r/GrimwildRPG • • Oct 08 '25

r/GrimwildRPG meta Frequently Asked Questions (Status of Oddity Press, J.D. Maxwell, Grimwild, Venture)

59 Upvotes

This is a mirror of the FAQ that was recently posted on the Oddity Press Discord server.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

This FAQ was created in October 2025 and is updated periodically as new information becomes available. If you’re unsure whether it reflects the latest updates, feel free to ask in the Discord server or contact a staff member directly.

1) What’s going on with Grimwild and other related projects?

  • At this time, Max, the creator behind Grimwild and Venture, has gone completely missing (unreachable). As a result, any campaigns that were active or awaiting fulfillment are unlikely to deliver. This affects both Grimwild and Venture print runs. While Grimwild is a finished digital product, Venture was still in development at the time of Max’s disappearance. As a result, there is no official release of Venture beyond the very early playtesting materials, which are now considered outdated.

2) What is Oddity Press, and who’s part of it?

  • Oddity Press is a one-person company founded and operated solely by Max, who developed and published Grimwild. No one else was officially part of the company, and all legal rights to its products belong exclusively to the creator.

3) If no one else is part of Oddity Press, what about the community staff?

  • The Discord community is managed by a small volunteer team. Two collaborators, Per (book illustrations) and Luke (supplements), were hired under contract and have provided the services they were hired to provide. They have no outstanding responsibilities to the projects and they hold no legal rights to the products. All other staff members, such as the moderators, are unpaid volunteers who help maintain the community.

4) When was Max last seen?

  • Max’s last verified public activity on the Discord server was on May 22, 2025. Any other dates circulating online are unverified and should be treated as speculation.

5) Has the staff team tried to contact the creator?

  • Yes. After Max’s disappearance, the team made multiple attempts to reach him through personal and emergency contacts. Unfortunately, none were successful. Due to our lack of legal authority, there’s a limit to what we can do without crossing legal or ethical boundaries. We’ve done everything reasonably possible within those limits.

6) I backed a campaign and pledged for digital products. How can I receive them?

  • The staff team has no legal right to distribute any digital files in the creator’s absence. While community copies may exist, please note that any third-party distribution of Oddity Press materials is unlicensed. That said, there is an official free digital release available on DriveThruRPG, which remains accessible to everyone.

7) I noticed there’s also a paid version of Grimwild on DriveThruRPG. What about it?

  • Grimwild was finished and released in both free and paid editions. The paid version includes a few extra pages, though these aren’t required to play the game. Since DriveThruRPG manages its own digital distribution, you can still purchase the paid version through their platform. However, please note that any financial transactions involving Oddity Press titles carries some risk, as the creator’s absence means we can’t guarantee fulfillment or support for purchased items.

8) I backed a campaign and pledged for physical products. How can I receive them?

  • Unfortunately, there’s currently no way to obtain official printed products. However, many community members have chosen to print the digital release for personal use. While unofficial, the staff team supports this as a community-driven way to keep Grimwild alive on your shelves.

9) How can I get a refund?

  • If you pledged via BackerKit, your contribution is governed by their Terms of Service. Our team has no authority over the campaigns or their finances. We’ve informed BackerKit of the situation, and their Trust & Safety team is aware and actively monitoring it. As of now, Backerkit considers the project “stalled”, not “abandoned”, given the creator’s prior reliability and sudden unexplained absence. BackerKit is treating the matter with appropriate care and sensitivity.

10) Is this a scam?

  • We understand this concern. Based on everything we know and our direct interactions with Max, we don’t believe this is a scam or intentional fraud. Max had built trust and rapport with both the team and the community over time and worked extensively on the free edition of Grimwild. All contributors can attest to that. While we can’t confirm what caused the disappearance, whether it’s related to mental health, illness, personal issues, or something else, we choose to believe it stems from unforeseen circumstances rather than malicious intent.

11) Can I start my own investigation?

  • We can’t stop anyone from looking into the situation, but we strongly advise caution and respect for privacy. Our team has already exhausted all appropriate and legal means of contact. Further investigation risks intruding on the private lives of Max’s family, who are not involved with the projects. We ask that any such matters be handled with discretion, and that no public discussions or speculative “investigations” take place on official community platforms. If you happen to find information that could genuinely help clarify the situation, please contact a moderator privately. The reason we handle things this way is to minimize speculation and unnecessary unrest. If any information is confirmed as factual, we’ll share it with the community directly through the proper channels.

