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"We are all waiting to cut off our own tails if our Chief must go without his. We will not bear the shame of wearing an honor which is denied to the High Mouse."
I like how the price list for equipment distinguishes between mouse-made and human-made items. One of the strengths of the kind of "Borrowers"-style game is the interplay between the tiny protagonists and the "giants" they live in the shadow of. It's not like a normal fantasy setting, where giant civilization is mostly a scaled-up version of the regular medieval milieu, and the giants all live apart from the smaller folk. There's a distinct style inherent to a setting where the viewpoint characters live in a world not meant for them. I've toyed with the idea of a 5e conversion that scales everything down, so all the playable races are mouse-sized. Rodents, birds, bugs, Lilliputians (the "humans" of the game), fairies, and even animate toys (think action figures and toy soldiers).
Gonna run second session this wednesday, here's a recap from our first game; We rolled up the mice and since one of them rolled message runner their first job was to get his sealed documents to another village. But since the most direct route was the hunting grounds of a hawk, they this decided to go the long way around. This decisions first got them bullied by a rat gang. Then through a valley with steep cliffs, where one of them fell and injured her leg. Lastly the got to a small spring and joined a mouse water cult in extaince for healing and shelter, only to learn that the cult is louth in the village they are headed to. All in all a great first session, that had my players running around like scared mice, avoiding everything remotely dangerous. 10/10 this game is great.
In addition to it's mousey charm and gimics I believe this to be one of the most SOLID systems in way of game mechanics. Item slots, usage, conditions, spells, all work so well while avoiding rules crunch.
Nice. I just heard of this and Ive only heard that it's rock solid mechanically. How versatile is it mechanically? Because I'm thinking of getting a new default ttrpg.
I was introduced to the game a couple of weeks ago by a friend and I have been really impressed by the amount of game you have in this little booklet. Truly amazing design.
"Make the world seem huge"-This rule is way more important than you might think. I recently saw a few episodes the cartoon "Geronimo Stilton", about a mouse news reporter/detective in a city full of anthropomorphic mice and it piqued my curiosity, but I when I found out that the mice were apparently human-sized (dogs and alligators and other things appear, being roughly the size relative to the mice that they would be in relation to humans), I realized that from what I had seen of "New Mouse City", that it wasn't hidden American Tail-style in the corner of a human city or otherwise in a large world, and it made sense that these mice were human sized as well as human shaped..... ...but I was still disappointed. It felt like some magic leaked out of that setting.
Here's how I think language works: instead of mice speaking Mouse and rats speaking Rat, necessarily, all animals have a weird "speak with animals" effect going on, with the same species of course getting the best reception since they did have to communicate with each other for survival anyway and got very good at it. Mice can speak with rats, since the mind of a rat knows and experiences much of the same things a mouse does, but there would still be misunderstanding in meaning or even something as simple as grammar or context a word is meant in. Speaking with a more distant mammal would have a completely different mental wavelength, and the conversation should be like talking to an alien mind whose every sentence revolves around its own urges and wants and how little the mouse's problems really matter to such things and say, how the cat doesn't entirely like its food wasting time talking to it.
I love games that let you play as little animals. I'm a huge fan of Mouse Guard, both the graphic novels and the RPG. This looks really interesting, thanks for the review.
Just picked it up. I was surprised it was free (still contributed the $$ though). I have been playing Humblewood with my family, always wanted to try Mouse Guard and have an interest in these zine sized OSR games. So many ticks. Time to print it out.
When I first heard of this I immediately started writing a game with a very hollow knight feel to it however taking from different books I read as a child. Mice using a needle to fence with is just the best thing ever. This is also a great system that everyone can have resources for without physically being together. I will say, this pandemic has allowed me to pull out shelved ideas and run them on Roll20, not all of us have great internet so we use regular conference call on our phones and honestly the times that it takes almost 2 minutes for other peoples screens to update and some intermittent garbled audio are small prices to pay for laughing intensely for a few hours a week.
Finally a game which lives up to the expectations (the name) 'Maze Rats' sets up. My kids and I like Maze Rats but we're disappointed to discover you don't actually play rats in that game :-D
Thank you, this is a very in-depth and fantastic review, helped me out and I bought Mausritter after pondering on it. Maybe I'll get a group around to play it soon.
Looks more than charming, a good hook game for people that like fidgetty bits, critters etc. so kids. The printable cards, and maintenance dots on items kind of reminds me of Descent: Journeys in the Dark. Heck, I want to play this. Any idea where chapter 14 went?
