Do you need a quiver if you have a bow? If so, do you roll and mark usage for the bow *and* the quiver? Should these be separate usage rolls or the same one applied to both items? Thanks
Critical damage should be rolled against DEX/WIL after the ability score is reduced. On a failure, you are the equivalent of knocked out (dazed/can’t move etc.) and can’t act anymore in that fight until tended to.
Same as STR damage. A long rest in town will do it, but your ruling is probably fine too.
I love the game. It’s well thought out and offers an interesting angle on old school play being able to play as a mouse at a tiny scale and build war camps and take on hirelings, this game has many bases covered.
My one gripe so far are the examples of play. If you plan on running the included adventure, don’t let the players read the gameplay examples. It includes solutions to the trap and reveals too much. It’s like writing a math test with the answers on the first page and the test questions on the second. Kinda defeats the purpose.
Overall, awesome game and a small gripe! I picked up the reprint boxed set at my local game store and love the details, tokens, and pad of character sheets.
So I had always heard of Mausritter but only recently had the honor of learning about this game from a huge fan! I am a huge lover of the Into the Odd system and all of it's best parts are in this game!! The random rolling for creating mouse folk? PERFECTION! The idea of playing little rodents in a huge world going on these grand treasure hunting adventures is truly fantastic! I think this game absolutely hit it out of the park and I can't wait to run it!
Mausritter is a wonderful game that is simple to learn as a GM and Player and highly rewarding. The roll under solution for checks is truly a blast and if you are looking for a game to get players into, I highly recommend trying it.
I was so happy to run the game, I even made a Youtube video about it. Thank you Losing Games for this wonderful creation!
Just ran my first Mausritter game with some of my friends, not sure how rules accurate I was since it was a very chaotic fun romp for everyone. I had at least one player who'd never encountered a ttrpg of any kind before and got into it quite quickly. I'm a big fan of the super easy character creation and simple dice rolling rules - they made it very easy to get up and get going. Excellent for new players and picking up quickly.
Mausritter has been an excellent way to introduce my kids to tabletop RPGs. They love the world, and GMing for them is an absolute pleasure. The rule book is really well thought-out and, combined with the library of third-party resources, makes for an exceptional gaming experience.
I just ran my first ever session of Mausritter (ran this scenario as a one shot) and it was an absolute blast to play. So easy to run. Lots of adventure, but we didn't have a single combat!
I'm eager for more. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to run The Estate sometime soon.
I am truly blown away by how perfect a TTRPG/ rulebook it is! The balance of theme, mechanics, detail of info & efficiency, not to mention the beautify & clean artwork/ layout is astounding! I'm genuinely lost for words. I just can't get over the depth of flavour/ GM options/ inspiration presented so effectively/ efficiently.
thought you'd want to know: a few of the bookmarks in the PDF (the Pages one, idk about the Spreads one) point to the wrong place. "6. Example of play - Combat" points to the combat rules in chapter 3 instead of the combat EoP. "7. Running Mausritter - Best practices" and "- Overland travel" both point to the sections by the same name in chapter 3 instead of the ones in ch7.
Hi, I was reading the 3rd Party License, is it possible to translate the digital edition in another language? If is possible, I'd like to translate it into Italian.
I hope I get a chance to play Mausritter someday. It channels that same sense of adventure and excitement as the media that inspires it, and that cannot be discounted.
But for me? Mausritter nails the terror of being small. And in an RPG scene where heroes are nigh-unkillable, facing down dragons without a second thought, I think it’s good to be reminded that we live alongside real life dragons every day.
I really love the concept of Mausritter and want to get a physical copy of both the game itself and The Estate. Do you know if/when there'll be a restock? Thanks!
Sounds great! Thank you for the quick response, and I am looking forward to get both the box set and Estate after I get into DMing this game. Fun stuff!
Howdy! I just came across Mausritter today and hope to eventually come into a physical version. What's the best way to eventually find out when a restock happens?
