I recently acquired a copy of "Bunnies and Burrows" 1st ed., and I decided to run a couple of games in order to review it for the Actual Play review contest. I am fortunate enough to have a ready venue for all sorts of games in the Emerald City Gamefeast Monday Night game group run at Metro Seattle Gamers.
Bunnies and Burrows is a game in the tradition of Watership Down. Characters are rabbits, trying to get by in a world filled with predators and excitement. There are eight characteristics, and a profession corresponding to each of them. While I think the characteristics are pretty self-explanatory, here's a brief rundown of professions
FIGHTER (Strength) - fightin' rabbits. RUNNER (Speed) - fast, sneaky rabbits HERBALIST (Smell) - rabbits who can prepare herbs to create various effects SCOUT (Intelligenc) - smart rabbts who can recognize & disarm traps, and talk to lots of different types of critter SEER (Wisdom) - rabbits who can see the future, instill shock in other creatures, and feign death MAVERICK(Dexterity) - rogue rabbits who can lie, cheat, and steal EMPATH(Costitution) - rabbits able to mystically heal STORYTELLER (Charisma) - rabbits able persuade and enthrall
Characters are created by rolling 3d6 for each characteristic, in order. There are no provisions for do-overs, no stat minimums, or anything like that. What you roll is what you get.
THE CHARACTERS Fennel
played by Laura
Dual Class Runner/Storyteller
Strength: 11
Speed: 13
Smell: 7
Intelligence: 9
Wisdom: 10
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 4
Charisma: 15
Kudzu
Played by Peter
Dual Class Fighter/Empath
Strength: 7
Speed: 10
Smell: 7
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 9
Dexterity: 10
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 11
Mugwort
Played by Mark
Empath
Strength: 10
Speed: 10
Smell: 11
Intelligence: 10
Wisdom: 10
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 12
Charisma: 10
(Mark, sadly, was not able to make it to either of the two games, so Mugwort never got into play. I include him for completeness and as a demonstration of how you can get truly wretched stats in this game)
Salvia
Played by John
Dual Class Scout/Herbalist
Strength: 9
Speed: 8
Smell: 14
Intelligence: 14
Wisdom: 7
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 9
Charisma: 5
Tulip
Played by Sophie
Dual Class Runner/Storyteller
Strength: 10
Speed: 14
Smell: 14
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 8
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 7
Charisma: 13
__________________ Running: Mouse Guard, Dark Heresy (Savage Worlds), Fading Suns (Heroquest) Playing:: not much Reading: things other than roleplaying games Working on:: maintaining sanity
Captain in the Zo Imperial Guard by proclamation of the Zorcerer of Zo
Characters were from the Big Bluff warren, rivals of the Brown Earth warren. The location is based (very loosely) on the part of American Camp, on the San Juan Islands.
__________________ Running: Mouse Guard, Dark Heresy (Savage Worlds), Fading Suns (Heroquest) Playing:: not much Reading: things other than roleplaying games Working on:: maintaining sanity
Captain in the Zo Imperial Guard by proclamation of the Zorcerer of Zo
The characters are summoned by their Chief Rabbit, a high level Storyteller named Dandelion. A rabbit in their warren had recently died of the Blindness disease, a fearsome illness that was known to devastate warrens, leaving few survivors. Normally, the warren Herbalist - Clover - would have made the journey past the good grass to the place of good water, where many exotic herbs grow, and there collected the leechflower needed to protect against the disease. But Clover had recently been mauled by a hawk, and was in no condition to make the journey. And so Dandelion had called together a group of young rabbits in order to send them after the much needed leechflower. Each of the young rabbits was given a carrot for the trip. Fennel, the most charismatic, is chosen as the leader.
Poppy the Seer then attempted to see the future to determine what leechflower looks like, while Salvia went to Clover and returned with a description. The party then set off, with Kudzu deciding to hurry ahead to the good grass. Once there he tries to beg food from a human, and almost gets a Cliff bar, but a crow swoops down and snatches it! Kudzu scurries under one of the human buildings to avoid the pecking beak.
