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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9564216" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/nWvhZ6j.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> Chapter Two: SkillsA rather nasty power outage put me offline for most of yesterday, so to make up for it I have write-ups for two more chapters than I initially planned for tonight. As they are quite short, it wasn’t too onerous of a task.Much like Dungeon Crawl Classics, Xcrawl Classics has a minimalist skill system. Skills are separated into binary trained and untrained categories; instead of having explicit lists of skills, a character training at a particular task is determined by GM Fiat and common sense based on the PC’s occupation and background. Trained skills are a d20 roll plus the relevant ability modifier, while untrained checks are d10 plus the ability modifier. Skill DCs range from 5 (cakewalk for trained people, should only be rolled when there’s consequences for failure) to 20 (heroic feats that are difficult to do even for professionals). As ability score modifiers range from -3 to +3, this means that every modifier matters.This chapter also covers Grandstanding, which has more specific rules. It represents “working the crowd” as a d20 + Personality modifier + level vs the Crowd DC. The DC is 14 by default, but can differ depending on the crowd’s overall disposition to the PC’s team. Up to 2 times per combat encounter a PC can attempt to Grandstand: once during combat, which can be done as part of a regular action, and again after the round combat ends. A successful check earns a PC 1 Fame point, optionally 2 points on a 20 or higher if the GM deems the circumstances suitably spectacular.Thoughts: As a pretty minimalist system, I don’t have much to say on it. The d10 vs d20 is a very significant difference that packs some oomph if the player can justify their PC having workable knowledge in some activity. The opportunities to grandstand are pretty generous, and given that Xcrawl classes (and the formation of most published XCC adventures) have more of a combat focus, this isn’t as punishing as it would be in other OSR games. Games where treasure-hunting is the primary means of advancement, and combat is generally seen as a hindrance and resource drain to avoid.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/7ooQIOb.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> Chapter Three: EquipmentIt wouldn’t be a dungeon-crawling game without gear and treasure! The North American Empire has a mixture of coinage and fiat currency for transactions, with the latter being favored for larger purchases. The gold/silver/copper standard is still used, but for eyeballing conversion of real-world goods 1 gold piece is roughly equivalent to 3 US Dollars. Given that PCs who make it big are going to be swimming in cash, Wealth Points are a separate subsystem detailed later in this book for representing rough purchasing power while in “the real world” outside of Xcrawl. Contestants can only purchase dungeon crawling gear with prize money obtained in Xcrawl as a means of leveling the playing field.As Xcrawl games are meant to be fast and flashy, the lengthy subterranean and wilderness excursions common to other fantasy games isn’t a factor to worry about, meaning that Encumbrance isn’t tracked and the DM uses common sense. Generally speaking, PCs who carry half or more of their body weight begin taking speed penalties.Weapons and Armor are mostly fantasy stuff, but some gear has more modern touches. Legal Xcrawl tournaments ban the use of firearms, as they clash hard against the pop culture feel of medieval fantasy. Tight gun control laws in the NAE severely punish commoners who don’t get a license. When compared to Dungeon Crawl Classics, we have a lot more weapons and armor, even for the fantasy stuff such as entries for scythes, whips, hand and repeating crossbows, and 25 total pieces of armor. Some of which have variations based on material. There’s also detailed entries for pieces of equipment with specific rules, such as specialty arrows like Skyfire Arrows that light themselves and the target on fire upon impact, first aid kits that can automatically stabilize a dying character up to 10 times, flashlights which generate 20 foot cones of light and can be used as a club, and spellphones which are basically magical smartphones. Before one starts thinking up various clever uses for this last one, the Internet and computer technology in the setting is decades behind ours and is strictly monitored by the government.