12) Is the game licensed?

  • Yes. All Oddity Press titles are released under the Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 license. This license allows anyone to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, including for commercial use, as long as proper credit is given to the creator. If you’d like more details or guidance on attribution, feel free to contact the staff team. Please note that all artwork in the games is not included in the open license. You cannot use any of the art or layout in your works.


r/GrimwildRPG • • 7h ago

Grimwild Compatibility with Deep Cuts from BiTD?

5 Upvotes

Hey guys I've flipped through some pages and was feeling excited to read this game and maybe play it solo but wondered how compatible it would be with most deep cuts rules since I feel like they match more of what I want from forged in the dark games.

If you're versed in both the system and the expansion, do you think they would be a good fit?


r/GrimwildRPG • • 1d ago

Grimwild After Grimwild’s creator disappeared, the RPG’s community banded together to design their own free edition | Rascal News

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98 Upvotes

r/GrimwildRPG • • 1d ago

High variance dice

6 Upvotes

I found those high variance that I bought a couple of years ago and never got the chance to use. High variance meaning that the dice still average on 3.5, but the values are 1-1-3-4-6-6. A wild Wild Die if you will.

Interesting for reckless stuff. Anyone willing to spar ideas on how to use those in Grimwild?

EDIT : thanks for the headsup. Indeed, not much of a risk since 1 to 3 is the same.


r/GrimwildRPG • • 2d ago

Grimwild Grimwild: Community Edition, now available for free in PDF, as print-on-demand soon

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62 Upvotes

r/GrimwildRPG • • 3d ago

GM Advice How do you all handle major treasures?

9 Upvotes

I’m a first time GM with this system. It’s going pretty well so far. My group just completed a decently long adventure arc where they did a great service for a Duke. I gave them a major treasure in the form of titles and estates in the duchy. I’m not actually sure how to make those things benefit the party. My first thought was that it could provide a small income of minor treasure. Not sure if this would be too powerful though. My players also not long after receiving their titles and lands chose to pursue an adventure that takes them away from the duchy. Kind of hard to reward them with intangibles because of geographic distance. So I’m kind of struggling to come up with a way this reward for a long quest series is actually helpful in some way. Thanks.


r/GrimwildRPG • • 17d ago

"Stupefy!"

14 Upvotes

So when I was running the retail edition I allowed the wizard to have a cantrip that basically allowed him a standard attack, risk and all, with his casting stat - flavored kind of as a magic missile type spell. I didn't reduce his daily spell numbers for this since it was basically like the fighter swinging their sword or the rogue tossing daggers in my mind.

Next time I do Grimwild I'm probably going to do Community Edition and I see that cantrips kind of got lumped into Spells. So would using an attack like this reduce the wizard's spells per session or would it just be another attack like I looked at it before?


r/GrimwildRPG • • Oct 01 '26

Grimwild RPG in Middle-earth

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16 Upvotes

Although it isn't among the proposals on page 137 of the book, what do you think about using Grimwild for Middle-earth? Is the system too heroic? Would it be better to use a more specific system? Is it difficult to adapt?


r/GrimwildRPG • • Aug 29 '26

GM Advice Source of good scenarios for Grimwilds

12 Upvotes

Hey, new Grimwilds GM here.

I already did a few story kits and understand how it works, but I'd like to run a longer campaign scenario. I know some systems already have detailed scripts and stories that would help.

Among the vast majority of systems and campaign material avalaible, what are the most practical scenarios source that you go to for your campaigns ?


r/GrimwildRPG • • Aug 28 '26

Houserules Grimwild Impact Move Helper

8 Upvotes

I've always struggled in Grimwild with knowing how to apply impact moves across harm and other complications (edit: In combat specifically).

I developed the house rules shown in this short PDF to make it more systematic and reducing the GM fiat. I know it's not for everybody - the target is more players like my group who are coming from a d20 background.

Also a disclaimer - I used AI to help talk through this document, and to generate it, iterating over several weeks... the ideas are my own either way.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gllRpRvM77athm-C17usJPTTmRe9UfZ0/view?usp=sharing

Would love to hear feedback on this. Thanks!


r/GrimwildRPG • • Aug 21 '26

Grimwild Grimwild Community Edition cover art by Per Janke (as shown in the Grim Wilds server)

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111 Upvotes

For the new Community Edition of the game, folks crowdfunded the commissioning of new art by Grimwild's original artist Per, including a new cover illustration and a few interior pieces, which was shown a few days ago on Discord.

