No.

7
Digital Edition
Credits!
Written by
Kirin Robinson, www.oldschoolhack.net
Thom Hall, "skars"
Sean Ellis, www.bacchus-d.com
Jeffrey Tadlock, www.irontavern.com
Jürgen Mayer, madmoses@gmail.com
Paul Wolfe, www.mysticbull.com
Designed and Published by
Reverend Dak
Edited by
Brad Littman
Cover Art by
bygrinstow, appendixm.blogspot.com
Additional Art by
Greg Allen, www.epicrealitygraphics.com
Jason Adams, jasonjadams@gmail.com
Jason Sholtis, alligatorking.blogspot.com
IHM, maximilian.sondermann@gmail.com
bygrinstow, appendixm.blogspot.com

This product is based on the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game,
published by Goodman Games. This product is published under license.
Dungeon Crawl Classics and DCC RPG are trademarks of Goodman
Games. All rights reserved. For additional information, visit
www.goodman-games.com or contact info@goodman-games.com
 ART! or
SCIENCE ?
That is the question when it comes to campaign refereeing. The Judge’s
job is, without a doubt, tricky. The goal of this issue was to bring some
tips, tricks and traps to make that work easier. Some of these articles
started as forum questions about how to do this or that. This issue is
focused on that, helping Judges. We start off with some tips by Kirin
Robinson on how to run mazes and labyrinths without them getting
drawn-out and boring. Then we have some magical fountains to stock
your dungeons, written by Thom Hall, who hacked the fountains from
the open sourced game Nethack, to be used with DCC RPG! Sean Ellis
returns with his series of taking standard monsters and making them
something new, this time it’s the Ogre. Jeffrey Tadlock brings us traps,
and makes them even more dangerous by giving them a Crit Table!
Then we have a really awesome example on how to make magic items
exciting, but dangerous, with the Shadowsword of Ith-Narmant by
Jürgen Mayer. Finally, we have some tips by Paul Wolfe on how to use
character occupations to justify skill checks with a d20 instead of the
measly d10.
Tricky stuff, I tell you.

Reverend Dak
(Dungeon) Master in Chief

Correspondence, Concerns and/or Criticism? Contact!

Crawl! Fanzine
2121 N SAN FERNANDO RD #7
LOS ANGELES, CA 90065
or email: crawl@straycouches.com
4
 Contents!
Lost in Endless Corridors 6
by Kirin Robinson
Roguelike Fountains 9
by Thom Hall
Consider the Ogre 13
by Sean Ellis
Crit Table T: Traps 17
by Jeffrey Tadlock
Shadowsword of Ith-Narmant 22
by Jürgen Mayer
My Gongfarmer Can’t Do Sh*t 26
by Paul Wolfe

Subscriptions!
Send $23.70 US ($29.70 CAN, $35.70 Overseas) for a 6-Issue subscription to the
above address. Or visit www.crawlfanzine.com to purchase online. Individual
Issues at $3.95 US ($4.95 CAN, $5.95 Overseas) or $3.95 at your FLGS. Contact
crawl@straycouches.com for other arrangements.

Submissions!
Original submissions are welcome. Everything that gets published will belong to
the author, artist and creator. For art submissions, send a link to some samples.
We prefer old-school D&D style black and white line-art with hatching or
halftone. Smaller, incidental fantasy themed pieces are always needed. If you
have a brilliant idea or proposal, we want to see it, but make sure you use a
short and informative subject line. Include a quick blurb or sample text in the
email. Don't send attachments until requested. All contributors will get a free
print copy of the zine. Email crawl@straycouches.com.
5
Art by Greg Allen

