Woodlands creature campaign - rules tweaks and session logs

[SolemnGolem]

Hello hivemind!

My girlfriend is not much of an abstract gamer, although she's very much into card games and board games. She wanted to give RPGs a try and I told her GURPS was very flexible.

I'm thinking of running a picaresque type of short and simple intro game with her. The catch is that all the NPCs, enemies, and the protagonist herself, are all woodland creatures.

I have Bunnies & Burrows from the PDF store, and that resets the default of 10 as an average stat to rabbit size. The protagonist of my campaign will be a squirrel, so that's maybe a third to a half the size of a rabbit yet again.

When you get that small, would you see the game as rescaling to preserve the 10 average, or should I still go with a human norm as 10 and reduce the squirrel's stats accordingly?

The game is supposed to be cheeky and fun, with puzzles and challenges that feature a squirrel outsmarting various animals. I could see this working well even with a realistically low ST score for a tiny protagonist. HT and DX may be believable at 10 even without having to adjust (although B&B has an intentionally different ratio of deriving Basic Speed and Move from HT&DX, one which is much more favorable than the human norm).

The game will feature a lot of noncombat silly challenges and obstacles, and the few combats that are unavoidable will also have necessarily indirect ways to prevail (because they'll be against things like boars and bears which would make short work of a squirrel in a toe-to-toe fight).

How would you handle this sort of campaign? I'd like to avoid getting bogged down in scaled numbers and scores, but at the same time I think it would be a fun way of showing off GURPS' versatility.

[mook]

Hey there, SolemnGolem,

I love using GURPS for lil critter stuff, it's a real hoot.

Last time I used "The Herbmaster's Plea" adventure (more or less) from pp. 94-100 of GURPS B&B to run a couple of convention slots, we all had a great time -- notes are here, summaries of how they played out here. The tone of the games might not be what you're after, but I didn't really push one way or the other, I just let the PCs call the shots and reacted to the directions they wanted to go... and let's just say, a lot of con gamers have Bloodlust :)

Personally, if the PC norm is "squirrel," I find it easier to just recalibrate attributes of "10" to "average squirrel." Doesn't really matter if Humans have a relative ST of 350 if they're supposed to be Tarrasque-like threats.

I hope you have a great time, and can post some follow-up as it goes!

[SolemnGolem]

Thank you so much, I'll definitely refer to that!

I'll post updates as they occur!

[SolemnGolem]

Well, back in 2016-05 or so, I got a one-on-one campaign going with my then-fiancee. Over the course of a weekend in Guangzhou, she completed the woodland critter first campaign with Biri the Squirrel. Now, four years after the first adventure, she's my wife and we're now living in the USA and we're starting another campaign.

Here's a rundown to keep things recorded.

[SolemnGolem]

Adventure 1

Awakening and provisions

Biri the Squirrel woke up in her Home Tree with a sense of something awry in the air. A Taste/Smell check showed that the air had a bitter scent to it. She climbed up to the top of the tree and looked around, finding nothing unusual, but when she strained her fuzzy ears, she could hear some distant chanting on the wind. She packed a few berries from the Home Tree, which gave her special powers, and went forth.

River, beaver, turtle

Perturbed, she went to the stream to the north and met her friend, the Beaver. This time, the beaver was mumbling a lot, because her mouth had swollen up. With difficulty, the beaver told Biri the Squirrel that she was building a nest, and found a branch to chop in half. But then she hurt her tooth on the branch because it was very shiny and tough.

The beaver said the branch floated downstream and probably got lodged in the druid's hut. The water is starting to turn brackish, and the beaver is worried that if the water gets worse, she'll have to move.

Riding on the beaver's back, Biri got closer to the mysterious stench and the chanting, but then a narrow part of the river led them to an irritated turtle. The turtle refused to let them past, saying that it wasn't safe. He splashed the beaver and eventually the beaver was forced to turn back because they were afraid that Biri would get washed off into the water and drown.

