color edition - allysonbrooks.com
Transcription
color edition - allysonbrooks.com
Introduction Xcrawl 5/13/04 8:49 PM Page 1 Adventures in the Xtreme Dungeon Crawl League color edition Introduction Xcrawl 5/13/04 8:49 PM Page 2 Credits Xcrawl Created By: Brendan J. LaSalle Lead Developer: Brett Brooks Original Edition Written By: Brendan J. LaSalle, with James A. Moore and Brett Brooks Color Edition Material By: Bobby Politte, Allyson Brooks, and Brett Brooks Rules Conversion to 3.5: Bobby Politte MemphisCrawl XVII By: Brett Brooks, Bobby Politte, and Scott Knuchel Edited By: Brett Brooks The Playtesters: Alpha Batise, George “Mr. Excitement” Arnett-Hutto, David “Cakewalk” Bernardy , Allyson “Angus” Brooks, Brett “Oni” Brooks, Jared “Cooper” Clay, Johnny “Slim Daddy” Densmore, Jamie “Slytown” Hargreaves, David “Donk” Hughie, Jason “Sellsword” Jenkins, Scott “Ironforge” Knuchel, Micah “Sleeper” Kilgore, Brendan “Captain Howdy” LaSalle, Don “Jo” Loffredo, Jenna “Blythe” Longshore, Justice “JoJo” Longshore, Jeremy “SFU” McDaniel, Pete “Nice” Morson, Paul “Nice Guy” Olmos, Terry “Snake-Fist” Pasterchek, Rebecca “Tao-minator” Rogers, Lynn “Whisper” Rogers, Scott “The Pain” Snider, Carlton “The Kid” Spence, Travis “Kid Frost” Snider, Jonathan “Blue Meany”Starrett, Annie “Chesty LaRoux” Steel, Brian “Hammer O’ God”Thornton, Mike “Kneedles”Totin, Duane “Geronimo”Waldrop, Nikki “Fist-Reaver”Wilhelm, Nino “Lefty” Worthy , Mike “Grandmaster Booyah”Webb, John “El Furioso” Varone, William “Martello di Fuoco” Martin, Jason “Grim Reaper” Carlile, JD “Steel Centurion” Carlile, Mike “God of War” Bragg, Jeff “Black Lion” Freeman, Ben “Mr. Wizard” Boardman, Mike “Shadowsun” Morrey a Bionic Frying-Pan joint Layout and Design: Allyson Brooks Cover Art: Chris Appel Character Design: Tom Feister Interior Art: Jeff Austin • Mark Bagley • Ed Ball Allyson Brooks • Brett Brooks • Matt Broome Dabel Brothers Studios • Marcio Fiorito • Tom Feister Holly Golightly • Gene Gonzalez • Ralph Groff Shane Melton • Charles Rutledge • Aaron Siddall Bob Stevlic • Christine C. Turner • Richard Turner Interior Color Work By: Julie Haddon Cartography: Geb Buxton Dedication: Love to Mother and Father for their unflinching support of my writing/ hobbies/ general strangeness; every World’s Greatest’s Mom and Dad mug belongs to y’all, take them freely. Love to my sister and David, my accomplices in language. Love for the home team Don, Nino and Nick. Love to Team Pandahead. Love to my heroes Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet and Skip Williams. Love to all of my teachers, especially Dr. Julian Wasserman and Greg Johnson. Love to Micah; you had nothing but support for me and I thank you from the bottom. Love for all my playtesters–and watch your behinds, we’re just getting started. Love to gamers everywhere. And to role-playing game haters: whatever. What we do is the most honest and under-appreciated art form there is. Some of the world’s greatest stories have been told exactly one time by folks with dice in their hands. Peddle your negativity elsewhere–we aren’t in the market. This book is for Jason Jenkins and Peter Morson. – Brendan J. LaSalle Special Thanks To: Cliff Biggers (above everyone else) George Arnett-Hutto, Barry Calhoun, Herb Henderson, Scott Knuchel, Richard Turner, and Mike Webb Open Game License: Xcrawl: Adventures in the Xtreme Dungeon Crawl League is produced under the terms of the Open Gaming License and the d20 System Trademark License. All rules within this book are published using those licenses. All material not covered under the Open Gaming License and d20 System License is the property of Pandahead Productions. All new material in this book are product and property of Pandahead Productions, ©2004. The Open Game License is printed in its entirety at the end of this book. For further information please visit www.opengamingfoundation.org or www.wizards.com. NOTICE Xcrawl is a game. It isn’t real. Real swords, real arrows, and real wounds are real dangerous. So, have fun, but DON’T keep it real; keep it fantasy. Xcrawl and the Xcrawl logo are © and ™ 2002 Pandahead Productions. Xcrawl: The Color Edition © and ™ 2004 Pandahead Productions. Visit www.pandahead.com. Xcrawl is a work of fiction. Any similarities between persons living or dead is coincidental So, what are you waiting for? An invitation? Okay, fine. We invite you to read the book. There! You happy? I hope so. Scott Knuchel would be happy. And we all want to be like Scott, don’t we? Introduction Xcrawl 5/13/04 8:49 PM Page 3 Introduction ......................................................4 Chapter 1 — History of the World ............8 Chapter 2 — The World Today ....................34 Chapter 3 — Xcrawl Origins ......................86 Chapter 4 — Da Breakdown..........................114 Chapter 5 — Gamemaster’s Section ........166 Chapter 6 — Memphis Crawl