This year again, a roleplaying game was awarded the most covetted prize from outer space : the Grog d'Or. Every month, the Grog offered a game of the month, elected amongst other topical roleplaying games. To celebrate its 20th birthday, the whole crew voted to award one of these games the Grog d'Or for the best rpg in 2020.

Nominees were:

• Wasteland (Département des Sombres Projets)
• Channel Fear (Mister Frank'enstein)
• La Couvée (6napse)
• Nephilim (Mnemos)
• FACES (Auto-edition)
• A Cool And Lonely Courage (Plane Sailing Games)
• Les Oubliés (Les 12 Singes)
• Feng Shui (Atlas Games, LETO)
• Shadowrun Anarchy (Catalyst Games Lab, Black Book Editions)
• Dieux Ennemis (Wicked Dead Brewing Co, Les 12 Singes)
• Icons Rassemblement (Ad Infinitum Adventures, John Doe)
• Pack Horse Library (Lulu)

and here are the results:

Dieux Ennemis

received the Grog d'Or 2020

Nephilim Legend et Icons Rassemblement got 2nd place and received the Grog d'Argent.


(Art by David Lihard)

A word from the Komrade President on this list

I can plainly understand the terrible dilemma facing the crew when they had to decide between Meute and Rêve de Dragon. The reissue of this cult game is a pure success. The Scriptarium paid tribute to one of the most beautiful games on the French RPG scene in a box set that makes you dream... dream. The desire to rediscover Denis Gerfaud's creations has never been stronger. Dreamlands has never been so beautiful. And to say that one is better than the other really makes no sense, because what the two works offer is so different.

But between scales and fur, between dreams and memories, the GROG crew awarded a third Golden GRoG to John Doe.

Meute allows to rediscover the myth of lycanthropes in a new light, rooted in local traditions and legends. At first glance, one might think that Meute is "Werewolf, but in France". But that would be missing out on what this game offers. Because, as its name suggests, and unlike the well-known license, here it is the group that matters. Its hierarchy, its past, the links within it, its profane cover, its external allies, its recurrent threats... everything works to place the pack at the centre of the game, justifying the unity of the group and pushing the players to build their world together and create relationships.

In Meute there are great ideas for emulating the genre, merging a group and anchoring the characters in a story. First of all, there is the Pregnancy, necessary to express its lycanthropic capacities, but also representing the danger of being submerged by the wolf soul by dint of expressing these capacities. Then there are Relationships, which serve both to control the Pregnancy of an individual, and to create Pack Links that strengthen the individual through a pool of dice common to players. And then there is Memory, which allows us to remember our past lives and take advantage of them in the present. By using it, players "explore" the memory of their characters step by step, rebuilding a common past that naturally develops during the game.

Meute offers a rich and original universe, but nevertheless accessible, both in its format and content. It offers original playful mechanics that reinforce its angles of approach: life in a community linked by its history and the management of the wolf soul. I can only support the vote of the GRoG sailors, who have decided to highlight this original and successful creation.