Id like to say, i think it is not an improvement to remove "mad". for one thing, "drained" is a much weaker term, and it is not at all clear how it differs from exhausted, except that it involves will rather than strength. it is stated to be a "serious" condition, which exhausted is not, though if they are degrees of the same thing, exhausted sounds stronger. it doesnt give a clear idea how "drained" is to be roleplayed, while "mad" evokes strong roleplay ideas in most people.
keeping "mad" emphasizes the idea that just about everything in this world is more powerful than a mouse, which seems to be a strong theme of the game. (i suppose others may differ). "drained" doesnt at all evoke this; it seems to evoke the idea that magic is a thing not terribly taxing to the mental tolerance of a mouse.
the connection should be maintained between the "attribute score loss" section and the "magic" section. where before they said respectively "reduced to madness" and "mad condition", now they say "reduced to insensibility" and "drained condition"; there is no longer a clear mechanical or thematic connection between the two. it would sound pretty weak if it said "if WIL is reduced to zero, they become drained".
I like the cthulian vibes of having madness as an explicit possiblity, but if you are intent on excluding it, i suggest replacing the "drained" condition with the "insensate" condition (or some synonym). It maintains the clear connection to "reduced to insensibility", and is much more obviously a mental condition, a failure of will. "insensate" would mean the mouse is confused, not fully sensible, has lost critical thinking, isnt acting rationally.
I'm not sure if this is the proper way to bring attention to this, but in the updated rulebook, you still have reference to the "mad" condition in the "rules reference, best practices " page.
Please, please, PLEASE!! Tell me that you will reprint the Mausritter Box Set at some point in the future! I wanted to buy this so badly but because of Corona I just didn't have the money and today I nearly had a heart attack when I noticed not only that it is sold out now, but that it was limited to 500 copies aswell. I am on the verge of crying here, this sucks TT____TT
This RPG is amazing. The rules are simple and flexible so they allow for anything to happen and gives you tools to put numbers on it if necessary. The document is a masterpiece of design. I can't recommend it enough.
As a beginner to tabletop RPGs, I love it. Played it both irl and online via chat messages and storing notes, character sheets, lore and maps in a folder. Super easy to learn and really gets me into the writing mood. Would recommend to newcomers to these kinds of games. Introducing new players to the mechanics as a GM is also very easy. Start with the inventory and Saves, get them accustomed to the idea of choosing your own way of play and open everything up once they leave the area and enter the town.
This is honestly a very beautifully done game. I am currently working on a hack of Mouse Guard with more playable species and I have to say that the amount of thought and love you put into this has really influenced me! It's incredibly inspiring work and I can't wait to run a Mouseritter game.
Any plans on expanding this game? I would love to see more character options like badgers, otters, etc. I just bought the boxed set after downloading the pdfs and I look forward to running this game a lot!
I definitely have plans to keep expanding Mausritter. Expect to see more in the new year. There’s also a great community of people in the Mausritter Discord with fan-created expansions, including a couple of custom playable species. Pop in and say hi here: https://discord.com/invite/v4wmKsv
Hi, your PDF reader should have an option to print as a booklet. Use the “singles” PDF. It’s a little tricky to get right, so might take a little trial and error.
Thanks, I sorted it out, the reader I was using didn't have a good print option and didn't recognise my printers double side printing, i switched to Adobe reader and all was good. For those that want to know .... to print a double sided card stock cover, print in "booklet" and print the "page range" 1,2,23,24
Have a question: do you aways Mark usage in a Arrow or a pouch every time you shoot, or you only do It Rolling a die after a battle? This makes me think that you only would have three attack Rolls per battle, If you were using a heavy ranged weapon.
Great little game you’ve created here, packed with content in such a small book.
Some comments:
Not having an attack roll, with everyone always hitting, doesn’t seem like a good design choice. That’s where suspense and part of the fun lies, in those moments where someone’s about to die but they get saved by a miraculous hit or shot. By not having this you’re losing this and placing it all on the damage die, which is a guaranteed roll if you attack. The satisfaction of getting better at combat (not just an increase in hp) is also lost by going down this path.