Running Mazes by Kirin Robinson

In adding diversity to different parts of your dungeon, you may want to
consider the fabled Maze. From Theseus questing to slay the Minotaur
to Jennifer Connelly looking for her baby brother; the idea of a part of a
dungeon primarily made up of an endless-seeming conglomeration of
corridors designed to befuddle and despair has some appeal in terms of
bringing a new sense of threat to your players: being trapped and
hopelessly lost. The threat becomes less one of deadly horrors (though
these can still very much exist in a maze) to one of more existential
doom: trapped in a place of possibly no escape - or worse, of a place
where escape exists but one simply can’t find it.
Becoming trapped is usually simply a matter of making a wrong turn.
Unless PCs take precautions, the way they came may perhaps change, or
attempts to retrace their mapped route may suddenly yield
incomprehensible results. Although smart player forethought could
defeat a maze before it starts.
6
The actual playing of being lost in a maze is pretty difficult to make not
boring. It’s a challenge of finding the right balance between wanting to
foster a sense of growing frustration and dread against the potentially
annoying or even boring repetition of escape denial; and the usual play
of dungeoncrawl exploration (we go right, go left, go down the stairs,
etc) can start to feel like you’re just taking away the important choices
that make dungeons an interesting experience of cause and effect
(every route leads to being lost, or the route that leads out is essentially
random).
That loss of agency, a sense of “whatever we try, we’re still lost, we’re
gonna die in here” can be both a pro and a con and can easily frustrate
players in a bad way rather than concern players in a good way.
Wanting to get that thrill while still offering a potential way out and an
ultimate sense that the way out is figure-outable is a tricky one. Hard
gametime-based time limits can certainly help quicken that sense of
growing worry, something like (adjust depending on player’s resources
or game pacing needs):
In half an hour of gametime the PCs run out of light fuel.
In 45 minutes of gametime the PCs begin feeling weak from
thirst.
After an hour of gametime despair sets in enough that PCs have
to make saving throws to keep going on.
In my opinion, for a lot of groups it’s probably better to eventually
handwave to a point of “every direction you explore is seemingly a
dead end or endless,” because that’s what a maze effectively means.
How then, to give players the opportunity to solve the maze?
One possible way is to make escape from the maze clue-based rather
than exploration-based. Whether this is just an abstraction of sleuthful
exploration or an actual defeating of a magical effect can be up to you.
You can start by coming up with a resolving fact that will solve the
maze: Something as simple as “Alternate between the skull-decorated
doorways and the stairs marked by a claw” or even something magical
like “circle the fountain five times and the exit will be revealed”. Some
backstory of the dungeon may apply: theoretically the creators designed
the maze so they would be able to get through if they knew the right
way.
7
Then create a table of random events/occurrences/discoveries, some of
which relate to the resolving solution, some of which might be red
herrings, some of which are just flavor, some which might even be
maze-specific wandering monsters.
1. A door decorated by a skull, seemingly looking in a certain
direction.
2. A chamber with multiple exits, with a stained and dry
fountain mocking your thirst.
3. Some scraps of paper with sketched and crossed out
mappings, a symbol of the fountain has been circled.
4. A room with the number five carved repeatedly in the wall.
5. A skeleton slumped against the wall, wearing the remnants of
eaten shoes.
6. .
7. ...
8. etc.
The point is to both keep the maze interesting and to also stimulate
discussion and thinking among the players as the real-time clock is
ticking. Clues can be metered out dependent on the players moving on
to explore further or not, or other events (hearing something in the
distance, whatever). If they manage to piece together the resolving
solution, they escape the maze (insert treasure here if you feel it’s
deserved); and if they don’t, they are lost forever (though they could
always turn up later crazed and desperate as NPCs).
Whatever happens the maze should never feel arbitrary.
Either way, the players will be either proud that they figured the maze
out, or aware that there was a solution that they simply couldn’t put
together, and it doesn’t feel arbitrary.

8
By Thom Hall
I am a huge fan of a lineage of computer adventure games often called,
Roguelike. Rogue was originally written by a friend and past coworker of mine
named Michael Toy. His friend Glen Wichman helped Michael on Rogue during
his time spent as a student in Santa Cruz and later at UC Berkeley he
collaborated with Ken Arnold. This was around 1980.
The messages and varied effects from fountains within Rogue and later games
like Nethack are thematic and entertaining! Many hackers have died at the
hands of poisonous water moccasins and rusted their swords. Why not bring
this level of fun to your DCC RPG game?
Here are some rules founded in the (open) source code for Nethack. As some of
the messages are influenced directly from the source code, I want to be sure
and credit the long line of Nethack “dev team” members and Michael Toy for
their creativity. Thanks for many late nights of turn based distraction while
working as a UNIX SysAdmin in the epicenter of a burgeoning industry.
So without further ado let the cool draught refresh you and enjoy the tables.
Fountains
Fountains come in many different shapes and sizes. In your world of the weird
and fantastic the decision is left completely up to you how you would like to
describe the pool the party has come upon. Then use the following tables to
help determine a random effect.
Table a (as in soldier ants, d20)
First determine if the fountain has magical
properties or not, and that is done simply by Roll Magical?
rolling on Table a; Players are encouraged to 1-17 Non-Magical
spend their luck to improve their chances: 18-20 Magical
Quaffing
If the fountain is magical, roll on Table b and apply the result. Regardless of the
result applied, the fountain will not dry up.

