Diesel Mouse

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CREDITS AND LICENSE

FirstFableWritten by Matthew McFarlandArt by Charlie Bates

Developed by Sean Patrick FannonEdited by Carinn SeaboltArt Direction by Pauline Benney and Katie McCaskillDesign by Pauline BenneyAdditional Material by Stephan Wieck

Diesel Mice

Written by Sam DrostArt and Layout by Sam Drost

Creative Commons License; Some Rights Reserved. Thiswork is licensed under the Creative CommonsAttributionNoncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 UnportedLicense. To view a copy of this license, visit:

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What this means is that you are free to copy, share, andremix the text and artwork within this book under thefollowing conditions:

1) you do so only for noncommercial purposes;2) you attribute OneBookShelf, Inc.;

3) you license any derivatives under the same license.



TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction........................................................................7The World Of Mice............................................................. 9Gameplay Overview...........................................................11System Overview................................................................13Mouse Creation.................................................................. 15

Mouse Types....................................................................... 21A Quick Tour.......................................................................27Friends And Foes................................................................29Sample Special Things.......................................................33Rules.....................................................................................35Running The Game............................................................ 43Adventure: Raid On The Steel Mill..................................47What Next?......................................................................... 50

Appendix: SecondFable.....................................................52



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Diesel Mice is a game built on the FirstFable system byOneBookShelf, inc. Just like FirstFable, Diesel Mice isreleased under the Creative Commons Attribution

Noncommercial Share Alike license. As such you arefreely allowed to use, add to, and release your ownmodifications to this book.

Diesel Mice is designed to be simple enough that it canbe used to introduce 8 to 12 year olds to the activity of roleplaying. Diesel Mice is designed with the intention of taking the FirstFable framework and building a setting

reminiscent of many animated films (specifically, thosedealing with mice living in a world just below the noticeof the human world).

The rest of this book explains how to customizecharacters and how the game system works. It alsoprovide advice for running the game, keeping the playersengaged, and making sure everyone has fun. Finally, itfinishes off with Raid On The Steel Mill, an introductory

adventure. To run a game of Diesel Mice, you’ll need this

INTRODUCTION



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book and a handful of six-sided dice (you can get these at

many “big box” stores for very little money, or you canbuy cool-looking colored dice from game stores — thelove of multicolored dice starts early!).

For those of you familiar with FirstFable, there are a fewchanges from the original rules. The biggest change isthat Diesel Mice does not make use of Character Books.There are character types included in this book in the

Mouse Types chapter. Also, Special Things andWeaknesses have been reworked a little bit. The rules-as-written in FirstFable made you use Stars from SpecialThings and then optionally add a dice roll to them.Instead of that, in Diesel Mice you roll the dice, and thendecide if you want to add Stars from the Special Thing.Also, Special Things provide Permission (a concept thathas been discussed in the Fate community) meaning that

Special Things may not mechanically influence a roll, butstill give the ability to make the roll when a characterwithout that Special Thing would not be given even achance. Using a Weakness recharges a Star on a SpecialThing. Finally, there is an appendix on AdvancedFirstFable system that is designed to be used as a nextstep for roleplayers who find FirstFable a little too simple.



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All through history, mice have been technologically aheadof humans. They must be because there are elements of human society that are more than willing to steal the

technology from mice and spread propaganda that miceare actually pests and contribute to an unhealthyenvironment. It is now the late 19th century, andhumanity is making great progress with the high-pressure steam engine (which humans stole from mousedesigns almost 90 years ago), but mouse technology hasmoved on. They have had the internal combustion engine

for decades and are on the verge of splitting the atom.The Society for Human Technological Progress, is ahuman secret society that studies mice and tries to learnfrom them. Unfortunately, the methods they use arerather extreme; capture and torture (explained asexperiments on lab mice to the general humanpopulation). Of course, various members of the Societywill claim the inventions as their own to keep up the

masquerade.

THEWORLD OFMICE



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Because of the Society, mouse cities tend to be located

in underground caverns with small entrances that areimpassible to humans. The greatest mouse city is NewMusculdon. New Musculdon is the capital of the MusinNation. The locations of mouse cities are one of thebiggest secrets that mice keep from the Society because if the Society ever learned of the location, they would neverstop until they had captured the city and wrenched every

bit of technology that they could from it.The various outbreaks of bubonic plague from the mid4th century all the way through today are actually warswaged between mice and men. Human propaganda tellsthe populace that it is fleas transmitting the virus fromrodents to humans, but it is actually the development of anti-human weapons by the mice.



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GAMEPLAY OVERVIEW

A game of Diesel Mice is played with a group. This can bearound a table or through various online resources suchas a chat room or a forum. However, since the main

purpose of the game is parents playing with theirchildren, the focus of this overview will assume that ishow it will be played.

To begin with you'll need a few things:A handful of six-sided dice. These can be bought at a

store, or simply borrowed from a board game. You canplay with just a handful for everyone, but it works better

if you have a handful (6-7 should be enough) per person.Character sheets. Each player will need their owncharacter sheet for him or her to keep track of his or herown character. You can make copies of the charactersheet found at the end of this book.

Something to write with (preferably a pencil) for eachplayer. Note taking is pretty important when playing anRPG, and of course, keeping the character sheet updated

is neccessary as well.



