Flames of Freedom Grim & Perilous RPG is a role playing game supplement published by Andrews McMeel. This is the core rulebook for Flames of Freedom, a role playing game system based on ZWEIHÄNDER.
The supplement is available as a PDF from DriveThruRPG for $19.99. It is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed and has 674 pages, two being the front and rear covers, five the front matter, three the Contents, seven the Index and one an ad. The PDF comes in two versions, one low-res and one hi-res, and a supplementary zip has character sheets.
Preamble explains that the game is set during the American Revolution, but along with the war, there is another, darker war going on, making a gothic horror game. It gives a brief overview of the setting, the themes, how the game plays for the character and the Historian – GameMaster – the different perspectives involved in the game and the playstyle.
Article 1: Basics of Gameplay starts by saying the golden rule is to keep the game moving; rulings are more important than rules. It then moves onto the Skill Test. The game uses d100, and how this works with two d10s is explained. When doing a Skill Test, the Primary Attribute percentage value is referred to, modified by Skill Ranks, penalties from the Peril Condition Track and modifiers from Talents, Traits and Spells to determine the Base Chance. The final modifier is the Difficulty Rating. Rolling or equal or less than the Base Chance modified by the Difficulty Rating is a success. If the dice match, it’s either a Critical Success or a Critical Failure.
Characters have seven Primary Attributes; Combat, Brawn, Agility, Perception, Intelligence, Willpower and Fellowship. These are never tested against directly; instead, the Skills are used. The Primary Attributes have a Primary Attribute Bonus, which is used when calculating Secondary Attributes. Sometimes, both Primary and Secondary Attributes will be temporarily penalised.
Skills define what a character can do, and each Primary Attribute is linked to a number of different Skills. Skills have Skill Ranks, which provide a mechanical bonus to them. If a character uses a Skill they have no ranks in, they flip the results to fail at a test and take the worst result. The dice are rolled as normal, with the lowest number they can make being the one used. Sometimes a character can flip the results to succeed. Common Skills require no training whilst Special Skills require training. Difficulty rating has an effect on the dice roll and there are some notes on adjudicating this, and it looks at the penalties from the Peril Condition Track. The total chance and Critical Success and Critical Failure are then looked at. Whilst the Total Chance can in theory go over 100%, it is capped at 99% with 100% always being a Critical Failure. If there isn’t a risk, no test is needed. Failed Tests can sometimes be retried, one ally may Assist a Test and others can oppose them. Some Tests may be kept secret by the Historian, so the player doesn’t know if they have succeeded, and examples are given. On occasion, a character may Fail Forward, where a failure is not a true failure.
It then looks at Fury and Chaos Dice. The former is a d6 where, if Damage is rolled and the result is a 6, another Fury Die is rolled and so on; this is called exploding dice. Chaos Dice work similarly, but are used in different situations, such as determining Injuries. Coins can be used to twist fate in a character’s favour; there are two Coin Pools, one for players and one for Historians. Coins will flow in and out of the pools.
Article 2: Creating Characters starts by explaining this is an eight-step process. The first step is starting allegiance, which is to the Rebels. It briefly covers the two factions; Rebels and Loyalists. The next step is Basic Tier and Primary Attributes. All characters start at the Basic Tier; Tiers being a measurement of mechanical competence. Primary Attributes are generated by rolling 3d10 and adding 25 for each. Once rolled, there are Primary Attribute Bonuses that can be calculated; these are relevant for calculating Secondary Attributes.
The next step has Determination, which makes characters special and a cut above the rest, and the Secondary Attributes. Determination allows a character to take narrative control of a scene, such as preventing being Slain! or undoing the effects of Spells. Determination also affects the Damage Threshold, which is covered next; it goes from Unharmed to Slain! How to calculate the Damage Threshold is explained. Peril Thresholds cover the effects of stress, fatigue, intimidation, starvation, exposure to the secret world, social shame, drugs and alcohol. It starts at Unhindered and goes down to Incapacitated! Again, how to calculate this is covered.