9
Quaffing from a Non-Magical fountain, roll on Table c and apply the result.
Regardless of the result applied, the fountain will dry up on a d3 roll of a ‘1’.
When reading the results from the following table, multiple messages are
provided in some cases to better tailor the action to the current PC state. Those
states will be noted (in parenthesis).
Magic Fountains
Table b (as in acid blob, d10):

Roll Effect Message

1-4 Your hunger is reduced slightly "The cool draught
and d3 HP are restored. refreshes you."
5-8 Your Personality attribute is "Wow! This makes
increased by 1 and all your HP you feel great!"
are restored to their
maximum.
9-10 One attribute is increased by "A wisp of vapor
1; if your Luck modifier is 2 or escapes the
higher, this last effect will fountain..."
increase all your attributes by
1; After this effect, the
fountain is no longer magical.

Non-Magic Fountains
Table c (as in cockatrice, d30):

Roll Effect Message

1-9 Your hunger is reduced "The cool draught
slightly. refreshes you."
10-17 No effect "This tepid water
is tasteless."
18 Your Personality score is "You feel self-
increased by 1 if you have a knowledgeable..."
positive Luck modifier and "The feeling
reduced by 1 if your Luck subsides..."
modifier is negative.
19 You vomit and your hunger is "The water is foul!
increased. You gag and
vomit."
20 You lose d10 HP and "The water is
temporarily lose d4+2 STR. (No contaminated!"
effect if poison resistant.)
21 You lose d3 HP and hallucinate "Perhaps it is
for d20 turns. (If poison runoff from the
resistant, lose only 1 HP, you nearby slime
are no longer hungry and farm."
hallucinate for only d5 turns.)

10
Roll Effect Message
22 d5+1 water moccasins "An endless stream of
are created. snakes pour forth!"
Water Moccasin: Init:+6;
Attack Bite +3 (d4 Blind-"You hear something
damage + poison); AC hissing!"
12; HD 1d6; Move 30 or
Swim 40; Act 1d20; SP
poison DC14 FORT save
or die in d6 rounds;
SV Fort +2, Ref +0, Will
+0; AL N.
23 A water demon is "You unleash a water
summoned. It has a demon!"
chance of being
hostile (on a d10 roll Blind-"You feel the presence
of 3-8) (100% if you of evil."
have the 'Amulet of
Yendor'); if peaceful, Demon is peaceful-"Grateful
he'll grant one wish for his release, he grants
and then vanish. you a wish!"
Summoning Failed-"The
fountain bubbles furiously
for a moment, then calms."
24 A water nymph is "You attract a water
summoned - She will nymph!"
seduce the closest
member of the party Blind-"You hear a seductive
and steal one item at voice."
random and then
teleport away. No save Water nymphs are extinct-"A
allowed. large bubble rises to the
surface and pops."
Blind and water nymphs are
extinct- "You hear a loud
pop."
25 Roll a d5 for Each "This water's no good!"
item in your
inventory, on a roll
of a '1' it's cursed
outright; your hunger
is increased and your
constitution drops one
point until you rest.
26 You gain the ability "You see an image of
to see invisible and someone stalking you. But it
your Personality is disappears."
temporarily increased
by 1 (until the next Blind and invisible-"You feel
day). transparent." (blind,
invisible)
Blind, not invisible-"You feel
very self-conscious. Then it
passes."

11
 Roll Effect Message
27 You briefly see "You sense the presence of
monsters on this monsters."
dungeon level and
your Personality is No monsters, beginner, not
increased by 1 (until hallucinating-"You have a
the next day). If no strange feeling for a
monsters on the level moment, then it passes."
(other than you), no
visible effect. No monsters, beginner,
hallucinating-"You have a
normal feeling for a
moment, then it passes."
No monsters, not
hallucinating-"You feel
threatened."
No monsters, hallucinating-
"You get the heebie jeebies.
28 You find a random "You spot a gem in the
valuable gem or piece sparkling waters!"
of worthless glass and
your Personality is
increased by 1 (until Blind-"You feel a gem here!"
the next day). If you
have already acquired
gems or gold from
this fountain, a nymph
is summoned instead
(as above).
29 Monsters on the level "This water gives you bad
flee you for a while. breath!"
30 A number of deep Pool created-"Water gushes
puddles and pools may forth from the overflowing
be created in your fountain!"
vicinity. (Never two
orthogonally adjacent, No pools created-"Your
never on your square, thirst is quenched."
the more likely the
closer to you.) Be
aware that any
precious items laying
near you may end up
at the bottom of a
pool! Items that get
wet fade and dilute.