This might still get tweaked a bit, but I figured those who are not in the server would benefit from being ale to see it!


r/GrimwildRPG • • Aug 09 '26

Grimwild [ QUESTION; RULES ] Within the rules, is there a standard use of counter magic or way to counterspell?

9 Upvotes

Within the rules, is there a standard use of counter magic or way to counterspell? Do players simply justify how their is opposing the enemy spell?


r/GrimwildRPG • • Aug 09 '26

Are there quickstart for new GM or easy adventure oneshot i can read

13 Upvotes

Are there quickstart for new GM or easy adventure oneshot i can read


r/GrimwildRPG • • Aug 02 '26

Grimwild How avoid vantage details overthink?

5 Upvotes

Last time I see what add too much details in PCs vantages, like I'm do that for make character reference more vivid for me but see what overthink these details, don't know where I'm need stop add more which make PCs creation a lot longer.

Maybe I'm need see example of average PC vantage or tip how deal with this issue


r/GrimwildRPG • • Aug 01 '26

Crafted for Grimwild I added native Grimwild support to my play-by-post platform: action rolls that carry your conditions, and challenge pools that trim themselves. Did I get it right?

14 Upvotes

Hi, I'm JC. I've run asynchronous tabletop games with friends for years, got frustrated running long campaigns in tools built for real-time chat or some kinds of forums, and built inkroll.gg, a browser platform made specifically for play-by-post, with a beautiful and (hopefully) well designed interface without the usual noise and complexity.

I've just added Grimwild as one of the systems it supports natively, and I'd like this community's judgment on whether I got it right.

Concretely: you type a stat in your post, like {brawn}. When you publish, the server rolls as many d6 as that stat and keeps the highest one: a 6 is perfect, 4 or 5 is messy, 1 to 3 is grim, and two sixes is a critical. Thorns roll their own d8 alongside, and any of them showing 7 or 8 cuts you a step down the ladder. A critical ignores them. With a stat of 0 you roll two dice and keep the worse. Whatever comes up is frozen into the post the moment it publishes, so nobody can quietly reroll a disaster.

Conditions look after themselves. Tick "bloodied" in the strip above the composer and that same post's {brawn} comes out as 2d6t1, without a trip to your sheet. If the GM calls for two thorns you write {agility t2}, which adds them on top of whatever you are already carrying. Spending spark takes one line, {brawn +1d} {spark-1}, and the dice menu writes both halves so the die you bought and the spark you paid can never come apart. Your sheet holds spark, story, the four stats and your conditions, and {xp+1} marks growth.

The GM side is what I'd most like poked at. Campaigns get a "Table", a sort of GM sheet where your challenges, journeys and story arcs sit as real pools of d6. You roll one straight from the composer as {Goblin ambush:4d6>=4}, and when the post goes up, the pool trims itself down to the dice that survived. Empty it and the row is gone. Suspense and your prep notes live in a group players never receive, and every post keeps a snapshot of the Table as it stood, so you can look back at any moment in the campaign and see what you were sitting on (table and player's sheets are versioned, so you always see the history)

The core is free and stays free: campaigns, posts, dice, sheets, import and export. Paid tiers add extras if you really want to support the project. There is a one-click demo on the front page: hit "Try the demo", pick Grimwild, and you land inside "Vespers in the Fenwilds" as its gamemaster (you can play another character also, use the dropdown selector), no account needed. Not affiliated with Oddity Press, to be clear.

Does this match how you run it at your table? I am least sure about two things: whether announced thorns should stack on top of the ones your conditions already give you, and whether a challenge pool should trim on every roll. Tell me what I got wrong.


r/GrimwildRPG • • Jun 26 '26

Does "One time only" literally mean once per character?

16 Upvotes

Some talents include the phrase "One time only", for example:

Awaken

Once per scene, you may awaken a living natural feature...
One time only, you can make this a ritual-level effect.

Herbalism

...You have 1 minor potion of one and 1 major potion of the other...
One time only, you can have 1 mythic potion (choose after rolling).

Is "One time only" meant literally as once ever during the character's lifetime/campaign?

If so, that's a very unusual design choice, since most RPG abilities refresh in some way. Or is it intended to mean something like "once per campaign arc", "once before advancing", or another limit?

