Crone

Crone is a card-based RPG about witches.

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Eldritch Embraces and Crone

A quick note to let you all know that one of our very own writers, Marek Jones, has had a piece of good old fashioned eldritch horror published in a newly released anthology! Check it out and spread the word!

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Not quite able, not quite disabled

A friend of ours and one of the Design Consultant's on Crone could use some help. Chris is a talented designer, and if it weren't for him, we'd be missing a lot of the stuff that makes Crone great. He's also got a fantastic game-design related blog that we recommend you check out.

If you can kick in a bit to help him, we'd appreciate it. The fundraiser ends in just a few days, so now's the time.

Also, he's got a Patreon if you want to help out that way.

[backfromthedeadred]

Never put your faith in a Prince. When you require a miracle, trust in a Witch.

Catherynne M. Valente, In the Night Garden (via teaparties)

[onmonstrosity]

"Monster" is derived from the Latin noun monstrum, "divine portent," itself formed on the root of the verb monere, "to warn." It came to refer to living things of anomalous shape or structure, or to fabulous creatures like the sphinx who were composed of strikingly incongruous parts, because the ancients considered the appearance of such beings to be a sign of some impending supernatural event. Monsters, like angels, functioned as messengers and heralds of the extraordinary. They served to announce impending revelation, saying, in effect, "Pay attention; something of profound importance is happening."

My Words to Victor Frankenstein: by Susan Stryker  (via facina-oris)

[megthegreat]

here is the finished Hedgewalker, presented together, for cronerpg!

[megthegreat]

Parts of the completed Crone commission! These are zoomed at about 60%. I say completed, but until I get the go-ahead/okay, you can consider this the penultimate stage ;D

When I do, however, get feedback I’ll post the full thing!

[megthegreat]

working in progress.

[megthegreat]

nearing the completion for my artwork for cronerpg!! got several in progress, but this is a sketch for a group shot painting. bonus pose thumbnails on the bottom.

[onmonstrosity]

"Monster" is derived from the Latin noun monstrum, "divine portent," itself formed on the root of the verb monere, "to warn." It came to refer to living things of anomalous shape or structure, or to fabulous creatures like the sphinx who were composed of strikingly incongruous parts, because the ancients considered the appearance of such beings to be a sign of some impending supernatural event. Monsters, like angels, functioned as messengers and heralds of the extraordinary. They served to announce impending revelation, saying, in effect, "Pay attention; something of profound importance is happening."

My Words to Victor Frankenstein: by Susan Stryker

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Part 3, The Dark Age

The Ides of March were a short time, little sisters, but the whole of the world was remade in those short days. After centuries of tyranny and murder the Imperiate had been killed, but new evils crawled out of its corpse and spread far across a land newly robbed of the only order it had ever known.

General Kreos, the leader of the Imperiate army, escaped the city unharmed as our sisters single-mindedly sought the destruction of the Emperor. He did not go alone, however; much of the royal treasury and his most loyal soldiers accompanied him. He has turned a trade city near the border of the former empire into a stronghold, and conquers more of the surrounding territory with each passing day. His soldiers are said to be no mere mortals but fearsome monsters, with armor and weapons that grant them invincibility. Clearly Kreos has learned well magic’s destructive potential, and seeks to wield it as a weapon for his own empire.

The royal family, Emperor Astraeon’s wife and child, were found and slain by the rioting mob our sisters had incited, leaving no one to bring order to the remains of the Imperiate. With no leader left to turn to, the poor peasants of the once-great Imperiate begged their impotent gods to save them. An enormous pilgrimage, lead by what priests still remained, was made by the desperate and displaced citizens to the great temple of Olympus. A mass prayer for salvation was held, and the accursed gods of the Imperiate answered with one final display of their evil power. No one knows what exactly emerged from the temple after that abominable ritual, but one thing is certain: it was not salvation.

With the Imperiate army all but annihilated, our sisters having spared not one soldier in their siege of the capital city, the Emperor’s former lands were left defenseless against the barbarian hordes dwelling in the neighboring regions. Once word was out that the Imperiate was no more, whole cities were turned to ash overnight, and raiders flooded the countryside in a deluge of swords and flame. Their raids continue still, surging and receding according to their nerve and desire.

