GURPS Grimm 1889 Campaign Part I

Updated April 30th, 2022

I had been out of GURPS for a while as a GM, with only occasional forays into playing or running in GURPS Lite, Fate, HERO System, Mutants & Masterminds and a few others. Once I started looking at GURPS 4e as a GM again, I realized that my earlier obsessions with the system - circa 1989 through 2005 - hadn't stuck with me. There were a lot of career miles on the brain, and so I set out to renew my understanding of one of my favorite systems.

I decided to build a game around one of my favorite TV series, Grimm (2005-2011), and set it over a century prior to the events of that show, in the 1889 Dakota Territory just before it became two states.

I was fortunate enough to work with players with a deep knowledge of GURPS 4e to help flesh this idea out. 

Check out the Grimm Wiki for more info about that television show: Grimm Wiki

Note that all of the templates mentioned here for GURPS Character Sheet are zipped up and available here: GCS Grimm Templates.zip

Wesen and Grimm

After a bit of discussion, we ultimately decided on 290 points plus 80 in Disadvantages with 5 in Quirks for the character builds. 

There are three character types -normal humans, Grimm and Wesen. 

• The Grimm are a supernaturally boosted line of warriors who can perceive the Wesen, even when they don't want to be seen. They hunt and kill Wesen as they are often seen as a threat to normal humans. 
• Wesen are those that transform into a monstrous alternate form. They frequently prey on humans, and are the inspiration for legends of werewolves and other scary things. 
• Normal humans are those without supernatural abilities or knowledge of that world.

We decided that a Wesen (human with a beast form) would have three states based on the TV show: A normal base human form, an optional Partial Woge (taking on some of the bestial form abilities), and a Full Woge (fully transformed). Woge forms are built as Alternate Forms.

In GURPS Character Sheet (GCS) the alternate form is built as an Advantage Container called 'Wesen (Alternate Form,  Full) or Wesen(Alternate Form, Partial Woge)'. 

• Full Woge collects all of the Wesen specific Advantages and Disadvantages under the Alternate Form (reducing the costs/benefits), at 90% of the cost difference between the base line human and the Wesen form. 
• Because this is a supernatural/magical setting, I added the Magic [-10%] Modifier to the Alternate Forms.
• To make it even more interesting, a Wesen can choose to reveal themselves or not to a human when Woged. This is Invisibility (Switchable + 10%, Humans cannot see Woge state [-30%]). Note that not all Wesen have or use this ability. 

• Partial Woge allows the character to use one or more of their supernatural abilities temporarily.
• The total cost of the Advantages available cannot exceed 1/4th the total points of the Advantages for the Full Woge.
• A Partial Woge may be visible to everyone as a change in eyes, nose, ears, etc., depending on the power borrowed. Increased Attributes would not be noticeable. 
• Since buying the Invisibility advantage above would likely push the cost past the 1/4th point level, this should only be purchased for highly useful Advantages. 
• There is a base 15 point cost for each Alternate Form (see Shapeshifting, Alternate Form, GURPS 4e Basic Set Characters pp. 83)
• In GURPS Character Sheet, that is represented as a separate Advantage.
• With the Reduced Time +3 (+60%), and the Magic (-10%) Modifier, the cost is 22 points.
• If the optional Partial Woge Alternate Form is included, then the character must take this Advantage a second time, one for each Woge state.

Here's a screen shot of the Wesen Template in GCS. 

1  - Wesen Template

NOTE: I will post some specific Wesen GCS builds at a later date. 

• I added in some of the common beast-like advantages for the Wesen that we use.
• Ultimately we decided not to include the Bestial disadvantage, but rely on the Disadvantages as shown.

• You will notice the 90% value modifier applies to both Advantages and Disadvantages under this Advantage Container. This is because certain Disadvantages only apply to the Alternate Form and offset just those specific Advantage costs.

The Grimm

What about the Grimm? 

• Grimm have a supernatural marker that can only be seen by Wesen in a Woged state - the eyes of a Grimm become black pits when a Wesen is Woged, Partial or Full. 
• This is represented as non-switchable Invisible (Grimm eyes invisible to humans, human form Wesen and Grimm [-75%], Magic[-10%]). 
• The Grimm Reputation -4 (Frightening Decapitare) is tied to this, as they are the boogeymen used to frighten Wesen children.
• Grimm are marked by increased dexterity, health, perceptions, speed and strength.
• Toward that end, the Magic [-10%] modifier would apply to any of those Increased Attribute advantages.
• Grimm are tough customers, and like other supernatural beings in this setting, have a higher Damage Resistance (Ablative, [-80%]).
• In the GCS template, those are placed under the Supernatural Advantages container.
• Grimm can see a Wesen Woged form even if they don't want to be seen.
• We use See Invisible (Partially Exclusive - Wesen only  [-30%] , Magic [-10%]) for a cost of 9 points.
• Grimm can Neutralize some of the powers of a Hexenbiest/Zauerbiest (see below). If one of those Wesen ingest the blood of a Grimm, their Alternate Forms no longer function!
• Those Alternate Forms can be restored by a ritual called Contaminatio Ritualis.