Light armour (1 AP) and heavy armour (also 1 AP):
Light armour includes a shield. What about heavy armour with a shield?
I’m going to run it with these house rules:
Opposed attack vs defence rolls, combatants add a level/HD bonus, damage die are exploding. Light armour is 1 AP, heavy 2, shield 1. Armour is ineffective/bypassed on attack rolls over 16.
Cool little game, I hope to see some supplements and adventures in the future.
Of course, it may not be for everyone. But I can assure you that after years of play it is a well thought-out design choice that creates fast, interesting combat where strategic choices really matter, and it leaves plenty of time in the session for more adventure.
Why bother paying for this wonderful game if you're just going to turn it into every other D&D / OSR game? Part of it's charm is that lack of attack role.
You should try playing it rules-as-written before applying some untested theory-craft to it. It's clearly not an oversight by the designer -- e.g. check out the praise on this very page for this exact decision.
In this type of OSR game, combat is a failure state. If your group finds themselves facing an enemy in straightforward combat where all they're doing is pitting their numbers against the enemy's numbers, they've already messed up. The lack of an attack roll is not an oversight, it's a thought-out design decision to emphasize this principle.
If you rush into combat you WILL get hit every time you get attacked. That's a fact players have to deal with by finding ways to manipulate the situation to their advantage to gain the upper hand. There is no miraculous dice roll that's coming to save a player who's about to die, so it's up to the player to create these miracles themselves by engaging with their situation inside the fiction.
This is exactly what I was looking for! I really enjoy almost everything about this game except for that single choice (attacks always hit.) I wasn’t a fan of it in Into the Odd either.
This is the most refreshing rpg I've played, outside of tiny d6 by gallant Knight. The magic system is dastardly fun, the random tables for adventure and campaign generation are dense and extremely useful, and everything about this rpg captures the essence of 2e dnd in less than 20 sheets of paper. The only thing I'd like to see added is a one-page generation system for treasure and artifacts.
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Do you need a quiver if you have a bow? If so, do you roll and mark usage for the bow *and* the quiver? Should these be separate usage rolls or the same one applied to both items? Thanks
Yes to both! Separate usage rolls
Thanks for the reply
Great game. Which I've been playing almost every week for half a year now.
But I have some questions.
1.If the damage is aimed not at strength, but at dexterity or will, then how do critical damage work?
2.How does recovery work if the mouse is paralyzed or exhausted? I assumed that she needed to be given 6 hours of rest to recover.
Hey, glad you’re having fun with it!
My rulings for those:
I love the game. It’s well thought out and offers an interesting angle on old school play being able to play as a mouse at a tiny scale and build war camps and take on hirelings, this game has many bases covered.
My one gripe so far are the examples of play. If you plan on running the included adventure, don’t let the players read the gameplay examples. It includes solutions to the trap and reveals too much. It’s like writing a math test with the answers on the first page and the test questions on the second. Kinda defeats the purpose.
Overall, awesome game and a small gripe! I picked up the reprint boxed set at my local game store and love the details, tokens, and pad of character sheets.
My favourite system all time. Easy to learn and to prepare for players.
So I had always heard of Mausritter but only recently had the honor of learning about this game from a huge fan! I am a huge lover of the Into the Odd system and all of it's best parts are in this game!!
The random rolling for creating mouse folk? PERFECTION! The idea of playing little rodents in a huge world going on these grand treasure hunting adventures is truly fantastic! I think this game absolutely hit it out of the park and I can't wait to run it!
Explored it on my TTRPG podcast and my guest and I just have the best flipping time talking about this game!
https://therpggoblin.buzzsprout.com/2055426/13447800-mausritter-tiny-mice-and-ep...
Mausritter is a wonderful game that is simple to learn as a GM and Player and highly rewarding. The roll under solution for checks is truly a blast and if you are looking for a game to get players into, I highly recommend trying it.
