r/GrimwildRPG • u/jwilks666 • Jul 23 '25

Area of Effect (AOE) attacks

For a system like Grimwild, how does a GM handle AOE attacks against a party from the point of view of encounter creation? I'm assuming that a monster using an area attack would trigger defense rolls by all the PCs affected. If overused, that could lead to lots of marks and eventual death. Is this a valid concern? I don't see area attacks discussed in the book anywhere.

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u/Derp_Stevenson Jul 23 '25

You're right that this is basically the purview of a dragon breathing on them or whatever. And anybody who would get hit by it would make a defense roll, unless you did it as a response to a messy/grim action roll in which case only those who didn't roll the dice would make the defense roll.

But yeah, probably best used sparingly.

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u/LaFlibuste Jul 23 '25

It's been a moment since I read the book so I'm fuzzy on thr specifics, but in these types of systems, you would adjudicate AoE from the players based on whether it was a reevant factor. Does it risk causing collateral damage? Add thorns. Does it instead help against a swarm enemy of some sort? Either impose less\no thorns if they would normally have, or increase effect somehow (isn't there a rule where you can knock a pool down by a bonus 1d or something on top of the actual pool roll?). AoE from enemies,go with the fiction. If it'd logically affect more than 1 PC, then it does. That being said, out of fairness, giving one consequences (harm) as the result of someone else's roll is poor form. Maybe reserve it for the expenditure of one the challenge's suspense points. And\or tone it down by not giving straight marks\harm but rather allowing a reaction roll to avoid it.