Abandoned druid's hut

Biri went downriver to the druid's hut and found more proof of contamination. The Druid's pets broke out of their enclosures - two snakes patrolled the yard. The squirrel found a magical berry that allowed her teeth to become very strong, gnawing through branches quickly. She dropped a few branches on the snakes. The cages that once held the druid's boar and the druid's dog were empty.

Inside, Biri found the shining branch that the beaver had told her about. Biri took it, carrying it with some difficulty in her mouth as she climbed back.

The glittering branch caught the eyes of some easily-distracted Pigeons, who mobbed the squirrel, forcing her to beat them away using the branch as a mace.

Anteater and insect mounds

Biri went south to the insect mounds, where the hive animals lived in large towers, with an Anteater eating them.

The anteater said the ants had brought over an interesting bright shiny branch, likely when they were mobbing the druid's place. He has buried it, but will give it to the squirrel if the squirrel does him a favor: the Dawn Bird has gone missing, and its nest at the Sunward Tree may have eggs in it. Anteater wants Biri to help him recover an egg from the Dawn Bird's nest and he'll bury it and keep it warm until it hatches.

Biri went east to the edge of the forest, where the Dawn Bird's nest was being plundered by the pigeons. They started dive bombing her, driving her off.

Teaming up with the beaver to tame the turtle

The beaver proved to be quite interested in the shiny branch that Biri had found. With Biri perched on the beaver's back, they were able to spar and joust with the turtle. Biri scored a lucky hit, poking the turtle's eyes, so the turtle was swimming and fighting with its eyes closed. Beaver maneuvered to the rear of the turtle where Biri could use the branch to exploit its fundamental defenselessness. The turtle withdrew all of its limbs into its shell and floated downstream.

Their elation at taming the turtle was shortlived. Beyond, the water turned rapidly poisonous and they could see in the distance a great outcropping of a one-eyed giant, still and foreboding in the miasma. Innumerable rats and vermin surrounded the scene, chanting a ritualistic supplication to the fallen noisome titan.

The turtle came back to his post and said that the druid said the way beyond was so poisonous, he was standing guard over the pass to prevent hapless travelers from getting hurt. The druid was working on something that could seal the source of the taint, but he hadn't heard from the druid for a while. The turtle also found a scrap of the druid's robe in the waters, a bad sign that the druid was probably no longer able to help.

Back to the Dawn Bird's nest

The turtle and Biri made their way to the eastern side of the forest, with the turtle carrying Biri as a large mount. When they woke up, the air was thick with Pigeons, harassing Biri. She tried to make a run for the Dawn Bird's nest, but they were too large in number and kept her back.

The Pigeons' leader began inspecting the turtle (sleeping in his shell) and he emerged annoyed and bit the Pigeon by its neck. Holding it hostage, the squirrel and turtle were able to comply the Pigeons to bring the Dawn Bird's egg down safely from its nest using the druid's robe fragment as a holster.

Biri brought the Dawn Bird's egg back to the Anteater, who was elated. He buried it immediately in warm sand, promising that he would take good care of it, as he had always dreamed of giving all his love to an eastern chick, and gave her the other half of the shiny branch.

Biri figured out how to attach the two ends together, and now had a metal staff that she could use in combat.

The druid's tainted pets strike back

Now that Biri had their former owner's wand, the druid's corrupted pets came after her in earnest. First the snakes attacked her, while the turtle kept them occupied, Biri snuck behind them at staff's length distance to exploit their fundamental weaknesses. The snakes slunk away, intimated by the probity and rectitude of her attacks.

Then the druid's wolf attacked, waiting until Biri was alone collecting nuts and chasing Biri up a tree and forcing her to run in the branches. Following her to her Home Tree, the wolf paced awhile watching her, and then sat down next to a very turtle-like rock.

Suddenly in extreme pain, the druid's wolf took off in an agonized flight, eventually jumping between two tree trunks and becoming trapped as the turtle wedged in between behind it, beak firmly clamped down on its tail.

