Grim Tales

Rating:
Summary: ENWorld Review: 5 stars!
Review: (...)

Ahhh...Grim Tales.

I was looking forward to this product a lot. "Low magic, high adventure" is how I would describe my attempts at DM'ing. I even liked the name; Grim Tales; it had the ring of exactly what I was trying to accomplish with my games. Grimness. Talespinning.

I couldn't wait to delve into a ruleset from a publisher whose previous work I was inordinately fond of, and that sounded like it was poised to deliver.

I guess I wasn't reading closely enough in the pre-release hype, because Grim Tales was not at all what I was expecting, and though this sounds like a perfect recipe for disappointment, in reality nothing could be further from the truth. Call it a lateral move. Grim tales impressed me a lot.

I was hoping for a D20 treatment of something akin to Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser or Conan; a game where the PC's aren't basically pseudo-medieval Superheroes as they approach mid-to-high level, but rather have to fight tooth and nail for virtually their entire careers. Instead what I got was a D20 treatment of another perennial favorite of mine...GURPS.

For at it's heart Grim Tales is what D20 has needed for ages: a campaign toolkit (and it's actually described as such right on the cover. I really do need to read more closely:)). Is it generic? Yes and no. Like GURPS before it Grim Tales bills itself as a semi-generic system designed to (and I quote from GT's introduction) "allow experienced GM's to run exciting, low-magic, campaigns for any genre". And like GURPS before it, its real value and utility comes from (and I quote from the same introduction) allowing "the GM to get 'under the hood' of his campaign and tweak the rules to his liking".

This is a product that people have been asking for ages: D20 broken down into its basic components, to be assembled as the GM sees fit.

At first glance a lot of the ruleset for character generation is lifted from D20 Modern, (which is perfect for generic D20 as the classes are flavorless, based entirely on their chosen base statistic) as is the economic system (which I am not crazy about). Many of the Feats and Skills presented are taken from a variety of sources and are tweaked to the needs of Grim Tales.

If this was the product in its entirety, I would have been impressed and given it a solid 3/5-but it would have been a no magic campaign toolkit in that case. Not low magic as it is billed.

Luckily the authors have whipped up what I feel comfortable calling the best system for modeling playable low magic I have yet seen for D20. Without giving too much away, Mr. Durbin's system addresses most of the problems you see mentioned whenever a discussion of D&D's poor handling of low magic is in full bloom: spell availability, lack of "mystique", no repercussions for spell use. It's phenomenally done not just because it addresses these problem, but addresses them and leaves a playable system behind.

Too often "Low Magic" fixes for D20 result in Magic Using characters that no one would wish to play (My own house rules, alas, pretty obviously fall into this category when compared to Grim Tales.

There is a large section devoted to "Horror and Insanity" which seems a nice nod to Horror games and Cthulu in particular, A nicely done section on Vehicles, rules for Firearms, Creature Creation, in fact the more I read it, the more I am reminded of a D20 treatment of GURPS. As written-with a bit of GM Elbow Grease-I feel relatively certain that Grim Tales could adequately model most of the hobby's favorite genres.

But if future sourcebooks for Grim Tales match the quality and variety of the GURPS sourcebooks, we might just have the de facto "New D20 Core Rules" on our hands.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent alternative d20 game
Review: Of the many rpg supplements I bought recently, this is the one I am the most pleased with. It's in fact the only one I plan to use in an actual game.

Grim Tales is about playing a low magic d20 game, in either a medieval fantasy, modern horror, or apocalyptic future setting. It is different from D&D in that it proposes classes based on (and expanded from) d20 modern, but with feats and skills from D&D 3.5, and new talents (many of which were drawn from D&D classes' abilities). It also include rules for horror and sanity (that are different, and better IMO, from the UA/CoC Sanity points rules), rules for cyberware, and a new magic system extremely simple to use while being totally different, and intended for a "low magic setting" where spellcasting is difficult and dangerous. Now Grim Tales is only about rules and contains no campaign setting material, not even equipment description. You will have to get this through other means (other books or your own homebrew creation).

