Crown and Skull: Initial Impressions
Alright, as we dive in here, do remember that I've spent very little time with the book (PDF, really) to this point... I might be out to lunch with these observations and thoughts. It's been known to happen.
First things first, let's set the stage a little...
Runehammer's Other Work
The guy has a unique style and voice, and is ridiculously prolific. I love pretty much everything he does -- his art, his RPGs, his approach to designing and running games, his innovations... and the energy his brings for and gathers from his fans. He makes great maps, games and videos, and as a result he's built quite a community and fan base.
Index Card RPG, usually simply called ICRPG, is a game I think all GMs and aspiring designers should read. It's a blast to spend time with, packed with great, crisply-presented, well-organized ideas, insightful advice, and wonderful black and white art. It and Hard Suit, an excellent take on the mecha genre (a favorite of mine since BattleTech drew me in during the 80s) really are fantastic books and belong on more gamers' shelves.
Okay, Let's Talk About Crown and Skull Already
Wow, those headers are big. Remember this is just a test-run. Things will be adjusted once I land on a permanent platform. (Eyeballing Substack, thanks for the pointer, DigitalHobbit.)
Anyway, I'd heard a while ago that Crown and Skull, his new fantasy RPG, wasn't going to use the ICRPG system, riff on the Viking Death Squad mechanics or build upon anything Runehammer had done previously. And to be honest, that's part of what initially gave me pause about the game. As much as I like Runehammer and his designs, they are a bit one-note in terms of tone. That is, they are generally built to support and enable fast-moving, forceful, pulpy, high-octane go-go-go action -- on top of a framework that's still D&D if you squint. Which is cool. But maybe not what you always want.
So what direction did he go in for the mechanics? Read on!
The Standard Edition Hardcover
The Book
Word is that the physical prints of this book are gorgeous, and that the paper quality and construction are top notch -- for both the special and standard editions. What I'm seeing from the PDF is that these 6x9 digest-sized books are going to be a breeze to read and use at the table. The layout is nice and clean, the text is large and legible -- big fan of that. It reminds me, in a good way, of Tiny Dungeon 2e, perhaps because it's a smaller form factor that doesn't shy away from white space and letting text breathe on the page a bit.
There is, kind of surprisingly, a dearth of art. Other than the 20+ excellent full-page illustrations in the middle of the book and some key NPCs at the back, there's almost no art to speak of. That's highly unusual in a Runehammer game, and considering his talent in that area, it's a shame. I haven't dived into the setting yet -- the locations, the monsters, the factions... but boy it would be cool to see his renditions of those things on the pages where he describes them. As it stands now, we just get waves of paragraphs and bulleted text.
Boo.
The Foreword
Alright -- let's get down to business and talk about what caught my eye in the book's Foreword -- what inspired me to make a character and run a little mock combat, and then write this blogpost.
Check out the influences Runehammer mentions: Fantasy Hero, GURPS, proto-D&D's Braunstein / Blackmoor, Into the Odd and Cairn. Interesting collection of games that left me wondering what the threads were that tied them all together. I mean, these games were and are my jam, so my interest level was piqued the minute I read this page. (Well, Fantasy Hero wasn't my jam, but certainly Champions was. Same system.)
And after cruising the book and doing a little playtest, I'd disagree with Runehammer's assertion that no artifact can be found that traces to those older games. I think there are tons of recognizable elements present in the Crown and Skull design, but I think I know what he means. He's done his own thing, and there is definitely no compatibility with those other games.
Missing from this passage, and from the Introduction, is something that's pretty important for my understanding of a game, and whether it can achieve it's objectives...
What does this game want to be? What kinds of stories is it supposed to help us tell with its setting, its mechanics, its metacurrencies and skill lists, its healing and advancement rules?
Without a clear statement from the designer on what their intentions and objectives were with the design, we just have to infer all that from reading and playing the game. So with that in mind, let's dive in and see if we can understand what the hell this game is trying to do.
The Basics
This is a point-buy, attribute-free, skill-heavy, d20-powered, player-facing roll-under RPG with some really nice and thematic elements of random character generation.
A mouthful. Let's unpack that a little, one piece at a time.