I was so happy to run the game, I even made a Youtube video about it. Thank you Losing Games for this wonderful creation!
Just ran my first Mausritter game with some of my friends, not sure how rules accurate I was since it was a very chaotic fun romp for everyone. I had at least one player who'd never encountered a ttrpg of any kind before and got into it quite quickly. I'm a big fan of the super easy character creation and simple dice rolling rules - they made it very easy to get up and get going. Excellent for new players and picking up quickly.
Great art, amazing gameplay. It was really easy to GM a session. It'd be cool if it was also a video game for solo games.
Mausritter has been an excellent way to introduce my kids to tabletop RPGs. They love the world, and GMing for them is an absolute pleasure. The rule book is really well thought-out and, combined with the library of third-party resources, makes for an exceptional gaming experience.
I just ran my first ever session of Mausritter (ran this scenario as a one shot) and it was an absolute blast to play. So easy to run. Lots of adventure, but we didn't have a single combat!
I'm eager for more. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to run The Estate sometime soon.
Hi there, have you been contacted about a Portuguese translation?
I am truly blown away by how perfect a TTRPG/ rulebook it is! The balance of theme, mechanics, detail of info & efficiency, not to mention the beautify & clean artwork/ layout is astounding! I'm genuinely lost for words. I just can't get over the depth of flavour/ GM options/ inspiration presented so effectively/ efficiently.
I love this game! incredible stuff.
thought you'd want to know: a few of the bookmarks in the PDF (the Pages one, idk about the Spreads one) point to the wrong place. "6. Example of play - Combat" points to the combat rules in chapter 3 instead of the combat EoP. "7. Running Mausritter - Best practices" and "- Overland travel" both point to the sections by the same name in chapter 3 instead of the ones in ch7.
thank you!! going to run this asap :)
Hi, I was reading the 3rd Party License, is it possible to translate the digital edition in another language? If is possible, I'd like to translate it into Italian.
Need Games is publishing the Italian edition!
I hope I get a chance to play Mausritter someday. It channels that same sense of adventure and excitement as the media that inspires it, and that cannot be discounted.
But for me? Mausritter nails the terror of being small. And in an RPG scene where heroes are nigh-unkillable, facing down dragons without a second thought, I think it’s good to be reminded that we live alongside real life dragons every day.
I really love the concept of Mausritter and want to get a physical copy of both the game itself and The Estate. Do you know if/when there'll be a restock? Thanks!
The Estate is still in stock at Games Omnivorous but looks like the Box Set is sold out! We’ll hopefully be doing a reprint sometime in the new year.
Sounds great! Thank you for the quick response, and I am looking forward to get both the box set and Estate after I get into DMing this game. Fun stuff!
Reprint early in the new year? Looks like the base rulebook itself is also sold out everywhere.
+1 request for a reprint.
Howdy! I just came across Mausritter today and hope to eventually come into a physical version. What's the best way to eventually find out when a restock happens?
Hi I would recommend joining the Mausritter Discord, or the Games Omnivorous mailing list — that’ll get you the most up-to-date information.
Hi which link are you trying to use? The one on mausritter.com should work: https://discord.gg/v4wmKsv
hello What's the connection between this and the other games in the series:)
This is the main game! The Estate, Honey in the Rafters and A Long Way From Lilliput are expansion scenarios.
thanks！
I’d love to have the physical book for this.
Are there any solo/gmless adventures ?
You have this https://manarampmatt.itch.io/einzelmaus-solo-mausritter
Great game! cant wait to run it!