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Once you have gathered everything, it's time to play.

Playing Disel Mice involves everyone gathering togetherand telling a story. The story will involve the mice createdby the players and will be guided by the Grown-up (alsoknown as a GM in other RPGs and abbreviated as GU inDiesel Mice).

The players take a turns narrating a part of the storythat involves his or her mouse performing an action. That

action can be anything from going to a different locationto talking to another mouse. Sometimes the GU willinterrupt the narration because the action is possible butnot easy, and will tell the player to roll dice for his or hermouse. When that happens, the GU will tell the playerwhat Stat to use, and the player will choose a Shine thatapplies (if there is one), and also the player will decide if there is a Weakness that applies.

Once, that is done, the player rolls the dice and countshow many of the dice rolled Stars. If there are any Stars,the mouse succeeded at the action and the number of Stars tells how well the mouse did. If there are no Stars,then the mouse failed to perform the action in some way.

The rest of this book goes into more detail about how toplay this game and the world that Diesel Mice live in.



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This chapter is going to introduce you to a few of thebasic concepts in Diesel Mice. This is just an overview andthese concepts are explained in more detail throughout

the rest of the book.Bonus Dice: Throughout the book, there are various

outcomes and actions that will give a character aBonus Die. A Bonus Die is a single die that can beadded to any roll in the future, but they usually goaway if not used by the end of the Adventure

Challenge: A Challenge is an action where both success and

failure could happen and dice are used to determinewhich.Contested Challenge: This is a special type of Challenge

that pits two characters against each other to seewho can get the most Stars.

Dice Pool: A dice pool is a number of dice that are rolledat one time. Any dice that land on 4, 5, or 6 add Starsto the result.

Fight: A special type of Contested Challenge where two

SYSTEM OVERVIEW



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characters are trying to Hurt each other.GU: The Grown-Up. The Grown-Up is the person

responsible for deciding when dice need to be rolledand what the results of those rolls mean. Also, theGrown-Up plays all the characters that are not PCs.

Hurt: If you take more Stars in damage than yourhighest Stat, then you are Hurt and take a new

Weakness and have -1 Stars to all Challenges.NPC: A Non-player Character. This is a character thatthe GU is in charge of and not the players.

PC: A Player Character. Most players will have onecharacter that they are in charge of.

Result: The number of Stars left after everything isaccounted for when performing any type of Challenge.

Shine: A Shine is something your character is good at.

Special Thing: A Special Thing is something that isn't aStat and doesn't really make sense as a Shine, but ishelpful to the players. Special abilities, Gadgets, andPets would all be Special Things. Special Things canalso add Stars to a result.

Star: Stars are used for Challenge Results. How manyStars you get determines how well you did. Stars can

also represent how much damage you have taken.Stat: There are three Stats; Strong, Fast, and Smart.These, along with Shines and Weaknesses, determinehow many dice you roll in a Challenge.

Task: A Task isan action wherefailurewon'thappen so dice arenot neededtodetermine ifthe character succeedsorfails.

Weakness: A Weakness is something that yourcharacter is bad at, or a situation that makes your

character not do as well as normal.



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Before you can play Diesel Mice, you need a mouse. Miceare created by the players and act as the players'character in the game. The GU does not need to create a

single mouse to play, but instead creates all the othermice, animals, and people that the players' mice will meetand interact with.

Playing A Non-mouseWhile the assumption is that you will be creating a

mouse character, there are other options. Anycreature that is roughly mouse-sized is viable forplay in Diesel Mice. If you'd like to play somethingdifferent talk to your Grown-Up about it and seewhat you can come up with together.

You can find more about creating non-mousecreatures in the chapter named Running TheGame on page 39.

MOUSE CREATION



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Mouse Creation OverviewThese are the steps to create a new mouse.

1. (Optional) Choose a Mouse Type2. Choose your mouse's Stats3. Answer a few questions about your mouse4. Decide where your mouse Shines5. Decide where your mouse is Slow

6. Create a Special Thing for your mouse

Optional: Choose Mouse TypeMouse Types are here to help you only if you need it. If

you already have an idea of what your mouse does, then you don't really need a Mouse Type. If you are havingsome trouble narrowing down all the possibilities, then

looking at the Mouse Types included might help you. Thisbook includes three character types: the Hunter, theExplorer, and the Inventor. There is a whole chapter onMouse Types on page 16.

Choose Your Stats

Every mouse has three Stats: Strong, Fast, and Smart. Youcan distribute nine points among the three of them. Justmake sure no Stat has fewer than two points.

What if I want to be really Fast? The highest your Fastcan be is 5 because that would put both Strong and Smartat 2. If you want to be even faster than that, then you'llneed to decide exactly how you're fast and make it aShine (Which is discussed in a later section). This goes for

all of the Stats.



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Answer These Questions• Is your mouse a girl or a boy?• What color is your mouse’s fur and does it have

any unique markings?• What does your mouse do?• What is your mouse afraid of?

Where Does Your Mouse Shine?Shines are actions your mouse is really good at and you getto choose three of them to start. Don't worry. You'll getmore as the game continues. The best Shines are ones thatevoke an action that your mouse will be doing often. Having"Sailing" as a shine is good if you are going to play high-seasadventures, but if your group is going to focus on adventures

in the city, then you should probably look at other Shines.

