Coyote & Crow Review #2

MAKING ALTERNATE TIMELINES

Worldbuilding is tough for anyone, and doubly so when trying to imagine an indigenous world that never was.

The C&C team has done a great job of it.

First, the C&C team set up their world as a divergent history, where a mysterious meteor struck 700 years ago. This came to be known as the Night of the Awis, and marks the start of an alternate timeline to ours. No Europeans ever make it to Makasing, their cognate for North America, and the Awis causes a brief ice age which forces the peoples of the land to band together, but leaves powerful gifts that enhance human abilities. Makasing is thus a wholly indigenous land without capitalist or western cultural influences, and the authors list some of the important differences:

Some other things that don't exist in this world: Alcoholic drinks (alcohol exists, but not as a part of the culture in any relevant format), fossil fuels, culturally embedded shame over nudity and sexuality, wheat and wheat products, industrial meat farming. The list is long. 

The gameworld itself thus acts as a mental exercise in decolonialism, urging the players to imagine a world where none of the destructive ‘innovations’ (ie alcohol, body shaming, and gasoline) exist. I find this very liberating, especially more than the corporate RPG sphere where orcs and other ‘pest’ races have shamans, coding them as primitives fighting against the civilized races of (western) men 

The retreat of the mini ice age’s existential threat poses the twin problems of internal dissent and fear of external unknowns. Facing these twin challenges is where our enhanced heroes come in. In C&C’s world, Colonialism never was, but indigenous peace and prosperity are just as complicated.

This is a converse approach to NUNA, where a mysterious event in our future cuts the region off and forces the Inuit back to the land, where they thrive and lead other peoples in survival. In NUNA, Colonialism happened, but it was just another drop in the river of time and the world is moving on in mysterious ways, with remnants of our time scattered about. Survival is a key theme, as is conflict between the Inuit, Vikings, and Whalers, all of which are futuristic echoes of the region’s history. There is also an alien technology used by the awakened Scientists, as well as supernatural threats from Inuit folklore, and Lovecraftean Ice Leviathans, to keep adventurers on their toes. In NUNA, culture is a superpower, whether it be Inuit knowledge of the land, Whaler knowledge of technology, or Scientist access to weird science.

IT’S A KIND OF MAGIC

Every fantasy gameworld needs its own form of magic, and Coyote & Crow provide a unique origin for theirs.

C&C presents the Gifts of the Adanadi, supernatural powers stemming from the Night of the Awis, which are cultivated and bred, treated as sacred, and linked to animal totems, but rest beyond the knowledge of mundane biology. I appreciate that the authors don’t fall into the trap of trying to scientifically explain their magic and mystery, an all too common tendency that has hobbled other franchises (mitochlorians, anyone?). As the authors put it,

This is also a world where legend meets science. In our world, this is often seen as a battle between right and wrong or good and evil. It is the idea that one has to be fundamentally correct and by necessity, the other wrong. This viewpoint comes primarily from a western European way of thinking. In Coyote & Crow, an advanced piece of science can still have spiritual value. A supernatural experience doesn't have to be dismissed because science doesn't easily explain it. For most folks, the mystical and the logical exist side by side on a daily basis.

I don’t think this will be as hard to accept as the previous decolonial landscape. Modern people are inherently superstitious, they buy lotto tickets despite being broke, blow on dice for luck, and in Japan they purchase lucky charm amulets to pass an exam then board the bullet train to go to the test venue.

By contrast, NUNA has three types of technology that seem magical. First, there is the near future technology that survived the cataclysm and is used by Southern Inuit, Whalers, and Vikings. Second, there is the traditional Inuit knowledge and skills that almost died out in our world after the Moravian missionaries stopped the traditional migratory Inuit lifestyle, then the sedentary lifestyle that prevailed after Labrador joined Canada in 1949. Because of these two events, many Inuit lost touch with traditional practices, and fell prey to lifestyle diseases, but in NUNA they have refound their traditional path. Finally, Scientists access a form of super science that seems like magic or science fiction, and defies traditional logic, and is inspired by retro futurism. These competing ‘magics’ reflect the setting of Labrador as both home of Inuit myths, Cold War DEW line early warning and US Air Force bases, and setting of post apocalyptic fiction like Joh Wyndham’s The Chrysalids.

SUPERPOWERS

Connected to the general magic of a gameworld, heroic characters also need superhuman powers in most RPGs.

C&C introduces the Adanadi as superpowers for its player characters. The pink mark on living organisms left by the Night of the Awis has been incorporated into the indigenous way of knowing, and is used to create heroes. As the authors write, 

Introducing more of the Adanadi into the body at just the right point in adolescence transforms the person permanently, improving them physiologically and sometimes granting them abilities beyond normal human parameters. The choice to take a specific form of the Adanadi, concentrated from a specific animal, became known as choosing your Path. While different nations and tribes have an array of ceremonies and customs surrounding this ritual, they all have many common aspects. 

This is an inversion of the Steve Rogers supersoldier serum of Captain America, where one test subject is transformed from zero to hero so he can go fight in colonial wars. He is the American dream made flesh, a technocratic silver bullet that can fulfill the promise of By contrast, Adnani powers are rooted in indigenous community, tied to nature and traditions.

The closest analogy in NUNA would be the Scientists, whose knowledge comes to them one day and lets them gain access to godlike technomagic powers, at the cost of fealty to unknown forces. For the Inuit of NUNA, their greatest superpower is the deep culturally ingrained knowledge of their land, both its physical and mystical properties. The Vikings cling to pre-cataclysm technology for survival, as do the Whalers, who also add the mystical powers gained from their hunt against the monstrous deep sea Ice Leviathans. This means that NUNA is a grittier land than Masaking, but with flashes of alien magic.

CALL TO ADVENTURE

Finally, players need a good call to adventure in any game, and Makasing has its challenges. As the authors put it,

Now though, with the climate evening out and with nations possessing rapidly advancing technology and the will to use it, the race is on to explore this great new world; to discover new resources and power, to make discoveries for scientific progress, and to meet new people for crafting strategic alliances.

Many now believe that while the change in weather has allowed people to venture out, it might also be opening the door to let things in. And the dangers in this world aren't just external. With a surge in population and an explosion in new technology, old treaties created when the climate was suffering are no longer enough to keep some nations and leaders from looking to expand their advantages over their neighbors. 

This is a refreshing change from the ‘kill them and take their stuff’ ethic of older roleplaying games, and once again is deeply decolonial. Additionally, the inclusion of internal strife and political maneuvering avoids the noble savage trope, and paints the people of Makasing as human and inherently flawed. I see the same complex characterization in the hit anime Frieren, where humans have learned magic to fight against the predatory Demons, but after defeating the Demon King, they now have to deal with infighting and political maneuvering. The only issue with this nuanced setting could be that it presents a high bar for Gamemasters, who are used to the low bar of colonial roleplaying tropes (kill + loot). But I think it is worth the effort.

NUNA presents the twin themes of survival and exploration, with the second often serving the needs of the first. Characters may need to search for a Tunit cave or wrecked Iceship Macguffin to save or heal a community. Thus adventuring in NUNA is a much grittier, pressing affair.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I am thoroughly impressed by the ambition of Coyote & Crow. First, they propose an entire continent of adventure, while in NUNA I limit myself to one large territory. Second, they envision a non-colonial setting and gameplay, something that is a challenge for many of us born and bred in a world where exploration & exploitation are considered heroic traits. Still, I am greatly inspired by their work, and confident I can make NUNA an equally compelling game, even if it is not of the same grandiose size.