Point-Buy: Our first nod to Fantasy Hero and GURPS! Characters are built by spending Character Points; these points also act as experience points in the game and since you also need to spend points on replacement or new equipment, the whole system is kind of a closed loop. Very much indeed like Hero.
Attribute-Free: in videos, I see Runehammer make a big deal about this -- the game has no basic attributes (think Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, Presence, etc.) that either boost or govern skills. This isn't really that big a deal -- there are loads of games that have entirely gotten rid of attributes.
Skill-Heavy: There are 42 skills in the game. That's a hell of a lot of skills. That's all I'm gonna say. (It probably has less to do with PC differentiation and more to do with making the skills that get knocked out -- more on that in a bit -- less punishing when you lose them.)
d20-Powered: The swingiest die in the bag that isn't a d24, a d30 or percentile dice is here to help determine outcomes on skill and defense rolls. (Remember, attacks always hit -- you just roll damage if you're attacking, or try to defend if you're being attacked. Very much like a combination of Into the Odd or Cairn and The Black Hack, actually.) PS: I hate this die, but I've learned to live with it.
Player-Facing, Roll-Under: I have some quibbles with Runehammer's definition of player-facing, but in the end his new system sees the players rolling most of the dice -- the GM is largely just rolling on random tables or chucking the odd d6 as a die of fate. Roll-under d20 systems are pretty common these days, from Pendragon to the Mark of the Odd games, from all The Black Hack stuff to Symbaroum and Dragonborn, people should be pretty used to chucking d20s and hoping for low results by now.
Random Character Generation: there's a set of tables that are almost lifepath-like to roll on or choose from. They're brilliant, a great example of system-as-setting, akin to what you would see in Troika! or Shadow of the Demon Lord. I'm a big fan of this kind of character generation. It's really well done, though ideally I think there should be more than 20 results on each of those tables...
Characters
Beginning players are urged to use templates and prompts to create PCs, while those with more experience can go fully custom. Both methods produce Crown and Skull PCs that have a Name, a Hometown, one or more Flaws, a Core Ability, Skills, and Equipment. There are other details of course, the usual stuff for a fantasy game -- a background or history, a description, spells if they are a spellcaster, companion animals and minor possessions.
The point-buy system, with a 50 point base, lies at the heart of all this, but the piece I think I like best are those lifepath-like prompts. The game has an online character creator (pictured at right), which allows players to build a full character which can be exported to PDF. Sweet.
Those 50 points, or 55 or 60 if you take one or two Flaws, have to cover a lot of bases:
Core Abilities -- there are a dozen of these, which cost 15pts each. At the start, you can only buy one, and they include things like Battlemaster, Druid, Paragon of Faith, Protector, Uncanny Shot, Veteran Commander, Wizard Savant, and so on. Think of these kind of like class abililities. The Go Unnoticed ability, for example, allows the PC to blend into shadows -- and get targeted last in any combats.
Skills -- 42 of them, as mentioned above, everything from Animal Training and Courtier to Gambling, Medical, Skinning and Trading. It has a multi-purpose Profession skill, and I always appreciate that in these death-by-a-thousand-skill systems. Skills cost 1 Hero Point per Skill Point, with a minimum value of 3 and a maximum of 18. You can only ever have 10 skills, and these are the numbers you're typically trying to roll that d20 under. Mean 'ol d20.
Equipment, Weapons and Armor -- use those precious Hero Points to buy things like a Backpack (6pts!), Climbing Gear (1pt), a Bandage Kit with three uses (3pts), a Dagger (1pt, deals D4 damage), a Battle Axe (5pts, deals D12 damage and ignores two points of Defense (DEF), a Long Bow (3pts, D8 damage, fire again on max damage), Greaves (1pt, +1 DEF), Chain Mail (3pts, +3 DEF, Noisy), or a Wooden Shield (3pts, +1 DEF, Absorbs 2 hits before Attrition).
As mentioned above, there are loads more things to spend Hero Points on -- companions, custom equipment, boats, buildings, horses, wagons, spells and so on. If you're buying it or getting it, you're Hero Pointing it.
Oh, and PCs have a Lineage as well -- Humankind, Elven Folk, Stout Folk, Proudfoots (Proudfeet!) and Frog-kin.