GU Tip: Using ShinesShines are one way of determining what yourplayers want to see happen while playing thegame. If a player does choose "Sailing" as a Shine,

then that means the player wants to see some sortof water-based action in the course of adventures.The same goes for Special Things.

You should have a list of your players' Shinesand Special things when designing the nextadventure and try to to use at least one Shine orSpecial Thing from each player's mouse persession (more than that is definitely better).



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Where Is Your Mouse Slow?Characters with no conflict are not interesting. We don'treally care about the character who never fails or has anyproblems because we have trouble identifying withcharacters like that. A character's weakness is whatmakes the character interesting, and the charactersucceeding in spite of that weakness is what makes the

story interesting. In Diesel Mice, this is represented by aWeakness.A Weakness is something that causes the mouse to not

do as well as normal. It might be something that yourmouse is afraid of, a handicap your mouse has, or evensomething your mouse simply isn't good at. For instance,a Hunter might have the Weakness "Afraid of water". If the Hunter has to track an animal across a creek, the

Hunter would need to overcome the Weakness in order tocontinue tracking the animal.

You get to choose one Weakness for your mouse. Once you've chosen your mouse's Weakness, record it on yourcharacter sheet and put a 1 by it. Whenever your mouse isin a situation where the Weakness is a factor, you willremove 1 die from your roll. Sometimes, a Weakness may

have a rating higher than 1 and will remove more dicewhen it is a factor in the situation.Having a weakness isn’t all bad, though. Anytime a

Weakness removes dice from your roll, you get torestore that many Bonus Dice after the Challenge hasended. In other words, you can’t get a Bonus Die fromusing a Weakness on a roll and then use it on the sameroll.



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Pick One Special ThingAll mice have Stats, Shines, and Weaknesses, but they alsohave a Special Thing. A Special Thing is something thatthe mouse has that other mice do not. It might be an itemlike a special gadget, or it might be a power that othermice do not have. Special Things can help you inChallenges by adding Stars to your result. For example, an

Explorer might have a grappling hook as a Special Thing,and it might help the mice out of a Challenge if they’retrapped in a cave.

You get to choose one Special Thing and itautomatically has five Stars. Whenever the Special Thingwould affect a dice roll, you can mark off one of theStars for the Special Thing and add a Star to the rollresult.

Character AdvancementA lot of RPGs feature character advancement as away of altering a character to be better at stuff.

Diesel Mice has a form of CharacterAdvancement as well called Teaching Moments.

Teaching Moments allow you to add or increasethe rating of a Shine. You can find more aboutthem in the Rules chapter on page 31.



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This chapter goes into common mouse types found in theworld of Diesel Mice. Each Type contains a description,gives suggestions on how each mouse type uses the three

Stats, has a few sample Shines, helps you create a SpecialThing for your mouse, and includes a few tips on playingthat mouse Type.

Making Up Your Own TypesChoosing one of these Types is optional. Types are

designed to help you find a unifying theme for your mouse, but that is only good if you don'talready have one. If you have an idea of who yourmouse is without needing a Type, then that isgreat and you should create your mouse with that,but If you want to creat your own Type, the mostimportant section is the "Playing A ...". That's thesection that tells you how characters of a Type act

which is important in a RPG.

MOUSE TYPES



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Hunter

Hunters enjoy getting out away from civilizationand making it on their own. Hunters prefer totrack down and capture exotic animals in far awayplaces.

Stats

Strong: Hunters use Strong if when they have tophysically capture the animals they track. It isn’tunusual to see a strong hunter actually wrestle ananimal to capture it instead of using a trap.

Fast: Hunters use Fast when they are chasing a wildanimal.

Smart: Hunters use Smart to out think the animals they

hunt, study the animals’ habits, and lay clever trapsto catch them.

Shines

Hunters like to be outdoors and so a lot of their shineshave to do with stuff you do outdoors.

Sample Shines: Camping, Hiking, Tracking

Special Thing

A Hunter’s Special Thing is usually a Tool that helps themtrack or catch animals.

What is your Tool?What does your Tool do to help you?

Where did you get your Tool?



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Playing A Hunter

Hunters like to be outside. We touched on this before,but Hunters track and catch wild animals. Wild animalsare outside, and that’s where Hunters go.

Hunters are tough. It’s not easy to be on your own andHunters do it all the time. They often look at non-Huntersas being a little weak compared to them.

Hunters love nature. To a Hunter, preserving nature isimportant. Wild animals won’t live if the natural world isdestroyed, and if there are no wild animals, the Hunterwon’t have anything to hunt.

ExplorerExplorer’sand Hunters are very similar. Bothlike to get awayfrom

modern civilization. However, while Hunters prefer to track downand capture wild animals. Explorers like to find and uncoverancient mysteries and go places where no one has gone before.That may mean discovering the ancient ruins of a long-deadcivilizationoneday,andmappinganunexploredcavethenext.

Stats

Strong: Explorers use strength to force their way pastobstacles. They also use strength to navigate trickyterrain like cliffs.

Fast: Explorers use Fast to dodge traps designed to keeptrespassers out of things like tombs and temples.

Smart: Explorers use Smart to figure out the best way toavoid the traps and get through the obstacles that

Strong and Fast help with.



