After I wrote my First Impression for Coyote & Crow on Gnome Stew, one of many issues I used to be trying ahead to was seeing adventures for the sport system, to assist calibrate what the creators envisioned for the tales you might inform with it. When the Coyote & Crow crowdfunding marketing campaign for Tales of the Free Lands began, I made certain to again it, as a result of it was offering precisely what I needed to see for this sport.
Sadly, earlier than I had an opportunity to take a look at any of the adventures on the weblog, 2023 took a flip that I’d prefer to by no means repeat. However I’ve needed to dig into these adventures for some time now. I’m going to work backward with essentially the most just lately launched journey, Creep. Hopefully I can break off a number of extra of those adventures to take a look at on the weblog between a few of my different opinions and first impressions.
Disclaimer
A lot to my chagrin, I’ve not had the chance to get Coyote & Crow to the desk but. My copy of this journey got here from backing the Coyote & Crow: Tales of the Free Lands crowdfunding marketing campaign.
Coyote & Crow: Creep
Observe: The Coyote & Crow merchandise reference the Indigenous nation affiliations of the creators on the mission, which I’m together with in these credit.
Written: Allen Turner (Lakota)
Artwork: Tate Allen (Choctaw), Matthew Willetto (Navajo), Phil Cohen
Cowl Artwork: Tate Allen (Choctaw)
Enhancing: Rachel Savicki
Layouts: Connor Alexander (Cherokee Nation)
How is This Organized?
The PDF is 35 pages lengthy, together with a credit web page and a two-page Appendix with NPC stat blocks. The pages are arrange with a two-column format, with varied tables included. There’s a combination of coloration and black-and-white art work, together with a number of maps of places that seem within the journey. I hadn’t opened up my Coyote & Crow PDF for some time, and I forgot how a lot I just like the combination of blue, inexperienced, gold, and purple for the borders of the pages, textual content bins, and tables. It’s a clear format that’s comfy and attention-grabbing to take a look at.
Catching Up
In case you aren’t conscious of what Coyote & Crow is, and also you didn’t click on on the hyperlink above to learn my Gnome Stew overview (I’m not judging you, actually), Coyote & Crow is a science fiction/fantasy setting. As an alternative of what occurred in our world, 700 years in the past a purple avenue struck the Earth. Some crops and animals began to glow with the vitality delivered by the cosmic streak of vitality. This turned Adanadi, the Present. Folks infused with the Adanadi achieve extraordinary talents. Units could possibly be powered and enhanced with the Adanadi.
The factor from the sky additionally brought about the sky to be cloaked with ash and led to nearly 700 years of a brand new ice age. There was no contact with colonizers from different continents. A number of nations that existed at the start of this climatic disaster merged to type bigger nations that would pool their assets and survive the long-term occasion. Now the climate is stabilizing, and nations are beginning to have contact with each other as soon as once more. The world contains high-tech objects, however quite than being mass-produced, technological units are typically the product of particular person crafters. Know-how, super-science, and spirituality are interconnected, so the folks of this period typically encounter varied non secular and supernatural creatures.
There are 5 main nations within the setting, however the sport (thus far) has centered on the Free Lands, a group of city-states working collectively for the great of all. The biggest metropolis within the Free Lands is Cahokia, and inside Cahokia is the Suyata, a corporation of troubleshooters that investigates unusual occasions, often sending out groups referred to as Kolisoo.
The Present Hassle
We’re going to get into spoiler territory for the journey, so you could wish to exit proper now should you plan on taking part in on this journey.
A collection of murders has occurred in Cahokia, and the Kolisoo is gathered to research the newest one. To start out issues off, the PCs have the chance to talk with the sufferer’s sister and examine his house. The physique has been organized in some sort of ugly ritualistic pose, matching the opposite murders. Additionally they discover a package deal that contained a mysterious disk that the sufferer was taking part in with their Second Eyes (mainly a really fancy VR rig).
There are a number of tables included that present an inventory of various abilities, in addition to what clues the PCs obtain relying on the variety of successes they obtain whereas investigating. The PCs decide up clues that time them towards the market, after which to a traveler that involves city to promote issues often.
After being referred to as again to the Council of Twelve, they will report what they’ve discovered, and decide up on what varied members of the Council assume is occurring. This could trigger the PCs to strategy the subsequent section of the investigation in a unique method, relying on what council members the PCs might gravitate towards.
Some council members are satisfied {that a} monastic order that believes that the world is an phantasm, and that everybody died again when the streak hit the Earth, are concerned with the murders. Many individuals mistrust this monastic order as a result of they assume that their unusual concepts about actuality will trigger them to behave on their beliefs in a harmful method.
When the PCs examine the traveler who might have offered the lacking disk to the final sufferer, they discover out that they have been a member of this monastic order and run into extra members of the order. This could flip right into a struggle, or it might simply be a tense scenario till everybody calms down and begins sharing info.
When one other homicide occurs, the PCs are attacked by a supernatural creature. The creature is what has been killing the victims and may solely be harmed by rhythmic sounds or patterns of sunshine. The disk, when performed within the Second Eyes, summons the creature. Assuming the PCs survive, they could discover a allure with a logo that matches a hoop worn by one of many council members, pointing the PCs towards the council member’s residence for additional investigation.
On the council member’s residence, they discover the council member’s physique and proof that one thing killed them and stole their pores and skin to put on as a disguise. From right here, the PCs can have their contact attempt to decide up the false council member, try to arrest them personally, or maintain their eyes on the council member in search of who else may be concerned. It’s famous that the PCs can be on their very own in the event that they observe the third path, and in the event that they try the arrest, the imposter manages to kill themselves with a poison gasoline capsule, which additionally occurs if their contact arrests the imposter.
The tip of the journey advises the Story Information that it’s as much as them to find out if the Hiihanganziwag monks have been framed and who might have been concerned with the disks that summoned the Mazozoog to commit the murders, or who the imposter might have been working with.
Ultimate Ideas
I respect getting a take a look at how Coyote & Crow adventures are framed, and unfold. I just like the tables with the checklist of clues that may be gathered based mostly on the variety of successes. I actually like the extra setting info with the introduction of the Hiihanganziwag, and I feel they current an attention-grabbing philosophical place for folks within the setting to have. It additionally permits the group to discover every little thing that’s related to assumptions about those who have totally different beliefs, and the way these beliefs can be utilized as an excuse to demonize these which might be sitting exterior the orthodoxy.
However, I want that they had gone the identical route that plenty of investigative situations take now, offering a base-level clue, with extra clues and context if the PCs make a profitable verify whereas they’re investigating. There are a number of factors within the journey the place the PCs are offered some decisions, however the penalties of these decisions aren’t dramatically totally different, and every little thing typically strikes in a single course, simply with slightly extra context in a single circumstance than the opposite.
The power to tailor the ending to the wants of the group is nice, however I might have appreciated a extra definitive reply about what’s going on, with the choice to deviate from that conclusion. I appreciated this journey sufficient that I want it had a sequel journey, however that doesn’t seem like within the offing.
This can be a good construction for partaking with the setting, as a result of the PCs have a purpose to work collectively, and a purpose to observe leads supplied by NPCs. That confirms that I have to spend some extra time trying into a number of the different adventures on this collection.
If you wish to take a look at Coyote & Crow for your self, in addition to check out this state of affairs, you may observe the affiliate hyperlinks beneath, and do you have to achieve this, it would assist help my behavior of getting a bunch of sport merchandise to maintain doing opinions and First Impressions. Thanks!
