MCDM’s Crows RPG Gets Free Alpha Playtest

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Back in late January 2026, publisher MCDM announced the follow-up to their popular Draw Steel game. At the time, the new Crows tabletop RPG was billed as a survival horror dungeon crawler with OSR-vibes and rules developed by lead designer James Introcaso, along with art from industry veteran Nick De Spain.

Over the past few months, Introcaso has revealed more information about the game, primarily through the official MCDM YouTube channel. Now, however, players will get the chance to try the Crows TTRPG for themselves, courtesy of an early alpha playtest version that’s available for download now via the MCDM Patreon. Below, we delve deep into all the details.

What is the Crows RPG?

Crows is a dungeon crawling survival tabletop RPG that takes place in the ruins of a post-apocalyptic fantasy world. Centuries earlier, a once-benevolent group of sorcerers known as the Archmages was corrupted by magic (which is a sentient force within the setting), unleashing terrible destruction on the earth. Players now take on the role of adventurers known as “Crows” who pick away at the ruins of the old world in search of treasure and rare magical items.

Mechanically, the game does share some similarities with MCDM’s Draw Steel, but leans more into survival and dungeon-delving mechanics rather than heroic high fantasy or tactical crunch. And while Crows is technically not an OSR game, it’s definitely influenced by that style of play, with the motto “fortune or death” capturing the overall vibes the game is is going for.

Key rules features of Crows include:

• Equipment-driven character design: In Crows, what your character can do is primarily determined by their gear rather than innate class abilities. Anyone with the right spellbook, weapon or tool can attempt an action, while character options and skills determine how effectively equipment can be used.
• Treasure-based advancement: Characters earn experience by bringing treasure back to town, not by defeating monsters or completing quests. This creates a strong incentive to avoid unnecessary fights and focus on extraction, reinforcing the core dungeon survival loop of “get in, get rich, get out.”
• Slot-based inventory as a core system: Inventory management is central to gameplay, using a slot-based system inspired by games like Knave and Shadowdark. Characters have limited hand, belt and backpack slots, and the order of items in a backpack matters during dangerous situations. As characters take wounds, they lose backpack slots, directly reducing their options and increasing the risk of death.
• Unpredictable magic: In Crows any character can cast spells, but there is extreme risk in doing so as spells can trigger a “backlash” against the caster. If this occurs, a random effect is determined that can range from minor inconveniences (your head is turned into that of a donkey) to catastrophic (you’re permanently sucked into a portal to hell).

• Highly lethal, attrition-focused combat: Combat in Crows is fast and extremely dangerous, with monsters that don’t scale to the party’s power level. Characters are worn down through multiple health layers (armor durability, stamina and wounds) making prolonged dungeon delves increasingly risky. The longer you stay underground, the closer death becomes.
• Chaotic challenges: Challenges are resolved using 2d10 + a characteristic (Strength Agility, or Mind) + a relevant skill. Results then range from failure (11 or lower) to partial success (12–16) and full success (17+), while natural 2–3 results trigger Doom and 19–20 score Critical successes.
• Dungeon Turns and usage dice: Time in a dungeon is tracked in 30-minute Dungeon Turns, with random encounters and resource depletion checked at the end of each turn. Light sources, spells and equipment use dice that can burn out unpredictably. Sometimes nothing happens and other times, everything goes wrong at once.
• Town-building and character legacy: Beyond dungeon crawling, Crows features a persistent town that serves as the party’s home base. Gold invested into the town also unlocks better gear, services and long-term benefits, while dead or retired characters permanently improve the settlement. Players will come and go, but the town lives on.

What’s included in the Crows RPG alpha playtest?

The Crows alpha playtest is the first official release of an early version of the game (which has previously only been available in closed-door playtests). It’s also being released as part of the second annual Dungeon Jam event, in which various TTRPG-focused YouTubers create and share original, playable dungeon designs (with an accompanying video and downloadable content).

The Crows RPG alpha playtest includes:

• Playtest Documents: There are seven PDFs, including a welcome guide, rules booklet, characters booklet, monsters booklet, inventory cards, loot cards and the Blood Library adventure booklet.
• Art: The playtest includes five new illustrations from artist Nick De Spain.
• Maps: There are also two new maps for the Blood Dungeon adventure (one with labels and one without)

The centerpiece of the playtest is “The Blood Library,” a monster-infested, multi-level dungeon. Once a grand wizard’s sanctum, the library has been corrupted by hideous, blood-soaked creatures. Players must navigate its two-story main hall and three distinct, treasure-filled towers while contending with deadly traps and mysterious otherworldly entities.

It is important to note that this is an early-stage alpha build and is intentionally unfinished, lacking final art and any kind of professional layout. Instead, the focus is entirely on the mechanical foundation and gameplay loop. Players are asked to submit feedback via a survey link before Monday June 29th, 2026. Introcaso has also asked that players focus only on what they didn’t like, rather than offering suggestions for improvements.

Why we’re excited about the Crows alpha playtest

• A first look at a major new TTRPG: As the lead designer on Draw Steel and countless other TTRPG projects, James Introcaso is one of the most innovative talents in the industry. This alpha playtest marks the first time the community will be able to see his vision for what could be very well be a groundbreaking new game.
• A hands-on adventure: The inclusion of “The Blood Library” gives players an immediate, practical way to stress-test the new rules and get a sense of how the overall gameplay loops run at the table.
• Dungeon Jam tie-in: By launching as part of the second annual Dungeon Jam, this playtest joins a broader community event, making it feel like more than just a standard developer release.
• Community engagement: MCDM is being completely transparent about the project’s raw state, explicitly treating this release as a collaborative design phase where player feedback will directly help shape the game’s final mechanics.

Final thoughts

After months of speculation and brief glimpses into its gameplay, it’s great to finally get a first look at MCDM’s new Crows RPG. And while it’s likely that the game will change before it launches on BackerKit later this summer, one thing is certain: we’ll be seeing plenty more of Crows in the days ahead.

In the meantime, you can download the alpha playtest and submit feedback before June 29th via the MCDM Patreon. Below is also a video from the official MCDM YouTube channel, with James Introcaso offering more details on what to expect in the download.