In This Edition

• Sword Art Online Animator to Lead Localization of …

• MCDM Announces CROWS, a Survival Horror-Oriented T …

  • Other Stories This Week

• Brennan Lee Mulligan and Matt Mercer Featured in V …

  • Q&A With Coyote and Crow’s Kenna Alexander

• Two New D&D Hires Expand WOTC’s Design Team

Other Stories from This Week

• Storytellers Forge, the publisher led by author Rick Heinz, is adapting its D&D setting, The Black Ballad, into Shadowdark.

• Exploring Eberron, Keith Baker’s expansion of his iconic setting as a third-party supplement, was published on D&D Beyond this week.

• Chaosium’s added the Pendragon Core Rulebook and Call of Cthulhu: No Time to Scream to Foundry’s VTT marketplace.

• While I’m not a huge Cosmere fan yet, I still think it’s worth noting that Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn and Stormlight Archive series are being considered for adaptation by Apple TV.

• Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth, an in-world text from Werewolf: The Apocalypse, has had its April physical release delayed to an undefined date due to printing issues.

• Numenara: The Amber Archive is the updated title for Monte Cook Games’ update to its iconic science fantasy setting.

• GamesRadar talked with Modiphius Entertainment’s Ben Maunder about the upcoming Fallout Solo RPG

• Russ Morrissey, the person behind EN WORLD, discussed balancing their ongoing crowdfunding of new TTRPG content with news and the forum on RPG Drop.

• Kadokawa and FromSoftware are planning to adapt the Elden Ring spinoff Nightreign into a Japanese TTRPG. Maybe we’ll get an English version in time?

• Witch: Fated Souls released its second edition. The game has big Sabrina and American Horror Story vibes.

• Steve Jackson Games released its plans for GURPs as well as its plans for celebrating the game’s 40th anniversary.

• The wiki-esque WorldAnvil has added new functions for organizing and accessing your own content to its search functionality.

• Seattle’s NPR station did a story on a live actual play show titled Dungeons and Drag Queens.

• Eclipse Phase publisher Posthuman Studios is running part 2 of the open test for its “weird fantasy RPG” The Snarl, which is all about giant forests and strange species.

Q&A With Coyote and Crow’s Kenna Alexander

Coyote and Crow Games has been slowly expanding its releases over the last few years. Last year, it officially released AHU TIIKO, a horror-themed setting for the Native American-focused game setting as well as new VTT assets to make it easier to play online. This month, it’s releasing LEGENDS AND ICONS, a new supplement to help players expand their options for running the game.

We spoke with CoC Games founder Kenna Alexander about the game and what it entails, as well as the Storyteller Program, the company’s organized play initiative.

What's the general theme or focus when it comes to creatures, spirits, cults, etc in this particular book? Are you fleshing out specific aspects of the world or is this just a chance to expand the lore and add cool stuff that you couldn't in the core rulebook

KENNA ALEXANDER: One of the things that excited new fans in the core rulebook was the section that provided some opponents and challenges for players, which we called Legends & Icons. We created most of the content from scratch, but we also included a few entries based on real-world Indigenous myths, such as Deer Woman. The book was getting big, though. It was already approaching 500 pages, so we limited that section to just 22 entries. For this new book, we wanted to give folks an idea of the breadth and depth offered by the Coyote & Crow landscape. 

A pattern that many TTRPG players default to is some version of "the characters go to a village, encounter a strange being, then defeat it to save the villagers," or some variation, which is fine. But for me, and I think for many Indigenous folks, spirits and creatures aren't just things that exist in isolation. They're tied to their environments or situations, to the land they are on. Raven Mockers follow dying people. The Dosadaag live in deep snow. So for this upcoming book, we're creating entries that aren't just stats; they explain the environment - both physical and spiritual - that the being exists in. I guess a more straightforward way to put that is: We're not just giving fans the 'who' and 'what', we're giving them the 'where' and the 'why'. 

An example is Quill Fist. They are an enormous being, nearly invulnerable, covered in giant, deadly quills, who lumbers through the Appalachian mountains. What's their connection to that place? Why do they stay there? What are their goals? Sure, their stats and art are useful and fun. But detailing their behavior, their environment, can lead to really memorable stories. And that's what I really want players to get out of this book. Not just opponents to defeat, but launching points for telling engaging stories

What's the Storyteller Program? What are your plans for that?

KENNA ALEXANDER: We've struggled since our inception to create an organized play system. I won't get into the details, but it's been pretty ugly. There was a lot of time and money lost on my part for no return. And since I'm a company with only one full-time employee, namely me, I just haven't had the time to devote to setting up everything I'd like to promote the play of Coyote & Crow. And the game has the extra burden of well-meaning non-Natives being frightened to run tables for fear of offending someone. So, my answer was the Storyteller Program. I hope to give people some cool swag, some digital tools, and some resources to help them feel more confident in running games of Coyote & Crow. And I really want to be able to pay folks for running events at game stores, community centers, and conventions. Those folks do a lot of work and put so much heart into those events, and they deserve some compensation.

We're currently running a GoFundMe to help offset my costs, and we've got a pledge level for the Legends & Icons Kickstarter that includes a membership. And folks can just contribute to the GoFundMe, too, if they don't want a membership but want to support the program. Or they can sign up for the program to get the swag and access without being obligated to run paid events. I think it's a good deal.

How do you hope to incentivize more folks to engage in C&C organized play?

KENNA ALEXANDER: We live in a gaming world dominated by the 'cult of the new'. With Coyote & Crow being almost five years old, much of our initial momentum and hype is in the past. But we still have an incredible core fan base and I'm still surprised at how many people I encounter who have never heard of Coyote & Crow and are thrilled at the idea. I think pairing those two groups is the way to grow our community.

Fans want to share their love and see the game thrive. Giving them a way to do that, while simultaneously giving them some perks, while bringing in new players, is a win for everyone. This program might fall flat. Maybe we're too late. But I feel like I owe it to our hardcore fans to try. A game company can sustain a role-playing game only if there is continued enthusiasm and a healthy fan base. The more expansions and supplements for Coyote & Crow I can produce, the more ways I can find to reward Storytellers, and the more our community will grow, and the cycle then continues.

Legends and Icons is scheduled to release on February 10, 2026. The Ahu Tiiko expansion will also be available to retailers starting on February 25.