Have you ever reviewed the TWERPS system by Reindeer Games. It's a wonderfully simple multi-genre rpg that used to sell for $3 per setting pamphlet. One of my favourite pen and papers.
I just found out about this game. Is it worth printing out and giving it a shot? I've really only played D&D and Call of Cthulhu and I like the idea of a simple system
This looks the perfect amount of rules foe me. I personally found Mouse guard to clunky and "big". However, if you like MG then I can see how this simply has to much overlap.
@@trebormills sure, I see the appeal of being a rules-light Mouse Guard, it's just a personal preference of mine as even though Mouse Guard is heavier, it's plays surprisingly smooth.
The main thing is finding a copy of the Mouse Guard boxed set - pretty scarce, I've been looking a while (almost had one, but it got lost in shipping, thanks USPS). This works for the MG-lite, and is readily available.
Tap into the OSR with the Questing Beast newsletter: bit.ly/Glatisant
Join the Questing Knights on Patreon: bit.ly/QBPatreon
Download my RPGs and adventures: bit.ly/ItchStore
My favorite OSR books: bit.ly/TopOSRBooks
Do the Red Dwarf RPG.
As a professional layout subeditor, I fully endorse the layout of Mausritter for president.
"We are all waiting to cut off our own tails if our Chief must go without his. We will not bear the shame of wearing an honor which is denied to the High Mouse."
I like how the price list for equipment distinguishes between mouse-made and human-made items. One of the strengths of the kind of "Borrowers"-style game is the interplay between the tiny protagonists and the "giants" they live in the shadow of. It's not like a normal fantasy setting, where giant civilization is mostly a scaled-up version of the regular medieval milieu, and the giants all live apart from the smaller folk. There's a distinct style inherent to a setting where the viewpoint characters live in a world not meant for them.
I've toyed with the idea of a 5e conversion that scales everything down, so all the playable races are mouse-sized. Rodents, birds, bugs, Lilliputians (the "humans" of the game), fairies, and even animate toys (think action figures and toy soldiers).
Ive never considered throwing in animate toys! That is an awesome idea.
Tiny Heist (Dmed by Brennan Lee Mulligan on Dropout) did that really well. Check it out if you haven’t.
@@balrogdahomie Rick Diggins is at your service
Gonna run second session this wednesday, here's a recap from our first game;
We rolled up the mice and since one of them rolled message runner their first job was to get his sealed documents to another village. But since the most direct route was the hunting grounds of a hawk, they this decided to go the long way around. This decisions first got them bullied by a rat gang. Then through a valley with steep cliffs, where one of them fell and injured her leg. Lastly the got to a small spring and joined a mouse water cult in extaince for healing and shelter, only to learn that the cult is louth in the village they are headed to.
All in all a great first session, that had my players running around like scared mice, avoiding everything remotely dangerous. 10/10 this game is great.
In addition to it's mousey charm and gimics I believe this to be one of the most SOLID systems in way of game mechanics. Item slots, usage, conditions, spells, all work so well while avoiding rules crunch.
Nice. I just heard of this and Ive only heard that it's rock solid mechanically. How versatile is it mechanically? Because I'm thinking of getting a new default ttrpg.
Mausritter is German for "Mouse knight". And now you know.
Thank you.
Is that why it's known as mouse guard here in the states?
@@thelemon5069 Mouse Guard is actually an unrelated IP
@@thelemon5069mouse guard (the comics) has its own roleplaying game based on burning wheel. Maus Ritter isn't mouse guard,.
I was introduced to the game a couple of weeks ago by a friend and I have been really impressed by the amount of game you have in this little booklet. Truly amazing design.
"Make the world seem huge"-This rule is way more important than you might think. I recently saw a few episodes the cartoon "Geronimo Stilton", about a mouse news reporter/detective in a city full of anthropomorphic mice and it piqued my curiosity, but I when I found out that the mice were apparently human-sized (dogs and alligators and other things appear, being roughly the size relative to the mice that they would be in relation to humans), I realized that from what I had seen of "New Mouse City", that it wasn't hidden American Tail-style in the corner of a human city or otherwise in a large world, and it made sense that these mice were human sized as well as human shaped.....
...but I was still disappointed. It felt like some magic leaked out of that setting.