Id like to say, i think it is not an improvement to remove "mad". for one thing, "drained" is a much weaker term, and it is not at all clear how it differs from exhausted, except that it involves will rather than strength. it is stated to be a "serious" condition, which exhausted is not, though if they are degrees of the same thing, exhausted sounds stronger. it doesnt give a clear idea how "drained" is to be roleplayed, while "mad" evokes strong roleplay ideas in most people.
keeping "mad" emphasizes the idea that just about everything in this world is more powerful than a mouse, which seems to be a strong theme of the game. (i suppose others may differ). "drained" doesnt at all evoke this; it seems to evoke the idea that magic is a thing not terribly taxing to the mental tolerance of a mouse.
the connection should be maintained between the "attribute score loss" section and the "magic" section. where before they said respectively "reduced to madness" and "mad condition", now they say "reduced to insensibility" and "drained condition"; there is no longer a clear mechanical or thematic connection between the two. it would sound pretty weak if it said "if WIL is reduced to zero, they become drained".
I like the cthulian vibes of having madness as an explicit possiblity, but if you are intent on excluding it, i suggest replacing the "drained" condition with the "insensate" condition (or some synonym). It maintains the clear connection to "reduced to insensibility", and is much more obviously a mental condition, a failure of will. "insensate" would mean the mouse is confused, not fully sensible, has lost critical thinking, isnt acting rationally.
alternate terms could be: senseless, insensible, witless, irrational, stupefied, panicked, stricken, spooked, shell-shocked, harrowed, perturbed, scared shitless, hysterical, stunned, timorous, frantic
These suggestions are given with the greatest respect for your work on this excellent rpg.
Can't wait to play this game!
I'm not sure if this is the proper way to bring attention to this, but in the updated rulebook, you still have reference to the "mad" condition in the "rules reference, best practices " page.
Oh no, you’re totally right! Thanks for pointing that out, I’ll fix up now.
I really love this game and am trying to put together a group to play. Thanks for making it and for all these updates and supplements.
Just a quick thanks for releasing updates and I really appreciate the clear and concise naming of the version numbers too.
Is it just me, or are the download buttons not working?
It was (somewhat) just me; apparently cant have a vpn on while DLing from itch. anyways thanks for letting me try the PDFs for free!
No problem downloading here with VPN. Guess the problem is with YOUR VPN. :-)
Hey Isaac, error on page 22, pointed out by my young cousin :)
"The consequences of a failed Save should <BE> obvious and telegraphed."
Ooh, thanks!
This game is excellent. Especially the inventory system that get's players ton interact much more with all their stuff!
This is still the very best OSR game there is, fantastic design, great feel, a lot of love in every line of the game and you can feel it.
Please, please, PLEASE!! Tell me that you will reprint the Mausritter Box Set at some point in the future! I wanted to buy this so badly but because of Corona I just didn't have the money and today I nearly had a heart attack when I noticed not only that it is sold out now, but that it was limited to 500 copies aswell. I am on the verge of crying here, this sucks TT____TT
Cheers!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/isaac-williams/mausritter-box-set-and-adven...
Só esperando uma versão em português do material básico ;w;
This RPG is amazing. The rules are simple and flexible so they allow for anything to happen and gives you tools to put numbers on it if necessary. The document is a masterpiece of design. I can't recommend it enough.
Thanks for making the PDFs freely available. I just bought the hardcover book etc and really want to print out some of those item cards.
As a beginner to tabletop RPGs, I love it.
Played it both irl and online via chat messages and storing notes, character sheets, lore and maps in a folder. Super easy to learn and really gets me into the writing mood. Would recommend to newcomers to these kinds of games.
Introducing new players to the mechanics as a GM is also very easy. Start with the inventory and Saves, get them accustomed to the idea of choosing your own way of play and open everything up once they leave the area and enter the town.
This is honestly a very beautifully done game. I am currently working on a hack of Mouse Guard with more playable species and I have to say that the amount of thought and love you put into this has really influenced me! It's incredibly inspiring work and I can't wait to run a Mouseritter game.
I took the PDF'S for free as I have ordered the box set and very excited for it to arrive. I believe I saw the review on gaming beast.
Any plans on expanding this game? I would love to see more character options like badgers, otters, etc. I just bought the boxed set after downloading the pdfs and I look forward to running this game a lot!
Hey, thanks for getting the box set!