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Shines

Explorers are good at knowing where they are at all times.If they didn’t they’d get lost and wouldn’t be Explorers forvery long.

Sample Shines: Climbing, Disabling traps, Squeezingthrough tight holes

Special ThingAn Explorer’s Special Thing is usually a Treasure that waspicked up on a previous adventure. To create yourTreasure, answer the following questions:

What is your Treasure?What does your Treasure do to help you?Where did you get your Treasure?

Playing An Explorer

Explorers are not afraid. Well, mostly. They are braverthan most people, but quite often they are scared of onething in particular. Usually something they would easilycome across in their explorations. For instance, an

explorer might be scared of bugs, and find a nest of bugsin a cave. What an Explorer is scared of makes a goodWeakness for the character.

Explorers seek knowledge. The reason they exploreplaces is to learn what’s there. An Explorer wants to goout there for the solely to go and discover what's outthere. An empty spot on a map, a missing descriptio thesethings are not acceptable to an Explorer, and he or she

will endeavor to discover what is there.



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Inventor

Scientific discovery is the life of mouse society. At theforefront of that is the Inventor. Inventors spend theirtime creating gadgets.

Stats

Strong: Most Inventors don’t have much use forstrength, but occasionally one might, if there was alarge machine that needed inventing.

Fast: Inventors don’t have much use for fast exceptwhen the brand new steam robot decides to run off and the Inventor has to chase it.

Smart: This is where Inventors shine. They like to buildnew contraptions and need smarts to figure out how.

Shines

Most Inventor Shines deal with building and creating newthings. Knowledge of how things work is also good.

Sample Shines: Building gadgets, Figuring out howgadgets work

Special Thing

An Inventor’s Special Thing is usually a Gadget that theInventor made in the past. To create your Gadget, answerthe following questions:

What is your Gadget?What does your Gadget help you do?

How did you create your Gadget?



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Playing An Inventor

Inventors love new machines. Anytime an Inventorcomes across a new type of machine, the Inventor willprobably tinker with it until they know how it works.

Inventors are a little odd. When most people meet anInventor, they will think the inventor is a little different.This is usually because the Inventor is thinking about a

gadget that can be built.



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New Musculdon is the default city for Diesel Micegames, but your group is encouraged to create theirown city.

New Musculdon was founded 450 years ago after Fred-erick Gray discovered the cavern that would become thesite of the most prosperous city in the world of mice.Since its founding, many mice have come to live within itsgates as a place of safety and opportunity. The city nowholds some 6 million mice of all walks of life and is thecenter for industry and commerce. The City Guard is

responsible for maintaining order in the city. The locationof New Musculdon, as with all mouse cities, is a closelyguarded secret from the Society.

One of the cavern chambers houses a large ventilationshaft that was bored through the top of the cavernchamber, and all new factories are built there so that theycan make use of the shaft to get rid of the fumes andexhaust. The shaft is one of the largest mouse-made

structures in the world.

A QUICK TOUR



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In its history, New Musculdon has had two major

expansions. The boundaries of the original city are calledNew Musculdon and extend to the original gates. Outsideof those gates is an area that is called Treseter. Thenewest area is called Greygate. Originally mice wishing totravel to New Musculdon had to travel from the surfacethrough the areas that are now Treseter and Greygate toenter New Musculdon. However, since the invention of

the submarine, most trade and travel is done by theunderground river that runs through New Musculdon,since this is safer than venturing to the mouth of thecavern system that contains New Musculdon. The cavethat contains New Musculdon is merely a very smallsection in a much larger cavern system.

When the population grew too dense for the originalboundaries. Land inside the city became more costly, and

most of the lower income families were forced to liveoutside the protection of the gates. The area they settledbecame known as Treseter. With the conversion of theriver to trade and travel purposes, much of NewMusculdon's industry and mercantile has moved backinto New Musculdon. The wealthy mice, not wanting tolive near the sounds and odors of these, have begun

settling the area known as Greygate. There are currentlyefforts to expand the area of Greygate using auto-moles toallow other wealthy mice to live there and make room fora planned move of the government buildings to Greygate.

The Pit is a large chasm, that no mouse has ever foundthe bottom of. It lies in Treseter and is where all the wastefrom the city ends up. The smell from the constant flow of sewage in this area is horrific, and only those that have no

other options live near The Pit.



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Following is a sample list of NPCs and Organizations togive an idea of what kind of mice inhabit the world of Diesel Mice. The GU should feel free to use any of them in

the game or simply take them as inspiration.

Knights Of The Claw

The Knights of the Claw are an ancient order of micethat transcend all national and regional boundaries.They are highly influential in politics and when one of

their members makes a suggestion, it is very rare forthat suggestion to go unheeded. However, influence isn’ttheir goal. Their only focus is protecting mice fromhumans. It has relatively few members for anorganization that is so influential. Because of theirinternational status, they come from many differentbackgrounds, and have access to techniques andtechnology from just about every group of mice in the

world.

FRIENDS AND FOES



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Sir Ivan BlakelawSir Ivan Blakelaw is the Grand Master and most visiblemember of the Knights of the Claw. He is knowninternationally for his wisdom. His father was also aGrand Master, and he grew up with the Knights. Hebecame a Knight at the age of 16, and was a critical to the

mouse victory at the Battle of Lansford.

