I may have to GM for our group in the future, so I figured that I’d try my hand at structuring a mission. Below is the mission I came up with. As it is my first time doing this, I figure that I’d better keep it simple. I’m also trying my darnedest to avoid killing mice for this run.
There are a few things I’m not quite sure of (for example, using Orator as feint in one conflict below).
Any feedback on improvements that I can make would be much appreciated. Also, if I’ve broken any major rules, please be sure to mention it - as I’m still getting a handle on the mechanics.
Mission Details:
Season: Autumn - Unseasonably cold, light flurries. Close to winter.
Setup: Patrol guard Earl has arrived in Lockhaven from a mission to Grasslake. He has brought a successful report, but there is one issue – Earl is huge! Easily twice the size of any mouse. Earl has passed all security challenges, and eerily enough, seems to be able to remember minute details of past events. He acts like Earl, has the same fur color, but nonetheless, something about Earl seems off. According to Patrol Guard Earl, his increased size is a direct result of grain he has eaten while in Grasslake. Gwendolyn takes the party aside, and sends them to Grasslake to investigate.
Journey to Grasslake: ob4 Pathfinder (long journey, well-traveled).
(Failure A)Twist: Players run into a grain-peddling mouse departing from Grasslake. Grain-peddler is huge. Large Mouse mentions that something is weird in town. 'Says grain shipment being carried is from Grasslake’s larder.
• Persuade check vs. Will: ask for a piece of grain
• Resources check ob1: buy a piece of grain
• Nature check (foraging) ob1: find a nearby piece of grain dropped by the merchant
[INDENT]o Scientist check ob4 (biological): check grain for abnormalities[/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT] Success: it’s ordinary grain.[/INDENT][/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT] Failure: Condition “Angry” added. It’s ordinary grain.[/INDENT][/INDENT]
Proceed to Grasslake.
(Failure B) Conditions “hungry/thirsty” and “tired” are added. Players arrive at Grasslake after wandering around for a considerable amount of time.
(Success) Players arrive at Grasslake.
Grasslake:
Begins with a Player Turn. Upon arrival at Grasslake, the first thing the player characters notice is that all of the mice are huge. If any of the PCs decides that they have friends or acquaintances in Grasslake, they may perform a circles test to find said friendlies (see “Friend Test”). Failing that, they may request a test of the grain in the larder, and/or just ask around about recent events.
Grain Test
o Scientist check ob4 (biological): check grain for abnormalities
[INDENT] Success: it’s ordinary grain.[/INDENT]
[INDENT] Failure: Condition “Angry” added. It’s ordinary grain.[/INDENT]
Recent Events Inquiry (Conflict vs. Town)
• Town Nature: tranquil, off-putting, ordinary, guarded
• Deceiver, Scout =Attack; Persuader, Pathfinder = Defense & Maneuver; Orator = Feint
[INDENT]o (Success without compromise) PCs discover a normal-sized mouse in town who relates his tale. Apparently, each day he wakes up, he finds that more mice have grown considerably in size – even his own wife and children. Aside from that, business in the town proceeds relatively normally. Every now and then, he notices the odd laborer using an inappropriate tool. Just the other day, he went to the cartographer’s place to buy a map for a vacation when he noticed a peculiar map. The known territories comprised about 1/4th of it, and to the north of Wild country was another scent border with cities and settlements he had never heard of. He managed to smuggle the map out, and hands it to the party. (see “Return to Lockhaven A”)[/INDENT]
[INDENT]o (Compromised success/failure) Conditions added: “Tired” and “Hungry/Thirsty” (negotiable). PCs discover a normal-sized mouse in town who relates his tale. Apparently, each day he wakes up, and finds that more mice have grown considerably in size – even his own wife and children. Aside from that, business in the town proceeds relatively normally. Every now and then, he notices the odd laborer using an inappropriate tool. The PCs are offered a free stay at the local inn by a huge mouse who appreciates the Guard. (see “Rest at Inn”)[/INDENT]
[INDENT]o (complete failure) Conditions added: “Tired,” “Hungry/Thirsty,” and “Angry”. The PCs are offered a free stay at the local inn by a huge mouse who appreciates the Guard. (see “Rest at Inn”)[/INDENT]
Friend Test (only if Circles test was successful)
• Deceiver check (vs. Deceiver) ob6: PC meets with friend(s) who seems to have turned into a huge mouse.
[INDENT]o Success: The large mouse slips up on a detail of past events. PC realizes immediately that the huge mouse is not the same mouse. (see “Return to Lockhaven B”)[/INDENT]
[INDENT]o Failure: Everything seems to check out. Best to resume investigation.[/INDENT]
Rest at Inn:
Begins with a Player Turn. Once PCs’ business is concluded, they all turn in for the night. Late that night, in the dark, one of the PCs notices a big black mouse silently approaching with knife in hand.
Reveal of the Rat (Conflict vs. Rat Spy)
• Rat Nature: foraging, hiding, climbing, deceitful
• Rat Spy Goal: Kill the mice.
• Rat Details: Rats look and act a lot like Mice. They use many of the same weapons and speech. While there is an obvious difference in size, the primary difference is that Rats kill/eat mice – which puts them just one step higher on the natural order’s hierarchy.
