ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG - a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay retroclone

Double Proficiency takes on the mighty two-handed book Zweihänder Grim & Perilous RPG:

The Zweihänder RPG is finally here. After a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign (fully funded within 6 hours! Guess people really did miss Warhammer Fantasy RPG) and slightly delayed dispatch (a year or so – but for a good reason), the parcel was delivered and unceremoniously opened by a committee.

PDF, which was provided to the Kickstarter backers some time ago, looked promising – astonishingly detailed, with a clean, easily understood mechanic, and good artwork. Not Degenesis level, but pleasantly befitting the stylistic choices of the grim and perilous RPG. In print, I must admit, it looks even better.

Interior artwork was all made by one person, Dejan Mandic, and if I’m not mistaken, he has made a staggering 500 illustrations for this book, ranging from tiny symbols of the gods to double-paged artworks. And here’s that good reason for a year of delay.

Let’s get started then, shall we?

The cover has a very distinct feel, with matt finishing, muted colours, scarred folks (including, at a first glance, a Landsknecht, Sam Vimes, murderous chick, and Emhyr var Emreis), eyepatch with a skull, and a burning village in the background. Classy, with a touch of “We’ve all been there”. “Grim and Perilous RPG” tagline tells us “Yep, we’ve been there”. And well, I actually did miss that. Good job, Jussi Alarauhio.

The book was also available with an alternative cover, featuring another artwork of Mandic, but I think it’s low on the “grim factor” – I’d say it’s to pulpy and Warhammer-inspired.

Read more here: https://doubleproficiency.com/2017/09/28/first-look-zweihander-rpg/

Were you on the fence about buying the print-on-demand Zweihänder book from DriveThruRPG? Worry no more, as Runeslinger provides an unboxing video and review of the print quality!

[video=youtube_share;mQS2siCbKyM]https://youtu.be/mQS2siCbKyM[/video]

Have you been on the fence about buying the print-on-demand of ZWEIHÄNDER Grim and Perilous RPG at DriveThruRPG? Worry no more!

Runeslinger received his print-on-demand copy last week. He covers one of the primary concerns for print-on-demand books: spine quality!

We took great care in selecting DriveThruRPG, forgoing Lulu.com due to paper and quality issues. Runeslinger shows the advantage of the premium edition format we chose for our print-on-demand version of Zweihänder Grim & Perilous RPG.

Looking to pick up Zweihänder: the Hernia Edition (trademark pending) yourself? You can pick it up here for $5 off: http://drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discount=9811ce4c66

[video=youtube_share;mQS2siCbKyM]https://youtu.be/mQS2siCbKyM[/video]

Also, you can see how the print on demand stacks up against the Kickstarter version here:

[video=youtube_share;mQS2siCbKyM]https://youtu.be/mQS2siCbKyM[/video]

Looking for a character sheet in either vertical or landscape format? What about a print-out of the GM reference pages? Are you interesting in looking at a WFRP to Zweihänder conversion? Do you need a quick rules summary for new players? What about a fully-functioning character sheet for Roll20?

Look no further, as we have updated our Play Aids section. It also includes a Polish language character sheet (thanks to Noobirus over at Strike To Stun):

https://grimandperilous.com/play-aids/

Did you miss out on the Halloween PDF giveaway? Zweihänder is DriveThruRPG's Deal Of The Day for the next 24 hours! Get the PDF at the drastically reduced rate of $6.50!

http://drivethrurpg.com/product/210516/ZWEIHANDER-Grim--Perilous-RPG--Core-Book?src=DotD

Also, did you know that with print-on-demand book you get the PDF for free? If you decide to go that route, we can offer the hardcover at a limited discount rate of $49.99 (normally $59.99) at this link instead:

http://drivethrurpg.com/product/210516/ZWEIHANDER-Grim--Perilous-RPG--Core-Book?src=hottest

Runeslinger received his limited Kickstarter edition of ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG.

With his next video, Runeslinger covers the differences between the Kickstarter version vs. the DriveThruRPG edition. He also shows the print quality differences between DriveThruRPG.com with Zweihänder as it compares to Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion from Lulu.com

[video=youtube_share;KPq1_dxj4TM]https://youtu.be/KPq1_dxj4TM[/video]

Tamás Illés of the blog Vorpal Mace kicks off the classic ‘The Oldenhaller Contract’ for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay using ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG:

After the first session’s mayhem I introduced some optional and house rules to speed things up. First, cannon fodder foes will follow the underling rules: they can’t save action points for reactions, and after a serious or bleeding wound they will die or retreat. Second, good old swift attack makes a return, so players can attack multiple times with an increasing penalty to their attack rolls. Third, following the rules about opposing skill tests (a bonus to your skill check means a penalty to the opposing check, and vice versa) leads to petty spells being harder to dispel or resist than greater spells. I changed that by giving the dispel or resist test the exact bonus or penalty the caster gets to his invocation test. I also promised my players I won’t use Misfortune Points until they learn the rules properly, but in truth I just simply keep forgetting about them.