*For example, halfling leather adds +1 to checks made to scale ropes, while dwarven plate grants +2 to saves and subtracts 2 damage from all physical attacks.For those wondering about firearms, they cover 5 broad entries: two pistol types based on calibur, and a revolver, shotgun, and rifle. They do more damage than bows and crossbows and the rifles have a greater range than them. But the recoil guns generate mandate a minimum Strength score in order to use them without suffering a one step penalty on the Dice Chain when making attack rolls. Small characters, such as gnomes, treat their Strength as 4 points lower.Our chapter ends with brief write ups on Real Estate and Automobiles. The former has values running into the tens of thousands of gold pieces even for modest dwellings, so many people pay in increments rather than all at once. As for automobiles, vehicles run on alcohol rather than oil and natural gas. Furthermore, the intricate network of highways of real-world North America are much more sparse in this setting. Most of the NAE’s population lives in sprawling urban centers, with most of the continent’s land home to Native Americans who choose to live in technologically primitive lifestyles “in harmony with nature,” as well as vicious monsters such as dragons roaming the wilderness. When people travel between cities, they do so as part of large well-armed caravans, so most commoners don’t travel far from home or for leisure. For those hoping that there are rules for car chases and shootouts, there’s sadly no such material. Instead we cover the purchasing of vehicles as status symbols, and broad gold piece listings based on type and function. Both real estate and automobiles require paying a percentage of cost in upkeep fees each year.Thoughts: One might think that the equipment restrictions in Xcrawl games may make little sense: PCs can use modern technology such as flashlights, but guns are right out. But I’ve been in D&D communities long enough to know that rules for firearms are a particularly controversial aspect in a lot of games, so in a weird way this is rather authentic to how a lot of tabletop nerds feel. There are of course illegal and underground Xcrawl tournaments that use guns, so it’s still nice to have rules for them. I do like the assortment of weapons and armor, particularly the more expensive pieces of the latter as well as the special arrows, which can reflect an advancement in technology beyond the medieval but still feels sufficiently fantasy.The fact that automobiles run on alcohol and interstate travel is rare and dangerous raises a huge amount of worldbuilding implications. It certainly makes the world of Xcrawl feel less and less like a “modern day but with magic and monsters” and more something radically different. It does bring to mind the odd juxtaposition of modern cities and the monster-filled ruins and wilderness areas as seen in some of the more “modern” Final Fantasy games like 7, 8, and 15. This can be a plus or a minus depending on one’s tastes.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/gizKpdG.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> Chapter Four: CombatThis self-explanatory chapter is on the longer side, but is still relatively short at 36 pages. Xcrawl Classics borrows a lot from its predecessor and other D&D/OSR games: hit points measure overall health and staying power, combat is separated into 10 second rounds, people roll for initiative individually and go from highest to lowest, etc.What separates XCC/DCC from other OSR games is the use of an Action Die. Basically, it starts out as a d20 that represents rolling for various common activities like attacks and spells. But at later levels, PCs gain a second and third action die which starts out a lower value like d14, but can increase in size with level. Bonus action dice basically grant a character multiple actions, but  the additional actions have to be in line with their class’ role, like a Blaster casting another spell. The lower action die value represents the difficulty of doing multiple things in a round.Additionally, XCC makes use of charts of critical hits and critical fumbles, which trigger on a natural 20 and a natural 1 for attack rolls respectively. Fumbles all use the same chart, and the fumbler rolls a d20 and adds the reverse of their Luck to determine how they mess up (lower is better for the fumbler), such as accidentally smashing their weapon on a hard surface and breaking it if non-magical, or tripping prone and taking 1d3 damage. Critical hits, on the other hand, are more involved, where in addition to the attack’s typical effects an additional result is pulled from one of five tables. A crit die is rolled, whose size depends on the PC’s class and level and adds their Luck modifier to it. The tables are numbered I to V, and generally speaking the higher-level and martial classes gain access to better tables. Athletes have their own special Grapple Crit Table, 0 level PCs roll on Crit Table I, and in regards to monsters and NPCs the GM chooses one suitable for their attack and nature. There’s an awful lot of possible effects, from cutting someone in the face to blind them with their own blood, piercing a spine that deals additional damage and paralyzes the target if they fail a Fortitude save, knocking a weapon out of the target’s hands, and of course various save or die stuff as the most powerful results such as exploding someone’s heart. Which brings the inevitable question of how a regular humanoid who makes