{"id":12163,"date":"2016-03-30T18:19:56","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T18:19:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/randomaverage.com\/?p=12163"},"modified":"2016-03-30T18:24:15","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T18:24:15","slug":"12163","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/randomaverage.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/12163\/","title":{"rendered":"Mouse Guard Risus with Sean and Kaylee (and Zoe!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last night, I swapped out normal bedtime activities for a little RPG fun with Sean and Kaylee, as I have been known to do<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For some reason, I always seem to \u2018find the time\u2019 to do this sort of thing on a night when I have a hard stop looming (in this case, a Star Wars game at 8pm), but we did manage to get the evening sorted out pretty quickly, giving us close to an hour to play.<\/p>\n

Since we\u2019d last played Mouse Guard (using a variant of the Risus rules set), I\u2019d done a little shopping, and picked up a couple cool, custom Mouse Guard lego figs from crazy bricks<\/a> – mix them together with a some weapons from Brick Arms, and we had pretty good minis for Conner and Laurel.<\/p>\n

Do I need minis for this game? I do not. Not at all.<\/p>\n

Did I want them for the kids to play with anyway, so they can gave Mouse adventures whenever they want? Yes I do.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

So we grabbed our dice-rolling frisbee (hot tip: have smaller kids roll their dice in a frisbee or something similar – it really keeps the dice-chasing down to a minimum), the index cards on which we\u2019d scribbled character sheets last time and, with Zoe tucked in and Momma running some evening errands, sat down to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, in case you don\u2019t remember\u2026\u201d I began.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really need to figure out what happened to that postmaster mouse from last time,\u201d said Sean, fiddling with his minifig. \u201cIf we can\u2019t find him, there\u2019s no way for Elmoss to get mail.\u201d<\/p>\n

I blinked.<\/p>\n

I mean, seriously: the kid is five, and we haven\u2019t played in two weeks. He can\u2019t remember where he left the socks he had on five minutes ago<\/em>, but this\u2026 this<\/em> he remembered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m impressed, Seanie,\u201d Kaylee said. She looked at me. \u201cAll I<\/em> remember from last time was talking to those robins.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight?\u201d I said. \u201cOkay, let\u2019s investigate that house where the postmaster was attacked.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our Heroes<\/h2>\n

Laurel (redfur, purple cloak)<\/strong>
\nExperienced scout guard mouse (4)
\nAnimal spirit-talker (4)
\n((Falcon, my monarch butterfly companion (3))
\nLucky shots: 0 0 0<\/p>\n

Laurel travels light, with a narrow-bladed sword, a few daggers, and small pack of supplies.<\/p>\n

Conner (brownfur, red cloak)<\/strong>
\nSneaky guard mouse (4)
\nHeavily armed fighter (4)
\n(Buzzer, my dragonfly buddy (3))
\nLucky Shots: 0 0 0<\/p>\n

\n

The two guardmice, with the assistant post-mouse in tow, went to the head postmouse\u2019s home and started investigating. Windows were damaged. The front door was torn off the hinges, and the inside was in worse shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I know what it is,\u201d intoned Sean, as Conner. He looked at me, face serious. \u201cBlood-eyed owl!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease no,\u201d Kaylee whispered.<\/p>\n

\"I'm<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I said,\u201d something like an owl couldn\u2019t get into Elmoss without people seeing it, and probably couldn\u2019t get inside the house. It was definitely something bigger than a mouse, but not huge<\/em>. What do you want to check out?\u201c<\/p>\n

The mice did some digging, and discovered some footprints in the flour scattered around the kitchen. Laurel (Kaylee) was able to identify the prints as weasel tracks, and Conner (Sean) realized they led down into the cellar.<\/p>\n

\n

Right about here, Zoe (two and a half) decided she wasn\u2019t ready for bedtime, and showed up at the edge of the table, staring wide-eyed at the dice.<\/p>\n

“Can I play? Pleaaase<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, I\u2019m not going to say no to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cZoe, do you want to play a butterfly?\u201d Kaylee asked, pointing out her sidekick to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d I said, pulling my youngest onto my lap, \u201cI\u2019ve got an idea. Zoe, what do you want your mouse to be named?\u201d<\/p>\n

Emilie (brownfur, blue cloak)<\/strong>
\nJumpy tenderfoot (4)
\nAssistant Postmouse (3)
\n(Stinkystripey, my bumblebee friend (3))
\nLucky Shots: 0 0 0 0 0 0<\/p>\n

\u201cI- I\u2019m c-coming with you,\u201d said the assistant postmouse as the two guards headed down into the cellar.<\/p>\n

