The Backerkit project for The Gammatastic Voyage!, an adventure for Mutant Crawl Classics RPG, is in progress and can be purchased as a PDF or a super fancy print copy with a free PDF. The deadline to back the project is 30 June 2025.
According to the project page:
Backers in the first 48 hrs will get a bonus PDF called "The Village" which provides a full-blown post-apoc village, complete with map for you to use in this game and others! Late backers can pick this up as an add-on.
The last gaming session I participated in was probably last year as a player in the playtest of a Mutant Crawl Classics RPG adventure via Zoom. Until a week ago, my last in-person gaming session was two years ago when I ran "Temple Siege!" for Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. It is a short adventure by Julian Bernick included in the DCC Day 2021 Adventure Pack. As it states in the beginning, "This adventure is for 5 to 6 1st-level PCs (Some playtesters found that the adventure provided plenty of challenge for 4 to 5 2nd-level PCs as well.)" Well, we had three 2nd level player characters, and we were only halfway through the adventure when the session ended. Two years later (on 31 August 2024, to be precise), we finally met again to complete the adventure. Joe played Billie the Once Risen, formerly Billie the Squire (2nd level warrior), Sarah (my wife) played Francis the Creep (2nd level thief), and Leslie played George the Pupil (2nd level cleric). I re-described the circumstances of the adventure, what they had done, and where they had been, and they gradually recaptured the mood and party dynamics as if we had last played a mere week ago. The band was back! I would love to meet every week, but the schedules of adults are notoriously difficult to coordinate, and I'll consider us lucky if we can meet once or twice a month. It has been left to my discretion to pick the next adventure, so at least I'll have plenty of time to make a good choice and thoroughly prepare. I will be planning a mini-unmodule to lead into the adventure as I think we need more development of the player characters' local community and home bases. Their previous adventures, incidentally, have been Sailors on the Starless Sea, Doom of the Savage King, Frozen in Time, and, as I mentioned, "Temple Siege!"
Meanwhile, I will be running Mutant Crawl Classics RPG weekly for Mary (my mother) and Linnville, starting with the 0 level funnel, "Assault on the Sky-High Tower." I will be giving them eight 0 levels each (generated by the Mutant Crawl Classics 0-Level Party Generator by Purple Sorcerer Games). I have been developing a rich background for their tribe and location, which I hope will lend a feeling of community and shared history to the player characters. I think this is especially important to a far future postapocalyptic setting, which can sometimes be more difficult to visualize and relate to than more popular genres. I know it was one of the factors that dissuaded me from running Gamma World when I was a lad, despite a great desire to do so. Thankfully, I've learned how to surmount that inhibition.
I would very much like to run the new edition of Knave for some friends. I'm not sure who, where, or when, but I would like to try it as soon as possible.
I really need to get back on the phantom steed of running Ghostbusters. I can't remember when our last session was, but I really miss the wacky looseness of it. And I must run Teenagers from Outer Space! Either (or both) of these might be a good project for Halloween.
What games are you running, playing, or planning?
29. Awesome app
The answer to this prompt is The Crawler's Companion (for Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and Mutant Crawl Classics RPG) from Purple Sorcerer Games. I highly recommend both the app and the HTML version.
[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]
20. Amazing adventure
One of the most amazing adventures I've played in the last few years was When Manimals Attack by Tim Snider. It is a Mutant Crawl Classics RPG adventure for 2nd level characters, and I had the privilege of playtesting it with Mr. Snider and one other player via Zoom. My comrade played a Plantient, and I played a Human Rover named Declan (possibly descended from a clone of footballer Declan Rice (or his reincarnation???)). We made a great team despite being shorthanded, and the adventure itself was, per today's topic, amazing.
(I just noticed the Goodman Games site is currently out of stock of the Print + PDF, but here is the link watch: MCC #12: When Manimals Attack—Print + PDF. Meanwhile, it is still available strictly as a PDF: MCC #12: When Manimals Attack—PDF.)
[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]
18. Memorable moment of play
It was like a scene in a movie: The time my Mutant Crawl Classics RPG character Barry Gibb-On (a mutant gibbon Manimal with the ability to throw balls of electricity and who looks exactly like Barry Gibb except when asleep) was crossing a bridge inside a building of the Ancients with a Plantient infant in one hand and a laser rifle in the other and held off an attack by a huge aerial murderbot singlehandedly, enabling all to escape.
