Dungeon Crawlers vs Murder of Crows
Compare Dungeon Crawlers and Murder of Crows side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Dungeon Crawlers | Murder of Crows | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Horror |
| Tags | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Dungeon Crawl, Low-Prep, Fast-Paced, Fiction-First, Freeform Magic, Heroic, Theater of the Mind | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Comedy, Mission-Based, Character-Driven, Random Tables, Low-Prep, Freeform Magic, Fast-Paced, Theater of the Mind |
| Core Mechanic | Build a pool of Action dice (d6s) from trademarks and edges. Roll Danger dice for obstacles: matching Danger dice cancel Action dice. Highest remaining Action die determines success (6 = full, 4–5 = partial, 3 or less = fail). | Roll 1d6 against the relevant Aspect (Beast, Omen or Trickster, rated 2 to 5): a roll below the Aspect succeeds, a roll equal to it succeeds and earns a Portent, and a roll above it fails. A helping Crow counts the Aspect as 1 higher, to a maximum of 5. When a Crow acts in accordance with its Augury, the player may roll two dice and use either; when it contradicts its Augury, or an Affliction affects the roll, the player rolls two dice and Fate (the GM) chooses which counts. A human may roll 1d6 to resist; if the human's roll matches or is lower than the Crow's, the Crow fails even on a success. |
| Dice | d6 dice pool | d6 |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Paid | Free core rules |
| Runnability | Book tools not listed | Book tools not listed |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Not yet researched | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Peril Planet | Jon Pessin |
| Year | 2020 | 2026 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups wanting instant fantasy dungeon-crawling with minimal rules: perfect for one-shots, new players, or when you forgot your rulebooks. | Groups who want a darkly comic one-shot as a flock of crows plotting a human's death, with tables that set up the hunt at the table. |
| Highlights | Entire game fits on 2 pages, character creation in minutes, freeform magic system, built-in adventure generator, same action/danger dice as Neon City Overdrive | Rolling exactly the Aspect's value earns a Portent, letting the player ask Fate one question answered by a brief, obscure vision. Acting in accordance with a Crow's Augury lets the player pick between two dice, while contradicting it hands that choice to Fate. Fate rolls or chooses with the Crows from d6 tables to set the hunt's victim, motive and complications. |
| Considerations | Very minimal: no detailed combat or advancement systems, limited long-campaign support, lacks depth for crunch-oriented players | The premise is the flock plotting a human's death, which will not suit groups uncomfortable with murder as the goal. The rules include no death for Crows: a Crow that takes a fourth Affliction leaves the scene or goes unconscious instead. There are no experience, advancement or campaign rules. |