There's also a whole thing around gradually discovering who you are, revealing memories in play as skills improve and emerge over time. (Neat, but I do wonder if this was lifted from the science fiction game Rob Schwalb has talked about where skills and memories and such return as you level up and recover from a long time in cold sleep...)
The Online Character Generator
A Sample Character Created by the Online Generator
Alright Let's Kick Some Tires
But I don't want to get further into all that -- character development, the magic system, the lore, etc. I want to talk about the combat system, because I think I fucking hate it. Let's find out.
We'll start by outlining a protagonist and a couple of skeletons who mean him harm:
Kelgor the Soldier
Defense (DEF): 10
Skills: Brawling 6, Shield Fighting 9, Muscle 8, Oratory 5
Equipment: Cold Weather Furs, Great Sword (D10), Wood Shield (DEF +1, but currently on his back), Chain Mail (DEF +3), Greaves (DEF +1), Flint and Steel.
Skeletons (2)
HP: 10, 10
ATK: 3 DEF: 3 PHASE: 3 TACTICS: 1
TACTIC 1: Stumble about, seek a new target
TACTIC 2-5: Attack with Basic Attrition.
TACTIC 6: Cleave -- attack up to three foes with one attack with Basic Attrition
PC Notes
We'll set aside Kelgor's Flaws and Core Ability for this fight, as nothing applies. Also, note that an unarmored PC has a starting DEF of 6; Kelgor's was modified by his equipment. Since he has a two-handed sword, he doesn't have his shield equipped. Silly lad.
Enemy Notes
All enemies have these five stats.
HP is what you think -- a pool of staying power. PCs whack this with swords and whatnot. When it hits 0, they're out.
ATK is a penalty applied to a PC's d20 defense roll. Enemies with high ATK are difficult to defend against.
DEF soaks damage from a PC's attack.
Phase is how often, and when, the critter attacks. Foes act in one, two, or three phases -- inside one round. (There are five phases in one round.)
Tactics provide a Forbidden Lands-style d6 list of random actions an enemy might take in a phase; enemies have a Tactics score of one, two, or three -- meaning they can act 1-3 times in a given phase.
Attrition
You might have noticed this word in the Skeleton writeup, above. This is a central mechanic in the game. Crown and Skull treats all damage, harm, injury, items dropped or supplies ruined in the same fashion -- with the Attrition mechanic. (Note this is for PCs only; enemies are just dealt damage and lose HP.)
Attrition "crosses off" a PC's skills and equipment. There are different types of attrition (some focus on equipment, some on skills), but usually you're lining out a single skill or piece of gear. Here's how 'ol Runehammer covers it:
So, diving right into this fight, let's keep an eye on how this plays out. But first--
Combat Happens in Rounds and Phases
That's right Hero players, Phases are back, baby. Each combat round in Crown and Skull has five numbered phases, and at the start of the action, each player has to choose which phase their PC will act in. There's some nuance to this, given the action economy that lays on top of it. Generally, combatants can move or attack in a phase without penalty; if they want to "Hurry" and do both, enemies enjoy +5 to their ATK rating.
The phases aren't quite as clever as some folks seem to think, but consider some options that they put on the table:
Pick an early Phase if you want to go before your enemies -- to say, attack or move first.
Pick a later Phase if you want to go after them -- perhaps to allow them to close the distance so you can strike first, on a later Phase
Pick a very late phase if you think someone might be down and need help, as PCs who get hit and cannot absorb the damage via Attrition (crossing off skills or equipment) take a 'hit to the heart' and will die at the end of Phase 5 unless they are tended to. (Taking damage in phases 4 and 5 is pretty dangerous.)
If you think through how this would all fit together across a whole team of players, choosing a Phase is more important than it might first seem. Those who like lots of game in their RPGs might dig this, the moment when you're all kibitzing about who goes when. That kind of break in the action isn't something that usually grabs me, but I can see the appeal here. However, there's discussion in the book about how players are encouraged to "game the system" and learn which phases monsters act on so they can optimize their Phase selection.
Blech.
Overall, it's very "gamey" (in the stinky way) and there's a lot more tracking than there is in systems that use standard rounds and the possibility of multiple actions. Also, I'm a fan of the players not knowing a monster's stats, and of switching that stuff up from encounter to encounter. (Think, say, DCC vs. 5e.)
