Shadowdancer
First Post
Painfully said:I think it would work as a good one-shot, but for a campaign it would get old quickly. It throws out a lot of the plot and just boils it down to, "go from point A to point B" or, "defeat X."
You hardly need to buy another book if that's what you want. This book actually offers much less, than say, d20 modern, or spycraft IMO.
Calling it X-crawl just gives them an excuse to no longer make up some story to go along with the goals. They can call it, "an extreme competition," and just leave it at that. But if you wanna spend more money, go right ahead.
I disagree. Granted, the rules for playing in a modern world are not as complete as d20 Modern or Spycraft, but they aren't meant to be. This is a specialized setting, and it provides the rules necessary to run a campaign in that setting.
There is more to X-Crawl than just running through the dungeons, or as you put it, "go from point A to point B" or "defeat X." (All RPGs can be boiled down to that simplistic interpretation, BTW.) It is meant as a whole campaign setting -- what do the X-Crawl competitors do outside the dungeon? They get endorsement deals, make public appearances, do interviews, etc. They practice. They live a life as high-profile entertainers/sports stars. Just as in D&D, the characters have a life outside the dungeon or between adventures. Same thing in X-Crawl.
There are even adventure possiblities that don't involve competing in the dungeons. You can go on hunts to secure monsters for the dungeons. Or, as in the post which started the thread, maybe the contest is rigged, or the promoter backs out on the players and steals their money. There are plenty of role-playing options for X-Crawl, just as there are for any RPG -- it's up to the players and the DM to find them.
I'm planning on using X-Crawl to represent a planet in the T20 campaign I'm working on. The PCs would visit the planet, and watch a competition. Maybe get involved in some behind-the-scenes intrigue. Or maybe they might want to participate in a dungeon to earn some money, or be forced to participate by a sadistic planetary monarch. Those who play Dragonstar could do something similar.