the save in that example would continue living without a working heart.Mighty Deeds of Arms and Techniques of Wrestling Prowess are detailed more fully in this chapter. They both use the same system and resolution as described in their respective class entry, but we get some general guidelines for both of them. For example, the Deed/Technique must be reasonable for the circumstance at hand, the PC must announce their intended Deed/Technique before the attack roll rather than deciding upon a success, the higher the Deed/Technique Die the greater the effect, and Deeds/Techniques do not interfere with or replace critical hit effects. So particularly lucky rollers can potentially inflict devastating combos. We have a few sample Deeds and Techniques, such as Choking which can suffocate a target, Pushbacks which can forcefully move a target away from the character, and an Arm Bar which can immobilize a limb as its lowest effect or dislocate it as its strongest effect.Spell Duel is an activity that only spellcasters can engage in with each other. Basically, it’s a subsystem where two casters enter into their own unique Spell Duel Initiative order, and it’s rolled anew every round unlike regular initiative. During the spell duel the mages attempt to counter each other’s spells and can do no other type of action as long as the duel lasts, where the winner of initiative casts a spell. The defender, if they have a thematically appropriate spell, can counterspell it. The attacker (and defender if counterspelling) makes a spell check and compares the results to a matrix table to see what Counterspell Power occurs. On a tie, a Phlogiston Disturbance happens instead. Counterspell Power results in the spell’s base effect occurring, plus additional effects such as reflecting the losing caster’s spell back at them and dealing damage to their ability scores. Phlogiston Disturbances cause random space-time themed effects, such as the casters being summoned to Jupiter’s Court where the gods watch them battle and grant the victor gold and a short-duration Personality boost for 24 hours, and the loser becomes unable to cast spells for an equal amount of time.For those thinking about getting in a cheap shot on a spell duelist, the gods enforce the sanctity of the duel on a cosmic level. Other casters who attempt to cast a spell to influence the duel or affect a duelist have their roll treated as an automatic failure. On the other hand, there appears to be no consequences for a doncaster interfering, although the text notes that “the wise are loath to interfere” so I suppose it’s a gentleman’s agreement among crawlers.**The general term for an Xcrawl contestant.But there are some cool things one can do without needing to be a fighter or mage type. Signature Moves are things any crawler can learn to do. The player chooses a certain type of action their PC can do in one round, such as a straightforward attack or something more specific like a specialist swiftly picking a lock. It then becomes their Signature Move, and they can only ever have one such Move at a time during their career, although it’s possible to gain a new one by discarding the old if it makes sense for the story. The Signature Move can only be performed during combat and once per encounter, and needs to have a stylish name and specific narrative text to accompany it. When a PC declares the desire to do their Signature Move, they roll their Action Die with relevant modifiers and add their level as a bonus. If successful, the PC receives 1 point of Fame, or on a 20 or higher result gains 2 points and can use the move again in that encounter. There’s no penalty for failure, besides failing to do the Move and losing access to it for the rest of the encounter.The rest of the combat chapter includes a variety of more situational rules, such as the benefits and penalties of two-weapon fighting, what happens to characters who are drowning/suffocation and how long they can last before dying in such a state, and even how long it takes a character to heal hit point loss and ability score damage: 1 every day, or 2 with a full day of bed rest. Luck doesn’t heal, and must be raised via doing cool stuff during the adventure and honor the Gods of Olympus while doing so, much like gaining metacurrency points in other RPG systems.Thoughts: The various Combat rules look to cover a lot of ground. Quite a bit of it is lifted from Dungeon Crawl Classics, which is fine as the rulesets are meant to be highly compatible in the first place. I would’ve liked to see more Mighty Deeds of Arms and Techniques of Wrestling Prowess, and while the Critical Hit tables still have a lot of choices there are less of them than in DCC. Then again, one common complaint I’ve seen about the latter is that the meatier aspects of DCC’s rules system are intimidating to players, so this could be an intentional streamlining. I imagine that it shouldn’t be too hard for owners of DCC to import said tables and Mighty Deeds into Xcrawl, should they so desire.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/y3GTxq2.