Murder of Crows vs Risus
Compare Murder of Crows and Risus side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Murder of Crows | Risus | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror | Universal |
| Tags | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Comedy, Mission-Based, Character-Driven, Random Tables, Low-Prep, Freeform Magic, Fast-Paced, Theater of the Mind | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Beginner-Friendly, Comedy, Low-Prep, Narrative, Fiction-First, Freeform Magic, Tag-Based |
| Core Mechanic | 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. | Characters are defined by Clichés rated in d6s (e.g., Viking (4), Hacker (3)). Roll your Cliché dice vs. a target number or in opposed rolls where the low roller loses a die. |
| Dice | d6 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Very Low | Very Low |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | Book tools not listed | Book tools not listed |
| License | Proprietary | Free (non-commercial) |
| Third-Party Publishing | No verified route found | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Jon Pessin | Big Dice Games |
| Year | 2026 | 2021 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | 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. | Pick-up games, emergency one-shots, comedy campaigns, or anytime you need a complete RPG in four pages that handles any genre. |
| Highlights | 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. | Fits on four pages, broadly universal, character creation takes minutes, completely free |
| Considerations | 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. | Cliché-based resolution can feel one-note over multiple sessions, limited advancement rules, team combat heavily favors larger groups, creating a strong incentive to always combine dice, comedy tone permeates all mechanical language |