Gaming | Roleplaying Games
Mycelium Soup — a solo TTRPG play report + review
The Mycelium Forest echoes with the whispers of ancient spirits and teems with life, but as autumn fades and winter’s chill looms, the Fungifolk tribes prepare for their most vital ritual — the making of Mycelium Soup.
DISCLAIMERS: I asked for a comp copy. You can pick it up here (affiliate link).
Towards the Serene Pond
That time of year has come and the Fungifolk Thom and Guy-Manuel team up to head out in search of meat for the mycelium soup.
- Thom / 10hp / ST2 AG0 WT1 / skilled in perception // carrying a gem-crusted staff, a feathered cloak, and a satchel. It’s got one piece of meat
- Guy-Manuel / 10hp ST0 AG3 WT0 / skilled in influence // carrying a grub lantern, some moss robes, and a satchel. One piece of meat here too
Day One
The Fungifolk ready, Thom decides to plot a route towards the Serene Pond — I randomised a standard Difficulty Score for all related things by rolling D6+6; in this case getting DS11. The task proved more difficult than Thom expected — he failed a WITS roll, then I rolled a hazard die to determine the outcome; with a 6, it was respite for the fungal lads. Thom redoubled his efforts, failing again, and tiring out the two — the hazard dice this time coming up 2: fatigue; I ruled this an easy (DS6) STRENGTH roll, which both mushrooms failed!!
They decide it’s going to be much more effective if they hire a guide and pay one piece of meat for the privilege. I rule the guide counts as specialised equipment, giving +2 on relevant rolls. With the guide at their helm, the mushrooms again set off but it is a total of four rolls before they reach their destination. A little like delves in Heart I ruled the journey as a task that could be worn away in the same way NPCs are. After eventually reaching their destination, they bid farewell to the guide and lay down to rest…
Day Two
I rolled the hazard dice to suggest how the night passed and it rolled another 2: fatigue. The mushrooms slept poorly, despite their proximity to the Serene Lake. Perhaps something to do with algal blooms? Thom feels worse for wear, so Guy-Manuel sets out hunting alone. I decided to roll a hunting check with AGILITY, determining that the total of the roll was the largest creature they could come across. Bigger beasts mean more meat.
Guy-Manuel got a total of 10 and I looked across the creature roster for something that would make sense to find here at the Serene Pond. I settled on a coyote.
Sneaking up on the oblivious creature, Guy-Manuel launched a surprise attack — rolling +AG and adding +1 for its cloak, for a total of 12; this being two points beyond the coyote’s DS of 10, the coyote takes two damage. Thom rushes in to capitalise on the shocked beast and strikes it a mighty blow — Thom rolls +ST and +2 with its staff (I decided it’d count as a heavy two-handed weapon), and with a total of 13 over the new DS of 8 means the beast takes five damage! The coyote is looking very bad now — its DS now only 3 — and Guy-Manuel closes in for what it hopes will be the killing blow but only deals 1 damage. It tries again and finally kills the creature.
The two work together to carve up its body — meat yield is randomised, with a coyote granting D6+3. They salvage nine pieces of meat! A wonderful haul! And a perfect time to rest for the night.
Day Three
Another hazard roll for the evening, this time coming up 4: locality. Initially I thought it could be fun if the pond flooded their campsite, but instead I opted that something local stole some of the meat in the night.
Upon discovering their packs rifled through, the mushrooms decide to head on home. Thom leads the way — I’m giving +1 for a repeat journey, +WT, and +1 for having had a guide show them the way. He rolls bang on 11, which won’t decrease the DS, but does count as something significant. I interpret that as meaning Thom’s certain he’s got the route and now just needs to walk it, so future rolls will have a total of +4.
Of course, the very next roll was snake-eyes. I roll the hazard dice twice and combine them, a 1: encounter and 3: expiration\loss, so they lose D6 more meat and encounter something! Again I look to the creature roster and decide that it would make sense for a raccoon here (DS8) which steals four(!!) of their meat.
Angered at the sneaky beast, Thom clubs at the raccoon with its staff — +2 from ST and +2 from the heavy staff — but it’s only just a hit. As again, I rule this as opening a weakness that can be exploited in future rolls. Guy-Manuel has a turn — with its +3 AG and +1 cloak — and the raccoon is wounded. Thom redoubles its efforts and kills the creature with its second hit. Of course, now there’s another body, there’s meat to yield! They get a total of five, which upon reflection is probably three of their original haul and two from the raccoon itself.
Thom leads the way again (Guy-Manuel has been pointedly saying nothing about the other mushroom leading them across the harshest route) — its first roll comes up 10, which is one away from the DS of 11, so I decree they can spend a point of hp to make up the shortfall. A couple of lucky rolls afterwards and they find their way home.
I also decide it will be interesting to roll a reaction and see how the village responds, and the result is significantly poor. These two went out on a dangerous trek without having told anyone, and came back with a relatively small haul!
Final tally
Gained eight meat. Spent two. Acquired but lost three along the way.
Closing thoughts
Mycelium Soup is another game built on the bones of Tunnel Goons. But where most of those titles maintain the sparseness of Nate Treme’s original, Mycelium Soup comes replete with a full and developed adventuring framework, lightly sketched out with specifics so that any GM can present this to her players with minimal preparation.
My only “warning” is that the game’s marketing explains…
Choose your tribe wisely, each with its own unique traits and abilities.
…though beyond initial skill and equipment, most of the variety is bedded into the worldbuilding of their descriptions and the intensely cool art.
All in all, it’s a clean and tight game, and certainly one I can see drawing good crowds at conventions — come be a mushroom looking for meat for their soup isn’t your everyday dungeon delve. The game is especially good for fans of works like PRINCESS MONONOKE, with its nature red in tooth and spore.
- Mycelium Soup was written by Rick Hershey and Lucus Palosaari
- Art by Rick Hershey
- It’s published by Kids in the Attic
