New Amsterdam! A teeming metropolis of some five million humans, living their daily lives, working, playing... and being preyed upon by the criminal element. Theft. Arson. Kidnapping. Murder. All of these happen; and there's only so much that the local police force can handle. Some times, some crimes just slip through the cracks.

That is where your team comes in. No case too big, no case too small; whether a little girl's cat is kidnapped, or whether an invisible man has been emptying out the city's bank vaults; you're the ones who take the case. When skyscrapers start boogying; when alien spaceships land on Earth; when the city's art museum vanishes and leaves no clues; always, always, it's your team that's on the spot.

Maybe you're on the team because you can't bear to see someone taken advantage of. Maybe you're on the team because you have an innate sense of justice. Or maybe you're on the team because you just want to bust some villain's heads.

There's one little catch, though. You're a group of rodents, in a world where the humans haven't worked out yet that animals are sentient. Mice, chipmunks, squirrels; up to you.

And the safety of the city rests on your tiny shoulders.

I'm looking for four, maybe five characters; using a slightly modified version of the Fate system. (Said slight modification is mostly due to your relatively small size; no matter how high your Might skill, you're not going to be ripping the hatch off a tank with your bare hands. Well. Unless you find a way to magnify your strength, of course.)

The most important part of character creation, however, is your aspects. An aspect can be anything about your character; about how he behaves (Easily Distracted, Sense of Justice), about how he looks (Hair of Gold, Always Neat), about his likes (Cheese Addiction) or dislikes (Hates Salesmen); anything. In the end, you will be able to choose ten of these. (You may also get one or more free aspects, depending on your species; for example; squirrels get the "Thick Bushy Tail" aspect for free. Generally, the species free aspects reflect something that is true for all members of your species.)

An aspect can be used in several ways. It can be invoked to either reroll or add two to a given roll, at a cost of one Fate point. You can tag an aspect, either on the scenery or on someone else's character; at the cost of one Fate point. You can straight out declare that something is the case; again, at the cost of one Fate point (and it must be reasonable). Or your aspects can be compelled; and that may gain you a Fate point.

To give an example; a character, a mouse, has the aspect Cheese Addiction.

- He's been bound hand and foot by a villain intent on doing him harm; but the villain has made the mistake of leaving a piece of cheese nearby. He may invoke his aspect to gain a +2 on an attempt to burst his bonds and eat the cheese. This costs him one Fate point.

- He's been knocked unconscious and will be crushed in a moment. Another character can tag his aspect (by calling out "Look! Cheese!", for example) in order to wake him up before he's crushed. If Mr. Mouse accepts this, then he gains a Fate point (and the other character loses one)

- He's sneaking along quietly; but someone's left a cheese sandwich nearby. He can be Compelled with his aspect to break cover and get at the cheese; if he accepts the Compel, he gains a Fate point. If not, then he must spend a Fate point to escape the compel. If he elects to spend a Fate point, then I can increase his compel to two Fate points; if he accepts, he gains two fate points, but it costs two Fate points to refuse this Compel (and following a two-point compel will always lead to disaster). A compel can go up to three points, but accepting one of those is very, very dangerous.

- Alternatively, he can simply make a declaration. For example; he's trying to track down a notorious rat mobster who's been stealing the city's cheese supplies, and who is hidden somewhere in the area. He can invoke his Cheese Addiction and simply declare, at a cost of one Fate point, that he can smell the villain's cheese stash, and thus track down his hideout.

Now; how do you get Fate points? From compels, usually; you'll start with several in hand (equal to the number of aspects that you have chosen), and on regular occasion you'll refresh to the same total number of Fate points again.

To create a character, you'll need a name, a species, and a basic concept.

As an example, allow me to present one of the original Rescue Rangers, Monteroy Jack (more commonly known as "Monty"). Species: Mouse. The general concept here is the Big Guy; a large mouse who enjoys a good fight.

Next, you would take your character through five phases.

