General SkillDivinationMental Prerequisites legendary in Occultism Frequency three times per day Defence Will
What are you up to? You may attempt to read another creatures mind. As an action, indicate an NPC you are aware of. The GM will roll a secret Occultism check for you vs the targets Will Defense. Critical Success You know the targets actions for the next two turns to the best of the GM ability. Success You know the targets actions for the next turn to the best of the GM ability. Failure You do not know the targets actions. Critical Failure The GM will tell you false information regarding the creatures next turn.
You look into a target’s eye and they freeze in place. Any damage breaks the gaze
Manifestation
roll 1d4: (1) The casters eyes glow with purple light. (2) For the target, the world goes dark except your eyes. (3) Your eyes glow white with a flash. (4)The target cant look away from your eyes.
1
failure, power may not be used again today
2-11
failure
12-13
One target is frozen in place for 1 round
14-17
One target is frozen in place for 1d3 round
18-19
1d3+1 target is frozen in place for 1d3 round
20-23
1d3+1 target is frozen in place for 1d6 round
24-27
1d6+1 target is frozen in place for 2d6 round
28-29
1d6+1 target is frozen in place for 2d8 round
30-31
1d6+1 target is frozen in place for 3d8 round
32+
1d6+1 target is frozen in place until you release them
roll 1d4: (1) Woulds spontaneously close (2) Blood retreats and flesh reknits itself (3)You glow darkly and your wounds are healled (4) people blink and everyone misses it but your body is restored
General Skill Prerequisites legendary in Occultism
You force the spirits to do your bidding. Once per day, you can choose an occult 2nd level spell that is not uncommmon and attempt a DC30 Occultism check. If you succeed, you cast the spell using as many actions as that spell normally takes. You use either your Charisma or Intelligence as the spell casting ability and are considered an expert to determine spell casting attack or save DC.
TL; DR– Miss old school wrestling and RPGS? HERE YOU GO! 100%
Basics– FROM THE TURNBUCKLE! Xcrawl is the crazy spawn of DCC and American Gladiators. Players are crawlers in a world where magic happens, but Emperor Reagan used a DnD game to keep the masses in check. I am not making that up. You quest LIVE on TV for MONEY and PRIZES while dungeon judges or DJs put traps and monsters in your way. Think a much more light hearted version of The Running Man. Let’s look at this.
Core mechanics- Can you play DCC? Then you can play this. If not, can you play DnD 3.5? If not, we’ll teach you in about five minutes. It’s D20 + numbers vs another number as the main mechanic. Solid, fast and fun.
Character classes- Like any other major DCC set, this one features several new classes. We have the standard set of Fighter, rogue, wizard, cleric, but they are much more focused on combat and less outside stuff. The fighter has two spiritual successors with one being all grappling and one being just about bringing pain to monsters. The wizard gets a new class that is all about blasting stuff because Emperor Regean decreed it be (yes really!). This book’s classes are much more combat based, but still have that DCC feel.
Mojo and Fame– DCC has luck where you can spend points to gain stuff, and this game has mojo and luck. Mojo is the favor of the crowd. You do a signature move or do something cool, and you gain mojo. But, mojo isn’t for you-it’s for your friends! You spend mojo points to help a buddy with a roll. It’s all about team work! Fame is what you get as you become more famous. You spend it to be recognized or get stuff out in the real world. Fame is how cool you are.
Ok, now the review.
Mechanics or Crunch– Do you like DCC? That’s going to determine if you like this. Do you want simple 3.5 mechanics with just crazy stuff happening in the mechanics? If you don’t, then this won’t be for you. I love crazy and I love the DCC simplicity, so this is just more of a homerun for me. 5/5
Theme or Fluff– How much do you like 80s wrestling and the movie The Running Man? That’s the theme of the world. I am honestly a bit disappointed that the book isn’t more neon to drive the 80s aesthetic deeper into your mind. But it’s a world where DnD was so popular that the God-King had to have geeks help him maintain social control through Wrestlemanina mixed with GenCon. So, yeah, it’s nuts, but man is it fun. 5/5
Execution– Goodman games makes games that look like you would find them in the zine sections of a bookshop in 1985, but they are built and laid out like they were created in a major New York publishing house. It reads fast with tons of pictures. It’s searchable and hyperlinked, and the book comes with a reference book that I can give to players to help you make that level 1 character on the fly. This is exactly what I want in a game. 5/5
Summary– I love what this book is, but I can promise that no matter how well its done, some of you will hate it. If you need LotR levels of serious in your game night, keep moving. No offense taken or meant, but this is not for you. If you need Traveler or Shadowrun levels of crunch in your games, keep going. You build your character by rolling a bunch of dice and then throwing the characters into a thing called a funnel. Most will die, but your surviving person has a hell of a story! If you like DCC and want some Kentucky Fried Crazy added to the mix, then this is for you. Considering I’m writing this while watching the documentary on American Gladiators and have bored my wife with stories of 1980s wrestlers, this might have been made for me in particular. Give this one a look if the theme and mechanics are up your alley. 100%
Old habits of falling into a group are hard to leave. You gain a +1 status bonus to AC and attack rolls when within 10 feet of another Shirren or insectoid character.
More nature, and times for the one for more spells!
Occult Dilatant Variable actions Feat 7
General Skill Prerequisites master in Occultism
The spirits continue to speak to you. Once per day, you can choose an occult 1st level spell that is not uncommmon and attempt a DC25 Occultism check. If you succeed, you cast the spell using as many actions as that spell normally takes. You use either your Charisma or Intelligence as the spell casting ability and are considered an expert to determine spell casting attack or save DC.
Throat Punch Games 