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Trials of the Grail

Trials of the Grail is 78-pages of carefully crafted Arthurian fantasy role-playing game published by Primeval Press and currently available as a 5 MB PDF download from RPGnow for $9.50. A "demo" (2 sample pages) can be found here.

Target Audience: Fans of Arthurian Romances/Grail Quest adventures.

System: Narrative storyteller system using point distribution character generation with a dice pool core mechanic for task resolution.

Time Required: Massive. Expect to have to read every word at least once.

Playability: Variable. (Not for fair weather gamers or those looking for a "lite" system.)

Complexity: High. (8 on a scale of 10)

Quality: 8 (Good layout. Well-put together product.)

Originality: 6 ½

Grade: C+ (needs polishing)

Overall Rating: 7 out of 10 golden apples.

I received my review copy of Trials of the Grail just before the long stretch of holidays that seem to cascade upon us in domino effect, leaving us little time for much else. Even so I did take a quick peek at the game. My initial impression was, simply, that the concept and setting looked neat. Interesting even. From the first chapter, simply titled "Preparation", the reader is treated to a fairly typical introduction to role-playing. All the basic concepts of role-playing games are laid our fairly succinctly with emphasis placed on the nature and import of the Game Master. A chapter immediately follows this on "Questors"- this being the name applied to the player characters of TotG- with clearly defines what is expected of the characters within the game and their importance to the milieu. It's refreshing to see the role-playing process laid out with its differences from other gaming forms explained is such concise, straightforward, and unambiguous terms from the very first chapters.

However, for there is always a caveat, I feel that certain forms of terminology were, in hindsight, not as perfect as they could have been. As a veteran gamer I have a lot of baggage packed full of preconceived notions, not the least of which concern standard game terms, that TotG attempts to turn on it's ear in a laudable effort to achieve uniqueness. (More on this later.) Of course that is merely a matter of opinion and, truth be told, with a little spit and polish this game should be parade ground ready by it's next revision. Of which I have no doubt it will have one. With that in mind I have to comment on the artwork. Where the unkind would deride it and point out its flaws I have to say that, uneven as it may be, it's far from the worst I've seen. In fact it pulled at the heart strings of my inner youth and got me all nostalgic for boxed sets of yesteryear, and let me tell you some of those early RPGs really had terrible artwork!

But that's all window dressing and full anyway and all that really matters are the game rules. The real questions that needs answering here are: 1) Does the game look fun? 2) Are the game rules easy to understand? 3) Is the text easily accessible with a good layout and minimal grammar/syntax errors? 4) Is it worth spending my hard earned sawbuck on? With that in mind please read on…

Summary

Written by Jasper McChesney with cover illustration by Keith Senkowski and interior Artwork by Jasper McChesney TRIALS OF THE GRAIL, previously released under the title GRAAL, is the flagship game from Primeval Games Press. The game falls within the genre of Arthurian Fantasy; in fact it is designed specifically around the theme of the "grail quest" and all that implies. As such the game has at its core the concept of the "Trial" and the need to overcome such trials (partly via a dice roll). The core dice mechanic uses a pool of D10, rolled to determine the number of potential successes, as relates to immediate task resolution. However there also exists a separate mechanic in the form of "narrative points". Of course, being rooted in Arthurian Romance, Virtue and Relics also figure prominently.

At this point let us step back to make sure we are on the same page. What we are dealing with here is a narrative storyteller system. The dice mechanic, while important to basic trial resolution, is really not as important as the trial narrative itself; it merely provides the random method whereby the player who has control of narrative for the moment is determined. That may be a gross simplification of the system, for it has layers of complexity that require a careful reading (where actual play testing is not possible) to uncover. For instance Virtue has the potential to be very complex indeed, depending upon the weight of import an individual group places upon it. On the surface Virtue is what directs, compels, and can potentially make or break a Questor. Viz:

Sound simple enough, right? Ah but there is wrinkle. The author decided not to limit the scope of the game strictly to the environs of a medieval Arthurian setting. Which, depending upon your point of view, is either a bit of brilliance or total gonzo madness. As outlined in the following paragraph:

I know what you are thinking. Drug smugglers? Cartel leader? How is that possible in a game of Arthurian fantasy? (Insert confused smiley here.)

The Game: Trials of the Grail is a dedicated role-playing game about grail questing in the medieval world of the Arthurian Romances that makes allowances for Game Masters to expand upon the setting, or rather transport the "quest" to other settings, and thus time periods. This is accomplished with a very interesting set of rules conventions that allow for narrative control and character growth. For instance most games simply award success and leave character failures to speak for themselves within the context of the game. In TotG the rules allow for characters, through their failures, to acquire Infirmities. Infirmities can adversely impact a character's attributes, thus making it harder for a character to succeed in future trials. This is, or can be, balanced out by the gaining of Virtues. Thus providing for an interesting balance of rewarding the good and allowing for the impact of the bad.

The Setting: Here's where TotG shines. Yes, the basic setting and setup is for Arthurian fantasy. Which, by definition, means that this role-playing game should be limited, out of the box, as you can only do so much with Arthurian fantasy. However, Trials of the Grail makes a valiant effort to present, if not a universal rule set, then certainly a very specific set of rules with a potentially broader application than one might normally associate with Arthurian fantasy. Some may feel this attempt to broaden the scope of the game dilutes the focus of game play, but I find it an intriguing idea to take the transport the spiritual quest of the grail out of it's medieval pseudo renaissance dungeon.

