What systems exist for a game in the style of Redwall, NIMH, Mouse Guard, etc?

[Lawless III]

After watching "The Secret of NIMH" with a friend, we decided we wanted to run a tiny animal adventure game in that vein, and possibly even work on a system to this end. However, if someone has already created something that I would be satisfied with using, then we might as well just use theirs.

What I turned up with my admittedly poor google fu and why I'm not using them:
Before making this thread I did try to find information on my own. I found several unfinished attempts at a working Redwall D20, but even if they were done I would prefer not to be stuck using all the trimmings of Redwall (not a slight against the series, I simply prefer not to play in premade universes and what I saw of these were definitely geared toward the original setting.) I found Harvesters, but that seems rather limited and intended for younger and/or less esperienced players.

Finally, I found the Mouse Guard rpg. This one actually looks pretty awesome, but I have a few hang ups that stop me from really wanting to use it. 1) I'm not a big fan of Burning Wheel, it just never really clicked with me. 2) It once again seems very geared toward a premade universe that I have no interest in using as my game's setting (Again, not a slight against the source materials, I just prefer to build my own worlds) 3) I really want multiple player races; mice, otters, badgers, etc. With all this in mind, it doesn't seem like the MGRPG would serve my purposes without MASSIVE rewrites, to the point at which I may as well try my hand at making a system.
tldr: I'm aware of but not using Redwall D20, Harvesters, or the Mouse Guard RPG.

So folks, how about it? Got any recommendations, opinions, or leads?

[Draz74]

So folks, how about it? Got any recommendations, opinions, or leads?

Yes. Read the book "Ms. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." SO much better than the movie.

... oh, you wanted RPG system recommendations? Hmmm. I got nothing, other than a passing shoutout to generic rules-light systems like Risus or Fudge.

[Nepenthe]

Yes. Read the book "Ms. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." SO much better than the movie.
This can not be overstated.

As much as I like Mouse Guard, definitely don't try to use it for anything where the PC's might be different races. Depending on how furry you want to make it, I'd probably try either BESM or Hero System.

[Lawless III]

I have indeed read the book and yes it of course far better than the movie. Watching the movie with a friend was simply the event that got us started talking about running this kind of campaign. I probably should have known only mentioning the movie would lead to this:smallbiggrin:

Also, just for the record, I'm going for as little furry as possible given the subject matter (assuming that you are referring to the level of anthropomorphization). The aesthetic I'm going for is more in line with Redwall's cover art.

[The Zoat]

I think there was a homebrew in the forum for playing as Redwall characters.

[Anxe]

Bunnies and Burrows? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnies_%26_Burrows)

[UserClone]

RATS! (http://www.indiegogo.com/rats?a=347622)?

[KitTheOdd]

Been a while since I read it, but TriStatDX (available as a free PDF) uses different die sizes for different power levels and has suggestions for these exact type of games.

I've never played or run one like this, but it is probably worth your time to take a look at it.

[Arbane]

Bunnies and Burrows? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunnies_%26_Burrows)

There's also a GURPS Bunnies and Burrows sourcebook. It's out of print, but there's a PDF available.

[wadledo]

Mouseguard.

Recall that it's extrodinarily easy to have different races in mouseguard. Just give them diffrent traits and say "this is X, he is Y rather than Z."

[Nepenthe]

Character race in Mouse Guard is highly resistant to refluffing because its Nature is completely ingrained in the mechanics. You'd have to determine a new Nature and write a new recruitment chapter for each race, then balance them against each other.

[wadledo]

Character race in Mouse Guard is highly resistant to refluffing because its Nature is completely ingrained in the mechanics. You'd have to determine a new Nature and write a new recruitment chapter for each race, then balance them against each other.

That seems contrary to my experiences, since I've run games where people have played Sparrows, Moles, Mice and Salamanders all in the same group without having to do all that work.

[JustinCasePI]

Have you herd of Ironclaw.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironclaw

[shadow_archmagi]

There's that grimdark game with the penguins from, what was it, Finland?

[Knaight]

I'd go with Fudge. It's a generic system, which is nice, but it has a few mechanics that make it work extremely well for Redwall style games. For instance, it has a mechanic called Scale that deals with multiple sizes of creatures simply and elegantly - plus, it advertises the ability to play rabbits on one of the covers and has a pre-made adventure where people play animals, so how important this was to the author is fairly clear.

[Serpentine]

Yes. Read the book "Ms. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." SO much better than the movie.This (I see you already have, yay! :smallbiggrin:), and also all the rest of Robert C. O'Brien's work. Pretty much no-one's ever heard of him, and he's only written a few novels, but he's very good.

As for the actual subject... Can't help you. Totally Guy's an expert on Mouse Guard if you want advice on adapting it.

[DeusMortuusEst]

There's that grimdark game with the penguins from, what was it, Finland?

I want to know what this is!

[UserClone]

Valley of Eternity. It tells a very specific type of story, though, and I'm dubious as to how it would all translate into any other type of animal.

[Totally Guy]

As for the actual subject... Can't help you. Totally Guy's an expert on Mouse Guard if you want advice on adapting it.

I think knowledge of the source material is more relevant. I mean, what sort of stuff happens that makes the books and movies good? What games align well with that stuff?