I won't be able to dive in with reckless abandon until after I wrap up my two current projects, but some initial ideas to toss out:
- Roster of 6 PCs, team chooses 4 to participate, like the DCC Tourney
- I'm liking 4th level PCs at the moment -- comments?
- In addition to standard gear, I like the idea of letting each team select 1 or 2 "endorsements" from a list of sponsors... this allows them to further tailor/customize the team to their tastes. Ideas include:
>> Grandma Goodberry's Fruit Pies (6 fruit pies that function as potions of cure light wounds)
>> Ragnarock Jewelers* (party gets two +1 rings of protection for the group)
>> Theolyn's Fine Threads* (party gets two +1 cloaks of resistance for the group)
* of course, replace with actual XCrawl sponsors as appropriate - but there really needs to be a Grandma Goodberry in XCrawl... the hostess/dolly madison/little debbie sector needs a presence!
- My initial thought is 8 rooms per level, in a fairly linear fashion... More of an obstacle course, chain of events sort of rapid-fire staccato paced "race" than a freeform, wander all over the place dungeon... Possibly 4 rooms, then a Break Room (possibly some vending machines to spend some of their treasure!) then the final 4 rooms of the level.
- The Break Room would be where a rez would take place. If a PC dies during one of the first four rooms, they wouldn't be able to Rez him until they reach the break room... If they die in the last four rooms, he'd be out for the round but available if they advance to round two. This helps provide a bit of reprieve and sets some guidelines for resurrection and recovery...
- Scoring room-by-room would be important. Similar to the DCC tourney style.
- Per Joseph's request, we really should also integrate stats tracking, as outlined in Sellout. I think we'd need to decide if the DM would track stats for the team (which could slow things down but is the most reliable) or trust teams to track their own stats (simpler, quicker, but less reliable). I'd simplify the stat rules for greatest clarity ... and the team stats could have an impact on scoring (not the be-all-end-all, but enough to make a differerence).
- I've got 3 levels worth of stuff I wrote up for the PhoenixCrawl open, which was a pro-am module I wrote, specifically tourney style, for my home group... Some wouldn't necessarily translate well into a two round format, but there's some stuff in there I really, really would like to include.... So that leads to discussing: how do you want to handle level/room design? Draft an outline and solicit input? Throw something together and get feedback on a first draft? Open call for rooms, then fashion them together in a semblance of a module?
- Name ideas? If this is going to be at GenCon for sure, and we know GenCon is in Indianapolis again, howzabout calling it IndyCrawl or GenCrawl? The GenCrawl Invitational... I kinda' like the sound of that!
Getting Started... Ideation
Getting Started... Ideation
Crypt of the Devil Lich, Dungeon Interludes, The Mask of Death, Adventure Begins, Vault of the Dragon Kings, the Power Gamers Wizard Strategy Guide, The Adventure Continues, Palace in the Wastes and PhoenixCrawl Open
Hey Jason and all,
This sounds good! My thoughts
If we go with the Stat system in Sellout I think we just have to trust the players to do it themselves. I tried keeping up with one stat sheet after my players demanded to know how their NPC cleric stacked up - it was extremely difficult. Players can do it easily between turns in combat and if they are like my group they tend to keep an eye on one anothers scoring. When we start, explain the stat system and have a little hand out explaining how it works and inform the players that its an honor system and tell them we expect them to do their best to keep everything above board. Some will cheat, thats just life and GenCon.
I would like to use the standard Xcrawl tournment rules - no qualifying roll for quits, Dex check on a natural 1 in combat or its a fumble, First Aid checks before magical healing, etc. They are listed in Necromerica.
4th level is fine with me but I would be willing to go as high as 7th. Give the players a few more options, let us use a few nasty creatures and traps. Oh, and i love the equipment sponsorship deals.
I'm happy to design a few rooms to go along with whatever Jason already has prepared - how do you normally design the tournament adventure? I seem to remember Adrian saying that individual GM's each had a few to do . . . anyway however you want to do it.
I spoke to Duane Waldrop about comming to GenCon and being one of the tournament GM's; he is very interested and pledges to come if he can work it out with the day job.
I like the idea of giving them a Rez. We could also have some system of substitutes. Jason, you said you used substitutes in your home campaign - did you have some kind of formalized system for them?