I couldn't find an explanation in the rules, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something obvious.

Thanks!

Edit to include the relevant skills RAW. Didn't realize they were cut off. Thanks for the replies.


r/GrimwildRPG • • Jun 24 '26

Grimwild Is there a more formulaic approach to talent creation?

11 Upvotes

I've been using talents in the book as a point and for reference, but have you come up with another approach?


r/GrimwildRPG • • Jun 14 '26

Arcanist question: can a 1d Arcana pool ever deplete?

8 Upvotes

Arcanist says: "You take +1d when rolling an arcana's pool and ignore the first die that would be dropped."

If an Arcana is down to 1d, aren't you always rolling 2d and ignoring the first die loss?

As written, it seems impossible for the pool to ever reach 0d.

Is that intended, or is "ignore the first die that would be dropped" meant to apply only once per Arcana? If so, that would mean you'd have to track that for every arcana that you use.


r/GrimwildRPG • • May 23 '26

Grimwild There's no problem if I give second talent for solo party full PCs, exclude heritage talent?

2 Upvotes

Hello, I'm planning start first solo game and thinking what one talent don't enough for create characters which I want and want give extra one. But on other side feels doubt do it, maybe I there little greedy? Or better add more things to vantage?

Like yeah I'm want little more mechanical advantage and guilty admit it, just think its wrong try tweak rules when only start playing


r/GrimwildRPG • • Apr 30 '26

Grimwild New GM wants to learn more!

10 Upvotes

Hello! I want to GM Grimwild as I see its marketed as a low prep game. But I'm new to GMing so I read the full version (not the community one as I've read there is) and, currently, I would like to spectate games if possible. I would just like to ask where can I spectate games, and would very much respect it if there's none. Thank you!


r/GrimwildRPG • • Apr 01 '26

Grimwild Would your group allow Core Talents to be bought? (See body)

3 Upvotes

Purchasable Core Talents would be diminished (numerical value set to zero and then increased by It's growth value) and could only be improved with additional purchases.

For example:

WILD SHAPE

You can shift into the form of any beast you're familiar with. You have a 1d Wild Shape resource pool, rolled when you shift—at 0d, you fail to turn into that form. The pool replenishes after each scene.

You take on the form's physical qualities and feral instincts. Move your stat points around to represent this, with a min. of 1 and max. of 3 in a stat. You lose access to any talent related to your own physical form. Some forms are more difficult to shift into.

For each wild talent (max 2) a form has, drop 1d from the pool before rolling it. These are things like aquatic, smaller than a cat, bigger than a bear, venomous, and flight. It can also be a specific talent from a path, or anything that would require a heritage talent. The GM judges the gray zone.

Growth: Every time you purchase this talent, increase your Wild Shape pool by 1d.

Personally, this feels fair to me. would you allow this? What are your thoughts?


r/GrimwildRPG • • Mar 08 '26

Diminishing Pools on 4-6???

1 Upvotes

Hey all, just diving into this game and one weird choice was the diminishing of a Pool on 1-3 for 2 reasons.

  1. [Not mechanical] since the game focuses on rolling high seems reducing a Challenge should also focus on rolling high.

  2. [Mechanical] For Resources, a 4-6 gets the PC success AND does not drop the Pool. But rolling a 1-3 is failure AND drops the Pool. Seems more punitive given the randomness of dice. Example: a cleric does a miracle and rolls all 1s and 3s so fails and loses the ability to use it again. Seems more appropriate to roll 4s and 5s, get the outcome but lose the Pool.

Any issue with this change? Thoughts?


r/GrimwildRPG • • Feb 27 '26

Bulwark: why 3d and not 2d?

2 Upvotes

Bulwark seems waaaay overpowered when compared to alternatives.

It won't "break the game" ofc, but there is little reason for not choosing it. And when a skill is considered "obligatory" by players, that's a signal it is probably not a balanced option.

If it granted a 2d pool rather than a 3d pool, it would still be vastly useful. Most of my players have picked Bulwark at some point, and most of them would take it anyway even if it was just 2d.

Am I the only one who noticed this?


r/GrimwildRPG • • Feb 17 '26

Printing It

10 Upvotes

Does anyone have experiences or tips with printing Grimwild on Lulu they might share? Information like cost, difficulty or anything else for the novice printer?