In May 2023 we presented the Grim Noir Quick Deal featuring Grim Noir RPG, the GUMSHOE film-noir RPG of occult mysteries, published by Finnish company Northern Realms.
Grim Noir may remind you of “Nordic Noir” stories like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Broadchurch, and The Killing, a genre recently seen in games like A Town Called Malice (Monkeyfun Studios, 2019). In a City of dark alleys and glamorous restaurants, a labyrinth of dreams and schemes, Heaven and Hell have struck a Pact, an armistice, that prohibits them from waging war on Earth. Instead, they gather souls using proxies, “Reapers.” You’re a Reaper, a detective investigating dangerous cases with a supernatural twist that makes them too dangerous for the City’s police. The GUMSHOE system, designed by Robin D. Laws (Feng Shui, Over the Edge, Hillfolk) and seen in games like Trail of Cthulhu, The Esoterrorists, and The Yellow King, ensures the Reapers never miss a clue important to the story. The challenge isn’t finding the clues but interpreting them.
Special rules let you gain Narrative Points through internal monologues where your Reaper reflects on the case so far. You can spend Narrative Points on flashbacks that influence the past to change your current situation. By Reaping souls and carrying them within you, you can gain insight into the mystery – but this taxes your Stability, and your friends may treat you like a stranger. You can sell these souls for money, favors, or Gifts like Heavenly Light, Hellfire, Heal, Induce Fear, Endless Conversation, or Guardian Angel.
Pursuing the trail deeper into the City, you and your fellow Reapers uncover corruption, coercion, and vice – powers of Heaven and Hell tempt you, mislead you, cheat you – you face impossible choices. The City’s elite may wind up gruesomely destroying themselves, and possibly you as well.
This all-new Grim Noir Quick Deal presented the entire line – everything you need for self-destructive relentless pursuit of truth and a frightening destiny. There were three titles in our Noir Collection (retail value $40) as DRM-free .PDF ebooks, including the complete Grim Noir RPG corebook, the six-scenario collection Unsolved Cases, and the introductory investigation Dead-End Murder.