XVII ..........182 Appendix — Extra Stuff ..........................218 Index ............................................................................238 Table of Contents • 3 Introduction Xcrawl 5/13/04 “J 8:49 PM Page 4 upiter and Juno be praised, their glory be sung from each and every mountain. Good evening and thanks for tuning into Empire Sports 1. I’m Cliff Nelson.” “And I’m Monica Silverstring. Of course our top story for tonight—the beginning of the Year of our Emperor Ronald Augustus the Uniter 4699 Xtreme Dungeoncrawl Spring Games. Tonight’s opening Ceremonies, hosted by our beloved Emperor Ronald I, may he reign forever, commemorate our fifteenth annual MemphisCrawl, this seasons opener, pitting veteran Dungeon Master Julie Klugman, DJ Cudgel Up! against six teams that Las Vegas has predicted can not win. Chris?” “That’s right, Monica. ‘Ritualistic slaughter,’ is what Xcrawl Monthly’s Hal Heitman is calling it. It seems that a number of injuries, personnel shake ups and last minute schedule conflicts have taken all some of the bigger names and now of the eight participating teams not one is free of substitutions or in some cases gaps in their personnel. “The Starblades, out of Boston U., recently lost their long time cleric to pregnancy. Sheila “Hand of Glory”MacRenko removed herself from the active roster and indeed has scandalized the Great Temple by announcing her impending motherhood out of wedlock. The long-term effects are yet to be seen, but this might be the end of a promising Xcrawl career. But the high flying Starblades aren’t the only ones suffering personnel losses. Simon “The Moleman”Underhill, called the best lockpick in the Guild by some, is still petrified from a basilisk encounter during last seasons Motoraya MexicocityCrawl. His teammates are in negotiation for a counter-spell, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be up and around for MemphisCrawl, and that will leave them woefully shorthanded. “In other news, Archmage Jose Villalobos announced his retirement today. This is a shock to the Adventurers’ Guild, as one of the mages who helped define the game is finally stepping down Thanks For Tuning In • 4 Introduction Xcrawl 5/13/04 8:50 PM Page 5 after a long and glorious career. He is quoted as feeling that this was the right time for him, and that coming off last year’s victorious season made this difficult decision a bit easier. He intends to return to his native home in the Caribbean League and devote his time to his grandchildren and spell research. From the entire staff here at Empire One: watch over him, O Apollo, and grant him prosperity and health.” “Wow—what an amazing career!” “That’s right, Monica—Archmage Jose “Ring of Fire”Villalobos has played in twenty seven sanctioned events and was granted Highest Lauds four years in a row by the Mages’ Guild. He still holds records for counter-spells in all divisions, records that some say may never be broken. He will be missed by the entire Xcrawl community.” “At this point we are just ten minutes away from the opening ceremonies and we couldn’t be more excited here at Empire 1. This capacity crowd is here to watch DJ Cudgel Up! work her magic. But will it be the mass murder that everybody fears, or will we see some team ascend to highest glory? Only the Oracles know—and as you know they may not be consulted prior to any Xcrawl event. We here at Empire One Sports salute all our champions and wish them well.” “But if they die… they die.” Thanks For Tuning In • 5 Introduction Xcrawl 5/13/04 8:50 PM Page 6 Introduction What you hold in your hands is a gateway. Oh sure, it looks like a book, but in the right hands this book has the power to turn the world outside your window into an amazing place. A setting filled with horrible monsters, dynamic heroes, and political intrigue of high drama. Come to think of it, that isn’t any change from the world outside your window, it’s just an escape. A chance to be something more than you are, and something that you might dream to be. It’s a world unlike any other. It seems familiar at every turn, but wonderfully new wherever you look. It’s the world of Xcrawl. The concept of a role-playing game is nothing new. They’ve been around for decades, formally, and for far longer than that in a greater sense. And there is no point in putting out something that has already been done. There is no reason to have a game that is like every other game on the market just for the sake of saying that you can do it better. If you are going to do something, it had better be something original. And that’s what Xcrawl is. You can say that it is a little bit of fantasy adventure. You can say that it’s just modern gladiator combat. You can say that it’s extreme sports brought to gaming. You can even compare it to professional wrestling. And you won’t get any arguments from us. We think that it’s all of these