The rest of the group, proceeding at a more leisurely pace, is momentarily frightened by the rattling of one of the metal monsters that is traveling along the black stone, but eventually reaches Kudzu at the good grass. There they encounter a group of bunnies from the Brown Earth warren, who confidently approach and warn them that Brown Earth warren has claimed the good grass and threatens to attack the bunnies. Harsh words are exchanged and Kudzu taunts the Brown Earth bunnies, who eventually get angry and claw him a good one! Salvia surrenders his carrot to mollify the Brown Earth bunnies, and Fennel leads the group towards the good water, where they hope to find the herb they are looking for.
The ground past the good grass becomes steep and rocky, and it gets very windy. The rabbits can smell a storm brewing, and as the first drops begin to fall the tired rabbits spot a copse of woods with unusual plants growing there in the distance - the good water! Unfortunately, there are several humans and a dog running in to escape the rain! Salvia is sent ahead to scout, and to look for some redberry to help heal Kudzu [properly prepared redberry heals injuries]. As the rest of the bunnies enter the trees, the dog smells them and begins to bark, but the humans yell at him. Kudzu taunts the dog, and the humans eventually give the dog a good whack and leave the woods. Night is falling, so the bunnies find shelter as they hear owls hooting in the distance.
The next day everything is wet and cold. Kudzu finds some bubblegum and eats it, becoming rather ill in the process. The bunnies begin looking for leechflower, and Poppy smells some. But then, out of the brush comes a large, angry raccoon! It eyes the bunnies malevolently and hisses at them! Fennel and Tulip distract it and Poppy sacrifices half of her carrot to convince it to leave. Eventually it waddles off and the group begins trying to harvest the leechflower. Several flowers are harvested, but then Salvia slips while digging out another one and falls straight into the lair of a skunk! He gets doused with spray, and can no longer smell properly to look for more leechflower, so he directs others in harvesting it, and oversees Poppy as she prepares it.
Once they have enough (they hope) they begin heading back to the warren, but are ambushed by a feral cat! Salvia is paralyzed in fear, but Tulip and Fennel dodge in and try to keep the cat from Poppy. Their efforts are insufficient, however, and the cat mortally wounds Poppy. Fennel manages to give her the last of the redberry, however, and saves her from death. Kudzu then defeats the cat. [Technically Poppy was dead, but since the redberry was applied within a round, I let her recover.]
As the bunnies approach the good grass, they discover that the area is overrun with humans and metal monsters! They detour all the way through the copse of trees and hide there all day, wary of coming out into the open, until the humans go away and the metal monsters go to sleep. They discover that during the day Brown Earth warren has been destroyed by the metal monsters, and most of its bunnies have fled or been killed. Despite the strangeness of the day they impress the other bunnies of the warren with the tale of their journey.
During the night, the bunnies decide that they should look for a new warren in case something happens to Big Bluff. Kudzu wants to move the warren under the human buildings, but the rest decide to head past the copse of trees instead. Kudzu, investigating under the human buildings, discovers that there is already a large nest of rats there who do not want to be evicted, and joins up with the other bunnies as they are leaving the copse of trees. The group talks with a crow, but learns little of interest other than there are bunnies and humans in that direction (bunny measurements and crow measurements are pretty mutually incomprehensible). Poppy has a vision of Big Bluff warren being crushed. The group decides to head for the Bad Water (not the Bad Water across the black stone - the other Bad Water). After a difficult but uneventful journey they arrive near the Bad Water as the sun is setting. There they encounter another bunny, with the peculiar name of George, who is badly frightened. He claims that he has recently escaped from humans, and that there are other bunnies still trapped. Worse, George says, the humans plan to EAT THE BUNNIES! EAT THEM!!!!!!!!