Now you know, dear sisters, why the darkness over our world grows stronger every day, and also why we are dutybound to battle it back. When those three Circles stood against the Emperor during those fateful Ides of March, they stood against a choice that man had made; tyranny in exchange for safety. The Emperor tried to take our freedom, and so our sisters took his life, but it is not as simple as that. They also took away man’s decision, and in doing so plunged the world into darkness. Our sisters dared to change the destiny of all mankind to save us, and so we must accept responsibility for their choice.

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The Spellweaver

Art by jamiekinosian

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Part 2, Fall of the Imperiate

As the three Circles approached the walls of the Imperiate capital, the Fleshreaper and the Summoner of the First Circle readied their most powerful magic. The Imperiate that had hunted and killed their sisters would see it feel the full might of their fury on this day. A living bomb conjured by the Summoner, along with the explosive boiling blood of the Fleshreaper, breached the city wall in moments. Inside the city they commandeered what supplies they could from nearby civilian stores before launching an attack on the tower. With the full weight of the three towers’ magic draining effects bearing down upon them, it was a hard-fought battle. But finally they were able to topple the tower over, onto a nearby temple no less, lightening the load on their sisters who were simultaneously making their way into the city. The Stormkeeper used her powers to draw strength from the tense atmosphere, and the First Circle made their way into palace for the final confrontation.

However, the High Priest Epimetheo and his loyal inner circle of enchanters would stop them from reaching their target, setting an ambush at the palace shrine. The Summoner’s living weapon and demonic steed balked at the incredible focus of Imperiate magic in the shrine, turning on the Summoner and her circle in fear. The enchanters took the opportunity to bless the surrounding holy relics with magical power, enhancing their own magic while handicapping our sisters’. Little did they realize that the Fleshreaper’s strength grows with her enemies’, and when they grievously wounded her she transformed her wounds into weapons, devastating the High Priests’ forces in a single frenzied strike. Having defeated them, the First Circle continued through the palace and engaged the royal guards, aiding their sisters who were engaged with the Emperor on the roof of the palace and halting any reinforcements from joining the battle.

The Second Circle’s Shapeshifter, in the form of a mighty elephant wielding a sword in her trunk, cut down soldier after soldier as she charged the Imperiate army at ramming speed. The Soothsayer’s visions of the future directed her blade, ensuring that it would always fall where it would be the most damaging. Any counterattack the guards could muster was quickly repelled by the Magister, her curses bringing the evil in their hearts to life. Even the magic of the Imperiate’s tower could do little to stop this Circle; the Soothsayer drew power for her sisters from powerful omens so they could cast their spells unheeded. In spider form, the Shapeshifter spun nets and pulleys of webs all around the tower, using them to manipulate the weapons she was now too small to carry. With the tower’s guards and priests held at bay, the Magister was able to inscribe her Mark of Penitence upon it, turning the magical energy it absorbed against itself. After that, the Circle only had to hold out against their enemies long enough for the tower to fall under the weight of its stolen magic.

Once the last of the towers fell, the Second Circle began their approach to the palace. The elephantine Shapeshifter charged straight to the heart of the Emperor’s fortress and broke into the throne room, her sisters close behind. But what lay waiting for them was no Emperor, but a terrible abomination. A priestess turned monster, infused with the Imperiate’s magic and transformed into a vessel of their gods’ power. The creature radiated a powerful aura that interfered with their spells and sapped their strength. Undaunted, the Soothsayer and Magister combined their protective magic to guard their ally from harm as she charged the living evil over and over. Twice, the sisters brought it to its knees, and twice it resurrected itself before their eyes, invoking the names of its divine masters. But the Imperiate’s gods would not save it a third time, and with a trumpeting cry the elephant Shapeshifter sliced straight through the abomination’s protective aura, cleaving the monster in half.

The Third Circle had little trouble entering the Imperiate capital. The Hedgewalker brought down the city wall by phasing key structural supports out of existence, while her Shieldbearer partner charged headlong into its defenders. When the wall was breached they found themselves in the city’s slums, where they incited the poor and oppressed peasants to begin a riot. As the riot drew city guards away from the nearest tower, the Shieldbearer constructed a battering ram and with the assistance of the Hedgewalker’s dark magic brought the evil construct crashing to the ground. The Hearthmother quickly salved what harm the remaining Imperiate forces managed to cause the pair, and they began their attack on the palace in full health, joined by the rioting peasants they rallied in fury against the Emperor.