IndyCrawl or GenCrawl both work for me.
This sounds good! My thoughts
If we go with the Stat system in Sellout I think we just have to trust the players to do it themselves. I tried keeping up with one stat sheet after my players demanded to know how their NPC cleric stacked up - it was extremely difficult. Players can do it easily between turns in combat and if they are like my group they tend to keep an eye on one anothers scoring. When we start, explain the stat system and have a little hand out explaining how it works and inform the players that its an honor system and tell them we expect them to do their best to keep everything above board. Some will cheat, thats just life and GenCon.
I would like to use the standard Xcrawl tournment rules - no qualifying roll for quits, Dex check on a natural 1 in combat or its a fumble, First Aid checks before magical healing, etc. They are listed in Necromerica.
4th level is fine with me but I would be willing to go as high as 7th. Give the players a few more options, let us use a few nasty creatures and traps. Oh, and i love the equipment sponsorship deals.
I'm happy to design a few rooms to go along with whatever Jason already has prepared - how do you normally design the tournament adventure? I seem to remember Adrian saying that individual GM's each had a few to do . . . anyway however you want to do it.
I spoke to Duane Waldrop about comming to GenCon and being one of the tournament GM's; he is very interested and pledges to come if he can work it out with the day job.
I like the idea of giving them a Rez. We could also have some system of substitutes. Jason, you said you used substitutes in your home campaign - did you have some kind of formalized system for them?
IndyCrawl or GenCrawl both work for me.
That's what I was thinking... We'll just need to make a clean stat sheet that has the stat tracking part on the top, and a summary of the rules on the bottom, so everything is right there for the players, and we can reduce downtime/questions/arguments...DJ LaBoss wrote:If we go with the Stat system in Sellout I think we just have to trust the players to do it themselves.
Is that first one supposed to be qualifying rolls for "crits"?? If so, I'm fine with that. I'll read up on that section of Necromerica for the rest of the info...DJ LaBoss wrote:I would like to use the standard Xcrawl tournment rules - no qualifying roll for quits, Dex check on a natural 1 in combat or its a fumble, First Aid checks before magical healing, etc. They are listed in Necromerica.
Does it also have an updated scoring system? I've been using a slightly tweaked version of the scoring system in the XCrawl hardcover book for my home game - basically including 2-5 bonus points available in a room for completing room-thematic or room-based tasks... Etc.
Let's compromise and go with 6th level. Warrior BAB progression will just have their 2nd attack (albeit low) and casters will be able to dip into 3rd level spells... going higher and accessing 4th level spells, while providing more options, also provides additional complication and requires more "homework" by players and DMs alike to properly manage.DJ LaBoss wrote:4th level is fine with me but I would be willing to go as high as 7th. Give the players a few more options, let us use a few nasty creatures and traps. Oh, and i love the equipment sponsorship deals.
It's varied year to year. For Crypt of the Devil Lich, Chris had an open call, selected the best rooms, then arranged them to fit his overall concept. For Vault of the Dragon Kings, I wrote the entire module, but had people help with the individual encounters/creatures within the pre-fabricated structure. For Palace in the Wastes, Adrian had a rough outline he wanted to follow, then selected the best submissions which fit in his storyline and plot guidelines.DJ LaBoss wrote:I'm happy to design a few rooms to go along with whatever Jason already has prepared - how do you normally design the tournament adventure? I seem to remember Adrian saying that individual GM's each had a few to do . . . anyway however you want to do it.
They've all worked well.
I think one of the strengths of XCrawl is the ability to put atypical rooms back-to-back, and switch environments/risks/conditions/situations on the fly. Dungeon ecology be damned. If you want an otyugh fighting alongside a gibbering mouther and some xorn, so be it. As long as each room provides an interesting challenge and something the players don't expect, I'm all for it.
I do think 8 rooms (plus a break room) per level is a good design goal. Not that each room will be identical in size/scope/time commitment, but it does help create a framework to craft the adventure within. I've got enough materials for as mmany of the 16 required rooms as needed, but am more than happy to open up the floor to more suggestions and room entries. After all is said and done, if I had 8-12 of the total rooms, I'd be happy -- so that leaves 4-8 rooms that can be designed by committee or open submissions.