Encumbrance Limit is how much a character can carry during combat without suffering penalties. How to calculate this and what happens if they go beyond the limit are covered. Initiative determines the order of actions during combat; this isn’t rolled but determined by the Primary Attributes. Movement is how gar a character can move in combat.
Step 4 is the background. First the age is determined, then the culture and the languages. There are seven cultures; Black, British, Colonial, French, Indigenous, Multicultural and Spanish. Each is given a description, and if Indigenous, a member nation also needs determining. Should another culture be desired, it can be created.
Step 5 is Archetypes and Professions. Archetypes categorise similar professions together, and there are seven; Commoner, Frontier, Intellectual, Lawbreaker, Mage, Urbane and Warrior. These are each described with their starting wares, weapons and money and a list of Traits. The Professions are then listed in tables by Archetype, with their iconic wares and weapons; they are described in detail in Article 3.
Physical appearance is the next step, and has tables for stature, build, style, eyes, hair and distinguishing mark. Step 7 is personality traits and conflict. There’s a table of beliefs which names and describes them and a similar one for flaws. When characters are put into a situation where they have to make a morally ambiguous choice, or where there is no right answer or fall prey to their fears, they gain Conflict. At the end of a session, Conflict may scar a character and turn into Flaw Ranks. Belief Ranks gain determination.
Step 8 is the finishing touches.
Article 3: Professions Pamphlet starts by explaining that characters earn Reward Points, which can be spent to gain mechanical benefits from their Profession. Tiers are a measure of mechanical competence, and they are Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. Reward Points are spent at each Tier, and once the necessary number of things are bought, a character can move up to the next Tier. Characters can pick a new Profession at the Intermediate Tier and a final one at the Advanced Tier. Reward Points can also be spent on Unique Abilities, and these are covered next.
Professions are next, and each follows the same layout. Each has a name, a description, Trait & Quirk and Common Spells table. There are 84 different professions to choose from.
Article 4: Skills and Talents starts by explaining that Skills are either Common or Special. Common Skills can be used by anyone; Special Skills require at least one Skill Rank to use. There is a table of the skills, which shows what their primary attribute is and which are special. There are 36 skills, which are described, with a paragraph explaining what they are used for and examples of what the different difficulties would be used for in that skill.
Talents are abilities like Profession Traits and are innate abilities that usually don’t require Action Points during combat. There are 85 Talents, and each is named, has a brief sentence describing it followed by the game effect of using it.
Article 5: Wares & Weapons starts by looking at the unit of currency, the use of barter and of book credit, which will require a check. Most of this article is taken up with descriptions of equipment, armour and weapons, which include weapon qualities, that affect how a weapon works in combat; this includes various templates that are used with weapons that affect multiple targets at once. The stat format for weapons is explained, and each weapon is also described separately. Armour is not included, as by this time it’s obsolete; a brief section deals with what happens when armour from ZWEIHÄNDER is used with the game. Cannons and war machines are not covered in this supplement and there are some instructions on how to create wares and weapons; drugs and similar substances are covered in Article 9: Hexenmeister’s Almanack.
Article 6: Narrative Tools starts with things to do at the beginning and end of game sessions in order to keep the game flowing. This is followed by the three of the four pillars of gameplay; social interaction, chase scenes and overland travel. The fourth pillar, combat, is covered in Article 7. Social Interaction has a nine-step method for running such, which is done when characters to convince NPCs of falsehoods, persuade them to stuff they’d not readily agree to or plant their own agendas in the minds of NPCs. Social Interaction is done in narrative time.
Chase Scenes has a six-step process for running these, and they are done in narrative time. They are used when foes run away in combat. Overland Travel has a ten-step process for travelling distances of longer than a day, and during this process other pillars of gameplay may happen.
Article 7: Combat Encounters starts by stating that in Flames of Freedom, naps don’t heal stab wounds and magic that restores limbs and brings back the dead doesn’t exist. Combat has a physical and psychological toll. It gives the combat terminology, explaining that unlike ZWEIHÄNDER the game uses Rounds. Combat encounters have a four-step process; setting the scene, referring to the Initiative Tracker, first round then new rounds. Lighting and obscurement can affect combat and initiative was rolled in pre-game rituals. The chapter has various combat conditions, that affect characters and their actions.
