PlayLog: XCrawl Classics
Since its inception towards the end of the d20 bubble, Xcrawl has always been something I wanted to check out — televised dungeon crawling as the world’s most popular form of entertainment always stroke me as a genius idea — but never enough to get the book, I guess. Fortunately, the Kickstarter campaign for the DCC based new edition happened at a time when my gaming life wasn’t saturated in d20 fantasy games. So I took the plunge, and a few months later, I don’t regret it. XCC is everything I hoped: tons of DCC style fun art, whacky rules with enough deviation from the original to make it interesting, and a setting that’s just as fun as I was expecting. I didn’t go for the full package, but I bought the funnel module, which is what I ran for a small group of players with various TTRPG backgrounds. We played three sessions, and we had 14 deaths. Call me Killer Judge Eric now please. The group is still up for more, so I made sure I preordered the modules I’ll need to challenge Xcrawl’s newest Division III squad.
Gonzo turned up to 11
Not you daddy’s dungeon crawl
So, sore point perhaps: an Xcrawl is not an old-school dungeon. It is an arena built to entertain both the local crowd and people on TV. Crawlers don’t get to play factions against each other or look for a way around a monster. XCC crawls are more like funhouse dungeon with commentators. Of course, this doesn’t make the game less entertaining. After all, post 3E players expect their dungeons to work this way: puzzles, challenges, tactically interesting fights, and the occasional roleplay encounter. And it works even better with a shitload of tongues in cheek dropped into the formula. The crawls I’ve read so far crank the gonzo to d11. Typing this makes me wonder how one could add some of the features we adventure gamers like to say make a good dungeon. Giving choices to the contestants, or the option to ally with some of the enemies would make for good television. I don’t see why some Dungeon Judges wouldn’t try this to surprise their audience, as long as they get the blood they came for. And typing that, I wonder about adding some not so subtle subtext to the game with a new-old school of DJs building crawls based on the original gameplay of the Dungeonbattle RPG (because of course, Xcrawl is inspired by the tabletop RPG that took the Empire by storm in the 1970s). XCrawl Renaissance, anyone?
But there’s life outside the dungeons
But I hope to run some sessions outside of the crawls, so we can explore the world and have some variety. The short chapters on Xworld and the history of Xcrawl are a delight to read. The North American Empire is a points of light setting, with walled cities and most of its surface peopled by barbarians (human or otherwise) and ruled by dragons. Who knows what wonders exist in these untamed lands, and who could best explore them than professional dungeon crawlers? They may start complaining about having to carry their treasure instead of having it carted back to green room by the staff. The wilderness doesn’t hand out vouchers for Georgio’s Armour Emporium. Wealth is in the hands of the nobility, corruption and crime is everywhere, and justice is scarce. For a commoner, there aren’t many ways to ascend socially, or even make a comfortable living besides becoming modern day gladiators. Even organised crime is riddled with nepotism. The game alludes to urban adventures and it’s easy to come up with ideas to involve a team of career killers into shenanigans involving there agent, coach, or loved ones. How do you take out a gang boss when their hideout doesn’t follow guild fairness guidelines and their goons pack guns? I’m looking forward to giving some real, non televised trouble to my crawlers.