A Song of Mice and Ire (Inactive)

Game Master BastianQuinn

Actions influenced by belief: i think so. particularly his interactions with Jas
Goal: we've secured the scent musk... kinda... and he did kinda talk berach to a point where that was the case... so kinda accomplished?
instinct: I think I narrated him stepping in front of the tenderpaws during the start of the trial. I'll double check soon

no to belief change

MVP: Bry, man, he pretty much saved all out tails in that trial
Both the others are good cndidates for the other options, So I'll sit it out

Barton gets a fate point for his goal, but no persona

Awww, he’s not a little bit impressed? Making good maps! Asking permission to kill the whistlepig! Not running off to start power struggles, zero stabbings, only one incident of roof jumping. He’s practically a new mouse!

How the three titles are awarded is entirely up to you players. For a patrol of 3, I'll even let you stack them since you could just give yourselves one each and call it a day.

Also, Barton, your Goal is to impress a mouse who has seen/known every other mouse in the Guard earn their cloak. You'll have to do something he's only seen legends do. ;)

Seyth's goal specifically states that he will "make the governor see reason." I don't see that here, but maybe there's a way to fulfill the word if not the intent before you return to Lockhaven.

so, yer tellin me the jailor is named Reason? Ye sprucians are right funny

To be fair, we could also just talk to the new governor, once they are installed.

Did your actions reflect your Belief? I believe so

Did you work toward your Goal, but did not complete it? I definitely never ran into the family.

Did you invoke your Instinct? Not really?

For each question answered 'yes', you gain 1 Fate.

~~~

Did you accomplish your Goal? Possibly?

Was your Belief challenged dramatically? All of the two encounters with governmental officials.

For each question answered 'yes', you gain 1 Persona.

~~~

In the Patrol, one mouse can be nominated for each of these three roles:

MVP: the player who made the clinching roll and won your patrol the day. Seyth for the finisher

Workhorse: the player who rolled, like, all the dice. Barton rolled a lot of dice

Embodiment: the player who best maintained their Roleplay and stayed in-character, and stayed true to their belief, traits, and instinct. Well Id give it to Barton

Each of these titles awards 1 Persona.

I’ll vote Seyth for MVP, Embodiment to Bry, Workhorse to me. That’s one persona point each.

If a goal is completed, it changes. Having avoided his parents on the trip out, is avoiding his parents still Bry's goal? If it has changed you gain persona.

A shaken Belief doesn't have to change. Maybe Bry wants to embody his Belief, and be the change. Maybe Bry is impressionable. Maybe that Belief has changed... Either way, 1 persona.

A decision has to be made, and as it happens, Seyth is the one who can make the call. Seyth has also been convinced, previously, that the Whistlepig is the way to go.

We can run both conflicts, and we can even run them both parallel, but we can also run one after the other. Depending on the result of the woodchuck conflict you may have enough food, or you may only have the bedding. (You may even secure the whole burrow, I don't know.) Once that one is over (no risk of death, but no certainty of reward) the harvesters and laborers will be ready to strike out in the afternoon, once this rain has cleared up some.

What I need to know is this:
Who is participating in either encounter?
What are your Conflict Goals?
Who is rolling disposition?
What are your first three moves in the Whistlepig conflict?

I hadn't realized that there was food in the burrow. That's interesting! We should definitely run the encounters in series, not parallel. Whistlepig first, then field if we must.

Barton is participating in the attack on the Whistlepig.

I propose that our conflict goal is to drive the Whistlepig outside from his den, at least long enough to grab what we need and scoot (We're not trying to claim the den long term).

I suggest that Seyth roll for our disposition. Hunter 4 + Will of 5 gives us nine dice for disposition.

As far as moves go, I'm still really hazy how things work based on our goal and the Whistlepig's. The Whistlepig wants us to leave. We want him to leave.

Let me throw out some scenarios and confirm I understand what each move is:

1. He moves further back in to the burrow. Is that defend, because he's not chasing us out, but he's making it harder for us to get him out?
2. He runs at us when we enter the burrow. Is that attack, because he's trying to make us leave the burrow?
3. The mice fill his burrow with smoke. Is that maneuver because he's confused? Attack because we're trying to get him to leave?
4. The mice set a decoy at one entrance of the cave (making lots of loud noises) but flank him from another cave. Is that maneuver because we're changing our positioning and making his job harder? Is it feint because we're trying to cancel out his potential defense of moving away from the noise further into the cave?
5. We drop the explosive into the cave behind the whistle pig. Is that attack because we're trying to drive him out of the cave?