There are various actions and reactions that can be used in combat, together with their Action Point cost, and a guide to attacking; there are different ranges from melee upwards. The section also has descriptions of different injuries, categorised as moderate, serious and grievous; these can have long-term game effects because, as mentioned, characters cannot easily heal damage in this system and combat is dangerous.
Article 8: Healing, Hazards & Horror starts with different methods of healing, for peril, damage, sepsis, bleeding and injuries of different kinds; injuries are more serious in this game. Recuperation is what characters are in when moderate or serious injuries have undergone treatment. Grievous Injuries need a successful Perform Surgery within 24 hours or characters gain a Permanent Injury; Permanent Injuries cause a permanent problem and each is associated with a specific Grievous Injury.
Hazards starts with ailments, which are diseases that need resisting with failure meaning potentially serious issues. Drugs of different kinds also cause their own problems, even though many also have other uses. Extreme weather can cause frostbite and heatstroke, and falling, fire, sleep deprivation, starvation and suffocation are also hazards.
Horror is the final problem; players should attempt to get in character for this. There are three types of horror; stress, fear and finally terror, each with its own different issues. Characters can try to Withstand Horror, and failure can result in them being scared to death. Despair is a potential result of exposure to horror, though characters can become Hardened to a threat they successfully face down. Horror can also cause a variety of afflictions, which are described, and there’s one, not very good, way of healing them; trepanning.
Article 9: Hexenmeister’s Almanack looks at magic. There are four traditions of this; Common Spells, Black & White Magic, Witchcraft and the Alchemical Arts. As the last uses a different skill, Alchemy, rather than Incantation, it is looked at later in the chapter. Histories of all four traditions are given, followed by how characters can learn spells, which are found in grimoires, then how they can be cast. Casting spells has potential dangers; spellcasting can fail and there’s a chance of backlash. The different traditions then have the spells in them covered; Common Spells has more than the others. Spells are divided into three tiers; basic, intermediate and advanced. The final part of this chapter has sample grimoires, which are genuine books that have their name, author, language, publication time and a description given.
Article 10: Life During Wartime looks at everyday life in the colonies leading up to and during the war. It looks at the motivations of Rebel and Loyalist sympathisers, marriage and family, black characters, economics, clothing, food and drink, servitude, education, government, crime and punishment, government, travel, by land and by water, religion and libraries. This chapter provides background information on a lot of subjects.
Article 11: Indigenous Nations starts by giving an overview of some notable events during the European colonisation of the Americas, and notable colonies. Life during the war and the impact of colonisation are looked at, followed by the nations that are around in 1776. There are sixteen different nations and each is given details on their culture, history and perspectives, along with some other related material.
Article 12: Colonial Obscura opens with a map of the Thirteen Colonies, which are then each covered individually. Each has a map, some stats, how it was before and during the war, its society and politics and various locations and local folklore.
Article 13: Historian’s Secrets is the GM’s chapter. It starts by explaining what the Historian’s job is, that rules that don’t work should be changed, when in doubt, agreeing to a player’s action, albeit with a potentially large penalty if their character fails at it. When narrative time and structured time are used is covered, as well as pacing things and transitioning between the two. It also explains that as this is a fictional game based on real things, not to get too caught up in the minutiae, but if a player has extensive period knowledge of something, use it. There are also some details on using Flames of Freedom with ZWEIHÄNDER itself.
Details are given on using history, including alternate histories and secret histories, as well as dealing with historical events and personages whose future details are known; George Washington is given as an example. Using horror in the game is covered, with there being different types; folk, mythic, personal, psychological and supernatural with examples of how similar events can be different when viewed through different kinds of horror.
The three main playstyles in the game are looked at; these being Supernatural Horror, Occult Mystery and High Action. How these three playstyles affect Conflict is covered in each section. The effects of faith on Conflict are also looked at. How a character’s Beliefs and Flaws will affect them is also looked at.