With this harrowing knowledge, the bunnies dig some scrapes under a log and settle down for the night.
__________________ Running: Mouse Guard, Dark Heresy (Savage Worlds), Fading Suns (Heroquest) Playing:: not much Reading: things other than roleplaying games Working on:: maintaining sanity
Captain in the Zo Imperial Guard by proclamation of the Zorcerer of Zo
[Two changes for this game. First, Poppy's player was unable to attend, so Poppy went into "zombie NPC" mode. Second, we had a new attendee at the Monday night game. He asked me to make up a new character for him, so I did. I made George]
George
Played by Drake
Maverick
Strength: 11
Speed: 6
Smell: 12
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 7
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 7
Charisma: 13
With night upon them, the party digs scrapes under a log and settles down for the night. George tells of his life in the cage with three other rabbits (Ringo, a male, and two females named Jan and Paula). He believes they will be killed unless rescued. The group debates whether to rescue the new bunnies or continue looking for a new site for a warren. Then George and Salvia hear a snake! While Salvia tries to alert Kudzu, George goes out to check on the noise, and comes face to face with a snake for the first time in his life! George screams, kicks, and runs back under the log, sending Kudzu tumbling ears over appetite. Salvia pushes past the two to see outside, only to become frozen in fear as an owl silently swoops down and grabs the snake. The bunnies spend an apprehensive night under their log.
In the morning Salvia attempts to get information from a seagull, but the gull attempts to fly off. Kudzu leaps onto its back and pins it, preventing it from leaving, and the bunnies eventually trade information on the location of the rabbit boxes for information on where the gull can find lots of squished bunnies (at Brown Earth warren). The gull heads off to eat smashed bunny, and the bunnies head out on a rescue mission!
George is not quite certain of the direction, and can provide few useful clues, but Salvia manages to find and prepare some stinging nettle to use against a future foe. Then the party happens upon a carrot!. Fennel and Tulip spot a trap, but Kudzu rushes in to grab the tasty treat, and is trapped under a heavy box. The bunnies attempt to free him, but only succeed in getting infested with ticks instead! Then a man with a dog arrives and puts Kudzu in a bag. He is about to beat Kudzu to death with a stick when the bunnies ATTACK! Tulip gets the dog to chase her and into the mans legs, tripping him. Fennel jumps for the man's face, but misses. Kudzu manages to claw his way out of the bag, while Tulip and Fennel manage to wound the dog. Meanwhile, Salvia - oblivious to the whole battle, searches for tickweed to cure the tick infestation. Once Kudzu is free the bunnies scatter, but Kudzu hesitates just a moment too long taking a final swipe at the dog. He draws blood, but the horrible beast snatches him up and shakes him, breaking his neck, to the horror of the others!
The survivors meet up again with Salvia, who has found tickweed and cures them of their infestations. While the party mourns the loss of Kudzu they encounter another rabbit, a survivor of Brown Earth warren named Pine. They exchange tales, then continue searching for the caged rabbits.
[Pine was the replacement character for Kudzu]
Pine
Played by Peter
Dual Class Maverick/Empath
Strength: 4
Speed: 10
Smell: 12
Intelligence: 5
Wisdom: 11
Dexterity: 14
Constitution: 10
Charisma: 6
Tulip tracks the scent of the humans, and the bunnies go in that direction. As they travel, they search for useful herbs, finding lemonberry flower, scritchweed, and more tickweed along the way. The bunnies then notice an area of suspiciously trampled grass. Suspecting a trap, Tulip attempts to disarm it but is caught in a wire snare. Quick thinking by Salvia, who chews through the peg holding the snare, frees her with only minor damage.
