Indigenous RPG Coyote & Crow is a hit, and a new anthology is on the way

In 2021, Connor Alexander set out to publish the world’s first tabletop role-playing game conceived and authored by Native American and First Nations writers. With his 2022 publication, he was successful. Coyote & CrowThis is the foundational rulebook for an entire RPG world. The reception was positive beyond his wildest dreams, and he’s carrying that momentum forward into a new anthology of adventures: Coyote & Crow: Stories of the Free LandsBackerkit is now live, and delivery will be made in 2023.

Coyote & CrowThis alternate history posits that colonizers did not set foot on North American soil. Cahokia, a Mississippian town, was not abandoned. In fact, the heart of a flourishing civilization of Indigenous people spread throughout the continent was in downstate Illinois. A remarkable celestial phenomenon gave them magical powers. It is also open to both Native and non Native players.

“Things are better than I could have imagined,” Alexander said in an interview with Polygon. He’s referring to the fact that Coyote & Crow was recently nominated for a Nebula Award — but also because of a letter that he recently received.

“The response is what’s blown me away,” he continued. “I’ve had so many people reach out to me and tell a very personal story about how the game has affected them, or about the things they’ve done in the game, and the fun times they’ve had with it already.”

Alexander said he’s working hard to get Coyote & Crow into libraries — including Indigenous libraries on reservations around the U.S. and Canada. Alexander wants to boost his community, which includes a significant portion that are not Native players. Stories about the Free LandsThis is the first collection of adventure books published since the core rulesbook first appeared.

“This thing’s a pile of 10 stories from 10 different Indigenous authors paired up with 10 different artists,” Alexander said, “all taking place roughly around the primary city of Cahokia. […] We wanted to get people sort of a flavor of what you could do with the core book and kind of get their stories rolling.”

The anthology goes beyond the “monster of the week” format that the system so easily falls into, Alexander said.

“I asked for a broad range of thematic settings,” Alexander said. “Let’s do murder mysteries. Let’s do espionage. Let’s do political intrigue. Let’s do stuff that isn’t just monster of the week. The writers came up with great ideas. I’m excited.”

Riana Elliot (a Cherokee writer) will write one of these stories. It features players protecting a bride party while it travels to celebrate unification of two feuding families. Another, written by Alexander himself, will put the spotlight on the future site of a geothermal power plant — and the mysterious cult that worships on the land where the power plant is set to be built.

“We touch really lightly on a lot of water protection issues there, a lot of science versus the spiritual,” Alexander said. “But the question becomes, ‘Did this cult have anything to do with the disappearance?’ And untangling those two things, and keeping those two opposing groups from going at each other’s throats, is kind of where the tension lies for the characters.”

Beyond those adventures, Alexander is being fairly tight-lipped about what’s included in the anthology. Alexander hopes players will be amazed by the contents. The campaign runs now through Oct. 12, and stretch goals — including additional pay for everyone involved in the project — will be revealed on Backerkit over the next several weeks.