Whiskers and Herbs
Introduction
This supplement adds new material and options for mice GMs. It should provide a new layer of play as well as inspiration for adventure. At its core, this supplement is all about mice finding herbs and turning them into useful concoctions.
This supplement is heavily inspired by Bunnies and Burrows.
Backgrounds
Herbalist - Gloves, Sharpened Shovel (d6)
Medicine Mouse - Cooking Pot, Club/Pestle (d6)
Poisonpaw - Sleepwell, Cooking Pot
Locating Ingredients
For the mouse who wishes to find herbs, they have two basic options. Locate, and Forage. In either case, the mouse will need to invest their time in the location of herbs, and they may not always succeed.
While some herbs are easy to collect, others may require specific equipment or present a hazard.
Collecting plants and herbs can be done by any mouse, but successfully identifying them requires education and training. Even wise mice only know a few.
Forage
Foraging for herbs can be done as part of the foraging for food option or on its own, and it takes one Watch. When foraging, the herbs located are up to the GM and should be random. Foraging for herbs specifically will give a higher yield than foraging for food.
When foraging for food and hoping to locate herbs, roll a d6. On a 5 or 6, you find one herb at random.
When foraging for herbs, you find 1d3 random herbs appropriate to the location.
Locate
When a mouse is specifically searching for something, they may spend a Watch to locate that specific herb. The mouse needs to look in the appropriate location to find the herb they're after and can find 1d3 herbs.
Packed Herbs
When a mouse successfully gathers an herb, it takes one inventory slot. The herb has three usage dots. Every day the mouse is carrying a herb, there is a chance they lose a usage dot due to decay. Every day, roll a d6 for each herb. On a 4-6, mark a usage dot.
A Survey of Local Herbs
| Name | Where is it found | Harvesting Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Puffball | Countryside | DEX Save during combat or puffball erupts and is destroyed |
| Comfrey | Countryside | None |
| Slumberroot | Forest | Roots must be dug. This takes 1 watch unless they have tools. |
| Rasberry | Thickets | Gloves needed to avoid thorns |
| Garlic | Human Town | Roots must be dug. This takes 1 watch unless they have tools. |
| Amanita | Forest | Touching requires DEX Save or become fatigued |
| Wormbend | Wetland | Roots must be dug. This takes 1 watch unless they have tools. |
| Yerba | Human Town | None |
| Slippery Elm | Forest | Sharp tool needed to peel bark |
| Leechflower | Wetland | None |
| Blue Vervain | Human Town | None |
| Stinging Nettle | Countryside | Gloves needed |
| Wild Carrot | Forest | None |
| Catmint | Forest | None |
| Milkflower (Root) | Wetland | Roots must be dug. This takes 1 watch unless they have tools. |
| Black Walnut | Forest | Sharp tools needed to break open walnuts |
| Poison Ivy | Forest | Gloves needed |
| Moonflower | Human Towns | Must be harvested at night |
Herbal Concoctions & Remedies
To take herbs and turn them into something useful, a mouse must have the proper equipment and know-how to prepare them. Some preparations are simple, like grinding or crushing, but others are more complex.
Whenever a mouse is making a new recipe, they need to make a WIL save the first time. Failure fills a usage dot, and at the GM's discretion, some unpleasant effect may occur. If they have a teacher watching over, they can negate the need for the save.
If a mouse would like to experiment to discover Usage, Preparation, and Effect, they need to spend 1d3 watches for each of those attributes. If a mouse attempts to create something without knowing about it, make a WIL Save for each unknown attribute as above.
A mouse in a local village may be able to teach a recipe for d3 x 100 gp.
Completed concoctions take one inventory slot and have one use.
| Concoction | Herb(s) Required | Preparation | Usage | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blindpowder | Puffball | Grind | Touch/Contact | Blindness (DEX Save) |
| Furmend | Comfrey | Grind | Touch/Contact | Heals an additional 1d6/rest |
| Sleepwell | Slumberroot | Boil | Ingest | Sleep (STR Save) |
| Dazzlejuice | Rasberry (Leaves) | Boil | Ingest | Charm (WIL Save) |
| Pest Dust | Wild Garlic (Root) | Grind | Touch/Contact | Wards off insects/pests for 1d6 Watches |
| Wildlick | Amanita | Grind | Ingest | Feral (STR Save) |
| Wingwant | Wormbend | Chopped | Touch/Contact | Attracts birds for 1d3 watches |
| Quickstep | Yerba | Boil | Ingest | Adds 2 HP for 1d3 watches |
| Quickbleed | Slippery Elm | Grind | Touch/Contact | Critical Damage rolls are Impaired (STR Save) |
| Fleabane | Leechflower | Chopped | Touch/Contact | Wards off fleas for 1d6 watches |
| Fleasmite | Blue Vervain | Grind | Touch/Contact | Infested (DEX Save) |
| Sneezefit | Stinging Nettle | Grind | Touch/Contact | Rolls are Impaired (STR Save) for 1 turn |
| Brighteye | Wild Carrot | Chopped | Ingest | Nightvision for 2d3 watches |
| Cataway | Catmint | Grind | Touch/Contact | Makes felines Feral (STR Save) |
| Stinkfur | Milkflower (Root) | Boil | Touch/Contact | Creatures keep distance (WIL Save) |
| Darkfur | Black Walnut (Nut) | Boil | Touch/Contact | Dyes things a dark shade of black that blends in with night |
| Firefur | Poison Ivy | Grind | Touch/Contact | Itching causes rolls to be impaired (STR Save) for one turn |
| Lamplight | Moonflower | Boil | Touch/Contact | Glows for 1d3 watches |
| Rotbait | Blue Vervain + Wormbend | Chopped | Touch/Contact | Attracts carnivores for 1 watch |
| Dreamlick | Yerba + Amanita | Boil + Grind | Ingest | Experience prophetic dreams for 1d3 watches (WIL Save) |
Conditions
Blind
Cannot use range attacks, and melee attacks hit a random creature nearby.
Charm
Charmed creature gains +2 on reaction rolls
Feral
Creature can only act on one-word actions (Run, fight, eat, etc.). All details are decided randomly.
Infested
Rolls to recover HP or attributes are halved unless from magical sources.
GM Advice
Herbaceous Adventures
This is a simple and small supplement because it is meant to be a starting point for you to add more and make your own. Incorporating this into your game is simple as it simply works alongside Mausritter. Having said that, the real opportunity is in creating adventures around herbs and their uses. Here are some ideas to get started:
- An old healing mouse needs to be re-stocked
- Out travelling they find clues to the effect of one herb
- Rival mice contest their prized location for an herb
- A faction is making use of concoctions to further their goals
More Herbs and Concoctions
This supplement only gets the ball rolling with what is possible. Add new herbs with new ways to acquire them in strange locations. Create concoctions that the clever mouse can find a way to use. Make other mice, factions, and rivals have them too.
One temptation is to make concoctions that are potent in their potential. The list in this supplement has a few of those to cover some basic needs. Consider creating concoctions that seem mundane in nature but of are high utility for the mouse clever enough to use them.