These changes worked like a charm – the game run much smoother. Unfortunately two players couldn’t come, so the group for the session held on the 8th of October was:

* Agonia Gimdinasdotr, a dwarf adherent of Valaya, who turned into a ing warmachine.

* Blitzkrieg, a dwarf slayer, still suffering from his broken ribs, and a glutton for punishment.

* Päether von Sternwart, a human diabolist looking for a proper master.

* Sternchen, an ogre hedgewise, who plans to write a gastro journal.

After an exhausting journey with the roadwardens the party finally reached Nuln. There they wasted half a day with passing the gate, and answering the roadwardens on the interrogation. When the four of them were released Hans Ernst, a roadwarden they befriended on their journey told them that someone is trying to bribe some big dogs to blame the whole incident on them, and put a bounty on their heads. He asked them to meet him next morning in the Reaver’s Return, where the innkeeper still owes him a favor.

On their way to the inn a man named Grolsch van Eyke invited the party to an elegant club, but after some discussion they ignored him and moved on. In a dirty alley they found the Reaver’s Return. After accidentally breaking through the stuck door they met the angry innkeeper, Rudolf Grasser. Mentioning Hans Ernst calmed him down. Rudolf gave them dinner, and showed them the best room he could offer – with a nice view of the canal. Someone noticed the bolts weren’t fastened, which was quickly fixed. Closing the dirty windows turned out to be a good idea: during the night a cat burglar tried to break in, but had to flee when he realized the windows are bolted, and someone is awake…

Read more at Vorpal Mace: http://vorpalmace.blogspot.hu/2017/11/zweihander-session-2-oldenhaller.html

One of our favorite reviewers Prince of Nothing continues his take on the ‘brobdignagian’ proportions of ZWEIHÄNDER Grim & Perilous RPG over at his website Age of Dusk. This is part two, titled “The anatomy of grim heroics”:

Character creation in Zweihander is more involved then that of its predecessors, but the number of steps do not widely exceed that of something like Dark Heresy (and in the case of games like Rogue Trader and Only War, might actually be less). If you like your characters fully fleshed out with an abundance of both crunch and fluff then this might be the game for you.

Before the game delves right in, the chapter is prefaced with a number of bullet points, allowing you to grasp the thematic/ purpose of the various steps of character creation. This page is very effective in providing a set of guidelines for the players to create their character and manages to nail the themes of a Grimdark fantasy game in a number of easily digestible bullet points, allowing even dimwitted players to make suitable characters. The world of Zweihander is a violent, superstitious and corrupt mess, divided by ethnic, religious, social and existential conflict and beset by hideous monsters from without and within. The game boils down its purpose in one or two sweet ass sentences that I already referenced previously:

Grim & perilous role-playing is not a story about people who change the world. It is instead a story of a world that changes the people within it.

Nailed it, moving on…

https://princeofnothingblogs.wordpr...retroclone-pt-ii-the-anatomy-of-grim-heroics/

As of today, we have officially sold over 21,000 physical copies of Zweihander! We continue to be a #4 Platinum Seller of all time on DriveThruRPG, and we couldn't have made it there without your help. Thank you so much!

In other news, our second proof for the GM screen arrives this week. Once we have approved of the proof, we'll be releasing details for our next Kickstarter.

Dejan continues to pencil away at artwork for our next supplement, while Tanner and I are polishing up all the new Professions. We've got several already in playtest mode between Adam and myself, and boy - are they chaotically ruinous in nature! We're planning to release a sneak peak for you all later this month, up to an including a look at Daemonic Pact Magick (a third tradition of Magick alongside Arcane and Divine). And yes, it will be for all the Abyssal Princes AND every other Daemon we mentioned in the core book!

As a special thank you, we have permanently dropped the price of Zweihander print-on-demand over at DriveThruRPG from $59.99 to $55. Thank you so much for your support, and stay tuned for more news on the GM screen and our next supplement in the coming days.

http://drivethrurpg.com/product/210516/ZWEIHANDER-Grim--Perilous-RPG--Core-Book?src=hottest

Here's an early sketch of the GM screen. It's come a long way since its original inception, and we're super pumped to show it to you soon!