[TotG is published both in PDF format and as a print edition. While there are few, if any, differences between the two, this review is based on the print edition.]

Trials of the Grail, or TotG, is the kind of role-playing game that can be compared to watching a foreign film during a summer of Hollywood blockbusters. We watch them not as a comparison; we watch them because we want something different. That being said, Trials of the Grail won't appeal to those who want a traditional Arthurian RPG the likes of King Arthur Pendragon. Instead, Trials of the Grail calls to the experimental gamer looking for a true exercise in collaborative storytelling.

Campaign Setting. Trials of the Grail is really a universal role-playing game. True, TotG sets itself up as an Arthurian game. Most of the character creation, gameplay, and setting examples feature knights in shining armor--literally. Early on in the first chapter, however, we are encouraged to look beyond the obvious fantasy setting. To be specific, Trials of the Grail asks gaming groups to collaborate on the genre in which to play. TotG's limits to this game setting are these four factors:

• The PCs are "knights"

• Their "king" is dying

• The "kingdom" around them is dying

• The "grail" is the only thing that can cure the king and, thus, the kingdom

The above should be familiar to most fantasy role-playing gamers, but here's the twist. The archetypes surrounding the knights, king, kingdom, and grail can be superimposed over just about any setting.

So, for instance, in a cyberpunk setting the "king" might be the CEO of a Megacorp whose brain was recently fried by an anti-personnel program. As a result, the Megacorp (i.e. the kingdom) has spiraled downward in business and is sure to crash if the CEO's condition isn't restored. The PCs are loyal runners (i.e. the knights) who must find an urban-legendary restoration program (i.e. the grail) and heal the CEO before it's too late. (Note how the Arthurian tropes are essential to the campaign, yet we can assume that most of the action will take place in the urban sprawl.)

My cyberpunk example is pretty simple and, as a result, easy to fathom. But with a little creativity, the various genres that can be tied to Arthurian legend through TotG is mind blowing. The core book itself gives a few examples including a prohibition-era grail quest, a Mark Twain-esque search for a huckster, and (of all things) the attempt to heal the confidence of an air show performer. Of course, there are only so many grail quests a group of gamers can handle. The Arthurian lore lover, however, will find the potential to creatively mold any setting to Trials of the Grail's system appealing.

Character Creation. The second trait that bears recognition is TotG's system for character creation. Certainly, RPG standards are still in place. For instance, there are four pairs of numerical attributes to represent a character's charisma, toughness, fighting ability, and smarts. Players may dictate a character's strengths and weaknesses. And each character's past holds some unresolved mystery. What makes Trials of the Grail's character creation process stand out, though, is its reliance on the gaming group's chemistry.

To clarify, TotG urges the GM and PCs to discuss characters before play begins. This pre-game discussion is not unique, to be sure. However, the decisions made during character creation affect the entire campaign. Namely, one PC is chosen as the lead role. The other "knights" are supporting characters, and they know it. From then on, there can be no deviation.

The lead character begins the campaign as a less experienced "knight." However, it is destiny that this naïve upstart will find the "grail." Furthermore, if that lead character dies, then the campaign is over. So, the gaming group that decides to take on a TotG grail quest must begin and end as a steadfast troupe. The supporting cast must ensure the lead's success. And the leading character must grow into his destiny.

Such a mixture of metagaming and in-game role-playing is a task safest undertaken by players who know themselves and their role within their gaming group. Put simply, if the group is more into ego building, inter-party conflict, and muscle-flexing, TotG probably won't work.

Narrative & Rules. The final trait that places Trials of the Grail in its own niche is the way that the narrative and the rules are locked. That is to say, TotG incorporates mechanics in which the players can wrest control of the storyline from the GM in order to create any number of beneficial circumstances. Players get to describe task resolution results, for instance. Rather than listen intently to the GM's arbitrary interpretation of the dice, players cast their own hand into storytelling by describing both successes and failures.

The most obvious storytelling mechanic, however, is the called narrative point. Players can use NPs on a point-by-point basis to manipulate the environment or even the campaign. So, a player might burn a narrative point to dictate something like a jagged pipe sticking out of a wall during an alley fight. Shish kabob, anyone?

The potential for manipulating the game world substantially is also possible. To use my cyberpunk example from above, let's say the PCs need information from Carla the cyberhacker. The player may opt to spend several narrative points to declare that Carla was reported as being arrested two days ago for theft. Now, much to the GM's chagrin, it's just a matter of visiting Carla's jail cell to speak with her.

It's clear to me that narrative points within Trials of the Grail set the framework for a truly collaborative story. Granted, not all game masters are suited for assimilating players' own narratives into the greater story. For GMs who enjoy the thrill of on-the-fly refereeing, however, TotG's narrative points mechanic is sure to create situations in which the game master is forced to become shrewdly inventive.

Presentation. Every game has its bad points. Unfortunately, Trials of the Grail's negative characteristics begin at page one and don't end until the final page is turned. The first of these negative characteristics is TotG's interior art.

I'm not one for judging a role-playing game by its artwork, but Trails of the Grail's interior art mars the content drastically. Ideally, interior graphics should serve a purpose. In the case of role-playing games, that purpose is to break up the monotony of the text while also giving the game a certain atmosphere. TotG's interior art does a fine job of breaking the text's monotony; however, the simplistic line drawings don't do much for the overall setting. At its worst, the art is downright distracting. At its best…well, it gets a laugh.

Writing. Trials of the Grail's second negative characteristic hurts me the most. I can overlook poor graphics. Really. But there's no excuse for poor writing. TotG, unfortunately, has that in spades. Beginning with the first paragraph and lasting through the majority of the book, Trials of the Grail's wordiness and misuse of punctuation is shameless. So much so that I had to shelve the book on several occasions just to clear my brain.

To be more specific, the author has an affinity for the colon, the comma, and ambiguity. Take this sentence as an example:

I recognize that not every reader is part of the Secret Grammar Police (of which I am a card-carrying member), but even the uninitiated must recognize that there's something wrong with the sentence above. The colon here is misused to connect two complete sentences. Those sentences are, in turn, connected to a subordinate clause and another sentence with a conjunction and a comma, respectively. Because three complete sentences are strung together, we really can't discern the important topic here. To put it simply, the author uses too many words with too little meaning. Any technical writer will explain that instructional text needs to be simple but specific. The above excerpt is neither, and unfortunately for the reader, much of Trials of the Grail's text is written in such a manner.

The redeeming factor here is that I happen to be overly critical when it comes to prose. Most gamers won't notice, or won't care to notice, TotG's atrocious abuse of sentence structure and syntax. In fact, during game play, who cares how the book was written? As a person who values good writing, however, it took me a while to get through a first reading without having an aneurism.

When it's all said and done, Trials of the Grail could probably use a revision or two. Substituting the line drawings for public domain art would be a feasible, albeit trite, solution to the poor interior art. But I'm certain I've seen some inspiring woodcuts somewhere. Also, the writing needs to be revised for clarity and content. Shorter sentences would improve the prose tremendously.

Nevertheless, as a set of rules for a strong troupe of gamers, Trials of the Grail could possibly lead to a new echelon of role-playing. The narrative point mechanic is attention worthy to those gamers who are bored with the GM/player paradigms. And for the rest of us, perhaps it's time to share the storytelling responsibilities more so than conventional RPGs require. At the very least, Trials of the Grail can function as an experiment in a gaming group's solidarity.

Trials of the Grail can be found at Primeval Games Press's website: www.primevalpress.com.

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