The great empires of old with their cities of marble were put to the torch long ago by darker powers whose follow-on wars rent even their own eldritch legions to withered husks of their former selves.
All that remains of mankind shelters in minor refuges, scattered across a continent plagued with the vestigial armies of evil overlords, long since assassinated by their rivals, and the abominable creations of their since-lost arcane sorcery.
Beyond the village’s torchlight lies a hungry wickedness not even the heroes of ancient times could face. Yet, the only tools able to combat these terrors also reside beyond the town walls.
Only the brave and foolhardy come to such conclusions, and only the truly lionhearted and stubborn act on them. The ones that return are legend. The ones that don’t…
Crowns 2e is an action-horror, adventure, roleplaying game about ordinary people becoming legends, not because they want to, but because if they don't, they won't be able to withstand the beasts of the wilderness another season. The game does this through blending old-school-style dungeon delving and modern sandbox generation. It's a complete game with all the tools you need to:
Fight epic Battles (man-to-man or en masse)
Explore dark Dungeons, full of over 80+ classic monsters
Advance some Nobodies into becoming mighty Champions
Generate your own Regions, Dungeons, and interconnected Politics
Hand out exciting loot ranging from Jewelry and Gemstones to arcane Artifacts and eldritch Grimoires
Crowns 2e is built to be compatible with all your normal old school adventure games, in order to enable you to use all of those dungeons you have on your shelf. Just because this is a new experience doesn't mean you should be expected to restart your TTRPG collection!
Click the links below to play the table-ready rules and the starter dungeon "The Abbey Lost to the Trees":
Early Bird backers (those who back in the first 48 hours) will get a PDF of the Title Cards add-on for free!
Those who backed the original Crowns 1e Kickstarter will get the Print and PDF of the Title Cards add-on for free! Must pledge at a physical tier (Veteran Militiaman or higher)
The Backerkit Exclusive, Limited Edition copy of the book will be:
Hardback
Sewn binding
Soft-touch lamenation
Digest size (8.5" by 5.5")
Two bookmark ribbons
There is also a hardback POD (print-on-demand) option available that is cheaper, though not of the same quality. Inside of both you'll find:
Crowns 2e is built from the ground up to help you create an open hex-map that has a constant influx of problems for your players to enjoy. It will do the legwork so you can spend time doing the fun stuff:
Region generator, creates your own hex map full of monster lairs and settlements fast
Politics generator, creates settlements with wants and needs and monster factions that seek to conquer
Hex-crawl travel system, with random events, weather, and camping procedures
Crowns 2e is about clearing out monster lairs and dark dungeons in search of loot and power. Its mechanics are heavily inspired by Shadowdark and Old School RPGs.
Random dungeon events
Fun and simple inventory management
Systems for caving, climbing, pursuits, hiding, decyphering, doors, searching, and more, all on one spread!
There are no classes in Crowns 2e. Instead, as players gain Renown they'll be increasing their key attributes through training and earning new Titles that grant them unique abilities.
36 Titles to really make your character your own
Specialize in magic, melee, range, shields, exploration, leading others, and more!
There are premade lists as well for players that don't want to delve too deep into the options
Crowns 2e is built around roll-to-cast spells, similar to Dungeon Crawl Classics, but not to the same extreme. Every spell is built to give the player as much sandboxy fun as possible:
All 20 spells comes with an inversion of that same spell (that makes 10 pairs of spells)
Cook your Seeker's brain by overcasting spells in times of great need
The environment can effect your spellcasting by providing anima and obscura to your roll!
Crowns 2e is an ACTION-HORROR game. While your character will not be slowly going insane, they will suffer from Peril, causing them to become Afraid and enter a Panic! You'll gain Peril when you:
See allies die
Suffer grievous injury
Are effected by perilous attacks
Crowns 2e does away with damage on only keeps to-hit rolls! Depending on the severity of your hit, you might Glance off the target's armor, turning your swing into an exposing strike, or you may sever a limb!
Fast and simple, easy to learn, easy to teach
There are benefits to wearing Padded armor over Chain, and there are no "wrong" weapon options
Stunts allow for dynamic combat where every hit (whether or not it hurts) does something to the enemy!
Crowns 2e has over 40+ interwoven treasure tables ranging from strange looking coins, to orichalcum idols, to ceremonial arms and armor, to ancient artifacts of arcane power! Plenty to choose from:
10 classes of magic Artifact (each with several sub-variants and uses)
12 unique arcane Wonders (some with extended options)
51,200,000 permutations of Greater Jewelry alone, each with gold values decided by the rolls!
Crowns 2e includes modern rules for constructing Keeps, ruling over Holdings, and waging war with Warbands. However, if you're simply a wizard in search of a tower, there's a place for you too:
System for Transcribing Spells from Grimoires onto Scrolls, improvable by your Keep
System for Duplicating Potions, improvable by your Keep
Systems for Carousing, Patrolling, Caravaning, Mustering, Training, Working, and more!
