Adventures in the Xtreme Dungeon Crawl League

color edition

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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

Layout and Design:Allyson Brooks

Cover Art:Chris Appel

Character Design:Tom Feister

Interior Art:Jeff Austin • Mark Bagley • Ed BallAllyson Brooks • Brett Brooks • Matt BroomeDabel Brothers Studios • Marcio Fiorito • Tom FeisterHolly Golightly • Gene Gonzalez • Ralph GroffShane Melton • Charles Rutledge • Aaron SiddallBob 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 mugbelongs to y’all, take them freely. Love to my sister and David, myaccomplices in language. Love for the home team Don, Nino and Nick.Love to Team Pandahead. Love to my heroes Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweetand Skip Williams. Love to all of my teachers, especially Dr. JulianWasserman and Greg Johnson. Love to Micah; you had nothing butsupport for me and I thank you from the bottom. Love for all myplaytesters–and watch your behinds, we’re just getting started. Love togamers everywhere. And to role-playing game haters: whatever. What wedo is the most honest and under-appreciated art form there is. Some of theworld’s greatest stories have been told exactly one time by folks with dicein their hands. Peddle your negativity elsewhere–we aren’t in the market.

This book is for Jason Jenkins and Peter Morson.

– Brendan J. LaSalle

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

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 isproduced under the terms of the Open Gaming License and thed20 System Trademark License. All rules within this book arepublished using those licenses.

All material not covered under the Open Gaming License and d20System License is the property of Pandahead Productions.

All new material in this book are product and property ofPandahead Productions, ©2004.

The Open Game License is printed in its entirety at the end of thisbook. For further information please visitwww.opengamingfoundation.org or www.wizards.com.

NOTICEXcrawl is a game. It isn’t real. Real swords, real arrows, and realwounds 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 livingor dead is coincidental

So, what are you waiting for? An invitation? Okay, fine. We inviteyou to read the book. There! You happy? I hope so. Scott Knuchelwould be happy. And we all want to be like Scott, don’t we?

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Table of Contents • 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

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“J 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 ofour Emperor Ronald Augustus the Uniter 4699 Xtreme Dungeoncrawl Spring Games. Tonight’sopening Ceremonies, hosted by our beloved Emperor Ronald I, may he reign forever,commemorate our fifteenth annual MemphisCrawl, this seasons opener, pitting veteranDungeon Master Julie Klugman, DJ Cudgel Up! against six teams that Las Vegas has predictedcan not win. Chris?”

“That’s right, Monica. ‘Ritualistic slaughter,’ is what Xcrawl Monthly’s Hal Heitman is callingit. It seems that a number of injuries, personnel shake ups and last minute schedule conflictshave taken all some of the bigger names and now of the eight participating teams not one is freeof substitutions or in some cases gaps in their personnel.

“The Starblades, out of Boston U., recently lost their long time cleric to pregnancy. Sheila “Handof Glory”MacRenko removed herself from the active roster and indeed has scandalized theGreat Temple by announcing her impending motherhood out of wedlock. The long-term effectsare 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 “TheMoleman”Underhill, called the best lockpick in the Guild by some, is still petrified from abasilisk encounter during last seasons Motoraya MexicocityCrawl. His teammates are innegotiation for a counter-spell, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be up and around forMemphisCrawl, and that will leave them woefully shorthanded.

“In other news, Archmage Jose Villalobos announced his retirement today. This is a shock to theAdventurers’ 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 thatcoming off last year’s victorious season made this difficult decision a bit easier. He intends to returnto his native home in the Caribbean League and devote his time to his grandchildren and spellresearch. From the entire staff here at Empire One: watch over him, O Apollo, and grant himprosperity and health.”

“Wow—what an amazing career!”

“That’s right, Monica—Archmage Jose “Ring of Fire”Villalobos has played in twenty sevensanctioned events and was granted Highest Lauds four years in a row by the Mages’ Guild. He stillholds records for counter-spells in all divisions, records that some say may never be broken. He willbe missed by the entire Xcrawl community.”

“At this point we are just ten minutes away from the opening ceremonies and we couldn’t be moreexcited here at Empire 1. This capacity crowd is here to watch DJ Cudgel Up! work her magic. Butwill 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. Wehere at Empire One Sports salute all our champions and wish them well.”

“But if they die… they die.”

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IntroductionWhat you hold in your hands is agateway. Oh sure, it looks like a book, butin the right hands this book has thepower to turn the world outside yourwindow into an amazing place. A settingfilled with horrible monsters, dynamicheroes, and political intrigue of highdrama. Come to think of it, that isn’t anychange from the world outside yourwindow, it’s just an escape. A chance tobe something more than you are, andsomething that you might dream to be.It’s a world unlike any other. It seemsfamiliar at every turn, but wonderfullynew wherever you look. It’s the world of Xcrawl.

