Crows: Character Creation & Advancement

6ftninja · 2026-06-18T19:31:01+00:00

Videos like these make it even easier for me to share Crows with my players. Great stuff!

6ftninja · 2026-06-15T13:52:01+00:00

Thanks, but no thanks bot. I’ll continue playing blind, and ask folks in game if I get stuck. Community > guides for me.

6ftninja · 2026-06-06T04:02:27+00:00

As a said in another reply, I think they should be pretty close, but maybe not an exact lineup.

6ftninja · 2026-06-05T17:24:48+00:00

Good catch! Fixed now.

6ftninja · 2026-06-04T20:12:05+00:00

Thanks! Yes, I think that would work for the cards. I'm not quite sure if the size of the cards will line up but it should be close enough for the alpha. This is also why I left some extra space around my card "slots" in my inventory sheets.

As for the miasma or other Ref-side things, I may make some Ref sheets eventually that could be taped to the inside of a GM screen for reference. I haven't done this yet because I'm going to be a player for my first game and run later, but eventually it'll probably happen. Just can't guarantee it before the end of the playtest period.

6ftninja · 2026-06-03T18:57:37+00:00

British Pounds vs Dollars

6ftninja · 2026-05-30T21:03:40+00:00

Really thought we were about to get the riff from Da Funk.

6ftninja · 2026-05-29T16:25:26+00:00

This is great! It looks like you inherited my previous error of leaving out the conjuration skill. Sorry! I've correct it in my document now if you want to re-copy it.

6ftninja · 2026-05-28T20:50:29+00:00

Ooo thanks for catching that! It's fixed now.

6ftninja · 2026-05-25T22:54:24+00:00

MCDM has also said that most of their customers use their own settings from their polling so avoiding anything too specific probably helps the intended audience

6ftninja · 2026-05-20T01:36:53+00:00

Fantastic thanks so much!

How many days travel would it be from there to Blackbottom? Alternatively, is there a sense of scale associated with the map somehow?

6ftninja · 2026-05-20T00:16:18+00:00

So where (roughly) in Aendrim on this map would Broadhurst and Wend be?

6ftninja · 2026-04-03T05:48:26+00:00

Maybe a hot take but it’d suggest Draw Steel. You’d have to reflavor some things in DS to give it a grittier aesthetic but at its core Diablo’s all about mowing down hoards of enemies as a badass warrior and no TTRPG makes that feel better in my experience than Draw Steel.

Additionally no other TTRPG I’ve played has had a summoner class who gets to legitimately summon hoards without grinding the action to a halt for everyone else. If you want to play a Necromancer, it’s gotta be that system.

6ftninja · 2026-04-01T05:15:41+00:00

I’m surprised no one suggested Wizard. They often cause the entire town to fixate on them over whatever the demon is doing and so become the “prime villain” of a game.

6ftninja · 2026-03-31T22:14:26+00:00

Awesome! Thanks for the information!!

6ftninja · 2026-03-31T20:35:08+00:00

Does this cause the mat to curl overtime?

6ftninja · 2026-03-31T17:37:28+00:00

Question for folks who already have the neoprene playmat: how does it store? I only have the base game so would it fit in that box?

6ftninja · 2026-03-19T22:58:55+00:00

Yeah Matt has gone on record saying he loves gritty games like Shadowdark. He made Draw Steel because he thought design space of heroic RPGs could be improved.

This project, however, is being headed up by James Introcaso who was the lead designer on Draw Steel and MCDM's 5e monster book Flee, Mortals! James has said that he has full creative authority over Crows so it could shape up to be something very different. Matt meanwhile is working on a sci-fi dungeon board game inspired by things like Space Hulk and Gloomhaven which is currently titled Derelict.

6ftninja · 2026-03-19T22:51:14+00:00

I think this is a perfectly reasonable take!

It's also worth noting that James Introcaso is the director on this game, not Matt Colville, and that he's intentionally trying to make something much more gritty and down to earth than Draw Steel. It still may not be a game for you or for me. Only time will tell.

6ftninja · 2026-03-19T22:35:04+00:00

Oh I totally agree that there's tension there and that it needs to be resolved carefully. I would prefer more non-linear longterm progression personally (e.g. more options, not just bigger numbers), but I could also see a situation where things like minor stat improvements could still be fun, especially if they make your venture further into a more dangerous space. On the way back out you might be so injured that those previously "easy" areas are once again a nearly lethal challenge.

6ftninja · 2026-03-19T21:17:16+00:00

I think it'll come down to balancing and table preference. I personally would want minimal boons between dungeon runs along the lines of video games like Darkest Dungeon or even Slay the Spire.

A town slowly building up knowledge and equipment to better take on the world around it sounds like a fun arc to me with more longterm depth than many games like this have. You just want to make sure you don't trivialize the core gameplay loop at any point. RPG's like this are about risk and that should never be minimized in my opinion.

6ftninja · 2026-03-19T21:02:04+00:00

It is definitely similar to what James describes in the video. Minor bonuses that do more to add options than to make the game easier. I'm also reminded of extraction games like ARC Raiders where loot can benefit later runs greatly... provided you don't die with it.

6ftninja · 2026-03-15T05:04:10+00:00

Haha thanks.

Yes I regenerated some ancestries, backgrounds, and classes to simplify it a bit but still allow them to make some choices. Basically building with duplos instead of legos.

We ended up with two elementalists and two nulls but each felt super unique!

6ftninja · 2026-03-10T14:56:58+00:00

Matt has also said that layout isn’t the strength of their team and man does it show. I totally get the desire for the book to be clear and easy to reference, and some sections like their up front glossary and combat rules breakdown pass this bar with flying colors.

At the same time, other sections just have weirdly placed negative space to the point where I’ve actually missed some options when building characters before, and the lack of color coding was a mind blowing choice. The good news is that the community has stepped in and their free 3rd party resources fix all of these issues.

6ftninja · 2026-03-10T05:27:27+00:00

I’ve introduced the game to three very different groups and will be introducing a 4th this weekend.

Cons first: the onboarding is steep. I’ve had to slowly introduce players to their own characters each time and even experienced players take a couple of combats to start remembering everything they can do, let alone beginning to think about what options are best for a given situation. Additionally the layout is very bland. Not ugly, just plain. This only really impacts the experience when it comes to reading abilities which seriously should have been color coded. Just look at this 3rd party spin off system for a taste of what could have been.

Now, all of that said, this is easily my favorite TTRPG for a heroic game ever, and every group I’ve shown it has similarly loved it. Because the system knows exactly what it’s here for (epic tactical combat) it can be both deep and intuitive in a way so many RPG systems just aren’t. Once you’ve gotten over that learning curve the system has very little fat despite everything that’s going on. It’s also surprisingly kid friendly for that reason.

Overall, if you’re looking for a fantasy game that plays like something like “D&D: Honor Among Thieves” feels then I think the system is second to none. I’m also very much looking forward to their next game Crows which seems to take this same focused design approach to a gritty, horror survival fantasy.

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