I definitely have plans to keep expanding Mausritter. Expect to see more in the new year. There’s also a great community of people in the Mausritter Discord with fan-created expansions, including a couple of custom playable species. Pop in and say hi here: https://discord.com/invite/v4wmKsv
Will do, thank you very much for the reply!
How to print the pdf as a stapeled pamphlet please. Thanks
Hi, your PDF reader should have an option to print as a booklet. Use the “singles” PDF. It’s a little tricky to get right, so might take a little trial and error.
Thanks, I sorted it out, the reader I was using didn't have a good print option and didn't recognise my printers double side printing, i switched to Adobe reader and all was good. For those that want to know .... to print a double sided card stock cover, print in "booklet" and print the "page range" 1,2,23,24
Have a question: do you aways Mark usage in a Arrow or a pouch every time you shoot, or you only do It Rolling a die after a battle? This makes me think that you only would have three attack Rolls per battle, If you were using a heavy ranged weapon.
Yep, after a battle, roll Usage once for each piece of equipment you used (weapons, ammunition and armour).
You don’t mark usage for each arrow fired (though the GM may ask for a mark/Usage roll if you use it out of combat).
Thank you Very much!
Great little game you’ve created here, packed with content in such a small book.
Some comments:
Not having an attack roll, with everyone always hitting, doesn’t seem like a good design choice. That’s where suspense and part of the fun lies, in those moments where someone’s about to die but they get saved by a miraculous hit or shot. By not having this you’re losing this and placing it all on the damage die, which is a guaranteed roll if you attack. The satisfaction of getting better at combat (not just an increase in hp) is also lost by going down this path.
Light armour (1 AP) and heavy armour (also 1 AP):
Light armour includes a shield. What about heavy armour with a shield?
I’m going to run it with these house rules:
Opposed attack vs defence rolls, combatants add a level/HD bonus, damage die are exploding. Light armour is 1 AP, heavy 2, shield 1. Armour is ineffective/bypassed on attack rolls over 16.
Cool little game, I hope to see some supplements and adventures in the future.
Please try playing without an attack roll first!
Of course, it may not be for everyone. But I can assure you that after years of play it is a well thought-out design choice that creates fast, interesting combat where strategic choices really matter, and it leaves plenty of time in the session for more adventure.
Why bother paying for this wonderful game if you're just going to turn it into every other D&D / OSR game? Part of it's charm is that lack of attack role.
You should try playing it rules-as-written before applying some untested theory-craft to it. It's clearly not an oversight by the designer -- e.g. check out the praise on this very page for this exact decision.
That's a primary design feature of Into the Odd.
In this type of OSR game, combat is a failure state. If your group finds themselves facing an enemy in straightforward combat where all they're doing is pitting their numbers against the enemy's numbers, they've already messed up. The lack of an attack roll is not an oversight, it's a thought-out design decision to emphasize this principle.
If you rush into combat you WILL get hit every time you get attacked. That's a fact players have to deal with by finding ways to manipulate the situation to their advantage to gain the upper hand. There is no miraculous dice roll that's coming to save a player who's about to die, so it's up to the player to create these miracles themselves by engaging with their situation inside the fiction.
This is exactly what I was looking for! I really enjoy almost everything about this game except for that single choice (attacks always hit.) I wasn’t a fan of it in Into the Odd either.
But everything else is fantastic!
This is the most refreshing rpg I've played, outside of tiny d6 by gallant Knight. The magic system is dastardly fun, the random tables for adventure and campaign generation are dense and extremely useful, and everything about this rpg captures the essence of 2e dnd in less than 20 sheets of paper. The only thing I'd like to see added is a one-page generation system for treasure and artifacts.
Actually Isaac has created exactly that, but for some reason only posted it on his twitter! It's available here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Qqonco6-MkDDS6Z2dc71L-OtfxhNrWd8/view
Ah, thanks for the reminder! I should post it here too!
Amazing! Hot damn!
Thanks!