Monsters auto-hit because they’re dangerous! Play them as genuine threats making tactical decisions. Your players are desperate professionals, but make them earn survival by facing enemies who fight smart, not fair. This is not heroic fantasy. Combat should be messy, unfair, and desperate. When the goblins gleefully ignore the armored warrior to murder the wizard, when wolves surround and drag away the scout, when that table gets smashed to splinters… that’s CRAWL! working as intended.
- Outcome is uncertain AND failure is interesting
- Combat actions (attacks, defense, spells)
- Resource-intensive tasks (picking locks, healing)
- Opposing forces clash (contests) Never Roll When
- Task is trivial for someone skilled
- No time pressure
- Failure would stall the game
- Success is eventually guaranteed
- The character’s approach makes success automatic