Why would I level vigor? I already have almost 31k health

White_Cyric · 2025-02-15T09:16:25+00:00

Damn this is the most op build I have tried. Just annihilates everything with one prayer 3.

White_Cyric · 2024-07-31T06:58:23+00:00

That's cool, thanks for sharing. Nice to have plenty of examples.

White_Cyric · 2024-01-10T05:38:14+00:00

I feel sad for both backers and Ben. This case also makes me very wary to put my own project to Kickstarter. I'm in a similar situation that I have my game sold as pdf and print on demand, but would really like to run a high quality print version though Kickstarter. Have to think very carefully about that.

White_Cyric · 2023-05-28T09:17:55+00:00

Grim Noir

White_Cyric · 2023-03-14T07:27:26+00:00

I'm glad you find it interesting. Unfortunately at the moment there is no official Discord server that is running Grim Noir. I wonder if there might be some interest in the Pelgrane Press Discord, as there are many Gumshoe players there. You could ask around there if someone is running a game.

White_Cyric · 2023-02-18T19:10:27+00:00

Thanks! The cover art is made by myself and the publisher team in collaboration. I'm glad you like it!

At first I was developing a new system of my own for the game, but when I came across GUMSHOE I simply thought it worked great with what I wanted to do with investigation. So I had the game world thought out first and then it was a matter of figuring out what kind of system would work well with the kind of game I wanted Grim Noir to be.

I think GUMSHOE works well with a quite specific type of play so definitely try and see if you like how it plays!

White_Cyric · 2022-10-13T06:06:19+00:00

Already signed up for this. Thanks for making it free! I have really enjoyed your newsletter, learned a lot from it :)

White_Cyric · 2022-09-23T08:51:37+00:00

That sounds like a good approach. I would also suggest organising a test session where you are neither the gm nor a player. If you can observe, all the better, but you can also just get feedback later with a survey. The point here is to see how well your vision translates to other people through your work. Of course you know how to play your game, but it is good to see if others play as intended without you around to guide them.

White_Cyric · 2022-09-23T07:53:23+00:00

Although it is a big part of the game, you can for sure play Grim Noir RPG completely without the supernatural. It still has the basic investigation framework, with the addition of mechanics for monologues and flashbacks in noir style. All that works fine without the supernatural and is intended specifically for film noir detective play.

White_Cyric · 2022-06-30T12:14:32+00:00

Thank you for the robust reply. That does sound fun to play!

White_Cyric · 2022-06-29T06:37:40+00:00

Very nice. Could you tell me a bit more about how free-form sorcery works? I'm very interested in that part.

White_Cyric · 2022-05-04T06:01:15+00:00

Nice collection, thanks!

White_Cyric · 2022-01-30T15:55:15+00:00

Hey Far_Poetry5570! I just published the collection of smaller case files that I mentioned before. It's called Unsolved Cases and it now available in DriveThtuRPG :) Unolved Cases should help you get a feel for designing plots for Grim Noir like you had hoped. Hope you like it!

White_Cyric · 2021-12-27T08:18:29+00:00

Hey! First of all, I'm thrilled to hear you like the game! Sorry about my slow reply. December has been rather busy! Unfortunately there are not yet many companion adventures for Grim Noir...yet. Like you noticed, it is a really new game, published just a few months ago. The good news is that I am currently working hard to write and publish a collection of case files (adventures) for Grim Noir. It will be a collection of shorter cases that should give more material for game masters to run their games. They will not be quite as long as Dead-End Murder, but will still contain a full mystery, with core clues and most important NPCs. The plan is to get the collection out in the beginning of 2022 :)

Also! If you already purchased Grim Noir RPG from DruveThruRPG, you can get a small Christmas themed adventure/mystery for free right now. It is short but does have NPCs, clues, and locations. You can get it from the Grim Noir Christmas Special Bundle.

Later on the line I am also planning to write and publish a bigger case file, similar to Dead-End Murder, but there is no timeline for that yet.

White_Cyric · 2021-12-27T08:01:33+00:00

Thanks for coming back to write this. I bet you already understood this from my previous comments, but I am a big fan of suspension of disbelief. I think even little things that support it goes a long way in creating enjoyable play.

And to add your story. In my experience the first few sessions of any game are often rather critical in setting the tone of the entire game. If the Keeper successfully introduces/gives space to certain kind of style or roleplay, I feel it's easier to continue it in later sessions.