This bought Biri enough time to consume a magic berry to give her hard teeth, and then she climbed above the wolf and gnawed through branches to drop directly on its head until it stopped struggling.

The deer explains the magic

Biri met with the wise deer, who described the legend of the magic staff, known as the Polo'pokhœl. The deer also explained a legend that the staff could be used as a peashooter, with the finger placement along the side holes key to its mastery. Biri tried shooting peas through the Polo'pokhœl, and learned that the peas could have magical effects, including: suggestibility, ranged damage, slowing, drowsiness, and stinkbomb.

A crash at the clearing announced the arrival of the final tainted avatar: the druid's pig.

The druid's pig attacks

Once a wild boar, the druid had tamed a pig, but with his absence the pig had become a terrifying force of nature, able to gore its way through most obstacles.

Biri jumped onto the deer's back with the Polo'pokhœl as the deer fled swiftly away, and fired a few peas at it to slow it down. Still, the boar chased after the deer until it got to within a few inches of its retreating haunches. Biri lined up the deer's tail precisely, and then tugged on the tail, causing the deer to fiercely kick backwards. The first hit struck the boar on the snout, causing it to fall behind, but it made up the distance in a furious charge.

Biri pulled the deer's tail again, and this time the kick was true - the deer's hoof sank deep into the boar's eye, blinding it on one side. The boar quickly fell behind and Biri and the deer escaped, for now.

The fight comes home

Biri got back to a scene of chaos. The boar had flattened saplings and dug up trees by the roots and flattened them as well. Biri's Home Tree lay shattered on the ground. Biri perched sadly on her tree for a while, not knowing what to do, and then she heard a quiet sound.

A little ways away, the turtle was patiently collecting a few piles of nuts, berries, and seeds from Biri's scattered hoard. Seeing her, turtle told her not to worry, he would help her and they could rebuild everything together.

The final confrontation

Biri rode on the deer, stalking the boar's trail of destruction. Once or twice, the boar turned and gave chase, but the deer was able to nimbly keep away. Finally, the boar laid down exhausted and slept, and Biri consumed a magical berry that made her invisible, and she went up and shot a pea right into the boar's eye.

Now completely blind, the boar had to navigate by smell alone. Biri and her forest critter friends were prepared. First, Biri enraged the boar and caused it to give chase, then she laid down stinkbombs to lure it down the hillside to the lake with the one-eyed tainted giant looming in the background.

Successive stinkbombs lured the boar along the shoreline (Biri herself safe on the back of the turtle in the lake) and finally one last stinkbomb brought the boar leaping through the air to bury itself into the rotten corpse of the fallen giant, breaking the boar's neck.

The force of the impact finally broke the giant's submerged head loose from the lakebed where its own neck had broken weeks before, and shifted its folded body over the edge of the lake and finally into the distant gorge below.

Biri and her forest friends celebrated freedom from the corruption of the fallen giant and the return of fresh air and pure water. She held a golden acorn from the Home Tree with the hope of reestablishing her home in a safer part of the forest.

End of adventure one.

Biri Squirrel's character sheet page 1
Biri Squirrel's character sheet page 2

[whswhs]

Well, for example, if I were running a campaign with cats as PCs, an ST 4 creature typically weighs (4/2)^3 = 8 lbs; an ST 5 creature typically weighs (5/2)^3 = 15.625 lbs. That's about the usual weight ranges for cats. So I might rescale ST 5 as ST 10. And then ST 10 would rescale as ST 20.

[SolemnGolem]

Sequel Adventure: Against the Tulegs

Note: an outline of the campaign is posted in the "ideas are easy" thread.

Resumption

Several changes have occurred since Biri the Squirrel saved the forest from the pollution of a fallen giant's taint.

First, the forest got very cold and a light white powder covered the forest. Then, everything turned green and the birds started singing again. Then, the sun got really hot and Biri had to lie on her belly in the branches, flattened by the heat. Finally, it started to get cooler and Biri felt better.