Mechanics: Task resolution involves "trials" that are assigned a difficultly by the GM.

A "trial" is resolved by taking the skill, the difficulty, the complexity, and comparing them to a number of ten-sided dice equal to the talent of a character's aptitude, plus any bonuses. The dice rolled represent a potential success. Success represents increments of victory. If a test is passed the character has successfully passed the trial.

To sum up: This involves math. Lots of math. Addition. Subtraction. Comparing of numbers to deduce successes based upon variable numerical absolutes. And, I am not proud to admit it; my eyes glazed over midway through page one. Granted that was due largely the tedious and droll writing style. But that's no excuse.

Character Creation: The player characters are referred to a "questors", each questor has four "aptitudes" with two distinct facets: "talent" and "skill". The four aptitudes are Manner, Survival, Warfare, and Wits. There are "Lead" and "Supporting" questors, the difference between the two being how many points one gets to distribute (and differences in set caps/minimums) between their aptitudes.

There are a few bumps. For instance this bit gave me pause the first time I read it:

I was thinking: Uh- So I can't have any cake, but if it's okay to eat some? Until I remembered that there exit both a talent and skill score in TotG. They just register in my forebrain as synonyms since, in my experience; most RPGs use the terms interchangeably. Which leaves me wishing the author would have chosen better terminology so I don’t have to keep reminding myself there's suppose to be a difference. Maybe "Flair" instead of talent and "expertise" or "competence" instead of skill. Still it's good to have to think, once in a while, and TotG certainly keeps the reader on their mental toes!

Conceptually TotG is an adaptation of the Arthurian legend, specifically the Grail Quest, distilled into game form. However I've also had several dead starts in writing a review of it in the few months that I've had it. Sitting back and looking at the material, overall, I find that this has been due to two main points. First, the first few chapters have the feel of an eighties RPG without the audacious vim packed into role-playing manuals of the period. The basics are explained upfront, succinctly, but in a droll and staid style.

For instance:

That's the bullet text summarizing the "fourth tenant" (read: "goal" or "reason for playing") as pertaining to questors (read: player characters) and, sorry to say, it's just dreary dull reading that's not likely to inspire the casual player to want to play a questor. My suggestion would be a minor revision that draws the reader in and makes them want to play. Perhaps something like:

That's a bit rough. But which paragraph makes you sit up and take notice?

While we are on the subject the text, at times, tends to ramble on and provide too much superfluous information. Also the explanations are sometimes opaque, reading like the transcript of a lecture. Picking back up from the quoted passage above:

Now I've sat here thinking about what I really want to say about the above. Time and time again it comes down to one simple frustrated statement: "Dude, I just want to play a game!" The long and the short of it is all anyone really wants to know is how to get started playing as quickly as possible. Yes, the above makes my brain hurt, not that it takes much these days, but the real question I left asking myself is if paragraphs likes that are really vital to game play. I am forced to answer that I don't think they are. Or rather they could be edited to get the point across more succinctly.

Negatives: There is no way to say this save to come out and say it. So here it is: The artwork is not good. I could be unkind and say it's elementary school level but, in my opinion, I think what we have here is an example of someone who has done their best to provide illustrations for their own work. However the effect is uneven and makes an otherwise well laid out document look amateurish.

Too, I found myself stumbling over many sections. Grand as the underlying concept may be the writing style leaves much to be desired. Indeed I felt like a college student that has been left punch drunk from hours of listening to a professor rattle on about the Lords of Creation knows what! For instance I just couldn't decipher what was supposed to be going on with task resolution at a glance. The explanation of the core mechanic, from where I sit, is, if not impenetrable, dense and in need of severe and heavy handed revision. After all not ever Game Master has time to dedicate to deciphering, studying, and testing the mechanics before using them in actual play.

Positives: Trials of the Grail falls within a popular niche genre: Arthurian Fantasy. That means the game has great potential to reach a wide audience. However whether or not it will still be around a decade from now, however, will largely depend on how quickly the minor flaws outlined above are addressed. As this is already a revision of an earlier concept I feel confident that the next edition of TotG might be even better than the current edition and look forward to seeing it.

In conclusion…

There is much to endear Trials of the Grail to hardcore fans of Arthurian Romance as a set of rules TotG needs to be made more accessible to the casual everyday reader. The game does look like fun, even if reading it sometimes feels like a Herculean task. Which doesn't mean the rules aren't easy to understand, they just have to be read in full. Sadly that also means it is unlikely anyone will be able sit down and start to play TotF "out of the box" as there's just too much going on beneath the surface for anything less than a complete read through. Even then expect a lot of the game's foibles to only be evident in actual play. Game Masters may have to run at least two or three test games to get a feel for the system. Which can be said of any new set of game rules and once the system is learned teaching it to others should be relatively easy. Sadly the text itself may prove more a distraction than an aide to those learning the system for the first time, thus placing much of the initial burden of teaching the systems basics on the shoulders of the GM. Which is shame because the text is otherwise well laid out and suffers from few gross grammatical errors. A interesting game premise that is well worth having a look at.

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