I'm honored and grateful that I was able to contribute art to this book. Hankerin is awesome and this game looks amazing! Also PDM said my name in a video. I've peaked, it's all downhill from here.

Man, I just love how much of a TOME this looks like. I want to find this in an ancient library while evading a vampire...

Hankerin' is a total game design powerhouse, and the best part is, his passion for gaming is contagious! Thanks for the look at the book!

Finally!! A game that frees us from Ability Scores and isn’t just narrative. It forces you to have a whole new appreciation for each and every skill you have and item you carry. This game is not making it to the shelf, it’s going right to the table. Bravo!!

The custom Spell creation is superb! Don't think it's for grognards only either, I had my son play a 1 shot and he normally plays 5e, as soon as he was done he wanted to create more characters. His comment? combat is FAST!

3:15 "Natural 1 is a critical success, natural 20 is a critical failure" 10:40 "And may all your rolls be 20s" Harsh

My bookshelf groaneth under the weight of so many new games, and yet I shall ask it to bear one more.

I never liked that characters were always just as deadly on the brink of death as they are at full health. That's why I like the way that Cypher and City of Mists reduce the very abilities that are being relied on to reflect damage! Crown and Skull seems to be taking this in a fun direction as well.

"He's mah buddy." My new favorite quote by Professor DM.

When it rains it pours. I just got done reading Troll Lord Games email where they talk about releasing a ton of Gary Gygax material in the future (expanding on Castle Zagygg as well as other material), and now seeing Crown and Skull is here. It's too dang much! What a great time to be a TTRPG fan! Just when I think I'm done buying all these books, they pull me back in...And byb the way, why does Crown and Skull have to look so damn gorgeous!? I give up. Goodbye money, goodbye sheckles. it was nice knowing yas!

Ahh, the Gold Edition looks so nice but I'm just a poor frog boy xD

I absolutely love books like these that show just how much love, passion and talent have gone into their creation. I am thankful you made this review as this would have gone under my radar due to me being disconnected from the gaming sphere. This is about the only channel I actively keep up with to keep me in the loop. I trust your judgement Professor. Looks like something I would love to put in my collection. My players trust my judgement and always come to me when it comes to new TTRG books and systems. I end up melting most of what I come across into my own games that I tweak and make right for my group of players. Been the DM for the same group of friends for 3 decades now. We dropped D&D almost a full decade ago for a system I tailor made for them. It is like a Frankenstein of board games, card games, TTRG all mixed into one system that gives my players the most fun. My players have asked me to publish this system. Thing is I told them this is for you guys, I did this for my friends. Everything created was made to fit their style and likes in the game. While removing what we didn't like. It makes for a very intimate game that only they get to experience. I have DM for different groups of people and I have found each group has their very own needs/wants/desires. It is like being a chef that cooks to taste with a wealth of ingredients around me. Each group gets a different version and mode of all these systems and books put together.

Great video, Professor! Thanks for your consistent support of all things Runehammer. Respect and regards, Chris AKA Li’l C

Looking forward to playing this game during RUNEJAMMER this summer.

I absolutely love how Hankerin creates simple and easy to comprehend yet very fun game mechanics, especially character creation prompts - probably my favourite part of this preview

Hankerin is absolutely the mad scientist of all things awesome! Also, if I may say, I believe Maria is what a nat 20* would look like in corporeal form. And she's right about HP too! (*I know this game is roll UNDER. So not a nat 20 in THIS game. That would say the opposite of what I meant)

I have an original idea for a system where an attacker rolls 3 6-sided dice and a defender rolls 2 6-sided dice and the defender wins the ties.

Worth noting how incredible this book is to just read! His short story interstitials are incredible at enhancing the vibe.

I really liked how this turned out. It keeps giving me that old-school feel of almost ADnD/HQ while being its completely own thing. And very thoughtful on the book layout so we are not constantly going between blocks and images wearing it down. Plus, it would look great on my shelf with that book.