Dungeon Messages
The following messages all indicate there is a fountain somewhere on the level:
"You hear bubbling water."
"You hear water falling on coins."
"You hear the splashing of a naiad."
"You hear a soda fountain!" (If character is hallucinating)
"You hear the ravings of a madman cursing monsters with
wands. "

12
As Judges, we have
the opportunity to
surprise players
and remind them
of gaming in a
simpler time.
Before RPGs,
monster
descriptions were
contradictory,
strange, and more
likely to depend on
an author's need to
tell a story than a
judge's need to offer
balanced
encounters.
Monsters should
never feel generic.
They are magic,
otherworldly things.
This column will re-
consider typical
monsters in order to
make them fresh and
mysterious... the way they
were to us before we

Consider
memorized our first Monster Art by Jason Adams
Manual.

The Ogre A Monster Column by Sean Ellis

13
 “What are generally referred to as trolls are more
properly ogres -- intermediate creatures between men
and giants.” - Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren, Chainmail
In folk traditions, trolls are not rubbery, long-nosed regeneration machines.
They are large, brutish, child eating beasts that grow rutabagas in their filthy
hair. Any Norse, Scandinavian, or Welsh trolls of which you read are more
properly the Ogres of the Brahman, Buddhist, and Native American
mythologies.
In the early times, cosmic power was awaiting it's official assignment. Larger
beings, born of rock, thought to challenge the Gods for power. At certain points
in the struggle they would have won, too, if not for the involvement of the
smaller races of Dwarves and Elves who ran to the aid of their deities. Failing to
secure this power, the races of Giant fell to infighting. Gods took the
opportunity to cast these Giants out and scatter them into warring tribes of
disparate beasts (Hill, Stone, Frost, Fire, Cloud and Storm Giants, the various
Ogres described below, and the nations of man) so they would never rise up
again. This gave the world the wide selection of Giants, as described in DCC
RPG, but also the many races of Ogres.
Ogres as described in the DCC RPG are the redneck cousins of High Ogres. High
Ogres possessed the ability to shape-shift, something they abused immediately
to grow as large as gods. Nowadays, Ogres can be human sized, and also grow
as tall as twelve feet (1d7 + 5 feet) tall. Physical appearance varies widely
amongst the solitary Ogres and their tiny, isolated societies that exist. Their
form is is also very dependent on any given Ogre's remaining shape changing
abilities. On the whole Ogres are coarse, dominant, and chaotic with an
obsession for stealing human babies as meals or to raise as novelties, a revenge
for mankind's role in the failure to overthrow the gods.
Some Ogres are repentant. They see the flourishing of man in the aftermath of
the Gods War, and they want to join in. Some establish themselves as protectors
of villages or individual homesteads, and others (those with a less repulsive
visage or who are able to shape shift) marry into human families. Those that
ingratiate themselves into human culture are still easily spotted. Whether
exceptionally ugly or beauteous, Ogres have a sense of fashion and behavior
that harkens back thousands of years to an era not even faintly remembered by
man. Clothes and etiquette of such specimens are usually bizarre and archaic.
Two magics war within all Ogre's biology: the power of their High Ogre
heritage, and the lingering effects of the godly curse. This alchemy creates
Ogres with sometimes subtle to drastic results. The giant humanoid with red
hands and the thin beast with a bird's beak and eyes on his instep are both
Ogres.
14
Roll on the following charts for an appearance alteration, a power and a
weakness. For the appearance chart, start by rolling a d8 to determine the body
part affected, then roll on the next chart to see the alteration. Roll a d8 to select
a power, then re-roll for a weakness. Find a way to connect the power with the
alteration. It is perfectly logical for an Ogre to use his long, dirty hair to tangle
his enemies or absorb attacks. Weaknesses are listed not as role playing
suggestions, but as ways to defeat the ogre in addition to or instead of engaging
in combat. Sometimes some fast-talk or preaching can save a life faster than a
sword arm.

Appearance:
Roll Body Part Alteration
1 Head Multiple body parts (roll a d8 to determine
number. If an eight is rolled, continue rolling
until you get a number other than eight. Add
up all numbers rolled).
2 Arms Animal like (1 : Bird. 2: Hyena. 3: Wasp. 4:
Elephant. 5: Ox. 6: Horse. 7: Snake.
8: Elephant).
3 Torso Human like (1 : Beautiful human. 2: Attractive,
but square shaped. 3: Stretched to incorrect
proportions. 4: Ugly. 5: Appearance is that of a
human child).
4 Legs Covered in hair
5 Tail Covered in moss or dirty enough to grow small
(roll on “Animal plants.
like”alteration)
6 Ogre possesses Growing in wrong place (Re-roll on first table
enormous ears using a d4, ignoring a result if you roll the same
and/or nose. Do location. Place some or all of the first body
not roll on next part at the location of the second. i.e. a head
table. could grow out of the creature's leg, or the eyes
could grow off of a foot.)
7 Re-roll twice Strange color (1 : Red. 2: Blue. 3: Green)
8 Nothing special Covered in spikes, dentaderm, or bone
outgrowth.

