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Introduction Xcrawl
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Adventures in the
Xtreme Dungeon Crawl League
color edition
Introduction Xcrawl
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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
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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
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Introduction Xcrawl
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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
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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.”
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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
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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.
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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.
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