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The first phase would be Background. What were his parents like? How big is his family? How well does he get along with them? Note down a brief summary of this phase, what happened, and your character can take up to two aspects tied to his upbringing or to events in this phase:

Example, Monty: Monty grew up with parents who never stayed in one place for long; always on the move, always looking for new horizons, new adventures, new cheese. He grew up, as many do, to emulate the habits of his parents. He learnt from them that charging in without a plan often works... and the best way to travel on the cheap.

Aspects: World traveller: Monty has been everywhere, either with or without his parents. And he has the stories to prove it, too.

Who Needs A Plan?: Monty has a habit of charging in - to any situation - without needing, or wanting, a plan.

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Phase 2: Standing On Your Own

This phase is your character's first major adventure on his or her own; the first time he has had to face an enemy, solve a crime, or otherwise handle something all by himself. Once again, a brief summary, up to two aspects. If you can provide a brief title for the adventure, all the better.

Example, Monty: Trouble in Trampolonia: As Monty is travelling through the Spanish town of Trampolonia, he runs into trouble; in the form of a particularly large and fierce bull, El Emenopio, who threatens to destroy the town. Being Monty, he rushes in without a plan... and is immediately, and soundly, thrashed. (A mouse against a bull; what other result can one expect?) He attempts to flee, but runs into a mouse merchant's cart, slowing him down... and then, at the last minute, El Emenopio slips on a piece of cheese and falls of a bridge, landing in a fish barge, and is not seen again. None of the other mice had seen the ending; Monty was declared a hero, much to his embarrassment. He's been grateful to cheese ever since.

Aspects: Strange Luck: Both the merchant's cart and the cheese slippage are a result of Monty's luck being quite active... good or bad.

The Legend is Larger than Life: All of Monty's stories about his past exploits have been expanded on and embroidered, occasionally beyond recognition. Sometimes by him, and sometimes by others. This could be a problem if he's ever called upon to equal one of his past deeds...

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The third phase is very similar to the second; a story, centered around your character (though, this time, there is an excellent chance of other characters joining in as well). Once again, a title would be excellent; up to two aspects can be taken.

Example: Monty: Almost Married. This story starts with Monty, now a seasoned adventurer, finding out about a crime in Paris... mice making fake cheesecake out of cardboard and cheese sauce, a crime against cheese-lovers everywhere. Monty tracks them down, and beats up the gang... and then he meets her. Desiree D'allure, a French mouse who steals his heart.

Unfortunately, on the way to the church on his wedding day (some time later), he passes by a truck full of his first love, cheese... and when he wakes up later, his stomach full of cheese, he's an hour late for his own wedding. Hopping out of the truck, he runs for the church... but the last he sees of Desiree is her sitting on the rear bumper of a departing taxi.

Aspects: Cheese addiction: If he smells it, he'll eat it. Cheddar, Swiss, Brie, Colby, Mozarella... he'll compare them sometimes, claim that one is better than the other, but when it gets right down to it "They're all my favourite!" The smell of cheese will often lead him into more trouble than it's worth... but, like any addiction, he just can't seem to break it.

Lost Love: Desiree will always live on in Monty's memory... the girl who he almost married.

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Stages four and five consist of guest starring in other people's stage three adventures. Once again, two aspects per stage maximum; you can take fewer, of course.

Example: Monty: Mind Your Cheese And Q's (guest starring in Gadget's stage-three adventure): When the gangster, Rat Capone, offered Gadget a chance to take a position as his moll, and she refused, he (like any good villain) put her on a death trap... a conveyor belt leading to certain doom at the wire of a cheese slicer.

The only person in a position to save her life was Monty. Unfortunately, Capone had a piece of cheese at hand... and tried to lure Monty away from her.

For once in his life, Monty briefly won over his cheese addiction, walloped Capone with it, and pulled Gadget off the conveyor belt in the very nick of time.