15
Roll Power Weakness
1 D4 AC bonus. Amazingly vain.
2 Illusionary shape change or Exposure to sunlight turns ogre
invisibility 3X per day. to stone.
3 Flight 3X a day. Obsessively hungry for man
flesh.
4 Spells as per NPC magician. Easily converted to a peaceful
religion.
5 Sickening smell or disease. Blindly tyrannical.
Opponent takes -1 to all rolls
while in melee range.
6 Genius intellect. Embarrassingly gullible.
7 +1 die dmg. Attention deficit.
8 Nothing Special Nothing Special

Any Ogres receiving a “nothing special” result may appear as the Ogre in DCC
RPG, but with perhaps a less stupid look in their eyes and a better ability to
dress. A human child stolen and raised from birth (known as a “Changeling,”
often exchanged for a baby Ogre) may also roll on the above tables on his 7th
birthday.
Fallen High Ogre: Init +2; Atk slam +5 melee (1d6+6) or as weapon +5 melee, +6
dam; AC 16; HD 4d8+4; MV 20'; Act 1d20; SP as per chart, plus roll 3d6 for Int; SV
Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +1; AL C.

For more ofthis series by Sean Ellis, check out:

Consider the Greenskins: Goblins, Hobs and Orks - Crawl! #5
Consider the Kobolds - Crawl! #3

16
CriticAL
Table T:
Traps
Traps. The bane of players
everywhere. Walking down the
dungeon hall, those stairs that lead
down to the lower levels of the
dungeon where the treasures lie, or
simply the poison needle protecting
the lock on the treasure chest. Traps
catch their characters when they least
expect it. Traps are what keeps
players on their toes as they explore
their environment.
This article contains six traps ready
for placement into your game. Use Art by Jason Sholtis
17
these traps as a springboard to come up with your own devious traps. There is
something quite satisfying as a judge when an intricate trap you designed
inflicts damage upon the PCs you run an adventure for.
The traps below all use attack rolls to determine their success. These are all
meant to be used in conjunction with the accompanying Critical Trap Table,
allowing you to unleash even more random lethality upon your PCs!
Pit Trap, Spiked: find/disable trap DC 12; Atk +3, dmg 1d4 per spike.
A 10' pit is concealed with a faux stone cover . PCs that do not find the trap must
make a DC 12 Reflex save or fall into the trap for 1d6 damage. The pit has
numerous spikes at the bottom. 1d4 spikes could impale the falling character.
Poison Needle Lock: pick lock, DC 16; find/disable trap DC 13; Atk +6,
dmg 1d4 plus poison: DC 14 Fort save or -1d4 Stamina.
An intricate lock that is also protected by a poisoned needle. A failed pick lock
or disable trap check will trigger the needle.
Scythe Hall: find/disable trap DC 18; Atk +8, dmg 1d12.
Four slender scythe blades are recessed in the ceiling of this hall in 5' intervals
(find DC 20). A portion of the floor under the fourth scythe is weighted in a
manner to cause all four scythes to swing downwards at the same time. Failure
to find the trap or disable it triggers the trap, each scythe targeting the character
in that square.
Falling Block: find/disable DC 15; Atk +15, dmg 4d6.
A large stone block is rigged above the doorway of a closed door. Opening the
door without finding the hidden lever triggers the trap. The large block falls
from the ceiling potentially crushing the character opening the door.
Poison Arrow Trap, Repeating: find/disable DC 16; Atk +6, additional
+4 if standing in doorway, dmg 1d6 plus poison: DC 13 Fort Save or -1d3
Stamina.
Failure to find or disable this trap results in one arrow being fired every round
for 6 rounds.

18
Critical Trap Table Attack Crit Die/
Traps with attack rolls were in need of a table to Modifier Table
roll on for critical hits. From this rose the Critical +0, +1 1 d4/T
Hit Trap Table referenced below, Crit Table T: +2, +3 1 d6/T
Traps. The die to roll on the table depends on the
attack modifier. A PC’s Luck modifier alters a trap’s +4, +5 1 d8/T
critical hit. A positive Luck modifier reduces the +6, +7 1 d1 0/T
roll, a negative Luck modifier increases the roll. +8, +9 1 d1 2/T
Entries listed as All Types covers bludgeoning, +1 0, +1 1 1 d1 4/T
piercing, slashing, and poison traps with an attack +1 2, +1 3 1 d1 6/T
roll. Damaging entries cover bludgeoning, piercing, +1 4, +1 5 1 d20/T
and slashing. Poison entries cover poison. Effect
lists the extra damage or result of the critical hit. +1 6, +1 7 1 d24/T
+1 8 1 d30/T
Crit Table T: Traps or higher