LOVE crown and skull. Played 4 sessions so far and it’s an amazing breakaway from typical mechanic and narrative tropes. It stretches the brain and in this hobby that’s such an underrated trait. Hanks a beast and we love his pioneering in this hobby space. ❤

Thank you for a great overview of a Runehammer's name game! I loved ICRPG. Viking Death Squad is still on my shelf of shame. Can't wait to get this one!

Nice shout out for my dice! Thanks.

Thanks for bringing this gem to my attention, I went ahead and ordered the fancy version. With this, Shadowdark, Death Bringer KS coming up, ICRP, Mork Borg, OSE, Sacrifice, and Dungeon Dwellers, I now have the very happy dilemma of trying choosing which to run next after my OSE Thinder Rift campaign wraps up (which is still a ways off). So many great games out these days!

My most anticipated TTRPG is hands down Dolmenwood. I'm anxiously awaiting final PDFs and to complete one other campaign so that I can get started. Crown and Skull definitely sounds really interesting. I particularly like the Hero Point system and Flaws.

Hot damn, that book is gorgeous 🔥

Not wild about replacing HP with lost equipment... and getting players to accept roll-low is a hard sell in my experience, but, otherwise, this sounds really good. (I like roll low because it's easier to calculate with, but I've never been able to get players to accept it.)

Runehammer aka Hankerin Ferinal Ingrid Burnal Ingrown Toenail!

This video drew forth very powerful and mixed emotions for me. First, congrats to Rune Hammer for completing a beautiful project that brings more excitement and dynamism to tabletop RPGs. Thanks to the Prof for sharing the Crown and Skull tome. I understand you both have a productive working relationship and I loved your video of the visit to Frazetta's museum in PA. So that's the positive of my mixed emotions. I try not to spew negativity on social media so I'm choosing my words carefully so as to critique rather than be just a critic. Three points here. First, opening with the sponsorship from Green Dragon Fest. That's two thousands dollars for a luxury weekend of gaming for 70 people plus the hosts, who number more as KZfaq personalities, plus a few game designers such as Hankerin and Dione. It can come off as elitist, an exclusionary club far removed from all of our roots as kids who scraped just to supplement our first boxed set and collection of cheap plastic dice that only revealed numbers after we colored them over with wax crayon. There's been a surge of success for smaller creators, and Green Daron Fest seems at first to be a natural extension of this by a tight-knit section of creators sharing the love with fans who can put up the 2K. But pause to look at the event from other angles. Who has that kind of liquid cash to spend on a weekend with their favorite creators? Two, creativity here at Dungeon Craft. The sage advice and gorgeous videos are becoming rare treasures. You are a fantastic storyteller with your miniatures, effects, and camera editing. You've been upfront about the time and effort that go into those creations and how they trend less popular on KZfaq. But don't give up altogether for game reviews and WoTC news briefs. Three, it's been interesting to see the collaborative team developing between Dungeoncraft, Bob World Builder, Baron de Ropp, Questing Beast, etc along with folks who are more principally defined as game designers such as Rune Hammer and Arcane Library. However, the group seems to be so close that we need to take game reviews not as reviews so much as self-boosterim. I love it that Rune Hammer and Arcane Library have so much of their games available as free downloads. If not, I would begin to feel the perception that RPG gamers are just endless buyers of new product rather than creative gamers in our own right would shift even more into reality. Thanks for reading. -Soren

I’m looking forward to AD&D 1e this year.

I know I have seen this mechanic before, besides Star Fleet battles, looks like fun Funny thing, when I firstvstarted DMing, before I got a handle on the rules, I did d20 under stat, more logical And if you are going to go abstract, go all the way,

Been playing for about 6 months. Puts a lot on the players. Have had a ton of push back from long time players. 2 groups voted to leave this behind. I LOVE IT (& Viking Death Squad and HARD SUIT that this builds from). Def worth pilfering ideas from...

