So, I've been long planning a Grimm campaign since first stumbling over the rulebook several months back. From what I've read, it seems like it could be an amazing game - and since it's produced by FFG, I've little reason to expect otherwise.

Just to shed some light on one of the key plots running through my campaign, given in order to a) get feed back, and b) to help me better realise my plans by seeing them written out, I've decided to share these ideas with you all.

The characters will all begin with Personal Grades of the 3rd degree - making them about 9 years old (give or take a year, depending on their personal circumstances, intellect, etc.). In a prelude, I will roleplay with them various scenes from the Real World, helping them come to grips with both the game system and their characters as protagonists; then, when I'm ready, I will take them on a trip to the Grimm Lands.

Throughout their time in that dark world, the kids will undergo various adventures and pit themselves against characters from a great many fairytale sources - some detailed in the rulebook, and others that haven't been. They will grow in Personal Grade every few stories (I'm a fan of slower progression and longer campaigns), until there comes the chance for them to return to the Real World through their most dangerous adventure yet.

I mentioned a recurring plot, and it is this: early on, the kids will discover a small diary in the Grimm Lands, which is signed by an individual called only "W.D." This individual appears to be very young, based on his language and prose, perhaps not much older or younger than the kids themselves; but the references he makes to the Real World may confuse them, because he appears to be talking about an America several decades younger than they know. It wouldn't take them much thinking to conclude that this diary was left by another child who came to the Grimm Lands, one who passed into the realm several decades back.

Despite the time difference, the kids find a lot of helpful hints and reports in the diary. It leads them to a rebel group which has been opposing the Rotten King for a long time; this group, according to the diary, helped W.D. find Babylon and escape. The kids, should they find the group, discover that it is smaller and weaker than what the diary portrays it to be - and the leader of the rebels, an Animal that W.D. called 'Michael', was put to death shortly after helping the book's author escape the clutches of Humpty Dumpty. With Michael went the fight and morale of the rebels - all of which were Animals or other strange creatures.

The kids will be given a chance to help the Animals recover their hope and spirit, and may help lead a decisive blow against the Rotten King. Eventually, if they're clever and brave enough, the kids will escape, but before they do the current rebel leader, an Animal called Gallop, will give the kids a bundle of papers, which would "explain things."

It turns out that W.D. was indeed a kid who fell into the Grimm Lands, and escaped with the help of the rebel Animals. But he knew that his mind would be plagued with terrible nightmares that would tax his sanity when he escaped, and he knew that trying to pretend that he had never come to the Grimm Lands would be impossible; and so he instead pledged to take his experiences and tell them to the world, but would do so in a positive, hopeful light that would not only help him recover, but would also inspire future generations of children, nurturing their imaginations - which, in turn, may help give them a fighting chance of escaping the Grimm Lands, if they ever fall into them.

And the stories would give him an opportunity to give tribute to the rebel leader, the Mouse who had helped him escape the lands of dark fantasy, and who had refused to let the author give up on himself when he was at his lowest.

An artist and possessed of a brilliant mind, W.D. decided that showing his tales through cartoons would be how he would recover, and how he would give the world glimpses of another world - albeit a glimpse that was far less frightening and deadly than would be accurate.

Thoughts? This is just a work in progress at the moment, but I thought that it might be fun to have a real world tie-in to the game that would make players go "Hey! I know who that is!"

I have never played Grimm but

1 that sounds cool

and

2 "Hey I know who WD is"

Glad to hear it! And I recommend picking up Grimm if you can - it's an excellent RPG.

Nice to see someone else is trying this game. I've never played it, but plan to Saturday. I've been muddling through the rules - this forum has been very helpful - and have one or two scenes planned for the game.

You've thought a lot about your overall story arc and it shows. I hope you keep us up to date as the campaign progresses.

I will, when I get enough players. At the moment, only one is interested - and as the rules show, the main reason for anyone surviving the Grimm Lands is teamwork.

It's a little frustrating that this forum isn't as thriving and busy as it should be. Grimm is such an awesome game!

Question: Have you played Grimm before? I haven't. Saturday will be the first. We'll make dinner - gamers, like a movie crew, work better together when you feed them - make characters, and play one or two scenes, primarily to test out the mechanics of the game. I'll be running a simple, "Fair is Foul, Foul is Fair" themed game, which they should figure out by story's end. A half dozen scenes, perhaps, to get to a conclusion.

Reading Chapter 6, Running the Game, last night, I found it lacking. While there is plenty of advice, it boils down to "find a Grimm story, change something, make it an unhappy ending." I'd rather the authors did that, took "Little Red Riding Hood" and whipped up a simple Grimm Lands version, than offer what seems common sense advice. That said, I'm very familiar with rpgs and with creating rpg sessions, and this chapter might have been written with the neophyte in mind.

I believe it was written with said target audience in mind. And besides, I'd rather them NOT tell me how every story should be in the canon - I'd rather have wiggle room to modify my own, using their given examples as guiding hands.

No, I haven't played it before - and this will be my first time GMing it.

Asking for a single example is quite a leap from telling us how every story should be in the canon.

There is sort of an example, on page 137, the sidebar "Once Upon a Time: The Bremen Musicians". It repeats the story, then suggets an addition to the tale that could be suitable for an adventure. It doesn't take it further than a simple suggestion.

We made characters last night and will be hitting the table in about two hours. I've put up some background material on my blog: http://wp.me/p1RlRL-cI

Sounds awesome. I hope you have fun with it!

Me? I'm still trying to get a group together to run mine. The above story was for a table-top gathering, but now it looks like I may have to take it online (play-by-post) if I want to see it come to fruition.