CC25 Character 2: The Ivy League Kid (XCrawl Classics)

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. You can find new characters as they're created here.

Character 2: XCrawl Classics

My next character is a try at the brand new XCrawl Classics RPG (XCC) from Goodman Games. I’ve been a big fan of DCC since it was first published. I’ve also been a fan of XCC designer Brendan LaSalle since I got to play in a DCC game he was running at GaryCon a number of years ago.

If you’re not familiar with XCC, it’s set in a world where dungeon crawling is a competitive sport, broadcast via magical means to entertain the masses in a version of modern America based on the Roman Empire. Think Smash TV / The Hunger Games meets D&D. Every dungeon is a literal competition designed by a Dungeon Judge (DJ). There are sponsorships, character fame, and pro-wrestling finishing moves.

The whole thing is ridiculous in the best way possible.

Level Zero

Traditionally, a new DCC character begins as a level 0 nobody. Each player runs 4 or so of these low-level characters in a deadly kind of adventure called “a funnel”, with surviving characters advancing to level 1at the end of the funnel. For this exercise, I thought it would be more fun to roll up a level 1 character. If you’re curious, though, I did start Johnny out at level 0. His randomly rolled occupation was “Collegiate, Library Assistant”, which is what inspired me to give him a Harvard gimmick

The Character: “The Ivy League Kid” Johnny Worth

Johnny Worth is perhaps the most famous collegiate wrestler from the Ivy League. Which, admittedly, is a pretty niche group. A good (but not great) wrestler, an adequate student, and a generally likeable but forgettable person, Johnny found himself blending in with the crowd at Harvard. Following his sophomore year, Johnny decided to take a “gap year” and throw his hat in the world of XCrawl.

Where Johnny went largely unnoticed among his college peers, he absolutely stands out in XCrawl. He’s an Ivy League blue-chipper among the showy and violent world of competitive dungeon crawling, and he plays this role up for the fans. So far, he’s done well in the handful of Division III events where he’s competed. However, Johnny’s parents’ patience (and willingness to support him) are starting to wear thin. He’s desperate to earn some real fame, leave Harvard behind, and prove himself a true XCrawler.

Click to Embiggen

Notes

One of the steps of character creation is to “Decide which actor will be playing your character in the movie they make of your adventure.” Astute readers may notice that I chose former WWE wrestler (and CTE awareness advocate) Chris Nowinski. Johhny Worth is (ahem) heavily inspired by Chris’ pro wrestling gimmick.

CC25 Character 1: Frank Malone (Mini Six)

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. You can find new characters as they're created here.

Character 1: Mini Six

My first character is for the Mini Six RPG (Bare Bones Edition) from AntiPaladin Games. Mini Six comes up now and then as a suggestion for a quick and simple RPG that still delivers a certain level of mechanical crunch. It’s a streamlined, simplified version of the OpenD6 system, which is itself an IP-neutral version of the old West End Games Star Wars RPG.

I’ve played a bit of the Star Wars RPG here and there over the years. The longest run was a short campaign I played in back with the Food Court Gaming Crew in South Korea. While it never really stuck with me personally, I know at least two gamer friends who absolutely swear by West End Games d6.

Setting: Duskhollow P.D.

For this character, I had a particular setting in mind: Duskhollow P.D. from the book Odd Jobs by MacGuffin & Co. Duskhollow is a sort of supernatural noir setting that exists outside of any specific time or place. The players are police investigators in a weird city where it’s always raining, technology is a mix of modern and mid-20^th century, and everyone remains skeptical of the supernatural…even though most of the crimes are supernatural. I’m on the hunt for a system to run a short Duskhollow campaign at some point in the theoretical future.

The Character: Frank Malone

There are million stories in this city, and Frank has seen them all. He never wanted to become a cop. In fact, he can’t exactly remember how he got this job to begin with. But he certainly remembers all the other poor schlubs who have walked this lonely, rain-soaked beat alongside him. He remembers their faces, if not their names. Wide-eyed rookies, hardened beat cops, and everything in between. And every single one of those cops ended up the same: chewed up and spit out by this job. This bloody, grimy, gin-soaked ruin of a job.

