Undoubtly one of the more interesting "class features" in Grimm. The possibilities, both mechanically and storywise, are literally endless.

Anybody ever thaught of creating some new interesting Heritages for all those poor Normal Kids?

Post them all here.

(I may or may not post my own "Fallen Angle" Heritage here. It is not very good)

'Grimm Descedent(sp?).' He/she would actually be a descendent of one of the Brothers Grimm. I need to read up on the brothers themselves to decide what, but I think that depending upon which brother he/she is descended from would change the bonuses and stuff that he/she recieves.

'Guardian Angel.' In order for this one to work, the Normal Kid would have to have picked the 'Orphan' Origin Talent. God/a higher power/whatever you want to use knew the children were going to go through the trouble in the Grimmlands and sent an angel disguised as a...well, Normal Kid to protect them. The character would gain the ability to fly, increase to Adult Size, and be able to take wounds that would be dealt to another character within a Stone's Throw.

I'll write more if I think of any.

Artificial human: Beauty is only skin deep, and so is this kid's humanity. Her/his supposed "parent's" actually built them, whether out of clay. cloth, clockwork, or something else entirely. They don't get sick, they don't tire out, and nothing wants to eat them.

gothmog26 said:

This is awesome! And would make for a very interesting Pinocchio inspired story. Or even a secret Heritage that the player doesn't realize they are Artificial. How would they react or worse how would the other kids react when they found out. Makes for some dramatic moments in the role play end.

I always thought that unusual heritage should be like that. It's not like "Cool! I can turn into a wolf,", its more like "Oh My Gosh! I AM a wolf".

I have to disagree, at least in a way. An Unusual Heritage is sussposed to create not personal horror- but wonder! Catharsis, even, if you want to be extream. It is the climax of the tale of the Normal Kid, the discovery that, after all, he was very, very special. Each and every Heritage should have it's dark, dangerous side, of course- all things of the Grimm Lands have one... But if it is not cool and awesome, then it is kind of missing it's point dramatically.

Yes, I see your point. It should still come as a surprise to them, though.

I'm not real keen on the idea of the children turning out to be this special. I think the idea in Grimm is that of ordinary kids facing extraordinary odds. The kids are supposed to be archetypical of children at this age, after all. However, you have inspired me to try and come up with a storyline where the children are led to BELIEVE that they have unusual heritage - perhaps a witch that takes them in, is comforting and nice to them, convincing them of how special they are, only to betray them. Hmmm, something the Rotten King might do, too

I do like this Unusual Hertiage feature only one thing comes to my mind. Isn't that something the storyteller should give to the players?

I mean I really like this idea. Due to the fact that every kid wishes they were a Knight, Prince, Princess, cowboy, cowgirl, outlaw, or even famous athlete/ person. So i like the idea that while playing the game the character finds out he was a descedent from Lancalot. Or the Dreamer found out she was a princess. Even the Nerd can be a descedent from Merlin.

But in all of my experiances, That should be left for the storyteller to do. Not the player themselves. When the storyteller does this it builds story and the develops the characters in wanting to learn more and find there inner strength.

Oh i like the guardian angel, only that should best be left for the NPC. As for the artifical human as well.

RED_RONIN47 said:

Wait what?.....What do you mean.....?.....I meant the artifical human and guardian angel should be NPC characters......

As for your question, I dont really understand what the reference is but I guess nothing really is different. besides the fact fairies do fairy things, wolves do wolf things and angel are angels....

RED_RONIN47 said:

My question made perfect sense. Why should guardian angels and artificial humans be NPCs when the wolf-children and the fairies aren't?

Oh well gremlin i didnt read that post. But then yeah wolf and fairy child would be great NPCs as well. I wasnt in favor for them......But NOw i see where your going with it. Unusual heritage is a Archetype Ability for the normal kid......BUt it still states that Its given by the story teller........Hmm....

Im totally sorry, i was thinking this was just a new suggestion and to add it in the game. Non of the players and I,ever play the normal character.

GameBearOR said:

I have to respectfully disagree. Unusual Heritage is already part of the game as the 8th-Grade-or-higher-only Archetype ability for the Normal Kid, so it's already an option that they may actually not be a normal child. I have qualms about Guardian Angel myself its origin and ability set just don't quite sit right with me but Grimm Descendant and Artificial Human aren't much more spectacular in power or strangeness than the ones provided in the book.

