Image by Alexas Fotos
Murder of Crows: An indie one-page game of corvid homicide
You stalk your prey, slipping on silent wings to watch them. The human *will* die, and you and your flock will see it done.
TYPE
SYSTEM
LANGUAGE
EXPERIENCE
AGE
$20.00
/ Session
Details
Once / Sunday - 12:00 AM UTC
Mar 8
Session Duration / 2–3 hours
3 / 5 Seats Filled
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Schedule
Meet your party members
3/5
About the adventure
Murder (n): 1: To kill, or cause to be killed, a human being. 2: A flock of crows. Are you a Beast, keen of beak and swift of wing? An Omen, carrying curses in your wake? A Trickster, showing the true foolishness of the humans? Whichever you are, you must bring all your strength to bear. Your flock has decided that a nearby human *must* die. Now, you will use all of your cunning, strength, and magic to make sure that happens.
Game style
Roleplay Heavy
Rule of Cool (RoC)
Theater of the Mind
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(10)
Less than a year on StartPlaying
1 game hosted
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Storytelling, Creativity
About me
I'm an avid player, GM, and game designer, as well as a recovering theater major (you never *really* recover...). I've been playing TTRPGs since my college years, and unlike many, my introduction to RPGs was through the World of Darkness and Chronicles of Darkness games, not through DnD. In my day job, I work with children as a party entertainer - and over the holidays, I roleplay as a Jolly Old Elf. Yes, that means I'm a professional Santa Claus. I'm very much a story- and character-forward RPer, and the games I run tend to reflect that. I also tend toward one-shots rather than extended campaigns, these days, to better suit my current capacity - though that may change in the future! Finally, I've created two game systems, ShenaniGoblins and Murder of Crows. Currently I'm primarily planning to run games in these systems, although again that may change. Yes, I do the voices.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
I'll send a link to the character sheet via Google Sheets. Feel free to build a character according to the instructions there. Any players who haven't built a character before the game will build their characters at the beginning of the game. As a crow, you will allocate points between three Aspects: Beast (how good you are at normal animal things), Omen (how good you are at being a terrifying arcane creature), and Trickster (how good you are at causing trouble on purpose). You will also create an Augury: a brief prophecy you were given as a fledgeling that guides you in your life.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
I will send you an invitation to the discord server on which we'll be playing and a link to the google docs character sheet. You may want to pre-build a character based on the sheet's instructions. I use the discord server's built-in dicebot for rolling purposes when playing online.
What Jon "HobbitGuy" P brings to the table
I love to provide an immersive game experience for my players - rich sensory descriptions and character voices are my primary tools. Murder of Crows is fairly rules-light, so I do adjudicate via the Rules of Cool & Funny most of the time. I'm a *bit* less permissive with Murder of Crows than I am with my other game, because it's more challenge-oriented and because crows have distinct limits that are part of the point of the game.
Homebrew rules
The ruleset can be found (Pay-what-you-want, including free) at https://hobbitguy1420.itch.io/murder-of-crows
Equipment needed to play
Internet
Microphone
Computer or Mobile Device
Platforms used
Safety
How Jon "HobbitGuy" P creates a safe table
Before game I'll send players a lines & veils sheet, and I'll go over the (anonymized) results at the beginning of the game, along with an invite to share any other lines or veils. I don't intend to require video, so X-cards would be handled verbally or in the game chat.
Content warnings
Safety tools used