Seeing the Emperor and his men on top of the palace’s tallest tower, the Shieldbearer wasted no time in beginning their battle, picking up her sister Hearthmother and calling upon all her magical strength to hurl her up into combat. Riding on the hopes of her sisters, the Hearthmother made the flight safely and was quickly joined by the Hedgewalker, who teleported into the fray. But the Emperor was not without protection: his weapons and armor were magically enchanted, said to be gifts from the gods themselves. They repelled magic, granted him the power of flight, and projected twin phantoms to confuse his foes. By the time the Shieldbearer reached her allies, they were in the fight of their lives. But together again, their strength would prove too much for the Imperiate’s ruler. First they evened the odds by collapsing part of the tower, sending the Emperor’s men careening down into the palace. Then they dueled with the powerful Emperor, whose fervor only increased as the battle went on. In a noble and risky gambit, the Shieldbearer impaled herself on the Emperor’s magic sword, holding him still. Seeing the opportunity, the Hedgewalker emerged from the darkness behind him and slit his throat from end to end, cutting off the head of the Emperor and the Imperiate in a single stroke.

The three Circles soon met each other after their foes were beaten, and they fled the palace together. They left behind that ruined city of madness and destruction, and it is said they made a vow to never let such evil rise to power again. To follow their heroic example, so do we all take such a vow to protect this world, our world, from the darkness that is always waiting to steal it away.

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The Shaman and the Shapeshifter by jamiekinosian

The shaman summons forth the spirits of the forest while the shapeshifter begins her transformation.

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The Shapeshifter

Art by jamiekinosian

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Getting a Game Together

Ah, game night! Has there ever been a tradition more divisive? Some look forward to it all week, others dread another round of screaming at their loved ones over the “Free Parking” house rule. There has to be a better way…. right?

Enter Crone. In this game you and your friends play together, not against eachother. You are all working together to tell a story, go on an adventure, and have some fun. Still, if you have ever played a roleplaying game before, you know they come with their own unique set of challenges.

First off, let me say that we fully condone and support a “Game Night” approach to Crone. With quick character generation, pick-up-and-play rules, and deck-based encounters, Crone manages to pack down the required four hours of drudgery common in traditional RPG’s. Crone is great for one-shot open-and-go adventures, and you can have a lot of fun in a short, two-hour adventure on a sleepy Saturday evening.

But, say you’re a little more hard-core than that, and you’re determined to get a campaign together. That is going to be a little trickier. Here, we’ve tried to lay out some advice on how you can use Crone to avoid the drama that normally gloms onto a traditional RPG campaign.

Manage the Commitment

Some RPG campaigns last for decades, others never see it past their first session. But on average, most run for about six sessions. Past that sixth-session mark, things start to go stale, people run out of steam, GM’s burn out,  other commitments and flake-outs crop up, and most games die a quiet death. Not so with Crone! We want you to go out with a bang, not a whimper.

The upshot here is be clear with people what the commitment is. Let your friends know how many sessions you’re planning to run (again, careful going over six), about how long you expect each session to be (most will be two hours, a few might run to three) and how often you want to play. Giving people this information up-front will help them better decide whether or not they have the time, resources, and desire to actually play.

Likewise, as a GM, you need to manage your commitment to a game. We try to make things as easy as possible with Crone, but you still need to be honest with yourself about how much you can handle. Running a game can be an exhilarating, wild ride, but it can also drain a lot out of you. If you feel yourself starting to burn out, let your players know. Maybe it’s time to cut things short and pull off an appropriately epic finale before all your juice is gone.

Get Buy-In

A friend of mine once described playing in a traditional RPG campaign like going to see a movie with a group of friends. But, no one knows exactly what movie they want to see. So, the group keeps running between theaters, as each person pulls in a different direction.

