Bathtub Reviews are an excuse for me to read modules a little more closely. I’m doing them to critique a wide range of modules from the perspective of my own table and to learn for my own module design. They’re stream of consciousness and unedited critiques. I’m writing them on my phone in the bath.

Whiskers in the Wind is a 42 page module for Mausritter by Hugh Lashbrooke, with art by Fernando Salvaterra, Louie M. Salvaterra, and Oozejar. In it you are are lay like in a dark fairytale forest.

The simplicity of the design here makes it very easy to describe: There’s a very evocative one-page introduction, then 17 one-page points of interest with a succinct and useful Description/What’s happening/who’s there structure, each accompanied by a full colour illustration. Then we have rules for moving between them (a spread, including random encounters) and then a list of 6 simple factions, a 10 page bestiary, and then finish with a page of advice. It’s a gorgeous “my first sandbox” for kids.

Damn, Whiskers in the Wind is a big step forward for Hugh Lashbrooke in terms of production, I’ve got to say. My first impressions are that compared to his previous (already good) work Kiwi Acres and 10 Downing Street, the writing here is very moody and evocative, the art is absolutely spectacular, and the layout is a lot more polished, while maintaining a similar, children’s story vibe with broad margins, soft palettes and large typefaces. I love to see creators developing their style and collaborations.

That said, the storybook style, as I’ve said before about Kiwi Acres, has its flaws. I’d like a little more of everything — just a little. Perhaps some characters and goals associated with the factions; some additional traits or relationships associated with the characters. But also, I think these are explicitly aimed at children, so would they want these things? Maybe not. Certainly, I run Mausritter with 4 and 6 year olds, and this is plenty for that demographic; they roleplay like bulls in china shops, running from scene to scene and place to place, with little regard for the integrity of the world. I don’t need to be supported in consistency like I do running for adults.

Ok, so I think it’s worth pausing there and saying: I’m probably going to buy this in print when it’s available, and run it for my kids, who have expended all of the Estate and have moved onto Kiwi Acres. This is the perfect module to pop in the queue. “Improving” this module doesn’t improve anything for me as a referee running it for young kids. But it’s worth talking about why I don’t feel like I’d run this for adults, and that’s because many of those 27 locations feel like they deserve an entire module this size entirely dedicated to them. For example: “An imposing bell tower surrounded by giant pumpkins, home to an enigmatic hermit who is said to see the future.” is the entire description for one location; “A sprawling network of underground tunnels carved out by industrious rodents, teeming with hidden passages and long-forgotten secrets.” is another. They’re screaming for expansion, right? They read like the back cover of an entire module. This is most of the locations, if I’m to be honest. Now, if I’m running for kids, this level of detail is plenty. If I’m running for adults, I need to have connections to the oracle, and a secret story there. I need to have a map of the tunnels, or a way of navigating them. If you were to expand on Whiskers in the Wind, you’d have something the size and depth of Valley of Flowers, but as is you need to improvise these locations, and I’d honestly like to see them expanded further.

The big challenge I think in running this as it stands is the lack of direction it provides the players. There are no rumours; there is no primary quest. It’s purely a sandbox. It’s not entirely directionless, though: The rumour table here is the encounter table; here you might learn of the blight at the mill by encountering mill workers, or meet a graveyard ghost that wants to go home. But there are no page references, or indications. That ghost doesn’t have a home anywhere in the module, but the mill workers do work in a real mill with a real problem. This runs up against the issue with hyperdiegesis I wrote about the other week: How do I know to flick through my book for the mill, but not to flick through it imagining I’ve forgotten the graveyard ghost? Now, I can search for this easily in digital, but on paper, the lack of referencing makes this a fairly impenetrable problem to encounter. This might not matter when I’m running for a 4 and 6 year old; on the other hand, often the kids are presented very clear choices to choose between, and here I have to do a lot more work to provide these for them here. It might be a deal breaker, though, if I was running for adults who look for consistency.

Irregardless, Whiskers in the Wind is a strong Mausritter module, perfect for running for children, the art and layout has been taken up a level, and if you’re running out of Mausritter content like I am, there’s no good reason not to pick it up. If you’re running Mausritter for adults, you’re going to have to prepare yourself for a lot of work (if that’s what you love doing, all power to you and your schedule) to expand on the gaps in these lovely locations.

Addendum: Since the release of this review, Hugh Lashbrooke has made some additions in an update. Check it here!

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