A Closer Look at Grumple

Grumple. She’s the muscle of our crew. She can be a real pain in the tail with the way she only eats fresh food, and since fresh stuff is pretty rare these days, she’s always fussy. Honestly though, I don’t know anybody I’d rather have by my side when the dust is up.

Grumple is a guinea pig. They live a lot longer than us mice, so even though Grumple is old enough to remember the Calamity, she’s right about our age in guinea pig years. She was there when I was born. She was there when our colony began. In all this time, we’ve never met another of her kind, and she never talks about it, but we know it bothers her.

Grumple is strong. She has a +2 in strength (red) which makes her really good at fighting in melee combat. Her strength is often needed to overcome challenges that her smaller companions struggle with. Her starting weapon is the trusty Steak Knife, which is a reliable melee weapon that gains even more potency when battling against a boss or leader.

But Grumple isn’t just strong, she’s also resilient. Grumple has a +1 to resistance (blue). This makes it easier for her to shrug off negative effects, and since most armor gives bonuses to resistance, she makes good use of any protective gear you find. 

Being a Big means you have a few advantages. It’s not only about your size... well, yeah, it is. Bigs eat a lot more food and are adept at searching out sustenance. They can’t hide very well, but stealth isn’t really their thing anyway. Grumple starts with the Throw ability which allows her to toss heavy objects, or even fellow critters, a short distance. This is really helpful in situations where you need to access a hard to reach area. Ask Grumple for a hand, and she’ll just toss you there. 

Grumple is serious and sometimes melancholy. Her size can be intimidating, and even though she is fierce in combat, to her friends, she’s just a big, grumpy, softy. Her campaign goal is simply to build a garden because, remember, she needs that fresh food. However, that will prove to be a lot more complicated than it sounds. Once all characters have achieved their campaign goals, the campaign is considered a victory. 

This is part three of a four part series that takes a closer look into the starting characters for Aftermath. Tune in to read about the other members of Meziah’s crew as we get closer and closer to the game’s release on November 22nd.

Written by Jerry Hawthorne Jerry Hawthorne is the designer of Stuffed Fables, Mice and Mystics, and other great games. Follow @mice_guy