I think this topic could debated both ways. As far as if unusual heritage is fitting to grimm, what kind of heritages should be allowed, and if the narrator gets to choose and implement them. The way I see it, the whole thing really depends on how you're running your campaign, and the people playing. I know if my players were to get unusual heritage they'd want me to implement it as I see fit and when I do I'd get the typical "THATS AWESOME!!!!11!!!1" reaction, as opposed to my brothers group which would likely respond, "...thats a bit over the top don't you think? I mean that'd be nice to have known when I was in 3rd f'n grade!".

From another standpoint, would it stand out as being too quirky to your campaign? If your kids (their characters I mean) have always been struggling with the twisted, dream-like setting of Grimm and their ordinary Real World habits and limitations, then maybe it'd be too much for your players to suddenly be "burdened" with this totally badass (<- my opinion) heritage. Discuss with your players how they feel about when they're creating your character.

Personally, I like it because I know my players would like it. The Guardian Angel heritage and the Artificial Human are sick ideas, although I think they'd be a bit much for me, I do love the idea. When my friend was inquiring about Imaginings and I told him, simply: it does badass things, his response was "...how 'bout SHAZAAAAAM!" ( image ). So I figured maybe when the normal kid enters the Grimm lands he/she slowly starts to develop the powers of their iconic comic book superhero. Yes, yes I know...that's waaaay overpowered for a bunch of fairy tale characters, but I just thought I'd share. Maybe before you reveal to them their heritage you could subtly ask who their favorite comic character is.

... I wish it wasn't too late for me to go back and edit that post. It doesn't flow right, because the board appears to have stripped out some dashes I used. Let me test -- If it goes as I expect, I'll have to rethat dash with an edit. Anyway, sorry to go off-topic for a bit.

Edit: Yep. It strips out two hyphens in a row on initial posting. Why would it do that? It's annoying, and hurts readability if you use dashes.

Nezumi said:

Thanks Nezumi. But to a degree the fact that the that authors gave that ability to the Normal Kid and none of the other archetypes supports my argument. They reserved it as an optional way for that particular archetype to grow - not all of them. There is (i assume) a reason that each archetype is given specific talents to their role (with the one exception of the Normal, who can mimic others' abilities), and i am guessing that reason is to balance them. If you suddenly make one archertype's most powerful level of talent available to any of them you unbalance the game.

GameBearOR said:

Well you know the more and more i think about that ability....Idk it just doesnt sound good. It actually makes me laugh.....it seems like the game designers ran out of ideas....so they let the people fill in the blank. Oh well, I guess so. None of the players that play with me pick the normal kid.

Well, I think it's a beautiful thematic addition that also has great mechanical benefits for an Archetype that usually gets all the crap from the system(and the Narrator. It's in the freaking rules)

Nezumi said:

Ah, my bad. I misunderstood and thought we were discussing giving any of the kids unusual heritages. I really don't have a problem with it for the Normal, however, I think if it isn't presented right the other players may feel a little slighted.

GameBearOR said:

That's a good point, but I think as long as the normal kid is treated as pretty normal throughout the story (i.e. always going to the outcast for juvie, bully for muscle, dreamer for imagination), then the normal kid will finally be able to say "in your face!" and finally be recognized.

On another note

Second-Timer: Your parents had a group of friends who they are unusually close to but seem to have nothing in common with, were very superstitous, knew exactly how to splint your arm when you fell off your bike and how to subdue that dog that attacked you, and never let you out of their sight. Turns out, they were in the Grimm-lands before you. Your boring old parents are legands and certain inhabitants treat you different based on this, and you may have actually been drawn into the Grimmlands for the purpose of revange by an old enemy of your parents.

Descendand from Gods: Back before the real world before the real world became safe, and sane and boring, a god either married or seduced one of your ancestors. You are a demi-god. Depending on who you are descended from your powers vary. You could have the allegience of sea life, mastery over the weather, or great powers during the night. It could be anything else.

gothmog26 said:

For some reason. I really like this one.