Aspects: Loyal to his friends
(2nd aspect not taken)

Once this is done, it's time to pick out skills and stunts: refer to the Fate pages for a full list of skills and stunts. Basically, a character needs one skill at Superb (+5), two at Great (+4), three Good (+3), four Fair (+4) and five Mediocre (+5). For example, Monty might have:

+5: Fists
+4: Might, Endurance
+3: Contacting, Intimidation, Survival
+2: Resolve, Pilot, Weapons, Athletics
+1: Burglary, Alertness, Drive, Empathy, Mysteries

The placement of Fists in the +5 slot reflects his preference for unarmed, mouse-to-mouse combat; placing Endurance at +4 also helps his to survive any fights he might get into. Burglary at +1 enables him to pick simple locks with his prehensile tail (from being a mouse); occasionally useful. His world travels have resulted in him knowing people everywhere (Contacts, +3) and having heard a bit about almost everything (Mysteries, +1).

Stunts: Once again, refer to the Fate pages for the full list. Take care when choosing them; most of the stunts in section 6.28.1 (beasts) won't work in this setting (everyone is a rodent, so being able to communicate with rodents is nothing special), and several others may be less relevant (for example, a chipmunk can ordinarily climb surfaces a mouse cannot; a chipmunk with the "Human Spider" (or "Chipmunk Spider") stunt would be able to climb surfaces another chipmunk cannot, such as a vertical glass wall in the rain, but even without the stunt a chipmunk has no trouble climbing straight up a wooden surface). If I see a problem in a specific stunt, I'll alert the player in question.

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And, finally, I'll want the answers to two more questions:

- What is your character's greatest wish?
- What is your character's greatest fear?

...Anybody interested?

You and your tiny PCs. :D

Hmm...tell you what; if you can scare up a few more players, I'll flesh out an ecology-minded rat I've been toying with.

I'll think on it. I need something else to do in my spare time but right now I'm creatively drained so I don't know if I can easily come up with a concept I'd enjoy playing.

Is this an expression of interest, or merely a passing comment?



I shall see what I can do.



Okay. What sort of characters do you enjoy playing in general?

It really depends on the game that I'm playing at the time. The rules of the game, the setting of the game, stuff like that. Generally my characters are competent at combat and are somewhat supportive in nature. If this were D&D I would fight tooth and nail for the right to be the group's designated cleric. That way I could support the team by providing spells of healing and still feel pretty useful in combat.

for a first online RPG this looks interesting.... the system is similar to the one used in ars magica, so it should'nt be tough to work with. I'm thinking a mouse raised by that brilliant scientist/artist/engineer: Jeff de Boer! (I actualy know the guy, he does good work.) especialy foucusing on the "space stuff" although, basic iron mongery and strength at arms with the sword and lance is absolutly manatory.
any thoughts?

Balthazar T. Black

Moar like New Hamsterdam lolololololol.

Hmmm. Something with claws, maybe - a squirrel or a chipmunk - or possibly a hedgehog? Medical attention usually requires the Science skill (but you can get away with herbal remedies with the right stunt).

Magic does exist in this universe, but it is incredibly rare (in that 99% of people think it doesn't). So healing spells won't really be common...

Hmmm... looking over the Fate page, you could invest heavily in stealth and take the Hush stunt, allowing those with you to sneak about as quietly as you do; or you might simply invest heavily in the combat tactic of throwing sand in their eyes to try to stop an enemy from hitting anyone.



Mouse engineer certainly fits. Humans who can understand other species are rare (possibly because most people, hearing an animal talk, think they're going crazy); but there are a few, here and there (who generally don't mention it to the other humans much).

If you're going marching around in full armour, it'll slow you down, but no cat will dare to try to swallow you; always a bonus (especially given that at least one crime lord in this city is a cat). As for the lance, though; who are you going to ride on while charging?

Nothing wrong with the sword, though.



The humans who named the city don't know about their diminutive protectors, unfortunately.

Passing comment. Rescue Rangers was okay, but I didn't like it enough to want to be a rat.

You want to do NIMH, call me.

I'd love to join, but I don't know how useful I'd be, as I have no familiarity with Fate or with Rescue Rangers.

That would be cool. But no I have better ideas that I don't have time to execute than that.

Ooh! Ooh! Really big scorpion! That's what you should ride!