So, how do you avoid this with Crone? Be up-front with people about what Crone is, and what kind of game you’re going to play. There are great games out there about wars in space and dark, brooding vampires. Crone is not one of them. There are fantastic, poignant games about heartbreak, loss, and inter-player drama. Crone is not one of them. Crone is a collaborative, team-based roleplaying game about elderly witches that uses a card-based combat system. There is a temptation to try and ‘pitch’ a new game to our friends, to try and make it conform to what they want to hear and play. Sure, there are a lot of great things you can highlight about Crone, but at the end of the day, make sure everyone is on the same page about what kind of game you're playing. Pick a theater, sit down, and enjoy the film together.

Consider Alternatives

As mentioned previously, it’s not a bad idea to treat Crone as a pick-up game. There’s no harm in playing a game only when it’s convenient and something that everyone is into. Here are some other alternatives to the traditional campaign you might want to consider.

Pick-Up Campaign. Just because you put a campaign together doesn’t mean you have to dedicate your life around it. Sometimes, it’s best to leave campaigns of Crone as a pick-up thing to do. Keep track of the plot, take good notes, and refresh people before each session, and things start to fall into place. Remember, the best time to play is when everyone at the table wants to play.

Rotate GM’s. Crone is built to be easy to GM, and to be just as much fun to run as it is to play. Honestly, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for everyone who plays Crone to try running a session or two. The advantages of rotating GM’s are obvious, as it lowers chances of burn-out and gives everyone an opportunity to try playing from both sides of the table.

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The Summoner

Art by jamiekinosian

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Making It Up As We Go

Back, in the days before the internet, when dinosaurs still walked the earth, I used to wonder if people cared about canon as much as I do.

Now, in this brilliant modern era, I know that some people care about it a lot more.

Of course, I didn’t know it as ‘canon’ at the time. I just wondered about the differences between how the worlds in TV, books, and my own experience interacted and what rules they were governed by. How was it that robots talked and swords were made of light in Star Wars? Could skateboards really hover like they did in Back to the Future? You see, as a kid, I took kind of a hard-science approach to everything. I assumed that because something was shown to me, it was at least theoretically possible. When I played pretend with my friends, I was the kid that had to correct all my little buddies about was and wasn’t possible in the made-up universes of the shows we watched and games we played. That’s right, I was that kind of kid.

Man, everyone hates that kid. Thankfully, I learned quickly; and Crone reflects that. As you read the manual, you may notice that we worked very hard to make the canon of Crone as flexible as possible. After all, this is a game set in the Dark Ages, a period of time literally defined by the fact that no one knew for sure what was going on. Current events were more myths and legends than cold, hard fact. In Crone, we make it clear the the GM and their players are able to create their own world; taking what they want from our canon, building their own stories, and discarding what they will.

But somewhere, the bossy little kid in me argues back: “Then what’s even the point? Why have rules if everyone is allowed to break them?!”

Role-playing, at it’s core, is about creating a shared perception of fictional events. I know that probably sounds a little philosophical  but stay with me for a second. Whenever we sit down to role-play, what are we really doing? Are we just making up whatever we want? In some games, maybe, but for the most part, the idea is to create something that everyone at the table can see, that they can picture in their mind’s eye and follow along with. That’s what makes role-playing games so entertaining, we all see the best version of our collective story; the one that appeals the most to us. But it’s important that it is still the same story. That’s why GM’s keep notes and move little figurines around maps. So that we’re all starting from the same place, and no one’s getting thrown off the story because they thought we were in a forest when we were really in a space-ship.

The canon of Crone kind of works like that. It’s a place to start from, within even it’s own setting. Everyone’s heard stories of witches, seen the things they’ve done, maybe even met one. But every witch is different, and the stories and legends are just that; stories and legends. No one is bound or trapped by them, but they do provide us with a pretty good starting point. The idea is for everyone to be more-or-less on the same page to begin with. That way, when things get really crazy, we can reel back a bit and re-evaluate. Wait, you thought the dragon was green? I pictured it as more of a euchre is a lot better than Dragons? What? I thought we were fighting a giant robot!

Maybe it’s the little kid coming out again, but I’m really excited for the stories you folks will tell and the adventures your characters will have, because the way Crone’s canon is structured, they can all exist in the same universe. Contradict each other, use the same characters, go one the same quests, heck, even toss out canon… in the world of Crone, it was all just stories to begin with. Maybe your character will hear tell of a different group of sisters around the campfire late at night. No matter what wild yarns the travelers spin… you can know that you are all in the same forest.