Anyway -- let's get rolling on this. Kelgor the soldier is exploring a tomb, looking for a famed runestone when two moldering skeletons emerge from the darkness and rudely attack him! Ranges aren't really covered in the game, so let's just presume these things are in melee range, striking distance.
Initiative
There are two ways to kick off combat -- either the GM just calls for whoever is acting in Phase 1, or each player and the GM rolls a d20. The lowest rolls wins, and that side then acts first. (Note how heavily weighted this is towards the players. Might make for fun moments when the GM rolls that low number and beats everyone... except those moments are then robbed of drama by the Phase system... but I digress. Oh, and note the GM rolling here -- busting the player-facing paradigm. Sorry, further digression.)
Rolling a d20 for Kelgor and also one for the GM / Skeletons, I get a 7 and a 5, in that order. The Skeletons act first in any given Phase since they rolled lower, and Kelgor decides to act in Phase 2. This choice is "sticky" -- he's now acting in Phase 2 for the whole fight.
Let's get at it. Ding ding!
ROUND 1
PHASE 1
No one acts. I presume there's some serious staring and teeth gnashing going on as they face off in the tomb.
PHASE 2
Kelgor acts! He growls and enters the fray in earnest, targeting Skeleton #1 with his two-handed sword, which deals 1d10 damage. There's no to-hit roll, remember, so he rolls an 8 and subtracts his opponent's DEF of 3, scoring 5 damage. Skeleton 1 has 5/10 HP remaining. Bones and bits of old armor and rotten flesh fly!
PHASE 3
Both Skeletons, with Phase scores of 3 and Tactics scores of 1, get one action in this phase. The GM rolls a d6 for their Tactics, getting a 4 and a 5 -- meaning both attack with Basic Attrition; Kelgor has to defend twice against the rusty scimitars. He rolls a d20, trying to meet or beat his DEF rating of 10... recall his DEF is 6 as a base, and he gets +3 from his mail and +1 from his greaves.
Rolling a 9 and an 8, he succeeds on both DEF rolls! There is much rejoicing as -- wait, wait. I forgot to apply the Skeletons' ATK values, which are 3 each. That means he needed to hit or roll under a 7, not a 10... so those tetanus-ridden blades wreak some havoc. Kelgor suffers 1 Basic Attrition from each skeleton attack. The GM decides to allow the player to choose how to absorb that, so...
"Gurk!" cries the player as he declares that one of the blows caught Kelgor in the throat with its dulled blade, bruising his PC's neck. He'll have trouble speaking for a while, and the player then ticks a box or otherwise crosses the Oratory skill off of the soldier's sheet.
The player then says the other skeleton tries to grab the man and pull him down -- tearing his winter furs from him. Those get crossed off too. Brrr.
PHASE 4
No one acts.
PHASE 5
No one acts.
At this point in the battle, here's how the participant are doing...
Kelgor the Soldier
Defense (DEF): 10
Skills: Brawling 6, Shield Fighting 9, Muscle 8, Oratory 5
Equipment: Cold Weather Furs, Great Sword (D10), Wood Shield (DEF +1, but currently on his back), Chain Mail (DEF +3), Greaves (DEF +1), Flint and Steel.
Skeletons (2)
HP: 5/10, 10
ATK: 3 DEF: 3 PHASE: 3 TACTICS: 1
TACTIC 1: Stumble about, seek a new target
TACTIC 2-5: Attack with Basic Attrition.
TACTIC 6: Cleave -- attack up to three foes with one attack with Basic Attrition
ROUND 2
PHASE 1
No one acts.
PHASE 2
Kelgor, you're up!
The adventurer strikes at the first skeleton again, trying to smash the thing to bits with his sword! The 1d10 damage die produces a 7, which is modified by the Skeleton's DEF of 3 down to 4 damage. Kelgor's heavy blow tears a limb off and sends his opponent reeling, but it's not yet down!
PHASE 3
The two Skeletons act, and rolling their Tactics (d6) produces a pair of ones. Let's say that Kelgor smashed the first skeleton back into its mate, and it takes both a moment to untangle and re-orient on their flesh-and-blood foe. Hissing, they circle and come at the man again!
(That Tactics result is Stumble about, seek a new target. Since there's only one target here...)
PHASE 4 & 5
No one acts.
