so i've had this game for a while (got it in a bundle) and i've always wanted to play it. it seems like such a great and whimsical game. recently i've actually gotten a chance to play the game so i've been reading the booklet again to make sure i know everything (because i'll actually be the sm) and in doing so i actually have a question about the games lore. in the beastkind section of the book it describes that "Hordes of rodents forge scalemail armor for bears who cannot wield the hammer themselves" but later the section on behemoths say that such large animals generally don't consider the lives of small animals. i really can't wrap my head around this contradiction so i'd really like to know; how do behemoths think of and interact with smaller animals? any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
I like to think of Behemoths like dragons in typical fantasy tropes. They're so massive that they live life on a different scale. Some might work with Beasts, but most don't consider them worth thinking about. What's a eating a few squirrels to a wolf?
For an example of a Behemoth working in tandem with Beasts, there are a couple in Apawthecaria, a sister game to Scurry. Boldheart the Sea Eagle helps taxi smaller Beasts to-and-fro from Summit, though for a fairly hefty price in food.
Thanks so much joining the TTRPGs for Palestine itch charity bundle to support Medical Aid for Palestinians! When you have a moment, can you please approve your submission/s for the bundle here before it goes live in June: https://itch.io/bundle/2295/edit
I played what I assume is an early version of this at a con, which had each beast tagging 3 items, 3 traits, and 3 skills. It seems this is now reduced to only one of each! I haven't played this current version, but that seems like a really major change. Can you talk about it?
The 1st edition of Scurry (2021) gave players 1 Skill*, and 3 of each Tag (Tools, Talents and Traits).
For the 2nd edition (2023), I chose to streamline character creation to 1 of each tag - 1 Skill, 1 Tool, 1 Talent, 1 Trait.
My aim was to reinforce the game's core philosophy - single session heists that start quick and end quicker. Reducing the number of choices from 10 to 4 eases cognitive load for newer (and often younger**) players, and helps different characters feel unique from one another.
Fundamentally, gameplay remains the same. Beasts are describing how they navigate problems, rolling the scurry die, and (usually) getting into trouble.
The change was prompted by a mixture of both running the game and seeing the game played over the last two years, and player-submitted feedback.
*Skills are also a Tag, but the first time the beasts use a Skill during a scurry it provides an auto-success rather than rolling the scurry die. After the first use, all Skills are treated as tags, and provide advantage when rolling the scurry die.
**One of the more surprising pieces of feedback I've received over the last two years has been that Scurry has been the first TTRPG parents have placed down in front of their kids, either to play as a family or for them to play with friends.
That's not surprising to me! I have a very small daughter, still far too young for RPGs, but I definitely had the thought "in a few years she'd love this."
Maybe I need to go re-read (or maybe it was being houseruled or just done incorrectly in the game I did play), but do tags not exhaust? The way we played, if you used a tag you crossed it out.
Either way, thanks for the reply -- all makes sense in the context of those goals!
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so i've had this game for a while (got it in a bundle) and i've always wanted to play it. it seems like such a great and whimsical game. recently i've actually gotten a chance to play the game so i've been reading the booklet again to make sure i know everything (because i'll actually be the sm) and in doing so i actually have a question about the games lore. in the beastkind section of the book it describes that "Hordes of rodents forge scalemail armor for bears who cannot wield the hammer themselves" but later the section on behemoths say that such large animals generally don't consider the lives of small animals. i really can't wrap my head around this contradiction so i'd really like to know; how do behemoths think of and interact with smaller animals? any assistance would be greatly appreciated!
I like to think of Behemoths like dragons in typical fantasy tropes. They're so massive that they live life on a different scale. Some might work with Beasts, but most don't consider them worth thinking about. What's a eating a few squirrels to a wolf?
For an example of a Behemoth working in tandem with Beasts, there are a couple in Apawthecaria, a sister game to Scurry. Boldheart the Sea Eagle helps taxi smaller Beasts to-and-fro from Summit, though for a fairly hefty price in food.
this makes a lot of sense, thank you so much for answering! i'll definitely have also check out apawthecaria at some point!
The game looks lovely.
Thanks!
Thanks so much joining the TTRPGs for Palestine itch charity bundle to support Medical Aid for Palestinians! When you have a moment, can you please approve your submission/s for the bundle here before it goes live in June: https://itch.io/bundle/2295/edit
Aye aye!
I played what I assume is an early version of this at a con, which had each beast tagging 3 items, 3 traits, and 3 skills. It seems this is now reduced to only one of each! I haven't played this current version, but that seems like a really major change. Can you talk about it?
Hey DM Spice!
The 1st edition of Scurry (2021) gave players 1 Skill*, and 3 of each Tag (Tools, Talents and Traits).
For the 2nd edition (2023), I chose to streamline character creation to 1 of each tag - 1 Skill, 1 Tool, 1 Talent, 1 Trait.
My aim was to reinforce the game's core philosophy - single session heists that start quick and end quicker. Reducing the number of choices from 10 to 4 eases cognitive load for newer (and often younger**) players, and helps different characters feel unique from one another.
Fundamentally, gameplay remains the same. Beasts are describing how they navigate problems, rolling the scurry die, and (usually) getting into trouble.
The change was prompted by a mixture of both running the game and seeing the game played over the last two years, and player-submitted feedback.
*Skills are also a Tag, but the first time the beasts use a Skill during a scurry it provides an auto-success rather than rolling the scurry die. After the first use, all Skills are treated as tags, and provide advantage when rolling the scurry die.
**One of the more surprising pieces of feedback I've received over the last two years has been that Scurry has been the first TTRPG parents have placed down in front of their kids, either to play as a family or for them to play with friends.
That's not surprising to me! I have a very small daughter, still far too young for RPGs, but I definitely had the thought "in a few years she'd love this."
Maybe I need to go re-read (or maybe it was being houseruled or just done incorrectly in the game I did play), but do tags not exhaust? The way we played, if you used a tag you crossed it out.
Either way, thanks for the reply -- all makes sense in the context of those goals!
Tags don't exhaust!
There is a specific rule for crossing out tools if they were to get 'used up' logically in the narrative.
And thanks for the questions, I hope you keep having fun with the game 🐀😁