The Regulators

The Regulators are essential to the mouse world. They arethe ones sent to obtain items needed from the humanworld. These items range from food, to industrial needslike steel or petroleum. They are also the ones responsible

for rescuing a mouse that has been captured by theSociety. The regulators are a part of the Knights of theClaw and being a Regulator is one of the most dangerous

jobs there is among the Knights. With the danger alsocomes a certain prestige. Most mice, when they meet a

Although there are many premises a campaigncould be built around, Diesel Mice is written withthe assumption that the players will be membersof the Regulators and will be spending a lot of timeadventuring in the human world. The awe andregard that other mice show a Regulator is akin tothat shown to special forces in the military.



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Regulator, will look at them in awe because of the

function that they perform.

The Red Pack

The Red Pack is composed primarily of red mice. Theyhave sold out mouse civilization to the Society inexchange for preferential treatment by the humans. The

Red Pack provides the Society with the latesttechnological advances and the Society, in return,provides the Red Pack with the resources needed tomaintain their civilization.

Because of this, most red mice are viewed withsuspicion among other mice, even if the red mouse hasnothing to do with the Red Pack.

The SocietyThroughout the ages, great men have made amazingdiscoveries, changing how we view the world around us,right? Wrong! The only thing these men have discoveredis that mice know a lot more than most people think.Nearly every technological breakthrough and scientific

discovery has come from mice.The Society for Human Technological Progress is thecurrent name of a secret society that has existed forthousands of years with the express purpose of capturingmice and learning everything they can from them.



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This chapter lists a number of Special Things appropriateto Diesel Mice. They can be used in your adventures oreven taken by a player during mouse creation. The Special

Things listed in this chapter give the name and adescription. They do not tell how many Stars each SpecialThing has. That is for the GU to determine whendesigning the adventure.

Automatons

The mice have created intelligent machines. Thesemachines are able to carry out simple tasks, but they mustbe programmed to perform each task. At most, anautomaton can carry the programming for a couple of simple tasks. They come equipped with photo-electricsensors, have pattern recognition, and basic mobilityprogramming hard coded in. There are a variety of interchangeable parts that ease the performance of

various common tasks.

SAMPLE SPECIAL THINGS



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AutomoleThe automole was designed by mice engineers to assist inmining. It resembles a giant, wheeled drill bit. It can drillthrough solid materials under its own power and is oftenused to dig the subterranean tunnels.

Humanoid MechaThe Humanoid Mech is used for special operations in thehuman world. It usually wears a heavy, full-body coat andwide brimmed hat that helps disguise its true nature. Itsface has been sculpted and painted to resemble a humanface. It is good enough to pass for human by anyone thatpasses it on a dark street, but anyone will noticeimmediately that it was not human if they interact with it

in the slightest way. Of course mice are always working toimprove their designs and hope to one day have a mechthat cannot be distinguished from a real human.

OrniplaneThe orniplane is a flying machine that was designed to

resemble birds. Mice use it to travel distances in the openand keep tabs on human society.

SubmarineThe submarine is used by mice to travel the oceansundetected by humans. This is important since TheSociety is constantly searching for mouse technology,

even in the open sea.



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There aren't many rules for Diesel Mice, and they covertwo types of actions; Tasks and Challenges. Tasks arethose simple things where failure is either not interesting

or very unlikely. However, if the failure of an action isinteresting or possible, then it's a Challenge and theplayer should roll dice to see if his or her mousesucceeded at the action.

Tasks

Tasks are simple actions that anyone should be able to dowithout a high chance of failure. Walking across the roomwould be a Task. However, if there is a reason that aseemingly simpl action has a chance of failure, then it is aChallenge. Walking across the room when it is on firecould easily be a Challenge. There is one other thingabout Tasks. If a character does a Task that would helphim or her succeed at a Challenge, then the player gets an

extra die to roll for that Challenge.

RULES



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ChallengesA Challenge is an action that has a reasonable chance of failure and where that failure is interesting. One questionthe GU should ask before declaring that an action is achallenge is "What happens if the character fails?" If there is no answer, or the answer is not interesting, thenthe GU should go ahead and declare it a Task. Once it is

declared a Challenge, though, it is time to pull out the diceand see if the character succeeded.The GU will tell the player what Stat is being used in the

Challenge, and the player will decide what, if any, Shinesand Weaknesses apply. The player will then add the Stat +Shines - Weaknesses to determine how many dice arerolled. Every die that lands on 4, 5, or 6 is a Star. If thereare no Stars then the character failed the Challenge. If

there is one or more Stars, then the character succeeded.How well the character performed is determined by thenumber of Stars. One Star means the character barelysucceeded and may have done something in the processthat will cause problems in a future Challenge. If there arethree Stars, then it is a complete success and there are nosetbacks that may result from the action. Five or more

Stars means that the character did very well and gains abonus die that can be used on a future roll. This bonus diemay disappear if it is not used by the end of the session.

Teaching MomentsThere is one thing about rolling dice. If all the diceresult in Stars, then the player gets a new point to

either add to a Shine or create a new Shine.