Roll Result
1 or less All Types - Trap sprung nearly perfectly!
Effect - Add 1 d3 damage.
2 All Types - The trap leaves the PC with blurry vision.
Effect - +1 d3 damage, -1 to Reflex Saves for 6 hours.
3 Damaging - Blow causes immediate swelling.
Poison - Causes an allergic reaction, slows reflexes.
Effect - +1 d3 damage, -1 to Reflex Saves for 6 hours.
- The trap scores a solid hit, penetrating deep
into the PC's body.
Effect - +1 d6 damage.
- The blow strikes a particularly vulnerable
area. Poison - The poison burns as it enters the PC's body!
Effect - +1 d7 damage.
- The blow from the trap knocks the wind out of
the PC, cracking ribs.
Poison - Poison directly affects lungs, reducing capacity.
Effect - +1 d6 damage, 1 d2 temporary Stamina damage
until healed.

19
Roll Result
7 All Types - The trap causes severe convulsions, leaving the
victim exhausted.
Effect - +1 d7 damage, 1 d3 temporary Stamina damage
until healed.
8 All Types - The trap causes bleeding that is difficult to
stop.
Effect - +1 d3 damage per round for 4 rounds unless
healed.
9 Damaging - Blow strikes unprotected area.
Poison - Poison unusually virulent.
Effect - +1 d8 damage.
10 All Types - The trap strikes a central nerve.
Effect - +2d4 damage, DC 1 4 Fort Save or fall unconscious.
11 Damaging - Blow strike s spinal area.
Poison - The poison overwhelms central nervous system.
Effect - +2d5 damage, DC1 6 Fort Save or fall unconscious.
12 All Types - The trap springs with tremendous
effectiveness.
Effect - +1 d1 2 damage.
13 Damaging - Blow causes severe numbing of muscle tissue.
Poison - The poison has a brief, but very powerful chilling
effect on the PC's muscles.
Effect - +1 d1 4 damage.
14 Damaging - Trap breaks multiple ribs.
Poison - Poison causes marrow in bones to painfully
expand.
Effect - +2d6 damage.
15 All Types - The trap causes trauma to the PC’s spleen.
Effect - +2d7 damage.
16 Damaging - The trap crushes the PC's knee.
Poison - The poison causes the victim’s joints to swell.
Effect - PC's movement rate is reduced by 5' until healed
by a cleric, 3rd level or higher.
20
Roll Result
- Blow causes nerve damage.
Poison - The poison causes paralysis in the PC's arm.
Effect - PC loses use of one arm until healed by cleric, 3rd
level or higher.
- The trap causes a sudden and extreme amount
of blood loss.
Effect - +1 d1 6 damage. DC 1 6 Fort Save or fall
unconscious.
- Blow strikes with enough force to cause a
heart arrhythmia.
Poison - The poison speeds its way to the PCs heart
causing minor heart attack.
Effect - +1 d24 damage. DC 1 6 Fort Save or fall
unconscious.
- The trap causes ocular bleeding.
Effect - PC is blind for 2d3 turns.
- Blow damages optical nerve.
Poison - The poison fogs the vision.
Effect - PC is permanently blind.
- The trap delivers a stunning blow to the head
causing irreversible vestibular system damage.
Poison - Damages vestibular system causing irreversible
damage.
Effect - 1 d6 Agility damage.
g - The blow causes irreversible brain damage.
Poison - The poison affects the PC's core brain function.
Effect - 1 d6 Intelligence damage.
- The trap's blow causes severe damage to the
PC's spinal column.
Poison - The poison targets the PC’s central nervous
system.
Effect - Complete and permanent paralysis.

21
Roll Result
- Blow severs or smashes limb to point of
requiring amputation.
Poison - The poison causes rapid atrophy of limb to point
of requiring amputation.
Effect - Roll 1 d4 (1 - Left Arm, 2 - Right Arm, 3 - Left Leg, 4 -
Right Leg). Result indicates the loss of that limb.
- The trap flays the flesh and exposes a wide
swath of muscle.
Poison - The poison causes the victim’s flesh to slough off.
Effect - +3d1 2 damage.
- Blow severs an artery resulting in severe
bleeding.
Poison - The poison has an acidic reaction with the PC's
blood stream causing extreme pain and anguish.
Effect - +3d1 4 damage.
- The trap damages multiple organs with a single
strike.
Effect - Immediate PC death.
29 Damaging - The blow causes an unexpected increase in
the PC’s heart rate.
Poison - The poison sends the PC's heart rate into
impossible to maintain numbers.
Effect - Heart explodes in the PC’s chest, killing him.
All Types - The gods frown upon the PC as the trap springs
with uncanny execution and kills the PC outright in an
extreme fashion.