Groovy. The more, the merrier. I believe both Jeff McSpadden and Stephanie Huffaker, who DM'd the DCC tourney with me and are part of my home gaming group, have expressed interest in DMing, and would prefer to DM whichever event I'm involved in.DJ LaBoss wrote:I spoke to Duane Waldrop about comming to GenCon and being one of the tournament GM's; he is very interested and pledges to come if he can work it out with the day job.
Our substitutes were basically "minor league callups" ... If a player died and no rez was available (they were generally through sponsors, who had sunk so much money into these athletes that they'd be willing to rez them if the opportunity cost was worth it), then they could call up one of their minor league players as a fill-in.DJ LaBoss wrote:I like the idea of giving them a Rez. We could also have some system of substitutes. Jason, you said you used substitutes in your home campaign - did you have some kind of formalized system for them?
Before the campaign, the team members each created 1 primary character, and 1 backup character who was a level lower. If their primary died and couldn't come back, their backup character would be available to join the team once the group reached a checkpoint/break room or the end of a round...
We could do the same sort of thing by allowing the characters the group did not originally select as backups -- ie, the group drafts PCs 1, 2, 3 and 4 from the original pool. If PC 4 dies, they could replace him with PC 5 or 6 from the original pool. While that seems easy, it'd be more complicated than it appears, since they wouldn't be used to those characters...
I think the rez at a break room would be sufficient.
If it's ok with Joseph, then, let's go with GenCrawl ... or "GenCrawl"DJ LaBoss wrote:IndyCrawl or GenCrawl both work for me.
After I wrap up my two current projects, I'll draft an outline of some of the rooms I've designed so far, and propose a few plot wrinkles that can be sprinkled across the levels or as an overarching GenCrawl tournament theme....
Crypt of the Devil Lich, Dungeon Interludes, The Mask of Death, Adventure Begins, Vault of the Dragon Kings, the Power Gamers Wizard Strategy Guide, The Adventure Continues, Palace in the Wastes and PhoenixCrawl Open
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goodmangames
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Hey guys,
Just chiming in on the title. My favorite Xcrawl module so far is Coney Island Crawl (the one that will be announced soon... cover art is below). The reason is it's so far from a normal D&D module, while still retaining the fantastic things that make D&D great. Necromerica could possibly be confused with a D&D adventure, at least in title, but Coney Island Crawl -- no chance. I'd like to steer the title and theme toward something else that's 100% pure wacky Xcrawl. I'd prefer to avoid a title like GenCrawl, since its title doesn't have a lot of meaning in a retail environment (there are plenty of gamers who have never heard of Gen Con). IndyCrawl is moving in the right direction, since it's both "real" and has a connection to Gen Con without being opaque. An even better idea would be one that's not so artificially a "tournament module" -- something that works with the tournament/Gen Con connection but could also stand on its own. Working on the Indy theme, what about something themed around the Indy 500? Or, playing on the convention theme, do professional Xcrawlers have some sort of industry trade convention every year, where there's a "crawler's crawl" event, just for fun? Those are just ideas, but I think you see what I mean.
It should also have strong potential for cover art that features obvious magic use and an obvious fantasy monster.
Just chiming in on the title. My favorite Xcrawl module so far is Coney Island Crawl (the one that will be announced soon... cover art is below). The reason is it's so far from a normal D&D module, while still retaining the fantastic things that make D&D great. Necromerica could possibly be confused with a D&D adventure, at least in title, but Coney Island Crawl -- no chance. I'd like to steer the title and theme toward something else that's 100% pure wacky Xcrawl. I'd prefer to avoid a title like GenCrawl, since its title doesn't have a lot of meaning in a retail environment (there are plenty of gamers who have never heard of Gen Con). IndyCrawl is moving in the right direction, since it's both "real" and has a connection to Gen Con without being opaque. An even better idea would be one that's not so artificially a "tournament module" -- something that works with the tournament/Gen Con connection but could also stand on its own. Working on the Indy theme, what about something themed around the Indy 500? Or, playing on the convention theme, do professional Xcrawlers have some sort of industry trade convention every year, where there's a "crawler's crawl" event, just for fun? Those are just ideas, but I think you see what I mean.
It should also have strong potential for cover art that features obvious magic use and an obvious fantasy monster.