All in all, I think that Grim Tales is really excellent, and would be a fine alternative if you are tired of D&D and seek a different, yet d20 system, game. Note however, that Grim Tales is extrapolated from d20 modern. So, if you already use d20 modern you may not gain much from Grim Tales. On the other hand, if you are interested in the d20 modern way of handling character classes, but are not interested by a modern setting (preferring something medieval for example), I would suggest to pick up Grim Tales.

Rating:
Summary: Mortality.net Review: 5 stars
Review: Reposted with permission from Mortality.net.

New from Badaxe Games, Grim Tales is a "rules resource and campaign toolkit" for designing high adventure, low magic games in any genre - though it's particularly geared toward "pulp"-style games. With it, you can create worlds based on your favorite books, movies, comic books, computer games... anything. It's a d20 system product, so you can use it with any of the core rulebooks, but it's recommended that you use it with the Modern d20 core rules.

No, Grim Tales is not a campaign setting. It's a resource and guide for designing a unique campaign setting. The lure here is an emphasis on low magic. Spells and magic items are few, and when they are encountered, it's often in the hands of the evil enemy. This isn't to say the heroes can't or don't wield magic - they may, but usually at a terrible price.

The first chapter covers characters - ability scores, action points, backgrounds, and classes. The classes used are the d20 Modern classes: Strong Hero, Fast Hero, etc. Chapter Two concentrates on skills. It lays out the basics, and explains critical failures and successes, as well as how each skill can be used. Feats are covered in the next chapter, with a summary table for easy reference.

Talents, perhaps unfamiliar to those without the d20 Modern rulebook, are next. These are "special abilities or qualities available only to heroes of a certain class." Thus, only a Charismatic hero is allowed to take a Talent labeled "Charismatic." Some of the Talents are also "advanced," meaning the character must have reached at least 3rd level in the corresponding class.

Economy and equipment come next, with a character wealth rating system used to handle the complexities of modern assets and credit lines that characters are likely to have. Note that firearms get their own chapter later, as their inclusion is up to the GM. Combat rules follow, and include variants (for "cannon fodder" and more) and options to change the threat level of the game. Actually, the threat level adjustment options are found throughout the book with various rules, so the GM can make it easier or tougher on the PCs. As to be expected, all sorts of combat actions and situations are explained in this section.

The next chapter deals with hazardous environments, such as fallout, high altitude, storms, and water dangers. Spells and magic follow, though of course the GM may not even allow magic in the campaign. Full rules for casting spells are provided - and, like mentioned earlier, magical power comes at a significant price under this system.

Firearms get their own chapter, as the presence or absence of guns drastically changes the atmosphere of the campaign. Complete, customizable rules for designing stats for firearms in your game gives the GM considerable control over how guns will work in the campaign. Types of guns, range increments, damage output, and other options are all fully customizable.

For those wishing to run a horror-based campaign, there are rules for horror and insanity checks. There are lots of threat level adjustment options here, to make the campaign truly horrific or to give the PCs a fighting chance.

An entire chapter is devoted to vehicles: stats, combat, and maneuvers (including daredevil maneuvers). "Fantastic technology," perhaps better known as cyberware, gets four pages; creation of monsters gets a short chapter; and the last chapter provides some important tips for GMs. There's a photocopiable character sheet, and a big appendix that presents campaign models to give you some ideas (if you don't have any already): an undead campaign, a dragon lords campaign, an apocalyptic era campaign, an archaic campaign, and a modern era campaign.

Grim Tales is a hardcover, with 214 pages. The interior is grayscale, and has excellent graphic design. The art is a bit sparse, but they did a good job of including all sorts of genres/themes, to emphasize the flexibility of this sourcebook. The rules and systems seem pretty solid, though I have not tested them all. At the cover price of US $34.95, this definitely a useful tool that will allow you to create nearly any kind of campaign with little need for other sources.

Miss: Heavy reliance on d20 Modern rules may not appeal to those without that product.

Hit: A nice departure from a lot of the bland products available these days.

Critical Miss: The broad approach seems to have sacrificed some depth - several sections that could have had more detail are glossed over.

Critical Hit: Superb flexibility, in both general campaign options and specific in-game details.

Content/Value: 8
Originality/Creativity: 9
Adaptability/Flexibility: 10
Breadth/Depth: 8
Quality/Appeal: 8

Overall: 8.6

Paul Stringer (aka "Kithmaker" at Mortality.net)