For the latest on the Xcrawl Classics Kickstarter (now entering it’s final week!), and more on XCC itself, see all of our recent Xcrawl Classics posts.
XCC Designer Diary: Spells
by Brendan LaSalle
Hey all! Brendan here with a little bit about the spells of Xworld.
The blaster spells of Xworld are designed for use in the arena. That’s an interesting challenge.
When I first started running Xcrawl with the DCC rules, I used the standard classes and standard spell listings. That was eye-opening. It very quickly became clear that the standard spells were much too powerful for the arena.
Consider the arcane spell classic, sleep. Here is the description for that common, 1st level spell’s maximum effect:
Natural slumber to all things: the caster causes the world around him to slow and sleep. All creature within 500 yards fall asleep. Creatures of 4 or fewer HD receive no save. The affected creatures include birds, insects, and small animals as well as people.
Yikes! For a standard arena-based Xcrawl adventure, that would mean affecting the referees, cameramen, the first several tiers of stadium seating, and more. You could potentially cause dozens or hundreds of injuries – the suddenly somnambulistic beer man is going to tumble down the concrete stairs, spilling all his beer, and breaking an ankle – at least! No insurer would provide an insurance policy to a sport where that might happen. Somebody would get sued, and there ain’t no saving throw against willful negligence, bucko.
Most of the spells in DCC have upper-tier abilities like that. That gave me my mandate: Xcrawl spells needed to be less powerful but more tactical.
I didn’t want spells to have that cosmic tier: if an Xcrawl blaster could cast a spell so powerful it would put an entire city to sleep or kill an opponent from 100 miles away, or create a magical artifact with the power to potentially change the course of world history, they wouldn’t be playing arena sports. They would be snatched up by the Emperor and used for ‘statecraft’ (read: keeping the minority control over the majority airtight).
So I made up new spells for blasters that more suited to the kind of action they would face in the arena. Blaster spells are screwdrivers, rather than sledgehammers. For the most part. Okay, some blaster spells are absolutely sledgehammers. Villalobos Attack Outta Nowhere© can drop an anvil on someone. Not exactly subtle 😊
Gnomes have their own spell list, based more on trickery and nature. Gnomes can allow conversations with animals, summon special companions, and turn allies invisible.
Just like DCC, arcane spellcasters come with their own mercurial magic effects, magical side effects unique to a given caster. Jeff Goad convinced me to create a really full list; the blaster mercurial effects table goes from -29 to 130, with no dead space in the middle. I’m going to roll randomly right here and now at my desk and share one mercurial effect with you, based on a blaster with a +0 Luck modifier:
55: Less Talk, More Rock The spell is always accompanied by a brief music effect, roll 1d6: (1) heavy metal power chord; (2) ultra-low bass drop; (3) gothic piano phrase; (4) mysterious chanting; (5) prog-style orchestra hit; (6) cartoon soundtrack; (7) 80’s keyboard blast; (8) millennial whoop.
I hope y’all really have fun with magic in Xworld. Please enjoy a special preview of a spell that I think embodies the “less powerful, more tactical” ethos of XCC spells: a 3rd level area effect attack spell, Smart Bomb.
Smart Bomb
Level: 3 Range: 60’ or more, explodes in a 10’ radius or more Duration: Instantaneous or longer, see below Casting Time: 1 action Save: Reflex vs. Spell Check
General: The caster conjures a violent blast of magical energy at a target that explodes, effecting all targets in a 5’ radius sphere (larger radius at higher levels). The caster is immune to damage from a successful casting of the spell, and at higher levels of success he can designate other targets that are likewise immune to the damage. The smart bomb is pure disruptive pattern-shredding force that affects living, un-dead, and animated creatures but has no effect on structural targets or equipment/treasure carried by its targets.
Unlike most attack spells, the caster may choose to make the Smart Bomb standard or subdual damage at casting.
Manifestation Roll 1d5: The smart bomb takes on the appearance of (1) A meteor; (2) A video game missile, with a toothy grin; (3) A huge disembodied fist; (4) An enormous bomb with a sputtering fuse; (5) whatever the caster likes.
Corruption Roll 1d6: (1) The caster’s hands and arms are blackened, as if from an explosion, up to their elbows; (2) The caster loses 1 point of Personality and gains 1 point of Intelligence; (3) The caster causes an explosion in their body, and loose 1d3 hp permanently; (4) The caster suddenly has precise knowledge of the time and manner of their own death. They cannot communicate this knowledge, but it forever colors their decision making; (5) The caster’s ears fold back into their head and their face elongates, giving them a bit of the appearance of a missile; (6) The caster grows dependent on this spell, only resorting to other attack spells once they have lost smart bomb for the day.