Seconding Barton's call and goal

will put something up tonight, bot have a Stat's test, so that's kinda a whole thing today.

The Nature/Health/Will part of Disposition isn't rolled. Using Seyth's Will means you've got a minimum 5 disposition. =D

Based on her Goal
Her Attack is an attempt to scare you into leaving. That can come in many forms.

Your Defend is actually a Will/Persuader/Orator test to keep your cool, or a loremouse test to explain her behaviour, that kind of thing. It's a test that helps you overcome the instinct to flee. Remember that your end of the conflict is morale-based. If she attacks too hard, you'll be to scared to keep trying.

Her Feint is an attempt to trick you into leaving, despite your attempts to bolster your courage, but which would be foiled by your Attack.

Say your goal is to drive off Ms. Piggums.
Your attack is an attempt to scare her into leaving. (EG Hunter)
Her Defend is an attempt to batten down.
Your feint is (as an example) trap her outside (EG Science)

Say your goal is to loot her hoard...
Your attack is an attempt to find the hoard. (EG Pathfinder)
Her defend is an attempt to obscure that path.
Your feint is an attempt to lure her away from her hoard, or keep her occupied/confused. (EG Nature, Science)

Interesting...

And using the science bomb is science or hunter?

Explosives are a Science weapon. ;)

Anyone else think that messing with the wistlepig would end poorly considering the fact its bigger, Bry can't fight regardless, and well it could destroy the town

When the alternative is a harvest in frost with rabbits in the way, in owl territory... neither of these are easy. Welcome to the guard kid

Neither encounter is designed to be combat-centered. I guess technically you have the skills and resources to attempt to kill either creature, but the woodchuck encounter is more like a Minotaur's labyrinth than a dragon's lair. I'm just asking you what your plan is. What does it look like if your plan goes perfectly?

The worst outcome implied in the fiction is running her off for good and having a predator take up residence. Something that wouldn't come up until fall.

I think a Loremouse test would tell you more about an animal.

so, fun fact. there is a tradition among at least one group of Maasai in africa, of getting food from lions. they put on maks, and other gettup, take drums. They find the site of a recent lion kill and make a lot of noise, and are generally scary, nad drive the lions off... and then have abut 2-minutes to cut off as much food as they care to, because that's about howlong it takes for the lions to remember "wait... we're lions" and come back a little peeved off.

compared to lions, whistlepigs aren't even that scary...

Also fun fact: Whistlepigs are extremely hard to scare off long term. They have multiple enterences to their massive burrows and will just come back in through another door, even if you fill it with cement. It’s a huge problem for farmers!

Another thing to note: mice and weasels are the only animals who are wearing clothes and using tools. They all communicate though. Other rodents like squirrels it would be like speaking Spanish to a French speaker. Rabbits it's more like Greek. With weasels it's more like German. Bird speech is like Chinese. Instructing insects is like knowing C++, it's a whole different skill.

I'm taking that as a Circles test to locate a Loremouse willing to help for free, Seyth.

Spanish and French are actually similar enough to get vague points across. Masters of the languages could do a bit more, but nothing more than small talk. Also, whistlepigs are scary to mice.

I'd say the owl is the most dangerous thing so far, except we faced people who were gonna blow us all up.

Deceiver is my favorite skill.

We have a decision to make. The book states that Disposition can't go above its starting point. I was a little disappointed to read this. What do we think?

Orange Patrol is about to have 10/7 Disposition.

Thoughts on your first round moves?

You can announce a turn order, or you can announce a target. Like, say Bry wants to make sure he is paired against the season, and Seyth wants to deal with the owl while Barton protects the carts from rabbits? Just let me know what your general tactics are. What kind of planning do you announce in front of the laborers and harvesters?

In this encounter:

Your Attack moves are efforts to gather clover. (Harvester/Nature/etc)

Your Defend moves are efforts to stay hidden, flee attacks, or protect other mice. (Hunter/Nature/Healer/etc)

Your Feint moves are efforts to improve your haul in ways other than directly harvesting food. (Hunter/Deceiver/Science/etc)

Their Attacks will put mice in danger, usually Nature(owl)

Their Defense will make clover scarce with Season, interfere with your gathering efforts, or attempt to mess with your carts

Their Feint will be underhanded ways of putting mice in danger.