[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]
2. Most recently played RPG
The most recent RPG I've played is Mutant Crawl Classics RPG published by Goodman Games. Today, if all goes well, I'll be running the MCC RPG adventure, Assault on the Sky-High Tower. It will be my first time as an MCC RPG judge.
[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2024 specifically), read this.]
In the very near future (possibly next week), I will be running my first Mutant Crawl Classics RPG adventure. I've played a fair amount of it (and have even playtested a few adventures), but I've never run it. It will also be my first experience with MCC RPG in person, as I have previously only played it via Zoom.
Before the funnel begins, I will be implementing the following house rules, optional rules, and acts of whimsy:
At the moment, there are two players for this particular campaign, so I will be letting them run eight 0-level characters each for the funnel. I haven't yet decided whether I will have them choose one character each to level up (and possibly give them some non-player character assistants for support), or let them choose two characters each to level up. Probably the former.
Oh, and the funnel in question will be Assault on the Sky-High Tower from the first printing of the MCC RPG rule book.
The Kickstarter project for Martian Crawl Classics, Tim Snider's alternative setting for Mutant Crawl Classics RPG, is in progress and obtainable for the reasonable price of $5.00 for the PDF and the option to purchase an at-cost, print-on-demand copy. Add-ons include the 0 level funnel Dead in the Water, the 1st level adventure The Desk in Room 8-10, and the 2nd level adventure Phage from Below at $5.00 each for the PDF and the same hard copy option. The deadline to back the project is 24 February 2024.
1. FIRST RPG played (this year)
The first (and only) role-playing game I have played this year is Mutant Crawl Classics RPG. I've been lax in my active gaming this year, and I only have the Lords of Chaos to blame. MCC RPG is a fine game, but there are so many more I wish to run and play. The year is not over, however, and I may yet find Tanelorn.
[For more information on #RPGaDay (or #RPGaDay2023 specifically), read this.]
The Kickstarter project for Phage from Below, Tim Snider's 2nd level adventure for Mutant Crawl Classics RPG, is currently in progress at the low price of $5.00 for the PDF and the option to purchase an at-cost, print-on-demand copy. Add-ons include the 1st level adventure The Desk in Room 8-10 and the 0 level funnel Dead in the Water at $5.00 each for the PDF and the same hard copy option. The deadline to back the project is 15 July 2023.
Overall, I like the streamlined nature of the rules of Mutant Crawl Classics RPG, but sometimes the streamlining erases important details. One such detail is the nature of certain passive mutations. Mutations by their nature are things that stray from the norm. They are abnormal. So, why do some passive mutations have the possibility of yielding results that are indistinguable from the normal non-mutated range? Here, I am referring especially to mutations that have a chance of altering a character's ability scores, such as Heightened Intelligence. Unless the player rolls 20 or higher, the ability score improves by merely +1, +2, or +3. In many cases, the character might not even gain any tangible benefit. If the ability score were 9, for example, a +3 improvement wouldn't even boost it beyond the average range.
I have an alternative.
When rolling passive mutations such as Heightened Agility, Heightened Stamina, Heightened Strength, Heightened Intelligence, Dual Brain, etc., ability increases refer to the ability modifier rather than the ability score. The ability score is then increased to the threshold of that ability modifier.
For example, a mutant, manimal, or plantient with Intelligence 6 (−1) who acquires the Heightened Intelligence result, "The mutant's Intelligence score is increased by +1," now has Intelligence 9 (+0) because 9 is the minimum ability score at which the modifier becomes +0.
Granted, having one's low Intelligence raised to the dizzying heights of average seems at odds with the term Heightened Intelligence, but at least this method offers a guaranteed tangible benefit with each increase.
In Mutant Crawl Classics RPG, there is a rule on page 42 stating that a mutant character may choose to re-roll a passive mutation upon gaining a level and may burn Luck or use glowburn in the process. In practice, this gives a slim chance of improvement made somewhat greater only at the expense of Luck, which does not regenerate for mutants or manimals, or physical abilities (Strength, Agility, or Stamina), which regenerate slowly and probably not in time to prevent a character from suffering severe disadvantages during an adventure. In addition, there is a significant chance that a character's passive mutation will worsen.
