The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is the first cinematic adventure sourcebook for Everyday Heroes. This draws specifically upon the 1994 film, The Crow, starring Brandon Lee, and the 1989 comic series by James O’Barr, as well as the 1996 sequel, The Crow: City of Angels. The later sequels are lesser source material for the supplement. This does mean that together, the subject for two halves of the book, scenario and sourcebook, does carry a number of subject warnings and like the comic book and film, is intended for a mature audience, dealing as it does with death and loss, drug addiction, torture, suicide, and other adult subjects. The world of The Crow and thus The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is one in which the spirits of the dead are real. Their task is to guide the souls of the recently dead to the afterlife that is the underworld, to guard the gates to the underworld, and also return with messages and omens. Yet there are some spirits who escape the Underworld and find a way back to the world of the living—they are the Reborn. If a Reborn has been returned by a Crow spirit, then he too is called ‘The Crow’, but there are many other spirits of the dead—the Butterfly, the Cat, the Moth, and others. Each type of spirit is drawn to particular types of deaths and brings those who suffer them back as Reborn and even bestows particular types of quests related to both the deaths and the types. Guided by their spirits, Reborn walk the Earth again, not as one of the living, but the living dead, tasked with enacting revenge upon those who caused their death and fulfilling the quests set by the spirit. The Reborn find the world as dark and as tragic as they left it, the strong thea desire for a better world no more than a fleeting hope...
The primary new options given in The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure are for the Player Characters. These Hero Options include a number of new Backgrounds, such as Abused, Cult Escapee, Near-Death Experience, and Suicide Survivor. Already, these showcase the dark side of the setting. The new Professions include those from the seamier and rougher side of life, including Charity worker, Chop Shop Jockey—someone who cuts up stolen vehicles for their parts, stage Magician, Occultist, and Snitch. Many of these are directly inspired by characters in the film, including the Kid and Pawn Shop Owner. Two Classes after given. The Reborn is a Wise Hero who begins with a Spirit Bond, a Reborn Body, and the ability to Vanish at will. The Reborn also has Powers, such as Death’s Power to substitute the Reborn’s Wisdom bonus for the Strength or Dexterity modifier, Share Experience of his past life with another or Force Experience on another. These require the Reborn’s player to spend Focus to activate. The Reborn also has a Mask of Death associated with his Spirit. The Spirit grants its Reborn with benefits such as skill proficiencies and enhancements to the powers it also grants. For example, the Butterfly Spirit has Charming Presence, which allows a reroll on a failed Charisma check, Glamour to change appearances, Serenity to calm someone, and Sweet Nectar to heal others. All of these powers require the expenditure of Focus and they are the gift of the Spirit that the Reborn can use. In some ways they are also the gift of the Game Master, since the Spirit is not under the control of the Reborn and his player, but is instead an NPC. This allows the Spirit to become a character in its own right rather than just an extension of the Reborn. In addition, each Spirit comes with full stats as a Tiny Monster, and a discussion of its character, the souls it is drawn to, and both the type of quests it gives and some sample quests. Eight Spirits are detailed in this fashion in The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure, including the Butterfly, the Cat, the Crow, the Mastiff, the Moth, the Owl, the Snake, and the Spider.
The other option is the Soothsayer, a Smart Hero. The Soothsayer has Talents and Plans. The Talents include ‘As Foretold’ which enables the Soothsayer to substitute one of two twenty-sided his player rolls at the start of each adventure, whilst ‘Blessing of Fortune’ lets him grant a four-sided die as a bonus to other Player Heroes. The Soothsayer’s Plans include Bend Fate, Clairvoyance, Read the Omens, Witness Your End, and more, all of which are enhanced as the Soothsayer rises in Level. In addition to the two new Hero types, The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure lists several new Feats, divided between General and Multiclass Feats. The former includes Knife Fighter, Pyro, and Ritual Lore, whilst the latter includes Soothsayer Training and Advanced Soothsayer Training letting a Player Hero with another Class gain its mystical abilities. Similarly, the Spirit Servant Multiclass Feat enables a Player Hero who is not a Reborn to acquire a Spirit companion.
The only new rules in The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure are for Ritual Magic. Although several sample rituals are included, the rules in the main are narrative-based. Mechanically, Ritual Magic consists of deciding upon the effects of the spell, researching it, learning it, and then casting the spell. The guidelines are nicely supported with a good example. Conversely, where the rules and advice on handling Ritual Magic in The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure are more than enough for the Game Master to include them in play, the advice for the Game Master for running a scenario or campaign in the style of The Crow comes up short at just two pages. There is advice here on setting the mood, having more than one Reborn—and thus more than one quest—is in play, on playing Spirit allies, and running Ritual Magic (again!), and handling prophetic dreams. However, what the advice does not cover is the setting for scenarios set in the world of The Crow or the types of villains that the Player Heroes might be attempting to enact revenge against. The advice is followed a handful of scenario hooks.
Approximately half of The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is dedicated to its adventure, ‘Prayers of the Past’, which even comes with its own soundtrack! The scenario is intended for Player Heroes of Fifth and Sixth Level and can be adjusted to be played with just one player, although the ideal number is five. It can also be run with just the one Reborn Player Hero or multiple Reborn Player Heroes. The set-up involves a Zero Session where the Player Heroes decide upon and play out what happened to the Reborn they are either playing or their Player Heroes know, which can can take a single scene or be developed into a longer session, so that the prequel to the scenario proper plays out as a series of prequels rather the one. Hooks are provided if the players cannot come up their own.