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Example Challenge

Reggie, an Explorer, is trying to climb down a shaft in acave. This is, obviously, a Strong roll. Reggie also has aShine in Exploring Caves, which applies, so Reggie adds adie from that. Her dice pool, then, is:

( S t r o n g ) 2 + ( E x p l o r i n g C a v e s ) 1 = 3

Reggie rolls the dice. She can’t do better than three

Stars, of course, but she’s got a good chance of succeeding.Result #1: Failure: Reggie rolls 2, 2, 3. That’s no Stars.

She starts going down the shaft and realizes it is toosmall for her to fit. She can just see a large chamberbelow her and will need to find another way to it.

Result #2: Success: Reggie rolls 4, 1, 5. That’s two Stars,so she succeeds. She makes it through the shaft and

is able to explore the chamber beyond it.Result #3: Teaching Moment: Reggie rolls 6, 6, 4. That’s

three Stars, so she makes it through the shaft, but it’salso a Star on every die! She gets to add a Shine. Sincethis action was pretty clearly a result of her ExploringCaves Shine, she adds one point to that. From now onshe’ll add two dice to rolls involving Exploring Caves.

Bonus DiceBonus Dice are a way of rewarding goodroleplaying with a mechanical benefit. There are afew rules that explicitly define when they are to behanded out, but the GU should use judgement atall times to decide if Bonus Dice should be given at

other times as well.



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Contest ChallengesContest Challenges are when two characters arecompeting with each other. Each player treats it like aChallenge and rolls their dice, but then whoever rolls themost Stars is the one that won the contest. To find outhow well the character won, subtract the losingcharacter's Stars from the winning character's Stars.

Example Contest Challenge

Timothy, a Hunter, gets into an argument with Reggie, anExplorer, over who is stronger. They decide to see whocan hold a heavy rock over his head longest to prove thepoint. Reggie’s player rolls Strong 2 + Mighty Arms 1 (3dice) Against Timothy’s Strong 2 (Tomothy does not have

any shines that count). Both players roll:Result #1: Timothy’s player rolls 1, 4. Reggie’s player rolls

2, 4, 6. Reggie’s player wins by one Star, and so sheholds onto the rock a little longer than Timothy.

Result #2: Timothy’s player rolls 4, 2. Reggie’s player rolls5, 2, 3. Both players rolled 1 success, so they both dropthe rock at the same time. They’ll need to have another

Contest if they want to determine a winner, or theycould just keep arguing about who’s stronger, whichsounds like more fun.

Result #3: Timothy’s player rolls 4, 5. Reggie’s player rolls 3, 5,6. Both players rolled two Stars, so they tie, but Timothy’splayer also rolled a Teaching Moment! Timothy holds thatrock up there for a long time, even though it’s clear thatReggie is stronger and having an easier time of it. When

they finally drop their rocks, everyone watching



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congratulates them and they’re amazed at Timothy’s

stamina. Timothy’s player adds Won’t Give Up 1 as a Shineunder Strong.

Special ThingsSpecial Things are one of the best ways to set charactersapart. They help define the character's inventory and

special abilities. Special Things can be used to help flavorany action, but where they really help on Challenges.

PermissionSpecial Things don’t only provide Stars that can beused. Even if a Special Thing has no Stars left, itcan still be give permission for certain Challenges.

Permission is the concept that there areChallenges that a mouse normally wouldn’t beallowed to participate in, but that the SpecialThing allows.

For instance, if a mouse has a Jetpack as a SpecialThing, then the mouse can use it to fly even if the

Jetpack has no Stars left.

Some Special Things only give Permission whilethey have Stars. For example, the Stars couldrepresent fuel in the Jetpack and once they aregone, the Jetpack no longer allows the mouse tofly.

What permissions and whether they are stardependent should be discussed beforehand, but alsoit's good to be flexible during play as well.



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A Special Thing used during a Challenge adds Stars to the

roll result. The player rolls the dice, then decides if theywant to add Stars to get a better result. Special Things donot have unlimited Stars to give though. Each Special Thinghas a number of Stars available, and those Stars get used upas they add to rolls. If a Special Thing has no Stars left, thenit cannot be used to add Stars during a Challenge. Using aWeakness on an action can recharge a Star that has been

used up once the action is over.The GU may allow Special Things to recharge in otherways, if it's appropriate. Also, some special things maydisappear after all its Stars are used up.

FightA Fight is a Challenge that involvesan attempt to inflict injury.

Most Fights are Contests because the target of the injury usuallywill try to avoid being injured. Generally, a character will useStrongor Fast in a Fight, but Smart can be used if it makes sense.

During a Fight, an attacker will roll against a defender. If theattacker has more stars, the defender marks the differencebetween the two rolls off of his or her Damage Stars. Acharacter can choose at any time that he or she has taken

enough damage and quit the Fight, but if the number of Starsmarked off is more than the character's highest Stat, thecharacter is Hurt and has -1 to all Challenges. Also, thecharacter gains a new Weakness that is appropriate to how heor she got hurt.

Characters always have a chance to defend against anattack, but can only make one attack per round. Onceevery character has had a chance to make an attack, a

new round begins.



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The RechargeAt the beginning of each adventure, there is a Recharge.This is where characters are mostly reset. Any charactersthat are Hurt are no longer Hurt (although the associatedWeakness may or may not stay around). Also, any SpecialThings' with used up Stars are given fresh Stars.