things, but it’s all of them blended together in a way that hasn’t been seen in the pages of a role-playing game. It’s a world of re-imagined history, echoing the past and the present, and bringing a new concept to something that has been around for a very long time. The important thing is that you bought this book. You want to know what’s inside. You are intrigued by the ideas presented here. There was a reason that you picked up this book, and a reason that you want to read it. You can think Thanks For Tuning In • 6 whatever you want about this book before you read it, but we know that you will realize one important thing when you have finished There is something special here. Now, with all the appropriate apologies, let me see if I can get in the right voice...*ahem* Laaaadieees and gentlemen, boys and girls, and children of all ages. It’s time to join the spectacle and splendor of life in the Crawl. It’s time to join Pandahead in presenting the greatest show on Earth, the greatest challenge of our day, and the greatest thrill of them all. It’s time... prepare for the Games. ...LEEETTT’S GET READY TO MELEEEEEE!!! *Ahem* Sorry about that. But it’s all part of the show. Welcome to Xcrawl. Your next adventure WILL be televised... Xcrawl Speak Adventurers’ Guild—The organization that regulates Xcrawl. Characters must be members of the Adventurers’ Guild to participate in Xcrawl events, or to own a weapon larger than a dagger or a quarterstaff. Chester—Derogatory slang for any monster an Xcrawl participant may encounter. Believed to be derived from the name of a dangerous, yet inept, Athach that trapped, and subsequently lost, its third arm while running through a fast-closing NoGo door. Choke—A natural one on a Mojoenhanced roll. Commoners—The citizens of the NAE. Commoners are taxable serfs serving the Empire. Commoners have very few rights and live an existence of hardship and toil. Commoners may not legally possess weapons or travel internationally. Introduction Xcrawl 5/13/04 8:50 PM Page 7 Crawler—The nickname given to any adventurer who plays in the Xcrawl games. Master Celebrity—A prestige character that understands the concept of marketing and sales. Destiny—A natural twenty on a Mojoenhanced roll. Mojo—The intangible power of teamwork, which propels adventurers working together to success greater than they could reach as individuals. District—A geographical section of the NAE. Dungeon Judge—The designer and host of an Xcrawl event. Dungeon Judges dictate what traps, monsters, treasure and prizes will be included in their dungeon. Dungeon Judges are better known by the letters DJ and their name, such as DJ Devastator or DJ Cudgel UP! Endorsement—A monetary agreement for a Crawler to represent a product or service to the public. Face—A Crawler who acts the good guy. The type of character who gets cheers from the crowd. Fame—A rating that represents a characters celebrity and wealth. Long time Xcrawl adventurers are the superstars of popular culture, and many become rich from endorsements and personal appearances. GM—Game Master. This is the guy actually running the game, not to be confused with Dungeon Judge, which is a powerful NPC who runs an Xcrawl event. Grandstanding—The act of playing to the crowd.The way that a Crawler gets noticed and turns the crowd for or against him. Half-Twinked—Derogatory term for describing a half-elf. Heel—A Crawler who acts the bad guy. The type of character who gets jeers from the crowd. Mages’ Guild—The regulating body of arcane powers in the NAE. Anyone wielding arcane might must be members of the Mages’ Guild to legally use magic in the NAE. Alternately known as The Guild of Magi. Mojo Pool—A bonus pool that allows characters to aid their teammates with d20 rolls, including combat and skill checks. NoGo—A door marking an area offlimits to Crawlers. Nobility—The upper echelon of society in the NAE. The nobility is composed of titled landowners, businessmen and courtiers. Nobles are privileged, wealthy and connected. NAE—The North American Empire, the world’s foremost superpower. A Roman-style dictatorship under the command of Emperor Ronald I. The NAE is the origin country of Xcrawl. Rip—A clean kill, as in Rest In Peace. Signature Move—A combat action that becomes identified with a particular character. Specialists’ Guild—The organization that regulates the rogues’ activity in The Games. Sponsorship—An agreement for a Crawler to exclusively use a particular product in The Games. Stump—Derogatory term for a halfling. Substitute—A back-up player on a team. Team—A group of adventurers who band together to compete in Xcrawl events. Trappers—Professional hunters who capture monsters for use in Xcrawl events. Turn—The attitude the Crawler shows the crowd. He can be either face or heel, depending on his attitude and actions. Twink—Derogatory term for an elf. Thanks For Tuning In • 7