The Game: Monarchies of Mau
The Publisher: Onyx Path Publishing
Degree of Familiarity: Haven't played it, but I've been running Pugmire, and this is a spinoff
Books Required: Just the one
In Monarchies of Mau, you play a cat from one of the titular Monarchies. It's very much just "playing the cats in the world of Pugmire" (though if you're a cat person, you might consider Pugmire to be "playing the dogs in the Monarchies of Mau," I guess). I like that, though - this game opens up the world without breaking it, and I don't think there's any power creep, though of course I'd need to run it to know.
So anyway, my buddy Toasty gave me this theme song:
So, listening to the song, I don't have the slightest idea what it's about, and it turns out neither does the songwriter. It's just stream of consciousness. But the vibe I get from the song (and yes, probably I'm letting the movie influence me) is rekindling a relationship that neither party really wants to see rekindled, but neither one can admit the truth. There's also just a smidge of pure chaos there. I think I can roll with that.
Step One is calling; I've got six choices. Do any of them suit "has glimpsed madness" as a concept? While it's tempting to go mancer (I do like my magic users), I think that tracker is the better option here. Trackers are really all about murdering the Unseen, and I think a little dose of madness in my cat's past would be an interesting wrinkle here.
OK, so, my Stamina die is 1d10, I get 10 stamina points plus my CON modifier (which I don't know yet). I'll leave choosing Skills and the particulars of my rucksack (like what exactly my weapons are) until I flesh him out a little more, but I will figure out the trophy I got under unusual circumstances. I can make one up or pick/roll one off the list, but one of the options is "spat out by one of the Old Ones' machines before it blew up." I like that. I'll say the trophy is a cube with some attachments on the sides, clearly meant to fit into some kind of mechanism. The sides of the cube are tempered glass, and they're so badly burned that I can't see what's inside. I know something is in there, though, because sometimes it rattles. The thing is, sometimes it doesn't.
Now we pick a house (or choose not to and be a Shadow Bloc cat, which might actually make sense for this guy). I can also pick a family, and I'm kinda feeling the Lykoi breed of cats.
Hmm, tough choice. Angora is appealing, as is Rex, but I dunno. I feel like Mau opens up some interesting possibilities. But then again, "Black Sheep." So maybe Siberian? Actually, yeah, I think I'll do that. I'll name him Einar Lykoi von Siberian.
House Siberian is the most conservative of the houses, and they're really working towards becoming self-sufficient again. We'll say my cat and his partner got wind of a forgotten site of Old One relics, and raced out there to check it out before a pack of Pioneer dogs did. When we got there, though, his partner, Elias Maine von Siberian, read something etched on a wall and...went a little mad. What followed was a game of cat and cat as Elias fled and Einar chased him, until finally something caught fire and the explosion happened. Einar hasn't seen Elias since. He thinks he's dead, but he'll never know for sure...
I get a Constitution bonus, so that's cool. I also get the Hardy Constitution Secret, and I can choose Cat of the World or House Upbringing. Just a moment.
OK, I think Einar was brought up in the house, so I'll take that Secret. While I'm at it, while both of the tracker Secrets are dope, I think I want Smite (I can do radiant damage in addition to normal damage once per day).
Background! How did Einar grow up? I think I'll say he was trained as a Disciple, and maybe would have continued on to be a minister, but the explosion and the loss of Elias shook his faith. He knows evil and madness exist, and he's not sure how to counteract that in a positive way. He's very sure, however, that evil can be smote, so that's where he's landed.
Abilities! I get the standard array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 (why we don't just use the modifiers is beyond me; the scores themselves mean nothing). In any case, I get a +2 to Constitution.
Well, a good starting place is always the dump stat. I think it's gotta be Charisma. Actually, I'll say that the explosion damaged Einar's voice (which is part of why he's not a minister), and his voice is raspy and unpleasant. 8 in CHA, then.
I'll put the 10 into INT; Einar's not terribly educated. 12 in WIS, 13 in CON (which really makes it 15), 14 in DEX, 15 in STR. Einar is lean, but a lot stronger than he looks.
Fill in my saving throws; I get to add my Proficiency to CON and WIS saves, which is nice because not only do I have a decent CON bonus but my Hardy Constitution Secret gives me an extra 1d4 there, too.
OK, now to go back and make some calling-related choices. I'll take Notice and Traverse as my skills (though it's a near thing; I want Sneak, too). I'll take medium armor (which gives me disadvantage on Dex checks, but life's like that), a short bow, and a longsword. Pretty standard stuff, but I don't feel like Einar goes in for fancy stuff. The madness doesn't come out until he uses Smite, and then things get weird.
My Defense is 15, my Initiative is +2, and my Speed is 30 on two legs or 35 on four.
And finally, personality traits!
What is most important to Einar is... protecting the secrets of the Old Ones. Some things Cat was just not meant to know.
No one knows about... Elias' true fate. Einar told everyone he died in the explosion and that he buried him.
No matter what, Einar just can't... stop fiddling with the trophy. He checks it frequently, and never really stops trying to open it.
And that's about it!
No comments:
Post a Comment