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If you're the Grown-Up then you're responsible for guiding thestory that the rest of the group tells. It's important to rememberthat you are a guide and not a leader. As a guide, you shouldn't

dictate where to go, but rather listen to where the group wantsto go and help them to get there. There are a couple of specific

jobs thatyou'll be responsiblefor thatarelisted below:

1. Create the world2. Create the adventures3. Play the other characters4. Adjudicate the rules

Creating The WorldDiesel Mice is a setting of mouse-based pulpy optimism, but thegame one group plays will be differ from the game anotherplays. It's your job to take the elements of Diesel Mice thatexcite you and your group, and mix them with whatever otherelements from other sources that you and your group want to

see ina game, andturn all those elementsintoa cohesive whole.

RUNNING THE GAME



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It is okay to include the whole group as part of this

process. Simply go around the table and ask for thingsthey think would happen or be in a world inhabited bymice.

Create The AdventuresOnce you have created your world, it is time to create

adventures. Generally, An adventure should last no morethan a session or two, and should include a specificproblem that with a specific conclusion. Think of it as anepisode of Star Trek. There is a problem that the crew hasto deal with, but by the end of the episode everything isback to normal for the most part, and the crew is readyfor the next episode that will have its own problem.

Making Non-miceA player may come to you and want to play a

non-mouse. This is perfectly fine, as long as thenon-mouse can interact with the mouse world in ameaningful way. Non-mice get two things: Anextra Shine or Special Thing, and a Weakness.

These are decided by the GM and not by theplayer. Below are a few sample non-mice:Rat: Shine: Extra strong, Weakness: Kind of dumbBat: Special Thing: Flight, Weakness: Sensitive to

lightChameleon: Shine: Natural camouflage,

Weakness: Cold-blooded



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Play The Other CharactersCreating other characters is pretty easy. Most characterssimply need a few notes about what they know, whatthere personality is, and why they are important to theplayer's mice. Since it is unlikely the players will enter aContest with them, they don't need any Stats, Shines,Weaknesses, or Special Things.

However, there will be times that the players do want tooppose another character. In those cases you must decidehow important the character is. There are three levels of importance with these types of characters; Mook,Henchman, and Big Bad.

Mooks are pretty simple and should be easy for theplayers to overcome. Simply pick a couple of things theMooks are good at and give them a rating 1 or 2 below the

players' average. Mooks rarely will take more than 1 or 2Stars of damage before dropping out of a Fight.

Henchmen are a little tougher than mooks. They canput up a fight that is about equal to any single player. So,pick a couple of things the Henchman is good at and givethem a rating as high as the highest rating the playershave. Henchmen will usually take as much damage as

their rating before dropping out of a Fight.Big Bads are tough and usually take the efforts of all theplayers to defeat. They should have ratings high enoughthat the players will need to work together or performTasks to gain bonus dice to defeat. Big Bads ratings areusually 3-5 dice higher than the highest rating that theplayers have, and will take the same amount of damagebefore dropping out.



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Keep In Mind The InfluencesThere are a few major influences for Diesel Mice. If youhaven’t guessed it yet, An American Tail and The GreatMouse Detective were major influences, but also Secret of Nimh and The Rescuers had their share of influence aswell. Even though the name might indicate dieselpunk tosome, the tone of Diesel Mice is meant to be pulpy

optimism.

Running The World Of MiceYou would think that mice would just live in theirunderground cities and never put themselves in contactwith man, but you’d be wrong. Mice do not have largescale access to vast natural resources. Instead, they take

the resources they need from humans. This often putsthem in danger as they procure the raw resources theyneed for their civilization. This is the main way that theSociety gains access to mice.

In truth, mouse civilization and human civilization arevery symbiotic. Mice provide the technological progress,and humans provide the logistical and material support

needed. If the two societies were to recognize thesymbiotic relationship and work together, both would bebetter off, but there is a lot of bad history on both sidesthat keeps their relationship antagonistic towards eachother.



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SAMPLE ADVENTURE

RAID ON THE STEELMILL

The players are a group of Regulators and have been

given a mission to retrieve a load of steel from a mill thatis not too far from their town. They are given anAutomaton that can carry the steel for them. ThisAutomaton has 3 Stars and is the property of the companythat has requested the mission so it disappears at the endof the mission. There will be a transport in the sewersnear the steel mill ready to bring them back to the mouse-

city.

EventsThese four events happen in the Steel Mill. The first threedon’t have to happen in any particular order, but as theplayers explore the Steel Mill, they will run across theevents as appropriate and the fourth (The Lock) is really

the goal of the adventure.



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The Mouse TrapThe owners of the steel mill have noticed that there area lot of mice in the mill and have set mouse traps forthem. These mouse traps are the common spring loadedkind with a small bit of cheese on the springingmechanism.

Grabbing the cheese is a Challenge. The players may

attempt to grab the cheese without hurting themselvesany way that they want. The GU should use their judgment about what Stat is used in the Challenge basedon what the players try. For instance, if one of the playerssays they will hold the trap open while another grabs thecheese, it is a Strength Challenge. If the players fail thechallenge, at least one of them will be Hurt, but they willstill get the cheese.

