Cairn and Anthromorphic Woodland Animal RPGs
You may think that stories featuring anthromorphic woodland animals barely constitute a genre, but they are actually common enough. American Tail, Secret of Nimh, Redwall, and Mouse Guard. Even My Little Pony would be close.
My interest in the genre was recently revived by Mouse Guard and then with the superb board game Mice and Mystics by Plaid Hat Games. Both of these follow Redwall by setting the stories in a western medieval setting.
I have been looking for an RPG in the genre for a while, especially as my two daughters are becoming interested in RPGs and always seem to chose anthromorphic woodland animals for PCs if given the freedom to do so. The Mouse Guard RPG was well done, but it is a difficult game and not well suited to young players. It was limited to mice, which though fine for the source material felt unecessarily limited next to Redwall.
I had also looked at Harvesters and Woodland Warriors, both using an old school D&D base, but neither did much to explore the genre and simply made the woodland animal types into race options. Michtim was another recent option but it was limited to a single animal type (a hamster) and had some odd narrative rules that required an experienced RPGer.
I recently came across Book of Cairn and it looks promising. I had heard about it a while back and the Kickstarter seemed to have fallen over. But another company picked it up and saved the RPG, even of they jettisoned the rest of the KS. Cairn is well presented. Its a simple ruleset with depth behind it if desired (much like Far Away Land). It has 20 animal types, 20 professions and different magic types, so there is also the breadth there.
However, Cairn shines in my eyes most due to three aspects:
1. Though PC creation has structure, the RPG eschews attribute and skill lists. The basic rule is that you can add anything on your character sheet that makes sense to your rolls. Though much of those things also have specific rules, I really like this core concept and think it will be good for younger players who may not see the segregation in mechanical concepts as more experienced players might.
2. If you roll a 12, you gain a bonus to your next roll. Each PC has a choice based on their profession to either take this as a large bonus for hisself or herself or grant a small bonus to all the other PCs. Both choices reflect the core focus of that profession. For example, a warrior can choose between driving deeper into combat or helping their friends from harm in that combat. It's a simple dilemma and flavours each PC in a way that abilities would not.
3. Each PC has a Harmony score. This represents the central idea that the PCs are part of a community and in balance with nature (a common theme in the genre). If Harmony is high the the PC gets an advantage and if low a disadvantage. If it gets really low the PC becomes a Dire Animal. The cool thing about this is in what changes Harmony. Violence causes disharmony, as does magic and other unnatural things. Celebration is the easiest way to increase Harmony. This can be a party, but can also be work together or giving a gift (or sharing the bonus outlined above with the other PCs). I really love the way this promotes the themes of the RPG and is a positive guide for young players.
I am considering running Cairn at Adventure Squad for the reasons above. There are very few RPGs that I actually think work well for young players, even amongst those that are meant to be aimed at them. But Cairn is the first since Far Away Land that really has my attention for the purpose.
My interest in the genre was recently revived by Mouse Guard and then with the superb board game Mice and Mystics by Plaid Hat Games. Both of these follow Redwall by setting the stories in a western medieval setting.
I have been looking for an RPG in the genre for a while, especially as my two daughters are becoming interested in RPGs and always seem to chose anthromorphic woodland animals for PCs if given the freedom to do so. The Mouse Guard RPG was well done, but it is a difficult game and not well suited to young players. It was limited to mice, which though fine for the source material felt unecessarily limited next to Redwall.
I had also looked at Harvesters and Woodland Warriors, both using an old school D&D base, but neither did much to explore the genre and simply made the woodland animal types into race options. Michtim was another recent option but it was limited to a single animal type (a hamster) and had some odd narrative rules that required an experienced RPGer.
I recently came across Book of Cairn and it looks promising. I had heard about it a while back and the Kickstarter seemed to have fallen over. But another company picked it up and saved the RPG, even of they jettisoned the rest of the KS. Cairn is well presented. Its a simple ruleset with depth behind it if desired (much like Far Away Land). It has 20 animal types, 20 professions and different magic types, so there is also the breadth there.
However, Cairn shines in my eyes most due to three aspects:
1. Though PC creation has structure, the RPG eschews attribute and skill lists. The basic rule is that you can add anything on your character sheet that makes sense to your rolls. Though much of those things also have specific rules, I really like this core concept and think it will be good for younger players who may not see the segregation in mechanical concepts as more experienced players might.
2. If you roll a 12, you gain a bonus to your next roll. Each PC has a choice based on their profession to either take this as a large bonus for hisself or herself or grant a small bonus to all the other PCs. Both choices reflect the core focus of that profession. For example, a warrior can choose between driving deeper into combat or helping their friends from harm in that combat. It's a simple dilemma and flavours each PC in a way that abilities would not.
3. Each PC has a Harmony score. This represents the central idea that the PCs are part of a community and in balance with nature (a common theme in the genre). If Harmony is high the the PC gets an advantage and if low a disadvantage. If it gets really low the PC becomes a Dire Animal. The cool thing about this is in what changes Harmony. Violence causes disharmony, as does magic and other unnatural things. Celebration is the easiest way to increase Harmony. This can be a party, but can also be work together or giving a gift (or sharing the bonus outlined above with the other PCs). I really love the way this promotes the themes of the RPG and is a positive guide for young players.
I am considering running Cairn at Adventure Squad for the reasons above. There are very few RPGs that I actually think work well for young players, even amongst those that are meant to be aimed at them. But Cairn is the first since Far Away Land that really has my attention for the purpose.