AC Spotlight: Coyote and Crow
We sat down with Kenna Alexander, the owner and creator of the TTRPG system: Coyote and Crow
Welcome back to AC Spotlight! We recently had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Kenna Alexander, the writer, designer, and owner of Coyote and Crow.
Kenna shared the journey of building a world where the colonization of the Americas never happened. It is a beautiful blend of science fiction and indigenous spirituality that has already garnered massive success and critical acclaim.
From winning the Diana Jones Award to receiving a Nebula Award nomination, the accolades for Coyote and Crow are mounting. But for Kenna, the true highlight remains seeing Native families and students playing the game together in traditional settings like longhouses.
The Vision Behind the System
Kenna started developing Coyote and Crow in 2018, fueled by a desire to see accurate and elevated native representation in the gaming industry.
Story Forward: The system is built to be "theater of the mind," prioritizing narrative over complex charts.
A Living Sandbox: While there is a deep history and timeline provided, the world is intentionally left open for players to fill in the blanks with their own tribal cultures and imaginations.
Cultural Safety: The game includes thoughtful tools to ensure players can explore the world respectfully.
Gameplay & Mechanics
If you are coming from a background in Dungeons & Dragons or Vampire: The Masquerade, you’ll find some fascinating mechanical twists here.
The d12 System: The game utilizes a d12 dice pool.
Archetypes: Instead of rigid classes, players choose from six archetypes: Warrior, Scout, Healer, Whisper, Tinkerer, and Seeker.
Gifts and Burdens: Character creation uses a point-buy system where personal "Gifts" (like a helpful uncle) or "Burdens" (like a chaotic pet magpie) influence your starting stats.
Notoriety and Legends
One of the coolest features Kenna highlighted is the Notoriety system. In this world, the normal human limit for a stat is 5. If you use your path bonuses to push a stat to a 6 or 7, you enter the supernatural realm, and the world notices.
"When you walk into a town, people are going to be like, 'Oh my god, that's the guy who can do a triple back somersault off the top of a three-story building.' You can't avoid that, right? People are going to know you for those abilities."
You can find Coyote and Crow here.