Last thursday I was out shopping for some babyfood when I dropped by the local gamestore and had a look, and my eyes immediately strayed to a new product.

All dark and moody with an orange and rustbrown scheme depicting kids fighting against a posse of pumpkinmen, and the words Grimm written in elegant and elaborate letters on the top.

A quick peek at it and I was sold. Or rather, the book was sold... To me.







In case you don't know what I'm talking about, Grimm is an old fashioned pen and paper roleplaying game where you sit down with your fellow players and use your imagination to describe the actions instead of seing them in pixelated glory on the screen.
You use a piece of paper to note down your stats and abilities, and some dice to determine the outcome of the actions your character attempts. And all this is directed and refereed by the game narrator, one player that describe the setting and actions around the players and that take on the role of ALL the NPCs and monsters they face.

So, what makes Grimm distinct from all the other RPGs out there?
To understand that you need a little background.

As we all know, the brothers Grimm travelled the land gathering stories about all sort of weird, fantastic and horrid stories, compiling them in a single volume. What is less known is that the brothers did this at the behest of a creature known as the Melusine. Why they did it and what they got in return is not known, other than one of the brothers once said it was not with pure intentions at heart.
The result of these stories being gathered was the creation of the Grimm Lands, a malable and fluid world separate from our own. A place where fairytales were real and where imagination could have tangible results on the world.

Time has passed, however, and things are not as they used to be. It's not known why, but a rotten corruption has seeped into the Grimm Lands turning everything foul and nightmarish.
And this is where your character will have to use all their imagination and resources to not be devoured, abused or outright killed.

You're a kid!
That's right, in Grimm you play as a kid. A normal, everyday kid. You see, kids are the only ones able to see into and enter the Grimm Lands. Perhaps you entered of your own volition on a life-or-death mission, or perhaps you were swallowed up by this new and terrifying realm where all you do is aimed at returning to the safe and boring world you know.

Creating a character is simplicity itself. You chose an archetype (think of it as a class) that give a rough outline of what kind of kid you are, along with several traits and abilities, and then you modify the traits a little. Next up is giving a little personality to your little tyke and then giving it some starting gear, and you're off to a Grimm start.
The list of archetypes you can choose is pretty normal for an american school. They are Bully, Dreamer, Jock, Nerd, Noprmal Kid, Outcast and Popular Kid. The kids you can play range from 9 to 12 years old.

Grimm uses normal 6-sided dice like the ones from Yatzee, Ludo and other classic games. It's a fairly simple and easy system that relies more on playability than on realism, something that fit well with the "fairytales gone bad" setting.
I've not played it yet, but have gotten some truly devious ideas I can inflict on any potential players. Can't wait to try it... ^_^
And with that, all that remains to be said is:

Once upon a time, in a land far far away...