One of the most unique additions to the d20 system has been Pandahead’s Xcrawl. For those who are sadly unenlightened about the game, it may be one of the most underrated and unknown campaign settings put out for the d20 system. Since many may have heard of the game yet never taken the opportunity to play, I’ll give a slight rundown of what the game is all about. Xcrawl is the game where the characters go through live, televised dungeon crawls, gaining prizes, glory, fame and the excitement of being a media celebrity, with devious Dungeon Judges (DJs) who populate the dungeon with a series of creatures, traps, and other challenges. The setting is pretty much present day United Sates but with heavy fantasy elements, making it more Dungeons and Dragons than d20 Modern. The original author of Xcrawl, Brendan LeSalle, was one of the contributors of the Guild Sourcebook (as well as Brian Clements and Brett Brooks). As a slight side note, Brendan LeSalle may be one of the most exciting and invigorating GMs I have ever seen in action. To see him run Xcrawl at cons is one of the most amazing things to watch, let alone play! He puts that same zeal and excitement in the products he writes; the Guild Sourcebook, for example. But anyway, you’re here for a review rather than my gushing over the author. (And before you ask, no I have no relationship with Pandahead, LeSalle or any of the other writers.)
The artwork is certainly worth mentioning. Marco Fiorito, one of the interior artists, is awesome and he e is a growing name in the world of RPGs. Fiorito’s talents really lie with character sketches and character portraits and his work really makes this product (and all Xcrawl products) seem richer and more exciting. Hopefully we’ll end up seeing more of Fiorito’s work.
The Guild Sourcebook only enhances an already spectacular game. In Xcrawl it is required that all participants (‘crawlers’) belong to a guild, much like the player’s union in professional sports. While the Guild Sourcebook is not the best title for the product (a more accurate title would have been something along the lines of ‘Xcrawl Playbook,’ the Guild Sourcebook does contain material on the guilds, how they operate, as well as treating the reader to new feats, new spells, and a few new prestige classes appropriate to the genre. All of these are divided into chapters, detailing each guild, with the final chapter dedicated to creatures, spells and prestige classes. But the guilds only make up about the first 50 pages of the book.
The Mage’s Guild, as you may be able to guess, details what goes on in the Mage’s Guild in the world of Xcrawl. The factions and the Machiavellian schemes by various members give it some spice and some interest for readers but the majority of it simply gives and overview of the guild.
The Adventurer’s Guild and the Spellcaster’s Guild (which includes any classes that uses spells other than mages) follow suit, giving information and details on the guild. Like the Mage’s Guild, they give enough information to create a realistic feel for these organizations but I was left with a lingering question: for a game so focused on ‘televised dungeon crawling’ what is the need for this amount of detailed information on the guilds? This aside, I thought that the information given about the guilds was good and could certainly provide some solid background information for a GM who wants to add some extra dimensions to their campaign. However, I suppose this gives the reader the idea that the GM could certainly design some side plots around the guilds and some of the complications they could provide when the characters are not engaged in the dungeon spectacle.
The fourth chapter of the book is the one that is worth the most attention. It contains new monsters, new spells, and new prestige classes. Overall, these are great. I typically take a dim view of pointless new spells and pointless new prestige class but LeSalle and company do a great job of giving the reader something that can actually be used without making things over-balanced.
Looking first at the prestige classes, we are introduced to the Killer DJ, the Lockpick, the Media Mage and the Sneaksword. Naturally, the classes are specific to the Xcrawl campaign world but they are very well put together. The Lockpick and the Sneaksword are subsets of the Rogue, (each specializing in picking locks and sneak attacks, respectively) while the Media Mage is an expert in the kind of magic that appeals to the viewing public, making himself and his team much more capable of playing to an audience, increasing their popularity. The Killer DJ is a sharp contrast from the other prestige classes and honestly, is kind of unusual to include in the Guild Sourcebook. (For those who don’t know much about what DJs are, they actually design the dungeons that the characters find themselves competing in.) Whereas the DJs are certainly important to the game system, I really question the need for creating stats for such a class (as PCs really won’t get to use it) but some GMs may find this extremely helpful under the circumstances. The players can really take advantage of some of these exceptionally interesting prestige classes.
The spells that the Guild Sourcebook provides are great, especially considering the setting in Xcrawl. Certainly some of them are variations of old spells or just weaker versions of existing spells but there are some really great and clever innovations. For instance, LeSalle supports the Media Mage Prestige class by giving a new school of magic in the form of Technomancy. Further, a plethora of new spells pop up like “I Can’t Believe its Not Fireball ™” and “I Can’t Believe its Not Feather Fall ™”which are both weaker versions of Fireball and Featherfall, respectively. Furthermore there are spells like Upstage and Glaring Omission which both help in areas in dealing with the public and increasing popularity with the fans (imagine if NFL players who are constantly in trouble could do this). The other spells are equally as interesting, some of which, like the ‘I Can’t Believe” spells are ‘economical’ in that they are version of a spell that can be cast at a lower level but cause less damage or smaller area of effect. For the most part, though, they focus on spells that can be used on the Media Mage which, as mentioned, are spells that assist in the promotion of the team’s popularity with the crowd. Others, such as Convoke Technomagic Sentinel, is something that allows a spellcaster to create a powerful guardian (see below). As far as playability is concerned, the spells certainly seem to be balanced and helpful rather as a lame excuse to simply give the reader some ‘filler’ spells.
The new monsters are actually just a few templates and unique monsters with which to challenge the PCs. There is a Barzodi’s Zombie Template, creating a horrific kind of zombie that sucks the marrow out of its victims, becoming more powerful as it does so. The Dumble Zee is a challenging insect creature that can confront the PCs by attacking and laying eggs under the skin of the poor victim. Finally, the Technomagic Sentinel is a construct that is created through “Convoke Technomagic Sentinel,” a spell found in the Guild Sourcebook. It provides two great services. First, it can broadcast the signal that shows the adventures competing (kind of like a roving camera) and it also can shoot blasts of electricity (sort of allowing the audience to almost become a part of the action).
Overall, the Guild Sourcebook is a great addition to Xcrawl and anyone running a campaign (or who even has an interest in the game). Obviously, there are only limited uses for those who don’t play the game. But rather than simply dismiss the product because you are unfamiliar with the game, take this as an opportunity to give Xcrawl a look. I promise you won’t regret it.
I give the Guild Sourcebook a 4 out of 5.