Also, unkempt bipeds came up the river and started cutting down trees, chasing away the little forest critters and forcing them to leave the river.

Unwelcome guests

Biri woke up in the night, failed a few Hearing checks, and went back to sleep.

In the morning, she found that one of the four tree trunk hollows where she stored her nuts had been entirely emptied by thieves in the night.

Indignant, she retrieved her Polo'pokhœl from its deep hollow at the top of the tree, along with six peas for shooting purposes, and made her way down to the forest floor, sniffing along as she went.

Unfortunately, she rolled a critical failure around the tree bole, meaning that Biri became distracted by a beautiful rose flower, which caused her entire sense of smell to be covered by rose scent. She tried listening instead, and heard groans and complaints from some rodent of a full belly.

Sneaking closer, she found a very overstuffed field mouse in the lowest branch of a tree. She took careful aim with the Polo'pokhœl and fired a suggestion pea. She missed with the first, but hit with the second. The field mouse fell to the ground and looked at her, confusedly.

Biri interrogated the field mouse and found that it was the youngest of three brothers, and was frequently bullied by them. Last night they had a plan to steal from Biri, because even though she was a heroine of the forest, it was rumored that she had a big larder full of nuts. While other forest critters grew lean from the encroachment of the Tulegs, Biri was still in good shape and healthy.

The baby field mouse began to cry as he realized this was Biri. His brothers usually stole his food, so this time when they were all three carrying nuts, he succumbed to his hunger and ate a bellyful, then fetched up in digestive pain in the tree. He offered to take Biri to the blasted oak where the brothers kept their haul, if she wouldn't hurt him.

Biri followed him to the blasted oak.

The oak

The oak was in a clearing, where many mute stumps stood as testament to the tulegs' activities. Many tree trunks were piled up near the clearing edge, and piles of branches and bracken lay dotted around the clearing. The oak had a bright ribbon of terrible metal half-buried in its side, one side of it crumpled uselessly where the tulegs had abandoned it.

The field mouse's brothers were up in the tree, where they had stashed their nuts, confident that the tulegs' fearsome reputation would scare away all other forest critters.
/
However, the field mice hadn't counted on the ever-present annoyance of... birds.

The Pigeons (every bit as raucous and disruptive as their previous appearance in SQUIRPS 1) were back, and led by a white Gull. The Gull was engaged in some barter with the field mice, coughing up shiny baubles to trade for their grain.

Biri sat down with the baby field mouse at her side, and wondered what to do. This took some time, and at one point a pair of ants marched past them, carrying little grains and chanting "bring-it-back, bring-it-back" until they disappeared into the grass.

Looking up, Biri saw that a Pigeon had stealthily landed on the other side of the oak tree from the Gull, and was quietly making its way to the hollow to try to get some of the second-ownership nuts.

Biri, annoyed that her nuts were being stolen twice in one day, took careful aim with the Polo'pokhœl and let fly a suggestion pea.

The Pigeon fell to earth in a cloud of feathers, and Biri approached it to give it orders. However, Biri only spoke Rodent fluently, she spoke Forest Critter with an accent, so communication was difficult. Eventually she just told the Pigeon to fly up there and tell the field mice about its daily digestive movements.

The Pigeon did exactly as it was told, and the Gull took off, its salesman's patter abruptly disrupted. The two field mice ventured near the hollow, and Biri climbed up to a branch below them, before unleashing a stinkbomb pea right at the hollow. The odor burst cleared out the two field mice, as well as the Pigeons which all took flight and left. One field mouse fell out of the tree, extremely smelly and rather dazed.

Biri used her second-to-last pea to make the older field mouse suggestible, and ordered him to roll all the nuts out of the hollow. Biri, her baby field mouse temporary ally (now free of the suggestion but still intimidated by her), and the most recent older field mouse thrall, carried the nuts back to her tree and put them safely back in her hollow.