Looks nicely laid out, no excessive flash or verbosity, and the mechanics are simple. After seeing so many ttrpgs opt for endless character build options and super-tactical combat, it's refreshing to see something follow a less cumbersome system. I'll definitely be buying this based on your review and recommendation

Oh my word the look of the book and pages alone sold me on this haha! It's gorgeous and also great ASMR when you turn those pages😎 Really look forward to try this system out!

Honestly looks really rad! I like that it’s d20. The mechanics seem really interesting. That leather bound is gorgeous! My one concern: I don’t like roll under! Players tend to like being excited about big number! And seeing a 1 and getting excited seems weird. Obviously not an immediate killer of enthusiasm but a hurdle I wish wasn’t there

Can confirm...this is the shit. My group is ten sessions in and were having a blast.

In it for the lore and world. The thing reads like a compendium of the North Holds.

In previous videos, you have been critical of skills in games. How does this game not cause the same issues you described before? Are you against skills in systems like D&D because of the layering of mechanics, or is it because of how they affect the player's interaction with the world?

Heck yeah! Always good to see some Runehammer love!

Hankerin is a crazy mad game wizard who approaches game design in a way nobody else does! Love his work!

To answer your initial question, my most anticipated RPG of 2024 is probably Pendragon. This does look like fun, though. Probably not my thing, but I'd certainly be willing to be proved wrong. Certainly a nice looking volume.

Interested. Not sure my group would like the departure from traditional mechanics but I'd love to take it for a spin.

Already got my digital copy; just waiting for the limited edition hardback to arrive. Absolutely can't wait for this one!

"May all your rolls be 20s" perhaps isn't so good for crown and skull lol

Interesting concepts. I might have to pick it up sometime. That being said, this video does feel like an ad read, despite you not getting paid for it. I don't know. I haven't seen all of your videos so maybe most of your reviews go like this but it just seems like you literally had nothing poor to say about this game which seems off in regards to a legitimate review. Even my favorite games have things I want to fix and nitpick over and I'm honest about them when talking to people about them. This feels like something done for a friend and not an objective critical look at something that costs $50-$80 for a physical product (not complaining about the price, it's 300 pages and independently published, so I get it).

The TTRPG I'm designing has several passing similarities to this, which is awesome. Although the mechanical approach is very different, I can see a lot of good design here that solves some of the bloat issues 5e now faces behind the curtains of its design. PURCHASED!! Excited to try!

I always love it when you showcase indur works and this looks very cool for some of its mechanics

Kinda early in the year to be making 'best of' predictions. However, you are wise in the ways of the industry, so we shall see what we see. 🤔 Thanks for sharing this review with us, there are some very exciting and innovative ideas here.

I eager to experience Crown & Skull. I liked what I saw in the free player's guide download.

Wow, there are so many amazing fantasy themed rpgs out there right now. It a bit overwhelming. With this book, even if you didn't use the Crown and Skull rules, the setting and resources would make buying it worth while. And it is a beautiful book. Also I love good straight forward communication in writing and layout. Some of these hyper illustrated text heavy flip happy books make me sea-sick. With all that is out there right now for fantasy games you are bound to find something that you and your group grooves with. I kind of wish it was that way sci-fi rpgs. There are a many out there but for some reason the ones I try leave me cold or just dont look good to begin with. But that just me. I'll keep looking.

This games looks great the only downside is the binary resolution mechanic.

RPGs with novel-esque form factors are my happy place

I would also like to add that the designer had masterful skill of filling the page with text without making it appear overbearing and still has room to breath. I highly respect the choice of binding and illustrations.

I bought this book on your recommendation Professor, and the character creator is simply the best! I come from GMing Pathfinder 2E, and I hope the combats here are snappier and filled with more narrative flavor, with less work on us as GM’s!

Just got my copy! Really enjoying it. It's second in line to bring to the table after WHFRP. :D

Looking forward to Dolmenwood personally.