No change to the stat blocks except Skeleton #1 now has 1/10 HP.
ROUND 3
PHASE 1
No one acts.
PHASE 2
Kelgor tries to finish the one-armed, limping skeleton, and the d10 from his sword this time results in a 6 -- more than enough to smash his foe to pieces. I don't believe the game has morale rules, and since Skeletons are undead anyway, let's consider that #2 is in this for the long haul. It keeps coming.
PHASE 3
Tactics d6 roll for Skeleton #2 results in... 6! That's normally a strike that can hit multiple opponents, but in this case I'll exercise a little GM creativity and say it'll do double damage unless Kelgor can defend against it -- two Attrition is on the line.
Kelgor adjusts his DEF of 10 with the ATK value of 3, so he's trying to meet or beat a 7 on his d20: 20!
Here's what Runehammer has to say about ones and twenties...
I could just be boring here and have the creature do additional damage (say, +1 more Attrition), but let's have a bit of fun with this -- it's going to knock him down, which will require him using a move to get back up. Let's also say this time that the GM chooses which skills and equipment suffer from Attrition...
The skeleton's slash is a vicious one, and where the first monster's scimitar was dull, this one gleams with a sharpness that has defied the ages! Links of mail and flesh alike separate, leaving Kelgor exposed and bleeding from a long gash in his side -- he suffers Attrition to Muscle and Chain Mail as he stumbles back and falls to the floor of the dusty tomb.
PHASE 4 & 5
No one acts.
Here's the status of the combatants at the end of Round 3.
Kelgor the Soldier (prone)
Defense (DEF): 7
Skills: Brawling 6, Shield Fighting 9, Muscle 8, Oratory 5
Equipment: Cold Weather Furs, Great Sword (D10), Wood Shield (DEF +1, but currently on his back), Chain Mail (DEF +3), Greaves (DEF +1), Flint and Steel.
Skeletons (1 down, 1 left)
HP: 0/10, 10
ATK: 3 DEF: 3 PHASE: 3 TACTICS: 1
TACTIC 1: Stumble about, seek a new target
TACTIC 2-5: Attack with Basic Attrition.
TACTIC 6: Cleave -- attack up to three foes with one attack with Basic Attrition
ROUND 4
PHASE 1
No one acts.
PHASE 2
Kelgor pushes himself from the ground, regaining his feet by Moving this phase. (That means he cannot attack, unless he Hurries.)
PHASE 3
Rolling the Tactics d6 for the Skeleton... 2, a Basic Attrition attack.
Kelgor, with his armor now damaged and his side vulnerable, tries to defend -- with his DEF of 7 (his Chain Mail was crossed off). The Skeleton's ATK 3 lowers that to four, and the soldier only has a 20% chance of success as he rolls his d20... 19 won't do it. One more attrition -- the player decides to sacrifice his Flint & Steel. The clash resounds in the stone chamber as the swords come violently together, and Kelgor is vaguely aware he's dropped something in the dark...
PHASE 4 & 5
No one acts.
Kelgor has lost another piece of equipment, but no change otherwise to the status of the combats. This is dragging a bit, so we'll try to cut to a quick conclusion...
ROUND 5
PHASE 1
Poor phase 1. No one acts.
PHASE 2
Recovering from the jarring parry, Kelgor strikes with his sword, trying to smash his foe or at least drive it back! He'll "Hurry" so he can also move and retreat back out of the tomb!
A d10 is rolled for damage... 7 is rolled, and we know by now that means 4 damage to the skeleton. Kelgor also retreats, but his Hurrying means his foe is at ATK+5 if it manages to catch and attack him.
PHASE 3
I'll play a little fast and loose with the Skeleton Tactics here. Normally, with all monsters, the d6 result of 1 is some kind of movement, 2-5 is a basic attack, and 6 is a heavy or special attack. In this case, let's say it moves and goes after its foe on a 1, and defends its turf on a 2-5. On a 6, it will pursue and attack!
The d6 Tactics roll: 6!
(So much for finishing this quickly.)