The question I ask myself when I think about a rule is: Is this fun? ("Is this fair?" is another question I ask and is often linked to the first.) Is it fun to survive long enough to achieve the next level just to see one's passive mutation devolve or see it improve at the expense of one's general ability to survive? It seems contradictory. I can understand the risk involved in radiation exposure, which might be to the mutant's benefit or detriment, but that risk is part of the adventure itself, not a rule pertaining to levelling up. It wouldn't be as much of an issue if mutants and manimals could at least regenerate Luck even if it were only 1 point per day. For me, this rule is neither fun nor fair.
So, here's my house rule...
Each time a mutated character gains a level, the player may opt to re-roll a passive mutation. If the roll exceeds the current result, the character's passive mutation improves by one step. If the roll is a 1, the passive mutation regresses by one step. Otherwise, the passive mutation remains unchanged. Neither Luck nor glowburn may be used to alter results.
Tim Snider of Savage Afterworld is reminding everyone that the 25th of June is Free RPG Day and that he is running two Mutant Crawl Classics playtests (also free) via Zoom. Read the details here. Be there!
Suppose I wish to incorporate the incompetence spiral of spellburn and glowburn without resorting to the reviled recalculation of modifiers. How would I go about it? It's time to pull out the dice chain...
Whether you burn attribute points normally or use Burn points, each instance of burning causes you to suffer a −1d penalty to all physical actions, Fortitude saves, and Reflex saves until you rest. The penalty is cumulative. For example, if you spellburn twice during a battle, your penalty is −2d until you rest. Rest, in this case, means a cessation of physical activity for at least one hour per instance of burning. Or, to put it another way, the penalty is reduced by 1d per hour of rest.
So, if you like your spellburn or glowburn to reflect physical sacrifice or hardship, but you dislike taking the time to fiddle with a character's established modifiers, just use the dice chain.
Again, this may require some playtesting.
What would I do to improve my enjoyment of Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG and Mutant Crawl Classics RPG (besides using DCC Lankhmar)? I would change spellburn and glowburn. One of things I have always disliked about fluctuating attributes in games that do not utilize dice pools is that it becomes necessary to adjust modifiers and derived attributes (and their modifiers). This slows down the game (if the players even remember to do it) and I hate slowing down the game for the purpose of crunching numbers.
So, what would I do differently? I would create a separate characteristic called Burn, which is calculated by adding Strength, Agility, and Stamina and dividing the sum by 3. If you want to spellburn or glowburn, you spend Burn points, not attribute points. If you fall below 1 Burn, you may continue by directly spending hit points. Hit points thus spent may be regained normally. Burn points are regained at the rate of 1 point per day during which no burning has occurred.
This solves my problem with recalculating modifiers, but retains the significance of the physical attributes and transforms the risk of high intensity burning from an incompetence spiral to actual wounds.
I think this is worth playtesting.
It may sound like the name of a racehorse, but fleeting Luck is a rule from DCC Lankhmar that is so good I shall be using it with all future games of DCC RPG and MCC RPG I run. I was never fully satisfied with the Luck rules in DCC RPG, but fleeting Luck solves the problem I had.
What problem? The problem is threefold.
If the judge awards Luck sparingly, the cost of using Luck is too great to justify unless you are a thief or a halfling. If the judge awards Luck generously, then only those who spend Luck will ever benefit from it, and those whose starting Luck is low will not be easily persuaded to spend what little they have when Luck may be all that saves them when it comes to "rolling the body."
I think the problem could have been avoided by separating Luck from other ability scores in the first place. Luck isn't an "ability." It's just something you have. It ought to be fluid, with no upper limit, and it ought to be spent freely to a point. But that issue is moot. Luck is entrenched as an ability.
Luckily... DCC Lankhmar introduces the concept of fleeting Luck, which is a compromise between Luck as a mostly static ability and Luck as a fluid resource. To summarize, player characters have the traditional Luck ability, but they also start with 1 point of fleeting Luck. Fleeting Luck is gained far more easily and often, but if anyone in the party rolls a 1 during an attack, spell check, or ability check, then everyone in the party loses all of their fleeting Luck, which must be gained anew. Every player character starts each new adventure with 1 point of fleeting Luck as it cannot be saved.
This makes Luck far more interesting to use. It still carries risk, but it also makes it worth the risk. It also enables the player characters cursed with low Luck scores to take riskier actions when necessary without hobbling them for the rest of their adventuring careers.
So, fleeting Luck will be standard in my games from now on, but I do have another alternative, which I may or may not use, but I'll save it for a future article.