I'm most looking forward to Dungeon Dwellers from Reaper. I preordered Crown and Skull, TotV, and Knave 2e. My C&S copy arrives this week. I am excited about a lot in it, but one thing is tough to digest. Why use attrition with PCs only? It's weird that monsters still have HP. Just give each a simple stat block where this roll removes a leg, they have 1/2 movement. This roll means they lose their sword, etc. It's like Dragonbane's choice to have some monsters hit automatically and others have to roll skill. Having two mechanics for attacks and damage is an odd design choice.

Hankerin nails it again!

Having tactics as part of the stat block is brilliant!

Thanks for the review professor! I don't follow the industry that much since I crafted the system I use for my group a few years ago. My table has its own tradition that diverged from published systems so much it is really beapoke. Your channel is where I see systems and tools I'd like to check in, dissect or try for fun. Hugs and keep going

Hey Prof DM! I would love your thoughts on ‘skills’ being such an intricate part of this system. In a previous video by you, you talked about players not being a prisoner to their character sheet and used examples of tavern brawler, etc. and the skill shouldn’t dictate if you can or can’t do something. Yet in Crown and Skull it directly contradicts what you are a proponent for and literally says “if you don’t have the skill you simply can’t do it”. This seems to go directly against your philosophy which I also really enjoy. Would love a discussion about it! Thanks!

This game sounds pretty cool. I like variety in the TTRPG mechanics. Nice stuff!

(Since you asked) my most anticipated is Luke Gearing's Swyvers, I'd definitely suggest checking it out. A sort of gutterpunk medieval urban fantasy (one review called it Cyberpunk 1820) the preliminary version I've read is one of the most flavourful RPG texts I've seen. I'm not lying when I say it's my most anticipated game of the past decade.

Can't wait for mine to make its way across the pond! It has so many cool ideas that you can even employ if you don't run the game itself. Phased battles and mapless dungeons are some examples you can employ in different games

I can't WAIT to get my mitts on this tome. Runehammer has really stepped it up here, and i say that as a huge fan of his work. Great review, professor! You really sold me on it (even though i preordered as soon as it was possible in December), and I hope lots and lots of others are drawn to it. A true rebel system, going against the grain of the main stream. Super friggin cool stuff going on here.

Interesting ideas for game play and character creation. Also it's nice to see a background setting included in the rulebook.

Nice overview. Sold!

Can't argue with the artistic quality of this book and many others like it. If I were to buy every one I fancied, I'd be buried in books and debt.

How does leveling work? Get better at the things you do? Get points to buy skills/abilities?

Thanks for the reminder just got my copy ordered. Definitely looking forward to this one. I missed the pre-order deadline.

Hank!...what a legend 😎

There are two things I like here. 1. Hasbro makes no money in the process. 2. The Prof gave it a good over view. Chances are high it gets a sale next month (spent my allowance already for July). Bookmarked the page to get the Gold edition.

Attrition and the HP system both make total sense. Very slick.

I ordered this book, it looks like so much fun. I also love the character creation tool on the website. This will be so simple to throw new players into this game. And I just signed up for Green Dragon Fest. It sounds like so much fun.

I LOVE Crown and Skull. I read a lot of RPGs but I devoured this book. It’s absolutely beautiful, well organized, and geared towards fun above all. The sessions I’ve played have been an absolute blast.

huh, different could be good, interesting. The fancy book cover looks fantastic

One quick note, you do not need to take a flaw or core ability. You can take upto 4 flaws that will give you more hero points to spend (but come with the downside of the flaw) and if you want to you can use your hero points to buy a Core Ability for your character but neither flaws nor core abilities are required for characters.

Currently awaiting delivery. Runehammer scores again.

I'm highly anticipating my Dragonbane Bestiary finally arriving!

Crown & Skull is f*cking amazing. I've been in love with Into the Odd for a while now, so I'm beyond thrilled with the mechanics of C&S. This game will get a lot of play at my table.