Is fighting off rabbits fighter or hunter?

Fighter only applies to other mice and weasels. These rabbits are the size of SUVs and kick like a linebacker. Hunter or Scientist would work. Scientist in a conflict (without weapons of science) is about setting snares or other traps. Think of it like a thief's ability to manipulate traps as well as trigger magic items. Using Mitzy's clarion will immediately catch Midnight's attention.

An exception for this campaign is if any other animal picks up a weapon. I would count Fighter then too.

I think Bry would likely lead attacks or defend. Since healer and harvester are his two best skills.

You’re our best harvester so Bry should attack, I’d think. I can use pathfinder to maneuver the carts along a path through the meadow that minimizes owl encounters...

I think Seyth will manuever, try to take the Rabbits out of the equation

sorry, bunny buddies, but we need these.

I think Barton's move would qualify as a Feint if there is a preference. Effective at countering a defend, but vulnerable to an attack. Maneuver works too. Defend if it's all about keeping mice safe and hidden.

Seyth's tactic seems explicitly about disabling the opponent, so definitely a Maneuver.

Would that be...

Plan A: Seyth:Maneuver, Barton:Maneuver/Feint/Defend, Bry:Attack?

Plan B: Seyth:Maneuver, Bry:Attack, Barton:Defend/Feint/Maneuver?

I'd say Barton's could be a maneuver if he acted like he was going a different way and pulled them out. like when dealing with those roadrage filled people. I will be belining towards attack this round.

Let’s go Seyth hunter maneuver, Barton cleverly pathfind feint to counter any defense that Bry’s harvester attack encounters

Seyth, if you can guess who the rabbits mistook you for I'll give you all 1 Fate, or give you 1 Persona, your choice.

I angered the Dice Gods again.

Did they mistake him for Luigsech, or some cannon character who i can't remember at the moment?

Final answer?

There's a Cast Sheet in the notes at the top of the page.

Yeah... the only other theory I have is dear Mitzy being nicknamed lighting or similar, because of her clarion

You're correct, Luigsech is known as lightning for her spear: a needle, and the way she will drop from the sky. Will it be 1 Persona just for you, or 1 Fate each?

New round. I have my tactics decided. I'll use the same turn order:season, owl, owl.

Ok, take the persona for myself... I might want to tap nature soon, to not become owl pellets.

Trying to get midnight in the Gizzard would count a an attack, right?

As an action to prevent your death, and not one that gathers food, an attack in-fiction would be a Defend action in this conflict.

Oh, okay. Still hunter, right? probably with some help from Predator-wise and tough?

Sounds about right to me.

So opening with a Defend from Seyth, thoughts on the rest of the round?

I’d like to leap from the tree to grab Seyth while Mitzi plugs Midnight full of holes, but I don’t know what move that is or what skill I’d roll.

If anyone is interested in a Stranger Things RPG I’m Running one.

I’d like to leap from the tree to grab Seyth while Mitzi plugs Midnight full of holes, but I don’t know what move that is or what skill I’d roll.

Manuever, attempting to get enough successes to "take Seyth away from the owl"

also, can we not shoot at the Owl while Seyth is night near it?

Uh, that’s why I’m snatching you off the owl before he gets shot. Duh!

What’s my maneuver roll for daredevil acrobatics?

Maneuver works, either to drop Seyth or grant a bonus/disadvantage to Seyth's/Midnight's rolls. Skill would be Hunter/Scientist/Health/Nature(acting against) Mitzy would be helping with Scientist. You can change your mind about the skill and intent of the test once it comes time to roll, we just need to commit to Moves.

Do you want to try the Maneuver before the Defend?

I'm guessing Bry will Attack again?

Yeah, let's manuever before the Defend... Hionestly, I would really like some more dice, cause I'm not loving just having 6 against an owl

Barton(Man)-Season(???)
Seyth(Def)-Owl(???)
Bry (Atk)-Owl(???)

That look right so far?

Do we want to do an end of session before we head back with the prisoner? Refresh our goals and restock Fate? I don't foresee a conflict, but the dice may have other plans.

Once these private scenes are done we'll head to Lockhaven through Elmoss, Bry's home.