Blood & Grit: Neon Nightmares by Rodney Sloan is a role playing game published by Rising Phoenix Games. The game is covered by the ORC License.
The supplement is available as a 25-page PDF from DriveThruRPG for $3.99 but was purchased at a reduced price thanks to a special discount. One page is the front cover, one the front matter and Contents, one is an ad and one the character sheet. The character sheet is also available as a separate png file.
The first page is a piece of fiction; this continues in two other pages later in the supplement.
Blood & Grit first mentions the precursor game and then explains that everyone inhabits two worlds, the real world, a harsh land, and a nightmare reality of dreamcode. Beings are connected to the dreamcode, and dying in either world will kill you.
Core Rules explains that tests are done by rolling 1d100 and comparing the result to the appropriate ability. There are also degrees of success or failure, which can result in additional gains or penalties, and opposed tests happen when two characters are opposing the result. Every time a test is failed using one of the three abilities, 1 experience token is earned. 5 Grit and 3 experience tokens can be spent to increase an ability by 1, to a maximum of 90. Derived abilities may increase when the tens value of an ability increases.
Standard Tests covers the most common tests, which are essentially skills. These are named, given the appropriate thing to test and described.
Combat describes this. Initiative is rolled for and then there are a number of actions that can be done on your turn, aim, attack, breathe, interact, move, press or stand, and you may also do a couple of things on an opponent’s turn, interrupt or parry. There are also some actions that can be done without spending Action points. Advantage grants a bonus to attacks and there are some combat modifiers. Criticals may also be dealt. It also covers dying, going insane if 0 Grit is reached and how to heal and regain sanity. Ten different insanities are covered. Objects and effects can be manifested through an understanding of how the connection with the dreamcode world works, and some of these are described. Ranges are generally abstract, but given numbers as to what they are.
Making Your Hero covers character creation. 2d10+20 is rolled for each of the three main abilities, Body, which is physical strength and stamina, Presence, which is awareness and reaction time, and Mind, which is mental strength, charm and intellect. Two numbers may be swapped, and 10 is added to one ability. Various derived abilities are then calculated. A quirk, a physical characteristic and a name are chosen, along with a weapon, and characters start with some money and clothes. You also determine what your ancestors stood for.
Souls of Two Worlds has some additional rules for determining personality traits, languages known and their uses, different ancestry packages, these being Hab-Born, Wastelanders, Dreamchildren and Assembled. Characters may start out as experts and there are Hero talents to make them unique.
Additional Details and Generators has a d10 title generator, a d10 loyalty generator and a d100 tradecraft generator.
Items looks at coins and trade, hand to hand weapons, ranged weapons and other items, as well as supplies, which are done in levels, what these cover and supply tests.
NPCs and Monsters is the bestiary which briefly describes various creatures and NPCs with names, subtitles and stats, as well as any special abilities. There are also rules for hordes of monsters for fighting masses together rather than individually.
Solo Play Tips has rules for playing solo, as well as oracles.
Blood and Grit: Neon Nightmares in Review
The PDF is bookmarked with major sections linked. The Contents is to a similar level of depth and is hyperlinked. Navigation is okay. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are some colour illustrations which look to be custom. Presentation is decent.
The game itself is perhaps crunchier than might be though from a short game, though not heavily so. It does have more tests than many games would, but the short monster descriptions shows that the game isn’t that complex. Not much is described about the setting, although probably enough to get by with. A GM will need to do a reasonable amount of work developing things to use the game to play. Blood & Grit: Neon Nightmares can be found by clicking here.
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