The only new rules in The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure are for Ritual Magic. Although several sample rituals are included, the rules in the main are narrative-based. Mechanically, Ritual Magic consists of deciding upon the effects of the spell, researching it, learning it, and then casting the spell. The guidelines are nicely supported with a good example. Conversely, where the rules and advice on handling Ritual Magic in The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure are more than enough for the Game Master to include them in play, the advice for the Game Master for running a scenario or campaign in the style of The Crow comes up short at just two pages. There is advice here on setting the mood, having more than one Reborn—and thus more than one quest—is in play, on playing Spirit allies, and running Ritual Magic (again!), and handling prophetic dreams. However, what the advice does not cover is the setting for scenarios set in the world of The Crow or the types of villains that the Player Heroes might be attempting to enact revenge against. The advice is followed a handful of scenario hooks.
Approximately half of The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is dedicated to its adventure, ‘Prayers of the Past’, which even comes with its own soundtrack! The scenario is intended for Player Heroes of Fifth and Sixth Level and can be adjusted to be played with just one player, although the ideal number is five. It can also be run with just the one Reborn Player Hero or multiple Reborn Player Heroes. The set-up involves a Zero Session where the Player Heroes decide upon and play out what happened to the Reborn they are either playing or their Player Heroes know, which can can take a single scene or be developed into a longer session, so that the prequel to the scenario proper plays out as a series of prequels rather the one. Hooks are provided if the players cannot come up their own.
Each of the multiple Session Zeroes takes place in a different city before ‘Prayers of the Past’ draws the Player Heroes back to Detroit and the events of The Crow, coming together at Club Trash in a bloody orgy of revenge and violence. It is a solidly grim affair which works as a one-shot or even a campaign starter, overall, effectively drawing from the source material to create a situation and story which fits within that source material. Safety tools are strongly recommended throughout, if necessary, as the scenario is very much intended for a mature audience. In addition, the staging advice for Game Master is also decent throughout, and in fact, actually better in places than the scant advice given for the Game Master in her own chapter.
Lastly, ‘The Cast’ chapter provides stats and details of a variety of NPCs and more. The NPCs are divided into three categories. The first are general, including ordinary characters as well as spiritual ones, and there are suggestions here too, as to which NPC types to use to portray various characters from both The Crow and The Crow: City of Angels. These NPC types are drawn from both the Everyday Heroes core rulebook and The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure. The second category consists of NPCs for the scenario, ‘Prayers of the Past’, whilst the third consists of protagonists from both The Crow and The Crow: City of Angels. This includes Eric Draven, Darryl Albrecht, Sarah, and others. The more consists of five pre-generated Player Heroes, including a Soothsayer, an Omen of Disaster (a Reborn with a Moth Spirit bond), an Omen of Vengeance (a Reborn with a Snake Spirit bond), an Omen of Love (a Reborn with a Butterfly Spirit bond), and an Omen of Pain (a Reborn with a Crow Spirit bond). These support the scenario being played with multiple Reborn,
Lastly, ‘The Cast’ chapter provides stats and details of a variety of NPCs and more. The NPCs are divided into three categories. The first are general, including ordinary characters as well as spiritual ones, and there are suggestions here too, as to which NPC types to use to portray various characters from both The Crow and The Crow: City of Angels. These NPC types are drawn from both the Everyday Heroes core rulebook and The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure. The second category consists of NPCs for the scenario, ‘Prayers of the Past’, whilst the third consists of protagonists from both The Crow and The Crow: City of Angels. This includes Eric Draven, Darryl Albrecht, Sarah, and others. The more consists of five pre-generated Player Heroes, including a Soothsayer, an Omen of Disaster (a Reborn with a Moth Spirit bond), an Omen of Vengeance (a Reborn with a Snake Spirit bond), an Omen of Love (a Reborn with a Butterfly Spirit bond), and an Omen of Pain (a Reborn with a Crow Spirit bond). These support the scenario being played with multiple Reborn,
Physically, The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is cleanly, tidily presented. Unfortunately, the sourcebook is not illustrated with images from the films, but the artwork in their stead is decent. However, the book does need another edit in places.
The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is not a sourcebook for the world of The Crow—either the comics or the films. There is some background, more sufficient to do what The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is designed to do rather than be exhaustive. What The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is designed to do is present the means and tools for a Game Master to run and her players to roleplay a scenario or campaign in the style of The Crow and within the world of The Crow—and this, bar the underwhelming advice for Game Master—it succeeds at. The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is a solid first entry in the series of Cinematic Adventures for Everyday Heroes, expanding it into the realms of the mystical and with new Player Hero options and a good scenario, bringing world of The Crow to the gaming table.
The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is not a sourcebook for the world of The Crow—either the comics or the films. There is some background, more sufficient to do what The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is designed to do rather than be exhaustive. What The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is designed to do is present the means and tools for a Game Master to run and her players to roleplay a scenario or campaign in the style of The Crow and within the world of The Crow—and this, bar the underwhelming advice for Game Master—it succeeds at. The Crow™ Cinematic Adventure is a solid first entry in the series of Cinematic Adventures for Everyday Heroes, expanding it into the realms of the mystical and with new Player Hero options and a good scenario, bringing world of The Crow to the gaming table.
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