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> Chapter Five: MojoAs mentioned before, the Luck score is sort of a metacurrency in the [Title] Crawl Classics lines. But Xcrawl adds a more explicit kind of metacurrency to keep track independently of a PC’s innate features. Mojo represents the <s>Power of Friendship</s> personal chemistry and camaraderie strengthened as crawlers work together and get to know each other. With Mojo, they can better watch each other’s backs and give their teammates the extra oomph to succeed. A PC begins play with 1 Mojo point, and a PC gains another any time they roll a natural 20 on anything but a saving throw, successfully finish an encounter or important task, and special circumstances listed in a PC’s class entry such as a Blaster participating in defeating an enemy with magical abilities. The GM, of course, can hand out Mojo points for PCs who do things in line with making a good story and roleplaying, and the book encourages them to be generous in doing so.Under most circumstances, Mojo points can be added to Action Dice for attacks or spellcasting, skill checks, or ability score checks on a 1 for 1 basis. The real kicker is that a player can’t spend a Mojo point on their own PC, but instead only on an ally. And they must be given before said ally’s die roll, although Jammers are an exception in that they can add it after the die roll. Players cannot ask for a Mojo point to be spent. If they do, then their PC is blocked from receiving the benefits of Mojo points until the end of the current encounter. There is no upper limit to how many Mojo points a PC can have, but anytime someone rolls a natural 1 everyone’s Mojo points drop to 0. The book doesn’t specify, but hopefully that doesn’t include the enemies fighting the PCs and their allies.Thoughts: I love the idea of Mojo points. GMs can afford to be generous in handing them out, and the players are encouraged to spend them like they’re hot as a single natural 1 can cause them to lose them all. I also like how they need to be added to a PC’s result without asking, which encourages players to be more helpful towards each other and can engender positive feelings.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/rNA9LCs.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> Chapter Six: FameThe other big metacurrency sub-system, Fame points represent the social connections and influence a PC accrues by making a name for themself in Xcrawl. They are usually gained by completing Xcrawl dungeon levels, completing an entire multi-level dungeon, and by Grandstanding. While Fame is gained and lost during Xcrawl events, the GM can decide that actions outside the games can alter one’s Fame if it fits the campaign. Fame points lean more towards the “good guy/role model” side of things, as Fame points can be lost for unprofessional and anti-social activity. Generally speaking, Fame points determine how likely a PC is to be recognized by the general public outside of Xcrawl games, the bonus a PC gets to Grandstanding and Personality-based skill checks, and for NPCs gathering information about the PC. A PC can Fameburn, where they permanently sacrifice Fame points to gain preferential treatment, goods, and services. In cases where Fameburn carries some amount of difficulty or risk, an NPC opposed to providing help makes a Willpower save, whose DC is 10 + Fame points spent + the PC’s Fame modifier before they spend the points. Should the NPC succeed, the points are still spent but the PC doesn’t get what they want.The bonus on Personality checks isn’t universal, as while Xcrawl is a widely popular sport, it doesn’t translate to universal respect. For instance, adventurers who survived a real world dungeon and crawlers who have a higher Fame score will both be not impressed by a PC, albeit for different reasons.Thoughts: Unlike Mojo, Fame is more open-ended and geared for scenes of “downtime,” as the majority of its effects apply to tasks outside of Xcrawl events. Like several of the other chapters, it’s a bit sparse on content, but I do like what’s there. Particularly Fameburn, as it can still let PCs feel like they’re reaping the fruits of stardom.Thoughts So Far: Barring the new subsystems, a lot of these chapters draw upon core resolution mechanics of Dungeon Crawl Classics. And while I have yet to play or run that system (something I intend on rectifying soon), DCC is a popular system with over a decade of play, and I hear that it holds up quite well for emulating pulpy dungeon-crawling fantasy. I imagine that it’s functional in Xcrawl as well, and what rules are new is easily understandable enough on a first read through. The spell duels and matrix table of results, on the other hand, look to be the kind of thing that one would need to experience in actual play to get the hang of, so I can’t accurately judge that one.Join us next time as we check out the many spells available to Xcrawlers and the people of the world in Chapter Seven: Magic!</blockquote>

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