I definitely prefer "Only roll for damage, armor absorbs damage" to "Roll to hit, armor reduces chance to hit". It fits my gamist preferences and my belief in starting from a place of verisimilitude. In an actual superhero genre game...flaws would be mandatory, and probably more proportionately crippling (scaling with your power levels). Superman has his personal virtues (being forced to take sub-optimal combat tactics to reduce collateral damage, refusal to kill an enemy with even the smallest remotest chance of eventually maybe some day repenting), a physical weakness to specific frequencies of radiation that are largely harmless to humans (Kryptonite), and a major hole in his super defenses (his powers give him no protection from magic - his resistance rolls to spells, if any, are equal to any normal man of similar will and wisdom). All three of these might be presented as "Flaws" in an RPG, especially the second.

Hankerin is my favorite mind in the community, without a doubt the man I've absorbed the most from over the many years

I just love the direction TTRPGs are going. So much creativity! Runehammer Knocks it out of the park once again!

The book actually reminds me of Burning Wheel. Very different kind of game from the looks of it, but it also tries to look like a fantasy novel: fancy hardcover, digest-sized pages, black & white art with line illustrations... It's actually a big weakness of mine. I love the aesthetics of Burning Wheel, and I'm loving the look of Crown & Skull. I don't think I can resist picking up a copy for myself. :)

I ordered myself Pendragon 5.2 along with the Grand Campaign from DriveThru. I'm looking forward to reading into it some more and I knew a couple of people who have seen it and took an interest in it. I hope to have a few games of it at some point in the future.

@DungeonCraft - just noticed - it seems there's an error in numeration, this video has number 363, and the previous one ("Help, my DM is evil") also has number 363. This one should be renumbered to 364.

I knew y'all were homies but it's still weirdly cool to hear all these terms and phrases coming from Prof. D. Now I know how people felt when they saw the avengers.

I don’t like that all the art is piled together in the middle, but everything else about this looks fantastic!! Definitely putting this on my to-get list :)

Love Runehammer and ICRPG. Would love to see a review of Alloyed RPG!

Looks good! Would love to play it. Think im getting a copy for my playgroup.

This game has been highly anticipated since last year! I pre-ordered and I'm super excited to get my hands on this handsome hardback! I've been reading through the PDF and I'm eager to get it to the table!

Can't wait to get my hands on this!

Most anticipated for me is Dolmenwood. Can't wait.

Haha I had to buy this after such a great review! I love Into the Odd and homebrew those rules for my own campaign, so any sources which use similar mechanics is worth the cost for scavenging mechanics. Based on what the professor said this seems like a perfect companion to my own ruleset.

Pirate Borgs Dark Caribbean! But I did just order Crown and Skull More not so "Crunchy Games" Just did an episode ourselves on that. Support the little guy, down with the Corpos LOL

Shieldwall RISE

My kids can vouch for the fact that I was experimenting with game design last year and had a mechanic where you could elect to sacrifice a weapon/sheild to take the hit instead of your character. I like this idea even more. Game mechanics should promote meaningful choices for the characters. Which is why "hit points are boring." Having said that, I do think hit points are pretty cool or intense when they're in limited supply (Deathbringer style).

Thank you for making me aware of this, I just went and ordered the 2-copy bundle for my table and threw in the neoprene mat for good measure.

This sounds like it hits all the good spots. Definitely on my list. Tough decision between gold edition or 2 regular copies.

The more I see that red and gold cover, the more I wish I had ordered it instead of the black. But my minor nitpick with the red is having half of the skull upside down. It's a minor quibble, but I don't care for how it looks. I am rereading the book now, but I find parts of it strange. Much of the story, and setting in general, is serious, almost grim, but then there are character names like Wallabytarnwhatwallaby, which feels light and whimsical, so I am not sure what tone he's going for. And the spells having a number of "casts" rather than being cast-at-will seems like a step backwards. But I will wait until I read it a second or third time to really make up my mind.

If you could only choose only one of runehammer's games, what would you pick? Crown and Skull , Viking Death Squad, or Index Card RPG? Why?