It looked like it would be fun, especially for those of us who remember Bunnies and Burrows, and even as adults enjoy books and movies like Watership Down, The Secret of NIMH, and The Lion King.
The characters are non-anthropomorphic animals, gifted somehow with sentience and an awareness above and beyond that of normal animals. I may just be silly, but the idea of a game like this has long appealed to me. It might be fun to run a game where just crossing the street can be an adventure!
I sort of half-seriously ran this by my game group as something to run in the early afternoon before my regular games. This is, BTW, the group that played a one-off of Macho Women With Guns d20 by Mongoose Publishing and insisted that the guy who ran it as a lark actually turn it into a campaign (which he did, and which is still ongoing). They seem to have a thing for the occasional unusual or oddball game as a welcome change of pace from orc-bashing and dungeon-crawling.
We made up characters this past Saturday night.
I will be using True20, having printed out only the relevent "setting info" from the eco PDF. I will use animal stat blocks as the basis for creating character backgrounds. To keep things somewhat balanced, player-cheracters can be no larger than Small. That also keeps the group of heroes somewhat manageable in the more-or-less urban setting of the game. I also plan to add a little more mysticism into the game than the core eco book by allowing adepts (using a system of home-brewed, low-key psycic powers), "native american" style animal spirits (i.e. outsiders), and maybe even some fey and/or elementals.
The heroes of Gaia we have are:
America: Eagle War4. America is brave, proud, fond of blackberries, and dislikes Wal-Mart. She frequently delivers bundles of sticks to the roof of that establishment for reasons known only to her.
Arsenal: Skunk Adp4. He is unimpressed with physical strength and can be quite intimidating even without his natural abilities. He is psychic, and has powers of pyrokinesis. Arsenal’s player likes to call him “a weapon of mass distraction.”
Bandit: Raccoon Exp4. Bandit is a typical raccoon, albeit an Aware one. He is sly, sneaky, and obsessed with shiny things. He keeps his fur matted with mud in order to hold his most priced possessions (broken glass, bottle caps, etc.). Bandit is knowledgeable about human devices.
Buddha: Ferret Exp2. Buddha is an escaped pet who is an expert at understanding humans. Buddha is something of a savant, and his skills with human tools is staggering even to the other Champions of Gaia. Case in point: he has an email address and a MySpace blog. Unfortunately since he has escaped the domestic life he no longer has regular access to them.
Loki: Ferret Exp3. Loki is a close friend of Buddha. She is a master of stealth and subterfuge, but is awkward and shy around those she doesn’t know. (Loki’s player is very new to gaming. As a matter of fact, this is her first gaming experience ever. She sat in to watch the first session and it seemed like so much fun that she wanted to join the second.)
Needler: Groundhog Adp2. Needler is quiet and unobtrusive. He is psychic, and has powers of psychic healing. He tries to be fair in his dealings, and has a reserve of courage that surprises those who don’t know him. (The players really tried to get Needler’s player to make the character a porcupine instead of a groundhog. The irony of the group’s healer being a porcupine sounded like so much fun for them — especially with a name like Needler! The player really wanted a groundhog, though, so that’s what he is.)
Omtuln: Opossum War3. (I think. The player keeps his character sheet.). Omtuln has lived in the wild all his life and knows little of humans. He doesn’t like cats, and is a skilled combatant.
Rocko: Dog War1. Rocko is an escaped pet who the Champions of Gaia encountered wandering in the woods. Wayfarer invited him to join them and, having nothing better to do, he did so. (The player named a specific breed, but I don’t recall what it was at the moment. The player has only played once so far, and I know very little about the character. I’ll update this entry when I know more about the character’s personality and motivations.)
Shadow: Bobcat Adp2/War2. Shadow is a courageous bobcat, and is more than willing to take on opponents much larger than himself if need be. Like Omtuln, he has lived primarily in the wild and does not know much about human ways. He is psychic, and has powers of telekinesis.
Skrat: Squirrel Exp4. (I think. The player keeps his character sheet.). Skrat has been described as “half-crazed.” He claims to come from a place called Mississippi, but none of the others know what he is talking about. Skrat is nervous and edgy, and obsessed with acorns. (Skrat has a multitude of inspirations: Ray Stevens, the Ice Age movies [obviously], and the frenetic squirrel Hammy from Over the Hedge.)
Wayfarer: Raccoon Adp2/Edp6. Wayfarer is my NPC. She is an advisor, counselor, mentor, and experienced Champion of Gaia. She acts as the voice of reason, trying to guide the young Champions away from actions that could endanger them.
The following characters are essentially out of the story. The players haven’t attended the last several sessions.
Moth-Caller: Bat Adp4. Moth-Caller is standoffish and a somewhat rude. He is psychic, and has powers of telekinesis and psychic attack and has no compunction against using them against his allies as well as his enemies. He is an outcast, and is trying to start his own colony of Aware bats like himself. He got his name from his ability to speak with moths.
Rudy: Groundhog Exp1. Rudy is well-connected and keeps his paws involved in the rumors and legends of the area. Little transpires in the world about which Rudy does not hear. (Rudy’s player likes to make the comment that he “has a lot of connections in the ‘underground.’”)
Anyway ... I will most likely run the first session this coming Saturday, and will post the campaign logs here.
