[Fanzine Focus XXXV] Keep It Together

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another Dungeon Master and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Similarly, the fanzine has been a popular format for Mausritter. However, the format has in the main, been a vehicle to provide specific support in the form of scenarios, rather than general content, such as Keep It Together.

Keep It Together – An Adventure Zine is a scenario for Mausritter – Sword-and-Whiskers roleplaying, the rules-light fantasy adventure microclone in which the very big and very dangerous world is explored from a mouse eye’s point of view. This is our world, but one in which the mice are anthropomorphic and can talk, as can other species. Beyond the walls of their home, the world is one of opportunity and adventure, fraught with hazards natural and unnatural, those untouched by mankind and those imposed by mankind. Using the base mechanics from Into the Odd, mice in Mausritter need to be brave, resourceful, and clever, as well as lucky if they are to survive. Scenarios for Mausritter tend to be location based. Either the mice having to explore a single location, which could actually be a tree stump, a human-sized suit of armour, a grandfather clock, or an abandoned human-made shack, as in Mausritter: Honey in the Rafters or a sandbox setting containing numerous locations, such as Mausritter: The Estate Adventure Collection or Mayfield. Keep It Together is sandbox setting, but with a twist.

Keep It Together – An Adventure Zine was published by The Necropede as part of ZineQuest #3. Describing itself as ‘An Adventure Area for Mausritter’, it details the area between two mouse towns—Willowthorpe and New Willowthorpe. There is a New Willowthorpe because nearby development by humans uprooted trees, diverted the stream, and destroyed an area nearby, and so the inhabitants of the village decided that they would be better off elsewhere. Packing their belongings, they moved three miles away, on the other side of a pond. However, some of the mice in Willowthorpe did not want to make the move, after all, Willowthorpe was their home and they were unsure of whether New Willowthorpe would be a success or not. Now it has, and the inhabitants of New Willowthorpe want their friends and neighbours from their old home to move into their new home with them. However, the journey to New Willowthorpe was dangerous and none of them feel ready to brave it again. Thus, they put out the call for adventurers. Can they make the trek across the wilds, including tall grasses and dangerous, to bring news of New Willowthorpe to old Willowthorpe, persuade the inhabitants to make the journey, and then lead them to their new home?

The Player Characters have two primary routes between the two towns. Either by sailing or rowing boat across the pond and along the streams, or through the grasslands. Both offer their own dangers and both are replete with their own encounters and locations. Travel by boat is simpler, but predators can more easily see the mice from the sky, whilst the grass is taller than the mice and harder going, it both hides the mice from predators from above and the mice from seeing the predators above. Of course, the weather and time of year will travel conditions too. Between the old and new towns lie the Great Log, hollow with end in the water, and the easternmost point of the nearby Rat Lady’s kingdom; an Old Graveyard where it is always cold and foggy, no matter the weather, and now beset by some strangeness; and field of rocks below there are caves where ancient treasures might be found. There are only a handful or two of such locations, but they are nicely detailed and each one comes with an encounter table.

At either end of these encounters stand Willowthorpe and New Willowthorpe. Of the two, New Willowthorpe is more briefly described, but there is more than enough information to support the Player Characters with rumours, rafts to use to get across the pond, and even some hirelings who will accompany them. Old Willowthorpe is described in more detail, as are its NPCs, and the village is also given a map as well. The seven mice still living in the village are simply and directly detailed, a handful of bullet points listing background, the reason why they have not yet left, views of the other mice, and so on, all providing the Game Master with sufficient information for her to portray them effectively. Each is also accompanied by a thumbnail portrait that the Game Master should use to show her players. There is also a table indicating the relationships between the remaining mice and a table for randomly determining what they might be doing day or night. Whilst each of the remining inhabitants’ homes and the village’s major businesses are detailed, another table provides random descriptions of the abandoned buildings.

Once the Player Characters have arrived in Willowthorpe, their aim is to persuade and then the remaining mice to New Willowthorpe. Some do not want to leave, some are scared of leaving, some do not want to leave anything behind, some do not want to leave anyone behind, and some want everyone to go elsewhere. The Player Characters will need to sort through who wants what and why, and then persuade to change their minds, all before making the journey back. This is all complicated by the interest of several external factions who have taken an interest in the current state of Willowthorpe. These factions, including the Rat lady and the Fey are described at the end of the adventure are the monsters that might be encountered. Plus, there is list of new spells, such as Calm water, Protection from Undead, and Float. Lastly these new spells as well as several items are provided as tokens to cut and slip into a Player Character’s backpack and so take up space.

Physically, Keep It Together – An Adventure Zine is a neat and tidy affair. It is well written and the artwork is good. The artwork is cute, though the look is sometimes more fifties suburbia than the usual medieval look of Mausritter.

Keep It Together – An Adventure Zine is a there and back again adventure for Mausritter – Sword-and-Whiskers roleplaying. The ‘there’ being a straightforward trek through the wilderness, whilst the ‘back again’ has the feel of pioneers on the frontier of the Old West, the Player Characters guiding a wagon train home. The scenario can be played through as is, but there is scope for expansion, which the Game Master may want to consider if her Player Characters want to go and investigate the caves and other locations. The Game Master may also want to add a little more treasure, as there is very little to be found in the pages of the adventure. Should the Game Master want to add Keep It Together – An Adventure Zine to an existing Mausritter campaign, the size and the scale of both setting and story make it very easy to add.

Overall, Keep It Together – An Adventure Zine is a solid adventure for Mausritter – Sword-and-Whiskers roleplaying.