Misfire Roll 1d6: (1) A 3d6 smart bomb effect strikes the caster; damaging themselves and any allies within 30’ but leaving their enemies unharmed; (2) A sensory bomb goes off in the caster’s consciousness, causing 1d4 Intelligence damage and leaving the caster stunned for 1d4 rounds; (3) The caster causes an explosion in their apartment, home, vehicle, boat, or similar possession, no matter how far away it is. Miraculously no one is hurt but the destruction is tremendous and might lead to legal entanglements; (4) The caster blows their own mind, taking 2d4 Intelligence damage; (5) The caster inverts the effect, healing 2 HD to all enemies in the current combat; (6) The caster blows all the skin off their hands, taking 1d6 damage and being unable to hold or grasp objects and taking a -1d on all spellcasting until the damage is healed (3 HD worth of healing).
| 1 | Loss, Failure, and (roll 1d6, modified by Luck): (0 or less) Corruption + Misfire; (1-2) Corruption; (3+) Misfire. |
| 2-11 | Loss + Failure |
| 12-15 | Failure, but spell is not lost. |
| 16-17 | The smart bomb has a range of up to 60’ and affects a 5’ radius, doing 2d6 force damage. |
| 18-21 | The smart bomb has a range of up to 60’ and affects a 10’ radius, doing 3d6 force damage. The caster can choose one target (besides themselves) in the area that takes no damage from the spell. |
| 22-23 | The smart bomb has a range of up to 60’ and affects a 15’ radius, doing 4d6 force damage. The caster can choose CL additional targets in the blast area equal to take no damage from the spell. |
| 24-26 | The smart bomb has a range of up to 60’ and affects a 15’ radius doing 6d6 force damage. In addition, the caster can choose a number of targets in the blast area equal to their CL + 1d3 who take no damage from the spell. |
| 27-31 | The smart bomb has a range of up to 90’ and affects a 20’ radius doing 6d6 force damage. In addition, affected targets must make a Fortitude save vs spell check or be knocked prone. The caster can choose a number of targets in the blast area equal to their CL + 1d6 who take no damage from the spell. At this level the smart bomb can move around barriers to strike a given target. The caster needs to have spotted the target at some point in the current combat (for example before they ducked around a corner). The smart bomb cannot pass through solid barriers or pass through water. |
| 32-33 | The smart bomb has a range of up to 120’ and effects a 20’ radius doing 8d6 force damage. In addition, all targets must make a Fortitude save vs spell check or be knocked prone. The caster can choose a number of targets in the blast area equal to their CL + 2d6 who take no damage from the spell. At this level the caster can see through the smart bomb as it flies and maneuver it however they like, so it may strike targets the caster hasn’t even seen in the current combat. While looking through the bomb the caster can see in darkness and even spot invisible targets, allowing them to hunt with the smart bomb. The caster can make the smart bomb chase a target down hallways, skip around barriers, even do a loop around the arena before it strikes its target. The smart bomb can fly any distance as it maneuvers but can’t go farther away from the caster than its 120’ range. The smart bomb cannot pass through solid barriers or water. |
| 34-35 | The smart bomb has a range of up to 160’ and effects a 30’ radius doing 10d6 force damage. In addition, all targets must make a Fortitude save vs spell check or be knocked prone. The caster has complete control over the damage of the smart bomb. The caster decides precisely which targets take damage and which are immune. The caster’s control is so precise that they can choose for the Smart Bomb to do subdual damage to some targets and lethal to others. At this level the caster can see through the smart bomb as it flies and maneuver it however they like. While looking through the bomb the caster can see in darkness and even spot invisible targets, allowing them to hunt with the smart bomb. The caster can make the smart bomb hunt for a target down hallways, skip around barriers, even do a loop around the arena before it strikes its target. The smart bomb can fly any distance as it maneuvers but can’t go farther away from the caster than its maximum range. The smart bomb can pass through water or clear non-magical barriers (such as glass, plexiglass, or see-through plastic) without exploding, continuing on to their target. |
| 36+ | The caster launches a nightmare smart bomb with a range of 500’ that can travel up to 200’ per round away from the caster, and can travel for up to 6 rounds before it must either explode or dissipate harmlessly. It can even pause and hover and wait; for example, the caster could make the smart bomb wait outside a door until it opens and then either hit a target when they walk through, or have the bomb continue its flight down the hall. The caster can give the bomb instructions beforehand (“hover above until all the goblins exit the cave, then hit them”, “stay beside me and if any of the surrendered fighters reaches for a weapon go blow them up.”). The caster can see through the smart bomb as it flies and maneuver it however they like. While looking through the bomb the caster can see in darkness and even spot invisible targets, allowing them to hunt with the smart bomb. The smart bomb can pass through water or clear non-magical barriers (such as glass, plexiglass, or see-through plastic) without exploding, continuing on to their target. When the bomb finally explodes it effects a 30’ radius doing 15d6 force damage. In addition, all targets must make a Fortitude save vs spell check or be stunned for 1 round, knocked prone, and unable to act or defend themselves. The caster has complete control over the damage of the smart bomb, and decides which targets take damage and which are immune. The caster’s control is so precise that they can choose for the smart bomb to do lethal or subdual damage to separate targets, or even to do a maximum specified damage (“no more than 22 points”, “don’t take anyone down to less than 1 point of damage,” etc.), with targets making their save taking half the damage the caster intended. |