Reconciliation

The two field mice realized they were in the presence of a potentially dangerous enemy, as Biri was heavily armed - for a squirrel. They apologized profusely, but said they were under pressure from the Tulegs and also from the marauding birds, especially the Gull.

The field mice were afraid that their families would starve if they didn't get food.

Biri proposed a deal: if she shared nuts and other foods, they would keep an eye out for peas to help her hunt with her Polo'pokhœl. The field mice were delighted by this and called an assembly.

[SolemnGolem]

Squirps 2.01

Squerrilla warfare

Critter forward observers heard through the antlines that a group of half a dozen tulegs had come to the riverside and had stayed there for a few days with a smelly four-leg.

One of the group had become separated and was engaged in stationary noisemaking at a rocky area.

The objective of the critter attack force, consisting of Biri the Squirrel and the baby field mouse, was to follow a few ants in and steal whatever food they cold.

The tuleg

The ants brought Biri and the mouse to a site full of chipped stone where a massive incoherent reeking tuleg was hunched over a shiny, making a hell of a racket with periodic thumping and grinding. A carnivore's reek issued from the tuleg, along with a stale sour scent of secondhand milk, not to mention the smell of dead animal skins.

As they watched, the tuleg put down its shinies and wooden implements, and reached into a web of light wood, taking out some horribly scorched corpse, devoid of feathers but with an avian claw still attached. Its blaring trumpeting voice made a call sounding a bit like "BAA BI KYUU".

Also, and more to the interest of the squirrel, the tuleg had a deadskin next to it that appeared to contain fruits and nuts.

Covert ops

A bit later, the tuleg got up and left the clearing, perhaps attracted by the sound of splashing water, barking, and the calls of the other tulegs.

Biri and the mouse struck at that point, evacuating their digestion into the charred meat, and gnawing through the animal skin to spill the contents onto the forest floor. Inside was a bounty of apples and plums - all too large for the mouse to carry and a bit of a struggle for Biri herself. There were a few nuts and grains, but not very much, and Biri found herself disheartened.

How to get all the food back to the critters? They were counting on her.

The ants around her began marching the nuts and grains back to their hive, with their inexorable chant of "bring-it-back, bring-it-back". Biri called out to them, saying she needs the food for the critters. But the ants said times are lean for everybody, and they had needs too.

Biri thought about this, and then realized that she had sharp teeth. She could cut the fruits into small pieces for the ants to convey back. They agreed to split the food in half, and half would go to the ants, and half would go to the critters.

Bring-it-back

Biri brought the food back with the help of the ants just in time, as the last of the ant columns left when the tuleg came back and sat down and took a bite of the burned meat, declaring it spicy.

That night, all the chipmunks, squirrels, field mice, hamsters, and other quiet fuzzy critters ate well of the fruit and stored what they could for later.

Biri also asked about her friends, many of whom she had not seen for a long time, since the end of their war against the giant.

The deer was still in the forest, and willing to see her. The beaver had moved down river but was still around. The turtle had apparently moved further out to be near the water.

The deer's request

Biri went to see the deer, and he was happy to see her again. However, he was worried about the tulegs. His sister had gone to nibble on a ball of fat and nuts, and it turned out that the tulegs had rigged a log to fall on her, knocking her unconscious long enough for them to bind her feet and carry her away.

The deer told Biri that the tulegs appeared to be less active at night, and apparently had extremely poor night vision - once or twice he had been eating their fruit and vegetables and they had not noticed at all.

Biri and the critters decided that they would try to visit the next group of half a dozen tulegs near the riverside. They went out the following day and watched the axe-maker from before squatting in the woods for long periods of time, doing no work in axe-making.

Word came in from a field mouse: the Gull had struck again, and had bullied a few field mice families into handing over much of their gains from before.

The squirrel decided she would have to deal with the Gull - after she dealt with this group of Tulegs.