague start in the mines?[/b]
1 Like

Getting there. Just a couple more things about context and failure.

Be sure to let the Mouse who makes the laborer test describe how awesome they are in getting the road cleared. They get the condition tired, but they still succeed at clearing the road and you shouldn’t do or say anything that gives short shrift to their road clearing badassedry.

Second, in your Mouse Twist, “the spider leaps from your party’s grasp and streaks away into the underbrush” sounds like the characters sucked at their holding onto spider skill roll. Instead, make sure the PCs were great spider holders, but bring in Stem and surround him with a whole mess of baby spiders right when they have momma spider in their clutches and the spider is struggling to get out of their grasp and flee. Send a wave of babies after the PCs as well, so the Twist isn’t “You lose your grasp” but instead “you have to let the spider go or you all get eaten by a horde of spiderlets.”

Oh, I like the set up with having to pass Hunter/Science and then Insectrist/Scout. A good way to handle complex hazards like that is if they fail the first test in the series, give them a success with a condition. Save your Twist for a failure on the last test in the series. Just a thought.

well I just loved it. Simple, and fun. I think that when someone GM’s it, then can tweak it as they like.

well I just loved it. Simple, and fun. I think that when someone GM’s it, then can tweak it as they like.

Hey, I think your obstacles are really great. And the dialogue quotes for the GM are hilarious.

Thanks! That really gives me some steam to keeping chugging along!

I really appreciate it!!!

I used your idea today for my players, and they really enjoyed it!
It was in a shorter version, and it worked really well, and they felt epic fighting their way trough.

(Because non of my players have insectrists or scientist, I had to send them out to get the eggs instead. But it works too :slight_smile: )

That’s awesome Kikko!

I’m really glad someone used my mission.

Do you have a copy of the game your group played? Or were you lucky enough to play in person?

I’m not quite sure what you mean by this?
I’m the game master of a group with 4 players, that last session had a plot very, very inspired by your venomous spiders :slight_smile:

Edit: I can write you how I used your idea so it did fit to the trouble my players where in?

What I meant to say was if you had recorded an actual play log.

If your group was sitting around a table then it’d be hard to get a hard copy of your dialog, but if your game was played over the www, like say Skype, or AIM, or another such service, then I would really like to read what happened during your mission.

Thanks.

Of course. Sorry :slight_smile:
No I were lucky enough to play in person.