Every cop, that is, except Frank. While the years have not been easy on Frank, they have left him tough. He’s developed a thick skin against the very worst the city has to offer. If it’s made Frank jaded and detached from his fellow humans, that’s just the price of trying to keep law and order in a place where the shadows are thicker than the daylight and every smile hides a knife.

GAME STATS

FRANK MALONE (Mini Six)

Might 2D+1
• Fisticuffs 3D
• Stamina 3D+1

Agility 2D

Wit 3D+1
• Investigation 4D

Charm 3D+1
• Contacts 4D
• Detect Lies 5D
• Intimidate 4D+1
• Streetwise 4D

Perks & Complications: Favors, Too Old for This

Static Defenses
Block: 9
Dodge: 6
Parry: 6
Soak: 7

Gear
Trench coat, cuffs, a reliable wristwatch.

Weapons
.38 Special Revolver (3D+2)

Notes
Too Old for This: You’ve been at this a long time, and you’re starting to physically break down. Unexpected physical activity (a chase, a friendly witness throwing a sudden punch, etc.) might give a -1D penalty (GM’s discretion). When this happens, you earn 1 CP.

31 Day Character Challenge (2025)

For 2025, I’m participating in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. The idea is to create one RPG character per day for each day in January, for a total of 31 characters. There aren’t really a lot of rules or restrictions beyond that.

I don’t have a really strong plan going into this challenge as far as what sorts of characters I’ll make, or even what RPG systems I'll use. I’m just planning to see where inspiration leads me each day. Making a character is a good way to learn the basics of an RPG, and goodness knows I have a lot of RPG books I’d just love to have an excuse to crack open.

Characters

January 1: Frank Malone (Mini Six)
January 2: "The Ivy League Kid" Johnny Worth (XCrawl Classics)
January 3: Oliver (Mausritter)
January 4: Dr. Milton T. Blair (Call of Cthulhu)
January 5: Finndorr Silverfife (Dragonbane)
January 6: Lucy Phillips (Classic Traveller)
January 7: Osmond Wyndhame (Mork Borg)
January 8: Geldin Goldvine (Far Away Land)
January 9: Nara Bruun (Cypher RPG)
January 10: T.J. Blair (Mothership)
January 11 and January 12: Songor and Siff (DCC Lankhmar)
January 13: Ivor Belgard (AD&D 2E)
January 14: Umlin Belgard (AD&D 2E)
January 15: Gamah Belgard (AD&D 2E)
January 16: Rebus Febbleboots (AD&D 2E)
January 17: Findemir (The One Ring RPG)
January 18:
January 19:
January 20:
January 21:
January 22:
January 23:
January 24:
January 25:
January 26: The White Owl (Savage Worlds)
January 27:
January 28:
January 29:
January 30:
January 31:

Simple Gambling Rules

Gambling Rules

(Adopted from Knave 2E)

I love the gambling rules that Ben Milton cooked up for Knave 2E. However, I wanted to give them just a little more depth. I’ve added rules for handling characters who are skilled at gambling (card sharps, riverboat gamblers, and the like) as well as cheating.

Basic Rules of Gambling

Know when to roll 'em...

The player wagers an amount of money (up to the house limit). The House (GM) rolls 1d6.

The player then decides to either bow out (losing half their wager) or try to roll 1d6 and beat the House’s roll.

If the player rolls and succeeds, they win an amount equal to their wager. If they roll equal to or less than the House’s roll, the player loses their wager.

Gambling Skill

A skilled gambler (based on a feat or similar mechanic) has a slightly better chance of beating the house. When rolling, the player rolls 1d4 in addition to the normal 1d6.

If either of these dice rolls are greater than the House’s roll, the player wins an amount equal to their wager.

Cheating (Optional)

The GM might consider letting a character cheat. A cheating character may re-roll their d6 immediately after rolling it (and comparing it to the House’s roll). A cheater may reroll once per wager.

