Goodman Games

First let me say as a recent inductee to Xcrawl world. There is nothing more irreverant and totally funny while maintaining that "I am going to punch you in the head!" mentality than Xcrawl..

Love the world. A very original idea.

That being said it's the d20 aspect of it I don't like. Let me just go on record as saying d20 is what it is. It's popular and simple and if you know it one place you pretty much know it anywhere else. So I am fine with that. Most times.. But in the case of Xcrawl... I really couldnt find the rationale for certain crawlers.

I thought True20 would be a better port than straight up d20. You still have your favorite feats and skills. While dumping the class names. You give up the finite numbers of hp but you gain the more cinematic step losses. Mojo pool is so close to the individual pool they have already..

Anyway.. Not trying to sell anyone on this...but has anyone done any leg work like that, and would anyone be will ing to play a few games online under the True20 style rulings. If I could throw them together..


Russell

Russell,

Xcrawl writer/ creator Brendan LaSalle here.

Hell yes!

I would be extremely interested in trying Xcrawl with a different rules system - set it up and If I can find the time I will definately play.

My group and I considered trying it with Fantasy Hero, and actually made up d20 modern characters which never got used. But we began with d20, although from the begining we always crossed other systems into it (the first ever Xcrawl ended with the players fighting the Rancor from StarWars d20).

I am unfamiliar with True 20 - I will look it up and see what books I need to try it out.

Looking forward,

Brendan

Ok a couple of them actually....

1) when a group of crawlers. Conquer a room, and the treasure "pops" up. I have played it like Monty Hall..For victory over the Flim-flam room of death. The crawler a Lito-Fray masterwork paring knife. Suitable for cutting the cheese for that intimate night with that special someone or burying into the heart of thier next xcrawl foe The lito-Fray knife is all stainless steel construction and edge with the famous Lito-Fray smashed tortilla chip insignia. The DJ they have also won a years supply of crocodile wax. for keeping that armor shiny etc....

You get the point more game showy... I assume this is how it is played.
Along those lines:
It would be helpful to know other team scores, and a scoring system for the crawl. I realize survival is it's own reward and overcoming the individual rooms generates it's own tangible rewards. Since it is a competition.. That would help. My thoughts on scoring are this.

25 points for defeating the obstacles in the room.
1 point for each point of damage done
-1 point for each point of damage taken
-X points for tripping traps.
and then a standard penalty for breaking the rules..


The other question I had is the division 4 games... Are they all non lethal.. I rather like the idea that the big bosses are retired or disabled former heroes of Xcrawl.. But I think these should be amateur events...

Also who decides the number of crawlers allowed on a team



As far as the True20 aspect..

Give me a week or two to get something together. and we'll go from there...

I like the idea of a scoring system for each module, with playtester scores included in the module. Players could post here to compare their scores to other teams... great idea.

Actually you could go one further, and divide the total score bt the number of players post it here and you could crown a team champion and an idividual champion for the given year.

You could also have someone create monthly/quarterly crawls. To be scored. Post them as a freebie here, for one month. Let the crawlers play and then have the gm post the scores.

Then at the end of the year compile the crawls. and a write up about the top team and top three crawlers.

Other things you could do in this format:

Guest designed rooms.
Themed room contests. Say A pirate themed room. etc... 350 words or less and a map

Speaking as a playtester, our scores would surely only depress the players. We love Xcrawl... and we take our scores very seriously. If it were for all those darn 1's.

Deguello wrote:Ok a couple of them actually....

1) when a group of crawlers. Conquer a room, and the treasure "pops" up. I have played it like Monty Hall..For victory over the Flim-flam room of death. The crawler a Lito-Fray masterwork paring knife. Suitable for cutting the cheese for that intimate night with that special someone or burying into the heart of thier next xcrawl foe The lito-Fray knife is all stainless steel construction and edge with the famous Lito-Fray smashed tortilla chip insignia. The DJ they have also won a years supply of crocodile wax. for keeping that armor shiny etc....

You get the point more game showy... I assume this is how it is played.

It really depends on the DJ. Yes, very often there is the "Okay Don Pardo tell them what they won" aspect, but some crawls use regular old locked and possibly trapped treasure chests and the like to deliver treasure. Just remember that Xcrawl is a show for the television audience, and the audience loves to see Crawlers win treasure. It should be some kind of a big deal, even if its just an announcer repeating what the players won, and giving the audiences a chance to cheer. One thing - Do tell the players what all the magic items are.

Deguello wrote:Along those lines:
It would be helpful to know other team scores, and a scoring system for the crawl. I realize survival is it's own reward and overcoming the individual rooms generates it's own tangible rewards. Since it is a competition.. That would help.

Check out Xcrawl: Sellout! for a comprehensive player statistics. Individual dungeons often have scoring systems (like the Lord Stableford system introduced in the core book) but again its usually up to individual DJ's to create that system.

Deguello wrote:My thoughts on scoring are this.

25 points for defeating the obstacles in the room.
1 point for each point of damage done
-1 point for each point of damage taken
-X points for tripping traps.
and then a standard penalty for breaking the rules..


The other question I had is the division 4 games... Are they all non lethal.. I rather like the idea that the big bosses are retired or disabled former heroes of Xcrawl.. But I think these should be amateur events...

They used to be all nonleathal . . . until Xcrawl: Dungeonbattle Brooklyn. This is the first ever lethal Division 4 Crawl, featuring real weapons, spells and monsters trying to kill you. And its just two bucks.

Deguello wrote:Also who decides the number of crawlers allowed on a team

Its like any dungeon - the GM decides whats a good challenge level for his or her individual gaming group. If you have a larger group, increase the challenges. If your group is smaller you might consider reducing the challenge of the dungeon, or give them a helpful NPC teammate (if I had a dollar for every session of Xcrawl I ran with a NPC cleric . . . ). For all the published adventures I would recomend having at least the basic classes represented (a fighter, an arcane spellcaster, a cleric, a rogue) or the players might meet challenges they are simply unprepared for.

Deguello wrote:As far as the True20 aspect..

Give me a week or two to get something together. and we'll go from there...

Is True20 anything like the Mutant and Masterminds rules? It sort of sounds like that from your description.


be well,

Brendan

goodmangames wrote:I like the idea of a scoring system for each module, with playtester scores included in the module. Players could post here to compare their scores to other teams... great idea.

I like it too . . .

Sign me up as interested in a True20 or M&M conversion!