After some additional uneventful travel, the party encounters a human building, with many types of animals including pigs, chickens, dogs, and rabbits kept in cages. There are dead, skinned rabbits hanging from one of the trees! [Pets or meat, baby! Pets or meat!] The bunnies sneak through a hole under the fence and make it to the rabbit box, to find that Ringo, Jan, and Paula are still alive! Salvia talks to the chickens and attempts to enlist their aid, but discovers that the chickens are all members of a bizarre religious cult that believes in reincarnation ["Logan's Chicken Run"] and will not risk ruining their next incarnation by helping. Eventually the party chews through the wooden portions of the cages and frees the rabbits, but the dogs are alerted and one escapes from its kennel and attacks, killing one of the local bunnies!
The battle against the dog is an epic one. Salvia hits the hideous beast with lemonberry flower, while George lunges at the beast and bites him on the back of the neck! Tulip and Fennel dodge in and out, clawing at the creature's legs and belly. The dog tries to roll over to dislodge George, but Pine leaps up to bite its throat and all the bunnies pile up on it, killing it in a welter of claws, blood, and chisel-like herbivore teeth!
Hearing the commotion, the human comes out of his lair carrying a bang stick, and the bunnies flee - except for George, who freezes in panic when the bang stick goes off. The human attempts to club him, but misses, and he bolts as well. Having made their escape from the human's lair with the bunnies, the group heads off to found a new warren.
The end?
__________________ Running: Mouse Guard, Dark Heresy (Savage Worlds), Fading Suns (Heroquest) Playing:: not much Reading: things other than roleplaying games Working on:: maintaining sanity
Captain in the Zo Imperial Guard by proclamation of the Zorcerer of Zo
In Bunnies and Burrows, characters do not have a specific profession level per se. Rather all characteristics have a level in addition to their numeric value, and characters progress in each of their characteristics simultaneously. Each day that you successfully roll against a skill or ability under a particular attribute you have an opportunity to go up a level in that particular attribute. All characters began the game at level zero in all attributes. Here's how they ended up at the end of game #2.
Fennel
played by Laura
Dual Class Runner/Storyteller
Strength: 11
Speed: 13 (level 2)
Smell: 7
Intelligence: 9 (level 1)
Wisdom: 10
Dexterity: 9
Constitution: 4
Charisma: 15
Kudzu
(at time of death)
Dual Class Fighter/Empath
Strength: 7
Speed: 10
Smell: 7
Intelligence: 8 (level 1)
Wisdom: 9
Dexterity: 10 (level 1)
Constitution: 11
Charisma: 11
Salvia
Played by John
Dual Class Scout/Herbalist
Strength: 9
Speed: 8
Smell: 14 (level 2)
Intelligence: 14 (level 2)
Wisdom: 7
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 9 (level 1)
Charisma: 5
Tulip
Played by Sophie
Dual Class Runner/Storyteller
Strength: 10 (level 1)
Speed: 14
Smell: 14 (level 1)
Intelligence: 11 (level 1)
Wisdom: 8
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 7 (level 3)
Charisma: 13
George
Played by Drake
Maverick
Strength: 11 (level 1)
Speed: 6
Smell: 12
Intelligence: 13 (level 1)
Wisdom: 7
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 7
Charisma: 13 (level 1)
[Pine, who was in the game for a relatively short period of time, did not get any levels]
__________________ Running: Mouse Guard, Dark Heresy (Savage Worlds), Fading Suns (Heroquest) Playing:: not much Reading: things other than roleplaying games Working on:: maintaining sanity
Captain in the Zo Imperial Guard by proclamation of the Zorcerer of Zo
Special thanks to my wife, Mechante Anemone, for taking the excellent notes that allowed me to post this thread.
__________________ Running: Mouse Guard, Dark Heresy (Savage Worlds), Fading Suns (Heroquest) Playing:: not much Reading: things other than roleplaying games Working on:: maintaining sanity
Captain in the Zo Imperial Guard by proclamation of the Zorcerer of Zo
I played Tulip. I'm still bewildered that I got most of my levels on my worst stat (Constitution); and that I got none on my best (Speed), despite the number of tick marks!
Linear Mode