The next section covers secret societies; these are often not truly secret, in that they are known. Each is given an overview, its current activities, potential major NPCs encountered, how the society itself can be encountered, its membership and what the society can offer and grant as deals. The secret societies covered are the Freemasons, the Inquisition, Knights Templar, Rosicrucians and the Royal Society. Many of the secret societies have factions within them who may be in conflict with each other.
The Mandoag are a group of people who are an ever-present enemy. Their history is given, with the war they fought with the Cahokian Nation. The Mandoag are currently active, seeking to get others to join them and are attempting to escalate the war. Though they might appear to ally with others, they are out only for themselves.
The origins of the secret war, which in truth date back several centuries, are looked at, with a look at how various powers and important people within England came into conflict with each other, and sometimes with themselves, and how the present war is at least in part due to their machinations.
Finally, there are details of all the events, and acts that eventually led to the current conflict, which leads all the way back to the Thirty Years’ War, along with the more recent acts and actions that have provoked things.
Article 14: Threats starts by explaining that this is a general term that includes NPCs, creatures and non-hostile entities. All such are divided into Abyssal, Animal, Beast, Humanoid or Supernatural. Following this is an explanation as to how the stats for threats are laid out. Threats have different risk factors, and there are instructions on adjusting the level of danger and customising threats. A table lists threats by risk factor.
The rest of the chapter is taken up by the threats themselves. Most take up one page, with a piece of fluff, image and stats laid out in the same way. A number take up two pages; the difference here is that the image and fluff are on a separate page made to look like a poster; otherwise, there is no difference.
Article 15: Boston Besieged is an introductory adventure set during the siege of Boston. There’s a map of Boston, showing important locations, and hooks for involving the different archetypes. Aftermath then gives a brief history of Boston, with the most detail on events leading up to and during the rebellion, a more detailed map of Boston and descriptions of various locations, some of which have Rebel Intelligence boxes, which are essentially adventure hooks.
Amendments starts with the Bibliography which has an extensive list of books and resources used.
Random Encounters has d100 lists, each with 12 encounters, for coastal, forest, hills, marsh, plains and roads. Each encounter is a short paragraph and a number of them clearly are inspired by popular media.
Trackers has blank trackers for initiative, social intrigue, chase scene and overland travel.
A Collection of Maps of The Thirteen Colonies has 13 colour maps of them.
Flames of Freedom Grim & Perilous RPG in Review
The PDF is bookmarked, but not to any great level of depth, with only the chapters and similar sections linked. The Contents is thorough and is hyperlinked. The Index is to a good degree of depth. Given the size of the book, the lack of deeper bookmarks is a major issue for the PDF; navigation could be a lot better. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be mostly free of errors. There are a variety of custom black and white illustrations, up to full page in size. Presentation is good.
So, this is the core book for the system. It has a good amount of overlap, mechanics-wise, with ZWEIHÄNDER itself; some of the mechanics have been refined but overall, they are largely compatible. It’s also a game that is integrated quite tightly with the setting, and there are some details on that setting; given it’s a real-world setting, more details, at least the ones that are not purely fantastic, are not hard to get hold of.
The setting itself may be an issue, for this is a really niche one, one that is more common amongst wargamers than RPG players. The setting is a specific period of time, one only lasting a few years, and if you don’t have any interest in the American Revolution period, the game is going to lose a lot of its appeal. Now, more of the book is mechanics, and it should be possible to adapt it to other parts of the world at roughly the same time, but this is intended for play in the American Revolution.
Mechanically, the game does owe a lot to ZWEIHÄNDER; it’s a gritty and very dangerous game and characters don’t get better by having a quick nap. Combat can easily cause permanent, life-altering changes to characters and magick can’t fix this. All told, this is a system that won’t appeal to players who like more (super) heroic fantasy games, and it’s a setting that is definitely not going to appeal to everyone. It’s also a setting that is really going to benefit from the GM doing more research to flesh things out; fortunately, the Bibliography can help a lot there. Flames of Freedom Grim & Perilous RPG is a game for those who want to play a dangerous RPG in the American Revolution and it can be found by clicking here.
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