Here's how I think language works: instead of mice speaking Mouse and rats speaking Rat, necessarily, all animals have a weird "speak with animals" effect going on, with the same species of course getting the best reception since they did have to communicate with each other for survival anyway and got very good at it. Mice can speak with rats, since the mind of a rat knows and experiences much of the same things a mouse does, but there would still be misunderstanding in meaning or even something as simple as grammar or context a word is meant in. Speaking with a more distant mammal would have a completely different mental wavelength, and the conversation should be like talking to an alien mind whose every sentence revolves around its own urges and wants and how little the mouse's problems really matter to such things and say, how the cat doesn't entirely like its food wasting time talking to it.
Hot dog! Just yesterday, the game received a 'deluxe edition' makeover and a hardcover edition. Very cool.
I love games that let you play as little animals. I'm a huge fan of Mouse Guard, both the graphic novels and the RPG. This looks really interesting, thanks for the review.
Just picked it up. I was surprised it was free (still contributed the $$ though). I have been playing Humblewood with my family, always wanted to try Mouse Guard and have an interest in these zine sized OSR games.
So many ticks. Time to print it out.
Mausritter has one of the best ruleset I've ever read in an OSR game.
When I first heard of this I immediately started writing a game with a very hollow knight feel to it however taking from different books I read as a child. Mice using a needle to fence with is just the best thing ever. This is also a great system that everyone can have resources for without physically being together.
I will say, this pandemic has allowed me to pull out shelved ideas and run them on Roll20, not all of us have great internet so we use regular conference call on our phones and honestly the times that it takes almost 2 minutes for other peoples screens to update and some intermittent garbled audio are small prices to pay for laughing intensely for a few hours a week.
For sure picking this up! Thanks for the review!
Finally a game which lives up to the expectations (the name) 'Maze Rats' sets up. My kids and I like Maze Rats but we're disappointed to discover you don't actually play rats in that game :-D
Sweet baby Yoda, this sounds so cool! I must contact the authors to translate it in italian!
That's a gem game! So simple and well polished.
Thank you, this is a very in-depth and fantastic review, helped me out and I bought Mausritter after pondering on it. Maybe I'll get a group around to play it soon.
Oh damn, I found this last week and was looking at running it
Well done review again :) Your pronounciation of 'Mausritter' is excellent.
Got the digital version plus a couple of adventures. Now just need to find a group to play with.
Looks more than charming, a good hook game for people that like fidgetty bits, critters etc. so kids. The printable cards, and maintenance dots on items kind of reminds me of Descent: Journeys in the Dark. Heck, I want to play this. Any idea where chapter 14 went?
Yeah... kids... (hides Gloomhaven & Twilight Imperium)
@@TheEctomancer Yep, my feeling exactly :)
I have a copy, it's actually a typo i think
Have you ever reviewed the TWERPS system by Reindeer Games. It's a wonderfully simple multi-genre rpg that used to sell for $3 per setting pamphlet. One of my favourite pen and papers.
Kickstarter ongoing until Aug 31 2021.
I'm absolutely playing this once the lockdown's over.
Why wait? With the print to play aspect of it one of you can buy it and send the pdf to your players who then join you to play this online
I LOVE the inclusion of animal taxonomy as part of a mechanic! That so cool! :D
Oh man, sold! Love this
I just found out about this game. Is it worth printing out and giving it a shot? I've really only played D&D and Call of Cthulhu and I like the idea of a simple system
Got the pdf. Any recommendations on how to print the spread version?
I like the system and the layout, but tbh the Mouse Guard rpg is so good I would probably not switch to this. Too much overlap.
This looks the perfect amount of rules foe me. I personally found Mouse guard to clunky and "big". However, if you like MG then I can see how this simply has to much overlap.
@@trebormills sure, I see the appeal of being a rules-light Mouse Guard, it's just a personal preference of mine as even though Mouse Guard is heavier, it's plays surprisingly smooth.
The main thing is finding a copy of the Mouse Guard boxed set - pretty scarce, I've been looking a while (almost had one, but it got lost in shipping, thanks USPS). This works for the MG-lite, and is readily available.
@@VosperCDN I got mine from bookdepo, but you're right, it seems to be sold out.
has any one done a list of all the free rpg pdf that have been made available
Ben did one for for the free OSR systems that have been made available recently, check his channel
Them: Buy Mouseguard
Ben: Bye, Mouseguard
In case you didn't know, "Mausritter" is German for "Mouse Knight".
This game is just 👌
300xp
in spanish please?