Eating the cheese gives a player a Special Thing calledNot As Hungry As I Was. There is enough cheese for eachplayer to get one Star, and they can divide it in any waythey feel is good. This Special Thing goes away once all itsstars are used up.

The Alley CatThere is an alley cat that has gotten itself caught up insome twine in the mill. It looks very hungry and will tryto eat any mice that go near it. However, if the micemanage to free it from the twine, it will change its mindabout the mice and help them on their mission. Theplayer who frees the cat gets a Special Thing called "Mypal Tom". This Special Thing will go away and come back

depending on the adventure the group is on.



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The Guard DogThere is a guard dog that is prowling around the milllooking for intruders. When the mice come across him,they will probably have to fight him. He has Strong 5, Fast3, and Smart 1. He’ll take 4 damage before running away.

The LockThe steel needed by the mice has been locked up in a boxand it must be opened to get the steel. There are anumber of ways they might go about this. The smallestmouse in the party is just small enough to fit inside thelocking mechanism and might be able to spring it. Inaddition there are explosives lying about that might beused. Also, if the players come up with an even cooler

idea, that works even better.

FinaleOnce the players have the steel, they just need to get itback into the sewers where the transport is waiting.



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WHAT NEXT?You may have noticed by now that FirstFable is designedto be super simple. With only three core stats andpurposefully ambiguous rules about what can be a Shineor how many Stars a Special Thing should have, FirstFableis meant to be easy to learn for the GU and the kids.

That simplicity may mean that after your kids enjoyplaying several adventures in FirstFable, they will beready to move on to a larger roleplaying game system.You’ll know best when they are ready to move on andwhat introductory game to graduate them up to next. Wemade FirstFable because we felt the roleplaying hobbywas missing something for a starter experience for

younger kids.

Give BackFirstFable is meant to be owned by the roleplaying gamecommunity. We’re releasing it for free under CreativeCommons. Our hope is that you might also take a littletime to give back to the game however much or little you

and your kids feel inspired to help. Here’s a fewsuggestions:

1. Spread the word. Use your social media to let othersknow about FirstFable.

2. Help us improve the Guide Book and CharacterBooks. Did we have a typo? Was something unclear?Were there words in the Character Books your kidsdidn’t understand? What do your kids want to see inthe Character Books that is missing?



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3. Create a new Character Book. Did your daughter

want to play a vampire? Did your son want to play awizard? All of the templates are downloadable atwww.DriveThruRPG.com. Create a new CharacterBook with your kids and then publish it onDriveThruRPG. Talk about a confidence booster tohave your first roleplaying book published at a

young age! More Character Books give newFirstFable players more options to choose so you’regiving back to the community while teaching kidsabout creating and publishing.

4. Create a new adventure. What comes after the huntfor the Guffin? What other stories did you tell with

your kids? Write one up, publish it for free onDriveThruRPG and share it with the FirstFablecommunity.



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APPENDIX: SECONDFABLE(OR ADVANCED FIRSTFABLE)

This appendix has a few modifications to FirstFable tomake it a little more interesting for players oncethey’ve advanced past the need for a game likeFirstFable.

More StatsThe three basic stats, Strong, Fast, and Smart, are greatfor beginning players. SecondFable adds two new Stats:Tough and Charm. Because of the added Stats, playersget 15 points to distribute among them instead of 9.The minimum is still 2 points per Stat, but the

maximum is 6.Tough is used as how tough a character is,

surprisingly enough, how Tough a character is. Itmostly comes into play during the SecondFable Fightrules.

Charm is used when a character interacts with othercharacters and the outcome is undetermined. The GU may

call for a Contested Challenge between the two character’sCharm and Smarts.

Changes To FightsThere is only one difference for Fights in SecondFable.Instead of being Hurt when your damage exceeds yourhighest Stat, you are Hurt when your damage exceeds

your Tough Stat.



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Difficult ChallengesDifficult Challenges add a little bit of variation to Challenges.A Difficult Challenge has Red Marks that cancel out a numberof Stars. So, if a Difficult Challenge has three Red Marks, theplayer has to roll at least four Stars to succeed.

Penalty DiceFirstFable had Bonus Dice that were temporary dice thatcould be added to any roll. SecondFable adds in PenaltyDice that the can be added to any roll. Just like bonus dice,penalty dice are assigned to an individual player, and usedby the player. "Why would anyone ever use their penaltydice?" you might ask. The answer is simple, while youhave Penalty Dice, you must use at least one Penalty Die

to use a Shine during a Challenge. If you want to buy off Penalty Dice instead of using them on a roll, you canspend one Bonus Die to remove one Penalty Die.

ResultsResults are a little more

complex in SecondFable. InFirstFable 0 Stars meantfailure, 1-2 Stars meantsuccess but something badhappened, 3-4 Stars meantsuccess, and 5+ Stars meantsuccess and something goodhappened (you got a bonus

die to use later).



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In SecondFable it is broken down a little more. Because

there are Red Marks now, you can have negative Stars sothe failure can be broken down much like success can.

The "Ands" and "Buts" indicate that something outsidethe Challenge was also changed. If anyone can think of something right away and the GU approves, then use that.Otherwise, the GU can simplhy give Bonus or Penalty Dieas appropriate.



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Documents

Diesel Mouse