There's a reason some monsters are classics, and that's why Crowns 2e includes 80+ of your favorites (maybe some of them under new, copyright-free names):
Easy-to-read statblocks with relevant treasure tables, hit charts, and morale
Elite and Solo monsters that have random tables of abilities they can pull out during a fight
Classic monsters can be rendered for parts, you can not only eat a dragon, but harvest its scales!
One (1) print-on-demand (casebound hardcover) copy of Crowns 2e
Get your name in the credits
Heathen Sellsword --- $25
One (1) print-on-demand (casebound hardcover) copy of Crowns 2e
One (1) PDF copy of Crowns 2e
Get your name in the credits
Seeker of Legend --- $40
One (1) limited-edition offset-print (sewn binding, two bookmark ribbons, hardcover) copy of Crowns 2e, exclusive to this Backerkit campaign, the definitive edition of Crowns 2e
One (1) full-art PDF copy of Crowns 2e
Get your name in the credits
Merchant Coiner --- $100
Four (4) limited-edition offset-print (sewn binding, two bookmark ribbons, hardcover) copies of Crowns 2e, exclusive to this Backerkit campaign, the definitive edition of Crowns 2e
One (1) copy of Crowns 1e in it's original Zine format with it's PDF at its lowest price ever before! This price for the physical copy is exclusive to this Backerkit campaign, don't hesitate!
Crowns 2e Title Cards in Print --- $15
One (1) deck of Crowns 2e Title Cards, they act as little handouts for your players whenever they earn a Title in game, providing an easy source for the rules and cool piece of art! They will be similar to the Crowns 1e Feat Cards but with the art and the rules on the same side of the card this time around. These are exclusive to this Backerkit campaign, don't hesitate!
Crowns 2e Title Cards in PDF --- $5
One (1) PDF of the Crowns 2e Title Cards, they act as little handouts for your players whenever they earn a Title in game, providing an easy source for the rules and cool piece of art! They will be similar to the Crowns 1e Feat Cards but with the art and the rules on the same side of the card this time around
Crowns 2e Limited-Edition Offset Printing --- $40
One (1) additional copy of the limited-edition offset-print (sewn binding, two bookmark ribbons, hardcover) copy of Crowns 2e, exclusive to this Backerkit campaign, the definitive edition of Crowns 2e
Crowns 2e Print-On-Demand --- $20
One (1) print-on-demand (casebound hardcover) copy of Crowns 2e
You must back at a physical tier (Veteran Militiaman and above) to qualify for any of these add-ons.
May 2025: Crowd funding campaign begins and ends June 2025: Backerkit Pledge Manager Surveys are sent out, early PDFs are sent out to backers Q3 2025: Final PDFs and print copies of Crowns 2e are proofed and final edits are made Q4 2025: Physical copies of Crowns 2e are sent out to backers
Shipping will be charged after the campaignvia BackerKit. We are trying to keep shipping as low. The offset printing will take place in New Jersey, USA. Import fees and customs charges are the responsibility of the backer. We will also endeavor to provide shipping options that include tracking where possible.
Estimated shipping costs are as follows:
United States: $4
Canada: $7
United Kingdom: $12
EU: $12
US Territories and ROW: $7
Note that these are shipping estimates, based on projected book weights, and are subject to change.
Crowns 2e has a lot of inspirations, from games to movies to books to people. These are the ingredients in the melting pot that boiled over and made this game what it is:
Drenai Saga (book series)
Guardians of the Flame (book series)
Awkward Turtle (designer)
Ben Milton (designer)
Bob World Builder (designer)
Emily Allen (designer)
Mathew Colville (designer)
Patrick Stuart (designer)
Sam Sorenson (designer)
Sandy Peterson (designer)
Skerples (designer)
Steven Lumpkin (designer)
Taylor Lane (designer)
Yochai Gal (designer)
The Dark Crystal (film)
Darkest Dungeon (game)
Dragon Age RPG (game)
Dungeon Crawl Classics (game)
Dungeons and Dragons (game)
Esoteric Enterprises (game)
Mausritter (game)
Mothership (game)
Old School Essentials (game)
Torchbearer (game)
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (game)
Zweihander RPG (game)
Birthright (setting)
Dark Albion (setting)
Dark Sun (setting)
Greyhawk (setting)
The Old World (setting)
My Dad (for introducing me to RPGs)
My Mom (for buying them for me)
My Wife (for playing them with me)
A very special thanks to the project's artist Inked Gas, who has been a perfect partner on this quest of ours. May our partnership continue for long afterwards.
And a final thanks to Noize, the editor we gained along the way. Without him, this whole project would be a lot less coherent. Keep being awesome.