22
Shadowsword
of
Ith-Narmant
by Jürgen Mayer

Art by IHM
The Shadowsword was forged from the shadow of the demon Ith-Narmant, who
resides on a world circling a black sun where only ghosts, demonspawn and
creatures of the night can prosper. His prime domain is shadow, but he is also a
master of chill, solanaceae and fear of the dark. His altars are always built in
pitch-dark places. Unlike most other creatures of Chaos, he is always calm and
hard to anger, but quick to judge, delighted by any suffering of Law, a
connoisseur of dark magic and craftsmanship, and everlastingly plotting the
spreading of Chaos into other worlds. His ultimate goal is to blacken the sun of
another world to add it to his dominion.

Ith-Narmant has bound a circle of shadow warlocks and artificers to his will,
who craft artifacts from the demon’s own shadow and scatter them on different
worlds to increase Ith-Narmant’s influence and grow his cult. The
Shadowsword is one of those artifacts. Its blade is literally a solid shadow, but
does not cast a shadow itself.

23
Shadowsword ofIth-Narmant Special Effects Table
Treat the Shadowsword as a longsword, but roll 2d6 for damage. Ifyou
roll doubles, check the following table for special effects:
1+1 Lifesucker. Deals 2 damage to target. Wielder loses 1 hp permanently. This
effect is cumulative. When the blade has sucked 3 hp from one single wielder, it
becomes sentient and gains a level. Its personality is similar to that of its wielder,
albeit with the demonic taint of Ith-Narmant. The Shadowsword levels up every
3 hp. The demonic taint gets stronger with each level (see the Sword Level Table
below).

2+2 Demonsign. Deals 4 damage to target. Wielder receives a demonsign and suffers
a Corruption depending on sword level (see the Sword Level Table and note the
total number of demonsigns on the character sheet). Corruption in form of a
demonsign cannot be prevented by Luck expenditure. If a demonsign bearer
wants to fight with any other melee weapon at any time, a successful Will Save
against DC10+number of demonsigns is needed (roll only once per encounter). If
a demonsign bearer wants to get rid of the Shadowsword or give it to someone
else, a successful Will Save against DC15+number of demonsigns is required (this
roll is only allowed every 13 days).

3+3 Taintburst. Deals 3 damage to target and 3 damage to wielder as demonic

energies burst from the blade on impact. If this brings the wielder to 0 hp, the
blade's demonic energy fuses with the irrevocably dying character, who then
rises as a demon minion of Ith-Narmant under control of the judge in 1d20-1
turns (instantly on a 1). If the wielder does not die directly from a taintburst, but
dies later in the same turn, there is still a chance of fusing with the lingering
taint and turning into a demon if a DC 15 Fort Save is not successful. Preventing
this fate with healing attempts before bleeding out does not work, because the
character is claimed by demonic forces. A Luck check when recovering the body
always fails for the same reason. The character can only be saved in the unlikely
event that Ith-Narmant is destroyed or if the character’s soul is rescued from the
realm of Ith-Narmant. A slain enemy that was affected by a taintburst can also
rise as a demon at the judge’s discretion, if it fails a DC 15 Fort Save.

4+4 Shadowrage. Deals 8 damage to the target. Wielder goes demonically berserk
(+2 STR, +2 AC, needs to succeed in a DC 10+sword level Will Save to stop
fighting, which can be attempted at the end of each round - wielder will attack
anyone in vicinity while berserk, including allies if no foes are present).

5+5 Hellpower. Deals 10 damage to the target. The target additionally suffers the
effect of a d3 roll on Critical Hit Table DN in the DCC RPG Rulebook (improve this
die by the sword’s level; the wielder’s Luck modifier affects the result). Wielder
gets +1 STR for the remainder of the encounter. This is cumulative and stacks
with any other STR modifiers.
6+6 Deathbringer. Deals 12 damage to the target. Any damage dice of the
Shadowsword that show a 6 will explode for the remainder of the encounter (roll
the die again and add the damage, continue if another 6 is rolled). This already
affects the double sixes just rolled.