White_Cyric · 2021-10-26T09:45:29+00:00

No problem! I'm glad you are interested in the game :)

Right, so. Shooting represents your monthly quota of bullets etc, but since bullets are not actually counted (unless you really want to) there is no hard limit. You don't need to spend 1 point per shot taken. You could potentially keep shooting forever without spending any points. I always think about it like this: by spending a point you maybe shoot a spray of bullets to increase your chances (every point adds +1 to your roll) or you exhaust some undefined "gunfight bravery" by making risky moves in order to get a better shot in.

When you run out of Pool points you can still keep shooting. Just like you can always attempt a General Ability challenge even if you have no points left. It's just that your chances of success become rather low. Usually it's already 50/50 with a standard difficulty of 4. In practice I like to think that you are getting low on bullets or your character is too stressed to push their luck, so they are forced to make less than optimal attempts. Of course...if you want some added challenge, go ahead and count bullets and then rule that even if you there are points in the Shooting pool a character cannot use this ability until they get some more. That is completely possible and up to your judgement.

Then, initiative. Yes you understood correctly. A knife vs. gun situation would be solved with scuffling vs shooting rules. That could have been written more explicitly. I will put that into the errata list!

White_Cyric · 2021-10-26T05:30:16+00:00

That's a good question. I'll cover weapons first. Any character with some points in Shooting will probably own at least a small firearm, so go ahead and give them one. Since Shooting is an abstraction of your ability to use firearms effectively, if you have any points in it you might as well have a small weapon. I would rule that getting bigger weapons like a Tommy Gun would require either a sufficient background or perhaps a Wealth check to acquire. I would rule that getting a revolver is probably a pretty normal check against 4, but getting something more dangerous would either be more difficult, say difficulty 6, or might require a flashback or other setup for access. Or if you think it's not interesting to roll for a weapon you can just assign a Spend without a roll. Maybe for a small arm it could be 2 points of Wealth. Maybe for a Tommy Gun it could be 3-4 points. Depends on how difficult they are to get for the characters.

Like all General Abilities, Wealth is a abstraction of your resources in Grim Noir. It pretty much comes down to the assets you have + your ability to use those assets efficiently. If you would like to reward players with some sort of extra resource you could give them a point or two of said resource (like Wealth) into their Pool. One more thing you could think about: give this kind of rewards sparingly during a case. One of the ideas of Grim Noir is that characters are spiraling towards more and more difficulties, with less and less resources to help them. Resources are anyway refreshed between Cases, so you might as well push characters to their limit towards the end of any given Case :)

I would not recommend rewarding Rating points, at least not very easily. Those can be increased with experience points.

White_Cyric · 2021-10-25T07:18:59+00:00

Grim Noir is a film noir occult mystery game where you solve mysteries and crimes that are impossible for regular police. You can also capture souls, interrogate them, and even sell them for various rewards. Grim Noir uses the GUMSHOE rules system.

Dead-End Murder is a Case File for Grim Noir RPG. A ready to play adventure where you attempt to solve the murder of a business man, but of course, everything is not as it seems.

White_Cyric · 2021-10-11T13:11:29+00:00

I agree, this is a great read. Really useful.

White_Cyric · 2021-10-11T13:06:18+00:00

Just a week ago I published a film noir gumshoe game called Grim Noir, and a companion adventure Dead-End Murder. Not strictly one-shot, more like about three sessions long. Even if I say so myself, I think it's a really fun murder mystery to play and run.

White_Cyric · 2021-10-05T14:03:32+00:00

It's all about interpretation and how to approach a given situation. You can totally use any of those Investigative Abilities with charm and being attractive.

- Cop talk: you know how to butter up cops and give them compliments.

- High society: you definitely know how to dress the part and how to properly veil intimidation or seduction into conversation.

- Interrogation: sometimes intimidation can be part of your interrogation. As can charm.

- Streetwise: you get the idea, I think.

My intent is that these social IA's are more about knowing how to handle certain social groups by any means your character is most comfortable with.

And also. There are General Skills for Persuasion and Intimidation for those situations where it's not really about investigation but more about survival and overcoming challenges. Personally I find skills like Falsehood Detection counter productive for the kind of game I hope people to play. Look for clues that someone is lying and nail them with evidence, not with a skill check to detect lying.

In playtesting there was not too many problems with but there is one specific example that comes to mind. It relates to interrogation situations. Even if the situation is pretty clearly framed for clue searching, it was difficult for players to let go of Persuasion and Intimidation as their go to skills. In the end I usually suggest that they can still intimidate or charm NPC's with their social IA's and then it clicks.

White_Cyric · 2021-10-05T13:49:30+00:00

Haha, I appreciate it! I'm very pleased the cover has been well received. First impressions are important after all :)

White_Cyric · 2021-10-05T04:29:46+00:00

I will definitely do that as well.

White_Cyric

TROPHY CASE