The three mice got into the basement (some confusion here, as Zoe thought we were supposed to pick up all our things and go down into our real basement), and found a tunnel dug through the side of the cellar, behind a big shelf.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat would a weasel want with a postmouse?\u201d Laurel wondered. \u201cIt\u2019s just strange.\u201d<\/p>\n

They followed the winding tunnel (hand-dug, but seemingly not that new) until the air began to change, becoming dustier and more mildewy\u2026 then it opened into a much broader space: the many-pillared spaces of Darkheather!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Laurel was astonished – she had no idea Darkheather extended so far under the Territories.<\/p>\n

The mice looked for more tracks and, while they found none, spotted a light in the distance and crept toward it as quietly as possible (something Conner excelled at and the other two\u2026 well\u2026)<\/p>\n

As soon as they could make out voices and the sound of flowing water, they stopped. The weasel and the mouse where talking, and they didn\u2019t sound like enemies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis bag is full of nothing but papers!\u201d the weasel hissed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose ‘papers\u2019 are every message Lockhaven\u2019s sent through my offices in the past year,\u201d the postmouse explained. \u201cWith that, you\u2019ll know everything they\u2019re planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRRRRrrrgg,\u201d the weasel growled. \u201cI\u2019ll take this to my masters, but if it isn\u2019t as you say, I\u2019ll be back here for our gold, and the next<\/em> attack won\u2019t be false.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFine,\u201d said the mouse. \u201cI\u2019ll be gone, in any case. I\u2019m dead here – off to a new town and a new name. I\u2019ll be in touch once I\u2019ve settled in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cCan we grab that mouse?\u201d asked Kaylee.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d I said, \u201cbut the weasel\u2019s in a kind of canoe in the waterway, and he\u2019s already got the letters, so\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Her eyes went wide. She turned to Sean. \u201cGet. That. Weasel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurel moved to pin down the postmouse (working with her companion), while Conner charged straight at the weasel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to jump right at him and chop his nose into pieces!\u201d announced Sean, and he did\u2026 something<\/em> with his mouse figure that snapped the blade right off his little plastic sword. Oops.<\/p>\n

Kaylee rolled enough successes (we\u2019re counting 4, 5, 6 as successes – part of the Risus Guard rules<\/a> I\u2019m using) to pin down the postmouse, and Zoe had her bumblebee buzz right at the weasel\u2019s head to distract him.<\/p>\n

Sean came in, rolling his four dice, and got two sixes and a five.<\/p>\n

Now, in this system, sixes explode, so he can roll two more dice and count them.<\/p>\n

Two more sixes.<\/p>\n

Roll again.<\/p>\n

Six and a two. The kids are howling with glee.<\/p>\n

Roll again.<\/p>\n

Five.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo\u2026 that\u2019s\u2026 seven success\u2026 on four dice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDaddy,\u201d said my wife, who\u2019d been listening in from the next room. \u201cI think he got him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed.<\/p>\n

Taking Sean\u2019s minifig mishap as inspiration, I described Conner leaping out at the weasel and chopping the sword down into the weasel\u2019s nose so hard<\/em> it went right into his head and stuck<\/em>, breaking the blade off before the weasel tumbled into the water. It was a real \u201cLieam versus the snake\u201d moment.<\/p>\n

Flawless victory. The mice retrieved the letter satchel, turned the traitor postmaster over to the locals, and prepared to head back to Lockhaven to report to Gwendolyn.<\/p>\n

\n

Hindsight<\/h3>\n

Zoe did great! She loved rolling however many dice I asked her to roll, and could even sort the successes from failures easily by focusing on pulling out the 1s, 2s, and 3s. Time to order a third mouse guard minifig\u2026<\/p>\n

Sean\u2019s ability to keep track of everything from session to session impresses me, especially because he never seems<\/em> to be paying attention until right when he needs to roll dice (don\u2019t know where<\/em> he gets that from\u2026)<\/p>\n

Kaylee, at 10, is much more interested in the larger mystery, and she\u2019s so<\/em><\/strong> supportive of her siblings, even though it slows things down a lot and means we don\u2019t get as much covered. She said something like \u201call I<\/strong> did was pin a mouse down in the fight, but\u2026 Sean\u2019s roll was so awesome, it made up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, just to reiterate: Roll dice in a frisbee or something similar – it really keeps the dice-chasing down to a minimum.<\/p>\n

So:<\/strong> good game, good fight, good night!<\/p>\n

\"Emilie,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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