2 - Grimm Template

NOTE: The Slayer template from GURPS Horror pp. 43 is a great starting point. GCS includes that in the available Libraries. 

A Bit about Grimm Magic

I avoided tackling one of the primary antagonists of the TV series while the players and I built up the world, because I was still deciding how to approach magic that respected the show's approach but allowed for greater development.

After running Grimm 1889 for a few sessions, I've finally settled on a few ideas about a magic system that reflects the fictional reality of the original setting. It's a combination of ideas, some taken from GURPS Magic and some from another blog with an interesting approach:

GURPS Magic Homebrew - The Dungeon Deep (quora.com)

From the blog above, the idea of a Mana Pool allows for fueling spells easily with personal energies, falling back on FP or HT in a pinch. I opted for a different refreshment method. 

• Mana Pool (abbreviated MA) is equal to IQ + HT + Magery 
• MA refreshes by taking a concentration maneuver and rolling against Thaumatology in a given turn, with the margin of success as the regained points, up to the maximum MA value.

Each Discipline has a series of Effects bought as IQ/H or IQ/VH skills. 

• These can be combined to achieve an end result by rolling against the appropriate Ritual (Type) skill, adding half that success as a bonus to the Discipline (Effect) skill roll.
•  The Laws of Magic - Contagion, Sympathy and Names - apply here. Elements representing those laws, when used in a Ritual, will add a bonus to the Ritual skill roll per pp. 14-15 of GURPS Thaumatology.

See the blog link above for the costs involved. 

I like the idea of Disciplines (otherwise known as Colleges), but for this idea I switched them up a bit based on a few personal philosophies:

• A necromancer is built on the application of effect, rather than a specific Discipline. Hence a bit of reordering of Disciplines, adding Life and Spirit in place of Necromancy.

• Magic Users require Magery.
• Magery adds to Skills categorized as Magic, and to the Mana Pool (MA). It is normal cost.

• Magic requires a Ritual. It can be as simple as a gesture or a spoken word for some things. There are five Ritual skills available, each at IQ/H with a Default to Thaumatology -6.
• Ceremonial - A particular order of events required to incite the effect.
• Focus - A wand or other component.
• Material Components - See Laws of Magic pp. 14-15 GURPS Thaumatology.
• Somatic (Gestures) - This can be a simple gesture or complex series of movements.
• Verbal - The spoken word, from a single utterance to a series of phrases.

I will post more about that magic system in a follow up blog post.

Hexenbiests (witches), and Zauerbiests (warlocks) 

As a Hexenbiest and Zauerbiest are creatures of frightening supernatural power that appear to be walking corpses when in Full Woge state, they proved a bit more difficult to model in GURPS. 

The following template represents our current approach.

• The Hexenbiest/Zauerbiest (Alternate Form, Full Woge) has the following modifiers:
• Magic [-10%]
• The Alternate Form requires a Control Roll, as they can temporarily manifest their Woge state for Grimm or other Wesen to see if stressed. This counts as a Nuisance Effect [-5%].

• Magery can be bought as a Base Form Advantage and again under the Altered form.
• The modifier Ritual Required [-10%] applies in this setting.
• As with any Wesen, their abilities are heightened through Increased Attributes. 
• Note the Damage Resistance 1 (Ablative, -80%). The Full Woge form is tough and most creatures are at DR 5 or higher. 

Since the Hexenbiests and Zauerbiest have some remarkable telekinetic abilities, I opted to allow the use of TK from GURPS Psionic Powers. 

• Each TK Advantage/Power is categories as Magic so the -10% modifier applies.
• Do not forget to add the Innate Attack (Projectile) skill for the Range Weapons calculations.

3 - HexenBiest/Zauerbiest Advantages & Disadvantages

4 - Hexenbiest/Zauerbiest Skills

Thanks for reading this far. I realize this is complex, and this completely dives into the deep end on the GURPS 4e ruleset.

Let me know any thoughts you on this and offer suggestions on improvements if you wish.