The skeleton takes up pursuit, slashing and hacking as it chases Kelgor back towards the tomb's entrance! The soldier must defend here, and his DEF is 7, reduced to -1. (7 minus the Skeleton's ATK 3, +5 since Kelgor Hurried.) Basically, the PC will only succeed on a critical success, a 1. His roll: 8, so he suffers attrition once more. The shield on his back takes the blow, but the strap breaks and it crashes to the floor as he scrambles and fights his way out...
PHASE 4 & 5
No one acts.
Let's say Kelgor bursts from the tomb, back into the sunshine, and that as he turns to look back at that sepulcher, he sees the pin-point pricks of light that glow in the skeleton's eye sockets... and is relieved to see it pursues him no further.
Fin!
So! There's a little combat to chew on.
Here's how this ended up:
Kelgor the Soldier (prone)
Defense (DEF): 7
Skills: Brawling 6, Shield Fighting 9, Muscle 8, Oratory 5
Equipment: Cold Weather Furs, Great Sword (D10), Wood Shield (DEF +1, but currently on his back), Chain Mail (DEF +3), Greaves (DEF +1), Flint and Steel.
Skeletons (1 down, 1 left)
HP: 0/10, 6/10
ATK: 3 DEF: 3 PHASE: 3 TACTICS: 1
TACTIC 1: Stumble about, seek a new target
TACTIC 2-5: Attack with Basic Attrition.
TACTIC 6: Cleave -- attack up to three foes with one attack with Basic Attrition
For those doing the math at home, Kelgor had the ability to absorb 10 hits before risking a deadly blow: four skills and six pieces of equipment. Now let's chat briefly about rest & recovery. Runhammer's text on the subject is right over there on the right. Or below, I suspect, if you're on a phone.
Rest & Recovery
Basically, if it's safe outside, Kelgor can take a moment and recover one skill or piece of equipment. Later, back the the Inn of the Dark Denizen, he can roll 1d4 to see how many more skills or pieces of equipment he could regain. There's not a ton of advice on whether certain things need repairing when they are damaged (and what's there is... loose), but I think the GM just needs to apply a bit of logic here to determine which things can simply sort of 'refresh' in this way.
Let's look at all the Attrition the soldier suffered, and what I'd say about its recovery as the GM:
Muscle Skill - I think this just needs some time to heal up. Recover with Take a Breather or with a night's rest.
Oratory Skill - same as the Muscle skill.
Cold Weather Furs - lost in the tomb, but not expensive and easy to replace. If you're in a safe place for the night, refresh these and presume you bought some new ones.
Wood Shield - left behind, and the kind of object I'd say was lost. Maybe needs to be re-bought with Hero Points?
Chain Mail - damaged in the fight... I'd say it cannot refresh until it's repaired by someone with the Armorer skill. (That skill says once piece of armor can be fixed on a successful roll, so let's lean into that. Kelgor might be without his armor for a bit if the repair person keeps failing their roll...)
Flint and Steel - lost, but easily replaceable. Refresh by "having another," or when over-nighting in a town.
So. Enough on all that close inspection of things. Let's start wrapping up.
OVERALL Impressions
I think what we're looking at here is either the first book in a line that will see heavy revamping and improvement, or a little side project Runehammer will explore and then fairly rapidly abandon. The game seems unfinished and raw, more like a passion project with better-than-usual production values than a professional RPG put out by the guy whose other work includes illustrious work like the ICRPG Master Edition. In many ways, it feels as loose and unfinished as something like OD&D... but that game went on to many further editions, and has fifty years of product, thought, and play that's help refine it.
Stuff that Stood Out, Good or Bad
Sort of player-facing. Runehammer calls the game player-facing, and a lot of it is, but there's something a little off the mark with this game compared to the pure-play player-facing games that are out there -- PbtA games, Forged in the Dark Games, even all The Black Hack stuff. Crown and Skull has a mix of rolls that are mostly player-facing, but beyond that, there doesn't seem to be the same recognition that the character is the focus of these games. Having to modify your damage, or adjust your DEF roll because of the opposition's toughness is a long step back towards a trad gaming model.
Where are the ranges?. There are no ranges for the weapons, range bands, etc. But I spotted a few references to 6" and that, my friends, suddenly yanks this game towards minis and terrain on a tabletop... which just isn't a thing I do.
This game isn't finished. Where are the group action rules? Helping or assisting your buds? Tactics that allow you to mess with phases and keep things interesting? All-Out Defense? I have to admit -- the game doesn't feel like it was play-tested. I believe it was, but I wonder how hard the tires were kicked...
