Xcrawl

[hellbender]

Ok, so after reading through d20 Modern, I have decided that I was wrong, and I like the concept. In my real life game group I am planning a d20 Modern game and I am wondering if XCrawl is a good option. It looks like a fun way for my players to get themselves in a lot of trouble. Any experiences; good, bad, indifferent?

Thanks,
hellbender

 

[Merova]

Dungeon Crawls Revisited

Hi all!

I really like Xcrawl. It has an interesting premise and fun implementation. However, I don't know if it's what you're looking for. Xcrawl is a D&D setting, with all of the magic, monsters, and mayhem of standard play instituted through the "Games."

It's a revisiting of the "dungeon crawl" adventure. The twist is that, in Xcrawl, the dungeons are artificially designed challenges which the PCs overcome in a lethal competitive sport. The background society is "modern" in a altenate universe sort of way, but the actual game focus is almost baseline D&D.

Mechanically, d20 Modern PCs are not as combat ready as D&D characters and the lack of powerful magics, both arcane and divine, will definitely be noticed. Therefore, if you're looking for a good game to play d20 Modern, I don't think that this is a good choice for you.

Xcrawl is fun. I run a game session of it about once a month. It's an excellent game, but it's not a smooth fit with d20 Modern.

Hope that helps.

---Merova


(EDIT: you may also want to check out the reviews at this site. One of which was written by the Queen of Harsh herself.

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=currentprod&which=panda_xcrawl

Also check out RPGnet for their review.)

 

[hellbender]

Thank you, Merova. I was attempting to go to the Pandahead site and I was having problems loading their pages and reading through the basics. I wasn't aware that this was a dnd setting, do you feel it is 3.5 compatible? I have 3.0, 3.5 and Modern and was scheming to pick this books up at a discount. Also, should I just get Urban Arcana and use that instead? I was planning on a Modern setting without a 'Veil', where the world has gone from a medieval setting to a modern one, and then into Gamma World.


Any comments would be most appreciated.

hellbender

 

[Merova]

Urban Arcana & Xcrawl

Hi all!

Re: 3.5 compatability. Yes, Xcrawl is easily compatable with the revised ruleset. Most of its mechanical focus is in regards to simulative implementation of fame, showmanship, and teamwork. Each is a new subsystem that will not choke up on 3.5's changes, IMO.

Re: Urban Arcana. This is a tricky question; it depends on your focus. Xcrawl is about the "Games." There's not much attention given to adventure beyond them. So, if you're looking for fantasic "modern" gladiatorial bloodsports, Xcrawl is perfect.

However, if you're looking for a more coherent, "magical" world setting, I think Urban Arcana is a more useful product, IMO.

I hope that helps. Thanks for reading.


---Merova

 

[trancejeremy]

I would think that Urban Arcana & Xcrawl would go together pretty well.

While I thought Xcrawl was pretty neat, the world it was set in was a) a bit weird (Ronald Reagen as Emperor?) and b) a bit sparsely detailed.

The Xcrawl aspect itself was detailed well, and should fit into Urban Arcana pretty seemlessly, I should think.

 

[hellbender]

Hey, thank you very much for the information! I really appreciate everything!

h