The concept of a role-playing game isnothing new. They’ve been around fordecades, formally, and for far longer thanthat in a greater sense. And there is nopoint in putting out something that hasalready been done. There is no reason tohave a game that is like every other gameon the market just for the sake of sayingthat you can do it better. If you are goingto do something, it had better besomething original. And that’s whatXcrawl is.

You can say that it is a little bit of fantasyadventure. You can say that it’s justmodern gladiator combat. You can saythat it’s extreme sports brought togaming. You can even compare it toprofessional wrestling. And you won’t getany arguments from us. We think that it’sall of these things, but it’s all of themblended together in a way that hasn’tbeen seen in the pages of a role-playinggame. It’s a world of re-imagined history,echoing the past and the present, andbringing a new concept to something thathas been around for a very long time.

The important thing is that you boughtthis book. You want to know what’sinside. You are intrigued by the ideaspresented here. There was a reason thatyou picked up this book, and a reasonthat you want to read it. You can think

whatever you want about this bookbefore you read it, but we know that youwill realize one important thing whenyou have finished

There is something special here. Now,with all the appropriate apologies, let mesee if I can get in the right voice...*ahem*

Laaaadieees and gentlemen, boys andgirls, and children of all ages. It’s time to join the spectacle and splendorof life in the Crawl. It’s time to joinPandahead in presenting the greatest show on Earth, the greatestchallenge 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 partof the show.

Welcome to Xcrawl.

Your next adventure WILL be televised...

Xcrawl SpeakAdventurers’Guild—The organization that

regulates Xcrawl. Characters must bemembers of the Adventurers’Guild toparticipate in Xcrawl events, or to own aweapon larger than a dagger or a quarterstaff.

Chester—Derogatory slang for anymonster an Xcrawl participant mayencounter. Believed to be derived fromthe name of a dangerous, yet inept,Athach that trapped, and subsequentlylost, its third arm while runningthrough a fast-closing NoGo door.

Choke—A natural one on a Mojo-enhanced roll.

Commoners—The citizens of the NAE.Commoners are taxable serfs servingthe Empire. Commoners have very fewrights 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 anyadventurer who plays in the Xcrawl games.

Destiny—A natural twenty on a Mojo-enhanced roll.

District—A geographical section of the NAE.

Dungeon Judge—The designer and hostof an Xcrawl event. Dungeon Judgesdictate what traps, monsters, treasureand prizes will be included in theirdungeon. Dungeon Judges are betterknown by the letters DJ and theirname, such as DJ Devastator or DJ Cudgel UP!

Endorsement—A monetary agreementfor a Crawler to represent a product orservice to the public.

Face—A Crawler who acts the good guy.The type of character who gets cheersfrom the crowd.

Fame—A rating that represents acharacters celebrity and wealth. Longtime Xcrawl adventurers are thesuperstars of popular culture, andmany become rich from endorsementsand personal appearances.

GM—Game Master. This is the guyactually running the game, not to beconfused with Dungeon Judge, which isa powerful NPC who runs an Xcrawl event.

Grandstanding—The act of playing to thecrowd.The way that a Crawler getsnoticed and turns the crowd for oragainst him.

Half-Twinked—Derogatory term fordescribing a half-elf.

Heel—A Crawler who acts the bad guy.The type of character who gets jeersfrom the crowd.

Mages’ Guild—The regulating body ofarcane powers in the NAE. Anyonewielding arcane might must bemembers of the Mages’ Guild to legallyuse magic in the NAE. Alternatelyknown as The Guild of Magi.

Master Celebrity—A prestige characterthat understands the concept ofmarketing and sales.

Mojo—The intangible power ofteamwork, which propels adventurersworking together to success greaterthan they could reach as individuals.

Mojo Pool—A bonus pool that allowscharacters to aid their teammates with d20rolls, including combat and skill checks.

NoGo—A door marking an area off-limits to Crawlers.

Nobility—The upper echelon of societyin the NAE. The nobility is composed oftitled landowners, businessmen andcourtiers. Nobles are privileged,wealthy and connected.

NAE—The North American Empire, theworld’s foremost superpower. ARoman-style dictatorship under thecommand of Emperor Ronald I. TheNAE is the origin country of Xcrawl.

Rip—A clean kill, as in Rest In Peace.

Signature Move—A combat action thatbecomes identified with a particular character.

Specialists’ Guild—The organizationthat regulates the rogues’ activity in The Games.

Sponsorship—An agreement for aCrawler to exclusively use a particularproduct in The Games.

Stump—Derogatory term for a halfling.

Substitute—A back-up player on a team.

Team—A group of adventurers whoband together to compete in Xcrawl events.

Trappers—Professional hunters whocapture monsters for use in Xcrawl events.

Turn—The attitude the Crawler showsthe crowd. He can be either face orheel, depending on his attitude and actions.

Twink—Derogatory term for an elf.

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