Squeaks in the Deep is a role playing game supplement published by Pugsteady through Onyx Path Publishing. This is a chronicle book for Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau and can be used with either or both, but isn’t standalone. The supplement is based on the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition SRD and is therefore covered by the Open Game License with some parts considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
The supplement is available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG for $19.99, as a hardcover standard colour print on demand book for $39.99, as a premium colour for $49.99, as standard and PDF for $44.99 and as premium and PDF for $54.99. It is also available in physical form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed, although it was purchased at a reduced price during a sale, and it has 160 pages with two being the front and back covers, two the front matter, three the Table of Contents, one the Open Game License and two the character sheet. The character sheet is also available in a second, two-page PDF.
Miska’s Tonic is a short piece of fiction.
The Introduction explains that the rats and mice, unlike the dogs and cats and others, lack a home of their own, though they have memories of such. They live in the Underneath, a maze of hidden places beneath the ground. The rats and mice are not unified, and the Cult of Labo Tor is an internal threat. It then looks at what the book is about, the theme, which is culture conflicts, the mood, which is spooky stories, and the action, which is bringing light to darkness. A list of inspirations in different media is given and then it explains that either Pugmire or Monarchies of Mau is needed to play and Pirates of Pugmire is useful for nautical adventures but isn’t needed. How the book is laid out, sidebars and the two sections and what the chapters contain are given an overview.
Chapter One: Letters Between Friends is written as a series of letters between a mouse and a rat, with the final letter being one from a dog related to something that happened.
Chapter Two: Rodent Characters is for creating new rodent characters, though it still requires the use of either Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau or both. It starts with an overview of rodents in general and then has the specifics for mice and rats, with a character creation checklist.
There are six new callings, presented as the same manner as those in the other supplements. The callings are analyst, psychic, rascal, ruffian, strategist and trickster. There are three new backgrounds, though characters can also use those from the two core books, except Acolyte, Disciple and Noble. The three new ones are Deep Dweller, Field Rodent and Refugee.
Abilities are briefly covered, followed by new knacks, though the aptitude knacks from the two core books can be used. There are new knacks for the new callings and new backgrounds, for rodents, though some are specific to rats or mice, and for psionicists. Finally, there are two sample characters.
Chapter Three: Psionics covers this practice of the mice and rats, who do not do magic like the other species. A psychic knack is required and rodents who take them are called psionicists. The psychic powers they gain have magnitudes, which are similar to spell levels, and they have power slots to determine how often they can manifest powers without rest. Psionicists gain more psychic powers and slots as they gain levels; in all, they are similar to spells. One of Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma is the attribute used when needed. There are some sample tells that psionicists can display when using their powers. Psychic powers are divided into four colleges, similar to how spells are divided up, and lists of the powers in each college follow. Finally, the various powers are described in alphabetical order. In all, psionics is similar to, but different from, spellcasting.
Chapter Four: Life in the Margins looks at how rats and mice survive in Pugmire and the Monarchies of Mau. It explains that they have a different perspective to the cats and dogs, and would be more willing to share their discoveries with cats, dogs, lizards, birds and badgers if they thought the other species would use the knowledge to help everyone. It looks at the legends of the lost city; mice think it still exists but records of its location were destroyed, whilst rats think the city itself was destroyed. It then looks at how rodents are treated in Pugmire, and its other towns, and by the different monarchies of Mau. It also looks at the potential conflicts between rats and mice, then between rodents and the rest of the world, and finally at the Cult of Labo Tor, which the majority of rodents themselves dislike.
The Dragon’s Lair is a short piece of fiction.
Chapter Five: Guide Advice starts with some general advice on running games set in megadungeons, which is essentially what the Underneath is, including how to handle supplies, something that characters could run short of and might need to gain more of, one way or another. It then explores the differences between psionics and magic; psionics may have similarities to spellcasting, but it cannot be affected by anything that just affects magic. Finally, there are some tips on running mixed chronicles, especially as rodents are looked down on by cats and dogs, and how to handle the cultural tension and stereotypes that result from this, by eliminating it, having it in the background and directly confronting it. Finally, there are some tips on handling the rodent diaspora.
Chapter Six: The Underneath covers the underground realm in which many rodents still live. It starts by looking at life in the tunnels and how the exact size of the Underneath isn’t known, and is constantly changing as tunnels can collapse, sometimes taking entire communities. Tunnelers are the skilled rodent diggers who enlarge and dig new tunnels. There are other creatures living in the Underneath and ghost stories are popular. A good proportion is inhabitable, and these habitations and how they are lived in are given a broad general coverage, including the reasons why some are abandoned. Mousemarks are used to identify things underground, but they can always be out of date. Mice and rats salvage things of Man, but cats and dogs often turn up and steal them.
The Underneath is considered to be a dungeon that’s both mega and modular. There is some advice on running it and a d12 table of things to see, followed by some other slightly bigger encounters. After this are locations and set pieces that can be dropped into the Underneath. These vary in size and are detailed and in many cases mapped. Finally, there is a new character option for playing one of the sightless mice of Allthere’is, one of the covered locations and set pieces.
Chapter Seven: Enemies is the bestiary, with a range of new creatures suitable for the Underneath, including new mice, rat and Cult of Labo Tor creatures. The final part of the chapter is on dynamic battles, how to make encounters more exciting by having more than just a battle going on. This looks at locations, pacing and Climactic Actions, which are intended to make the final battles more like their fictional counterparts than exercises in grinding.
Chapter Eight: A Confluence of Cults is an adventure for 2nd to 3rd level characters. It has two separate opening paths, depending on whether the characters are starting in Pugmire or the Monarchies of Mau, but both paths end up with the characters heading into the Underneath on a quest related to the Unseen.
Squeaks in the Deep in Review
The PDF is bookmarked with major and minor sections linked. The Table of Contents is to a similar level of depth and is hyperlinked. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be mostly free of errors. There are a variety of custom colour illustrations and maps, up to about half page in size. Presentation is good.
Just like Pirates of Pugmire, it’s important to note that this isn’t a standalone game; either Pugmire or Monarchies of Mau are needed to play. The supplement expands the options available, adding mice and rats as options for player characters, with a new type of not exactly magic system added in the form of psionics.
Just like in the other three books, there are sidebar asides, this time only from Meeka Chase, a new character who explains rats and mice for non-rodents. The game remains fairly simple, despite the new options, though adding more options, even just new callings, does add more complexity, as does the new system of psionics. Unlike the other three books, the Underneath is not a defined setting as the Acid Sea, Pugmire and the Monarchies of Mau are. Instead, it’s a place given some overviews and universal details, but there is no map and the different places described range from encounters to mini-adventures; the Guide will probably need to put a lot more effort into creating the Underneath, which is as stated essentially a megadungeon. Squeaks in the Deep adds more to the game and it can be found by clicking here.
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