24
All damage dealt by the Shadowsword of Ith-Narmant is considered magical.
Any Luck spent on the damage roll adjusts the damage value, but the special
effects are only triggered by natural doubles. Damage is adjusted by ability
modifiers or deed dice as usual. Furthermore, spending Luck cannot prevent a
special effect from occurring. All effects occur in addition to any potential
critical hits or fumbles. The Shadowsword is of chaotic alignment and once
sentient, will intend to harm law-aligned beings.
Sword Level Table
The Shadowsword of Ith-Narmant can gain levels by sucking the life force from
its wielder (see result 1+1 Lifesucker on the special effects damage table). Check
the following table for the consequences of the sword’s level:
Sword Personality Communication Demonsign Mind-Control
Level Corruption* Will Save**
0 None None Minor n/a
Corruption
1 Similar to wielder, but Simple Urges Minor DC5 + no. of
slightly mischievous Corruption demonsigns
2 More mischievous Empathy Major DC10 + no. of
and bloodthirsty Corruption demonsigns
3 Malevolent and eager Empathy Major DC15 + no. of
to inflict pain and & Speech Corruption demonsigns
suffering
4+ Vicious and hell-bent Speech Greater DC20 + no. of
on corrupting all that & Telepathy Corruption demonsigns
is good and innocent
*See special effects damage table result 2+2 Demonsign. All rolls on the Corruption tables are
made with a d1 0 and adjusted by the wielder’s Luck modifier.
**Any time a fumble is rolled on an attack with the Shadowsword, it can mind-control its
wielder’s next action if a Will Save is not successful.
Wielders, Alignment and Demonsigns:
Like all artifacts crafted from Ith-Narmant’s shadow, the Shadowsword can be
wielded by characters of all alignments - for a cost. A lawful character gaining a
number of demonsigns equal to their Personality changes their alignment to
neutral. Acquiring a number of demonsigns equalling Personality while neutral
shifts the alignment to Chaos. A chaotic character accumulating a number of
demonsigns equal to Personality becomes a Champion of Ith-Narmant. Every so
often, such a Champion will be given quests to further Ith-Narmant’s schemes
directly by the shadow warlocks, but can also call on their help in times of need.
Extraordinary service can result in a boon like a new artifact or gifting of
magical powers pertaining to Ith-Narmant’s domains. If a wielder of the
Shadowsword dies, the blade loses all previously gained levels as the absorbed
life essence reunites with the wielder’s soul.
25
 eldritch powers of a cracked
My Gongfarmer universe. But, the mundane lives of
these swarthy adventurers left an
impression -- and not always
exactly what you think.
Can't Do Sh*t! Rather than build an exhaustive list
of skills from pot making to pot
growing, my group uses a simpler
strategy. When the game grinds to a
halt because no one seems to have
the skill or spell to unwind a
problem, a player makes a case for
why Suzy Shoeman the
cobbler/warrior can understand an
ancient phrase carved into a skull-
carved pillar deep in the Crypt of
Everlasting Horror. And the Judge
makes a ruling, usually based upon
the creativity of the scenario
presented.
Back when Suzy Shoeman was an
Art by bygrinstow

apprenticed cobbler, a traveling

tinker stopped by to sharpen all the
crazy cobbler tools lying around.
While he worked, the tinker told
the apprentice a story about a king
with three slutty daughters. The
By Paul Wolfe story was jam packed with melodrama,
blood and rhetoric, but then the king
disowned one of his slutty daughters -- and
Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG presents many here the tinker spoke an ancient tongue --
occupational options that presuppose a set "As son of the Leopard God, I hereby banish
of skills that translate to the adventuring you." It just so happens that the mad tinker
life. For instance, a farmer can probably drew out hieroglyphics for the phrase right
handle an animal or two, knows stuff about there in the dirt. Three of these words are
weather patterns, and some natural history. right there on the evil skull-carved column.
But, there are certain occupations that And with a simple d20 roll, Suzy Shoeman,
make everyone shrug. Chandler? My elf is now a she-hulk warrior, might be able to
an expert at making candles and work out the meaning of the phrase. It was
understands the business end of a this story of mystery, intrigue and slutty
candelabrum. Gongfarmer, anyone? princesses that set little Suzy Shoeman on a
Gleaning an animal's last meal by its scat? path to danger, gold and rhetoric.
Sigh. So, for essentially every real world
skill not "scat" or arcane magic related, This is not necessarily a way to handle
your ex-gongfarmer wizard has to roll a every situation. Sometimes characters just
d10 to accomplish it? While the farmer is don't know how to do stuff. But, if the Judge
dropping d20s to track down the parties' is trying to figure out what an elven
enemies, woo away their mounts, make chandler actually knows how to do, tap into
distracting woodland animal noises and the player's creativity. This fleshes out the
then cook a delightful breakfast for the character for the player, making it even
party? more painful when Melan the Magnificent
falls into the maw of the Mad Beast of Hilo,
Characters need skills. Adventuring skills and gives the characters a few more
arrive when weary and bloodied 0-levels strategic options when presented with a
take a class. Dwarves can smell gold and hit typical adventuring situation.
things with boards. Elves can call on
26