Coyote & Crow

In an alternative timeline to our own here on Earth, a mysterious phenomenon known as the Awis plunges the world into a deep ice age, changing all of world history as we know it from the 15th century onwards. The most significant of these changes is that Europeans never arrive on the continents we’d later refer to as the Americas. This is the premise that Coyote & Crow establishes, and then builds towards a wondrous science fantasy future.

Coyote & Crow’s gorgeously detailed book invites players of all backgrounds to experience this game, and you should. It contains direct messages to Native and Non-Native American players, with special attention to avoiding appropriative language and behavior.

The setting is built on the game’s alternative history pivot, and speculates what kinds of people and society we’d see on the “North American” continent, but of course it’s never called that in the game. Different nations and regions have formed, laid out on a map that flips South to the “Up” position on page 24. A nice summary of the major events since the Awis is provided to catch you up to speed to where your characters will likely start their story.

The vibe dips a bit into the old Arthur C. Clarke quote: “sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” A mystical force called “The Adanadi” permeates the world, and there are both spiritual and scientific perspectives that have formed in response to its existence. There’s also plenty of high-tech sci-fi goodness here, so you have a nice, malleable balance of science and fantasy to oscillate between, to fit the narrative and characters you’re working with.

There are nearly 500 pages of top-tier roleplaying mechanics and content for you to build some awesome science fantasy stories in a very remarkable setting, so be ready to dive into a heavy one! Also, the game uses d12s as the main dice! Why don’t more games use these? They roll so much better than d20s.