The random tables, especially for character generation, are awesome. No surprise considering the author's former work.
The art is great, but there is nowhere near enough of it.
Combat looks really one-dimensional. Lots of grinding things down (d8 weapons and enemy DEF stats of 3 do not make for quick battles), and getting ground down slowly through attrition. Also, if the characters are healed and hale and hearty, there's not much that can happen to them in a single round that would give real cause for concern. Even the badass critters doing 1d6 Attrition can't take them down in one turn...
Point-rebate Flaws are straight out of the 1980s, and they should go back there. That shit (getting points added to your budget for taking flaws) just encourages players to load up and then forget (sometimes for reals, sometimes "accidentally") to roleplay those Flaws. And for the GM to remember the 1-3 Flaws of every PCs? No thanks. Far, far better in my opinion to just say, "Look, take 60 points instead of 50, and please select the Flaws you think are cool and want to engage with."
And the big one...
The skill system is jacked. Seriously. It's one thing to have PCs want to try something they don't have a skill for, but it's something else entirely when two unskilled people want to compete with one another. Check out this passage...
...and now think about how you would model two characters wanting to compete at arm wrestling (a Muscle roll, perhaps), at climbing a wall, at leaping farthest. I understand that the intention of the skill system is that you're gifted or exceptional if you have the skill at all (nevermind being undermined by the fact that the skills start at 3, in a roll-under d20 game), but there are a whole series of normal adventure actions that are just left high and dry because there are no 'default' attributes, lesser versions of skills, or standard mechanics.
More examples: two people without the Riding skill having a race or chase on horses... two people without Swim trying to swim across a lake and get to the other side first... it just goes on and on, and seems like you're setting yourself up for a whole bunch of uuuuuuhhhh GM moments.
And then, couple that with the dissonance inherent in a ruleset that says, "You've lost access to Brawl," -- but you can still attack normally, use Muscle, Climb, etc. "You've lost Repair... but you still have Armorer."
I think as I type I'm losing patience and steam here, because that just seems like nonsense. Ahem. Back to the high road!
The High Road
Really, I'd need to read this much more carefully and play it a bunch to have any kind of real confidence in anything I've said here. But one thing I really wanted to see was if I could spot those influences mentioned in the Foreward -- because some of those games were and are some of my very favorites of the last 40+ years that I've been involved in this hobby.
So in closing, I thought it might be interesting to try and spot some of the specific threads that can be traced back to the systems of influence...
Fantasy Hero
A point-buy system for both character generation and advancement.
Those same points used to buy equipment!
Roll-under (just d20 vs. 3d6)
Phases in a combat round.
GURPS
A point-buy system for both character generation and advancement.
Loads of skills.
Roll-under (just d20 vs. 3d6)
Piecemeal armor.
Damage reduction from armor / defense values -- at least for enemies.
Movement -- in GURPS you're generally using Step and Attack or you're moving or taking another action, kind of like the action economy here.
Into the Odd and Cairn
No to-hit roll.
D6 die of fate (though was in other systems first, certainly).
Roll-under d20 (see the line above -- others got there first).
It's never stated, but there's a bit of an implied "rulings over rules" ethos at work in Crown and Skull, if only because there are a whole bunch of very common fantasy RPG situations that are not covered by the rules as written. (This is a problem, btw, as I think that the Mark of the Odd games have a framework that can logically and easily extend in those directions, and Crown and Skull struggles in that regard, offering the GM little footing.)
The Last Word
Maybe I didn't hate this game in the end (strong word, hate), but I can see some really wonky results coming up as you have to justify why one skill isn't working but another is, and around abuse of the system by loading up on cheap equipment and underdeveloped, throwaway skills. Runehammer addresses this head-on in the book, but his advice amounts to, "Don't do that, dude. Dude, don't!"
Not terribly helpful, that.
Regardless, the thing drips style from the writing, and I suspect the setting is really fun. It's at least worth reading, if perhaps not playing. I'd be shocked if there wasn't a 2e at some point, and I bet that will be a much better and more complete game.
Thanks for reading! Not sure if I'll stick with this, but it's been enjoyable to write!
-Harrigan