However, if the re-roll exactly matches the House’s roll, the character has been caught cheating!

Note: You might allow a cheater a Saving Throw, Dexterity check, or similar means of evading detection once caught.

Probability

If my simple simulations are correct, player’s have about a 42% chance to win each wager (assuming they always roll against the House). These odds are similar to the odds of winning a hand of Blackjack.

Gambling skill improves a player’s chances of winning to about 48%. This feels about right for a professional gambler. Odds are still in the favor of the House, but not by much.

Cheating gives the player a 58% chance of winning each hand. However, they have a 16% chance of getting caught each time they cheat. Note that this isn’t completely accurate, as no one player would cheat if the House rolls a 6 (since the best they could hope for is getting caught). I’m not especially motivated to calculate the actual odds at this moment, but I might do so if I ever revisit and expand these rules.

Simple Encumbrance for OSR

I'm working on a set of simple encumbrance rules that can work with relative ease with any version of TSR D&D or D&D retro clone. The following system owes a great deal to a bunch of "slot-based" encumbrance systems that other designers have created. It's based primarily on Ben Milton's Knave and an idea I took from Kevin Crawford's Worlds Without Number. The version presented below was written specifically for Swords & Wizardry Complete Revised. If you're adapting it for a different version of D&D, you might get slightly different results depending on how your rules handle "to-hit bonuses" for Strength.

Item-Based Encumbrance

An adventurer can only carry a limited amount of equipment, weapons, and treasure before becoming weighted down. Rather than track the actual weight of the various pieces of gear a character is carrying, this system counts the total number of items and uses that to measure encumbrance.

For rules purposes, an item is an abstraction representing an object that could be easily carried in one hand, generally no longer than a common sword and no heavier than about 5-10 pounds. Heavier objects, two-handed weapons, or very bulky or awkward objects count as two items.

Small objects that are generally sold as a bundle (arrows, caltrops, torches, etc.) count as one item per bundle. Very small objects don’t count toward encumbrance except in extraordinary quantities. The clothing and jewelry a character is wearing doesn’t usually count toward encumbrance, but worn armor does.

Treasure also counts toward encumbrance. Treat every 1,000 coins or gems as 1 item (round down, so any bundle of fewer than 1,000 coins doesn’t count).

Maximum Items Carried

A character can carry 5 + “to-hit modifier” ready items and 10 + “to-hit modifier” stowed items.

Ready Items

Ready items represent equipment commonly carried in a character’s hands, on their belts, and in other easily accessible locations. These include armor worn, sheathed weapons, etc. A character can usually access a readied item without taking any extra time during a combat round. Each character can carry up to 5 readied items, plus or minus the “to-hit modifier” determined by their Strength.

Stowed Items

Stowed items are any items tucked away in backpacks, bundled and stored in sacks, and otherwise carried with an eye toward transportability over quick access. It takes at least one round to retrieve a stowed item (and could take longer at the GM’s discretion). A character can carry up to 10 stowed items, plus or minus their “to-hit modifier”. Although the system is somewhat abstract, the GM might require a player to declare where these items are stored: a backpack, a sack, etc.

Overburdened

A character who carries more than their maximum allotment of items becomes overburdened. An overburdened character suffers a -5 penalty to attack rolls, suffers a 2 point penalty to AC, and loses any Dexterity and shield bonus to AC. They generally cannot dodge traps and other hazards, automatically failing saving throws that require mobility.

GM Notes

Separating a character’s carried equipment into ready and stowed items gives the referee a number of options during play. A character who loses access to their backpack might also lose access to their stowed equipment. Getting blasted with a fireball might carry the possibility of damaging ready items. In a particularly chaotic combat, perhaps the player must roll under their Intelligence each round in order to retrieve a stowed item. 

Finally, remember that this system is intentionally abstract. Feel free to apply the effects of being overburdened to any character lugging a very heavy object (a large rock or an anvil for example), regardless of how many items he or she is carrying.

Analysis

The following breakdown illustrates how many items a character of a given Strength score can carry, both ready and stowed.