Crows, James Introcasos MCDM Dungeon Crawler RPG

[Tigris]

A very interesting game since it matches pretty grimy low-power play with grid-tactical combat.

Curious where Crows will go! I'd be interested in seeing something that would also work for like, grimdark-ish Black Company mercenary style stuff. Tactical but grounded, almost the polar opposite of where DS! ended up.

I havent seen the newest version only the last free one.

Its not my kind of game, but is it really low-power? Its just lower health but after the level 1 it was still quite heroic in abilities etc. from what I could tell.

 

[JonDeNor]

A very interesting game since it matches pretty grimy low-power play with grid-tactical combat.

Curious where Crows will go! I'd be interested in seeing something that would also work for like, grimdark-ish Black Company mercenary style stuff. Tactical but grounded, almost the polar opposite of where DS! ended up.

Last James talked about it, he talked about it being survival horror. The monsters in the dungeons being unknown horrors. Toying with the idea of not having names for the monsters, only art, and have the players name the monsters as they encounter them.

A post-apocalyptic world with isolated settlements where you use the wealth from the dungeons to do base building in your local settlement.

All speculative at this point, of course.

 

[TiQuinn]

So what’s interesting about this is in the lead up to Draw Steel, Colville was saying if you wanted a dungeon crawler, go play Shadowdark - Draw Steel wasn’t a dungeon crawler.

That would indicate that they’ve got a concept that’s distinct from Shadowdark, too.

 

[Staffan]

So what’s interesting about this is in the lead up to Draw Steel, Colville was saying if you wanted a dungeon crawler, go play Shadowdark - Draw Steel wasn’t a dungeon crawler.

That would indicate that they’ve got a concept that’s distinct from Shadowdark, too.

That recommendation is in the book as well. They actually have a few recommendations:

• Dungeoncrawling – Shadowdark
• Wilderness hexcrawling – Forbidden Lands
• Horror – Call of Cthulhu
• Humor – Paranoia
• Dramatic villains without the tactical combat – Daggerheart

 

[HatWearingFool]

Last James talked about it, he talked about it being survival horror. The monsters in the dungeons being unknown horrors. Toying with the idea of not having names for the monsters, only art, and have the players name the monsters as they encounter them.

A post-apocalyptic world with isolated settlements where you use the wealth from the dungeons to do base building in your local settlement.

All speculative at this point, of course.

Unnamed monsters is an interesting idea that I like, but hopefully there is more differentiation from the current market.

I’ve never found any base building mechanics that I really like so that could be another plus (for me) if they do something interesting there.

 

[MacDhomnuill]

I'm interested in their take on dungeoncrawling, but...

I get why they would go for something like Draw Steel. Matt's an outspoken proponent for D&D 4E and that kind of crunchy combat-focused play. I don't get a similar "dungeoncrawling is awesome" vibe from either Matt or James. And I'm really not sure what they could do that's not already actively being done by scores of other dungeoncrawlers. The hook for DS was obvious, almost no one else was doing anything like it. The hook for Crows...basically everyone is doing dungeoncrawlers. Not saying MCDM can't or shouldn't, just curious how they will distinguish their game in a frankly overcrowded field.

This feels like chasing the market if the market was a couple years ago, dungeon crawlers are waning right now as we’ve had quite a glut of them the last 10 years or so. MCDM looks like a company thats building a business model on stringing along kickstarters hope it works out for them.

 

[Morrus]

MCDM looks like a company thats building a business model on stringing along kickstarters hope it works out for them.

$10M in crowdfunders. I think it's working out just fine for them. Other than the Cosmere campaign, MCDM is basically the world leader in TTRPG crowdfunding and one of the most successful companies in the entire industry.

 

[HatWearingFool]

This feels like chasing the market if the market was a couple years ago, dungeon crawlers are waning right now as we’ve had quite a glut of them the last 10 years or so. MCDM looks like a company thats building a business model on stringing along kickstarters hope it works out for them.

This is a really grim dark take.

I think it’s more they have had enough success that at this point they can make stuff that interests them. And if it’s not a money maker they’ll pivot. Matt seemed clear that if crack the sun didn’t enough support for draw steal to be viable they’d move on.

An I don’t think there have been a lot of dungeon crawlers. There have been a lot of OSR stuff but dungeon crawlers don’t have to fit into that paradigm at all. The category seems like it could use some Inovation, because a lot of the current product looks pretty similar when squinted at.

Someone else is already doing Dungeon Crawler Carl but if done right that should be a fairly radical departure from the standard dungeon crawlers systems.

 

[Tigris]

What then exactly is a Dungeon Crawler? What are the defining features of a dungeon crawler?

Because for me thats still not really clear, especially when it is "not OSR".

 

[Mannahnin]

What then exactly is a Dungeon Crawler? What are the defining features of a dungeon crawler?

Because for me thats still not really clear, especially when it is "not OSR".

I'm inferring it means a game which mechanically supports dungeon crawling with specific procedures and rules to enhance that mode of play, and specifically focuses on dungeons as the primary activity.

We might call Shadowdark one (even though the core d20 mechanic is not specific to that and the game has been expanded now with a big hexcrawl) because of the centrality of light/torch mechanics and the turn structure.

We might call OD&D or 1981 Moldvay Basic "Dungeoncrawlers" because they were designed focused on that play mode and with procedural mechanics centered on it, including core mechanics for bashing down doors, looking for room traps and secret doors, and for wandering monsters.

I know Torchbearer also explicitly supports overland travel and exploration too, but I think its take on resource-challenging, difficult exploration play might be another good example.

World of Dungeons could be another example. And His Majesty the Worm another.

It does seem to me like crawling dungeons is MOSTLY a design space occupied by OSR games/D&D clones and NuSR variations, with stuff like Torchbearer or WoD as notable exceptions, so maybe it's indeed a ripe area for more innovation. Doing it differently from those.