[INDENT]o (Success without compromise) PCs defeat the rat, and discover an expanded map on her corpse. No one else in the inn seems to have noticed the skirmish. PCs hide the body and leave for Lockhaven in the night. (see “Return to Lockhaven B”)[/INDENT]
[INDENT]o (Compromised Success) “Injured” condition added. Rat is defeated and constrained, but bites her tongue and dies before interrogation. An expanded map is found on her corpse. No one else in the inn seems to have noticed the skirmish. PCs hide the body and leave for Lockhaven in the night. (see “Return to Lockhaven B”)[/INDENT]
[INDENT]o (Compromised Failure) “Injured” condition added to PCs. Rat Spy is knocked unconscious by last-ditch flailing. Everyone else in the inn has noticed the skirmish. They rush in and knock the PCs unconscious. The Rats drag the unconscious mice into the Wild Country beyond the Scent Border and leave them for dead. (see “Run for the Border”)[/INDENT]
[INDENT]o (Complete Failure) All mice are near death. “Tired”, “Hungry/Thirsty”, and “Injured” conditions applied. The mice are dragged into Wild Country beyond the scent border and left to die. (see “Run for the Border”)[/INDENT]
Run for the Border:
The PCs come to in Wild Country, and notice an expanded map dropped near one of their bodies. Player Turn. After Player Turn, PCs witness a “Circle of Life” scenario. A small predator that is about to eat them is itself killed by a larger predator. Then, that predator is killed by an even larger predator. Finally, that predator is killed by a lone Wolf. The wolf looks at them and says something. A successful ob3 Loremouse check reveals that the wolf has told them to “leave before it changes its mind about the day’s menu.” The PCs are able to surmise that they’ve been dumped just outside of the Scent Border.
Journey to the Scent Border: ob5 Pathfinder (short journey, overgrown or washed out)- weather: slight snow accumulation.
(Failure A) Twist: PCs find the tattered remains of a black guard cloak. They wander for a bit and discover that they’ve crossed the scent border a while ago. (see “Return to Lockhaven A”)
(Failure B) “Sick” condition added. PCs arrive at scent border after much wandering. (see “Return to Lockhaven A”)
(Success) PCs arrive at the scent border rather quickly. They notice a tattered black guard cloak tumbling by in the wind. (see “Return to Lockhaven A”)
Return to Lockhaven:
Begins with a Player Turn. This particular section can go one of two ways.
Route A: The “large mice” have no reason to suspect anything. The Rats believe the PCs to be either clueless or dying. It’s just a simple return to Lockhaven. If there is any conflict, it’s probably with the weather. (see “ Duking Earl”)
Route B: Is a chase (conflict vs. Rat Unit). They suspect something, and are trying to catch the party.
[INDENT]• Rat Unit Goal: Get those mice![/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]o (Success without Compromise) PCs successfully elude the Rats, and make it to Lockhaven. Somehow find expanded map if they haven’t already found it.[/INDENT][/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]o (Compromised success/failure) PCs make it to Lockhaven, but are either “Tired” or “Injured”.[/INDENT][/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]o (Complete Failure) PCs are beaten severely and left for dead. “Tired,” “Hungry/Thirsty” and/or “Injured” conditions are applied.[/INDENT][/INDENT]
In the event of Complete Failure, the PCs are found by a passing caravan and taken to Lockhaven.
Duking Earl:
Begins with a Player Turn. Once PCs have conducted their business, they report their findings to Gwendolyn. Gwen orders an immediate arrest of “Patrol Guard Earl”, and the PCs are to accompany the guards making the arrest (Tim and Robert). “Earl” is eventually found in an alley off of Lockhaven’s square. When the guards attempt to arrest him, Earl immediately slashes their throats!
Stop “Earl” (conflict vs. “Earl”)
[INDENT]• “Earl” Goal: Neutralize these mice so that I may finish my mission.[/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]o (Success without Compromise) “Earl” is routed.[/INDENT][/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]o (Compromised success/failure) “Injured” condition applied. “Earl” tries to escape, but manages to trip over his own tail and fall on his weapon.[/INDENT][/INDENT]
[INDENT][INDENT]o (Complete Failure) PCs are near death and unconscious. “Tired”, “Hungry/Thirsty” and “Injured” conditions are applied. “Earl” managed to escape, but dropped something.[/INDENT][/INDENT]
After the skirmish, they find a letter bearing an unfamiliar seal either on “Earl’s” body or in the area. The letter reads as follows:
“Lord Midnight,
The infiltration goes well. So far, they suspect nothing. I have told them that my size is attributed to something I ate, and they’re off chasing their tails and examining grain!
Earl was delicious! So much so that I’ve had a bit of difficulty restraining myself to maintain my cover.
Soon, I shall begin disposing of Guardmice so that our agents may replace them. I’ve gathered intelligence on a number of mice, and their detailed dossiers can be found at the dead drop. The sooner we can get more of our agents into Lockhaven, the smoother this operation will go. I’ve also managed to successfully sabotage priorities ‘A’ through ‘G’ as defined by the mission briefing.
If all proceeds according to plan, we can expect to take the mouse territories in a few months.
Hans”
END MISSION
I got the idea for this mission when I noticed that there are no rats in Mouse Guard. Or, at least, not in any of the comics I’ve read. So, I figured that since rats and mice share many of the same characteristics (especially since they’re often food for something else), they’d probably be quite similar. However, rats eat mice, so they’d probably be a little higher on the food chain than mice. I wondered if I could make stronger mice (or rats) interesting as enemies.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.