Cyber-Dungeon Classics

NetCrawl does something strange and different. Strange because it pulls the Player Characters into a liminal space, a virtual space known as the WorldNet, an unreality where hours and minutes might pass in seconds in the ‘real’ world, and where they must overcome ICE—Intrusion Countermeasures—in order fulfil their mission in Cyberspace. This might simply be to pull of a robbery or steal some information, locate a piece of software or a person, and so on, but it needs to be done without attracting the attention of the god-like A.I.s which control everything! Different because unlike most roleplaying games that access Cyberspace, such as Cyberpunk Red or Shadowrun – Sixth World, what NetCrawl does is involve all of the players and all of their characters in that translation into Cyberspace, where they will work together to achieve their aims. Netcrawl is a roleplaying game that also works as a supplement for use with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, both published by Goodman Games. Published by Horse Shark Games, it shifts the Player Characters, or ‘Users’, out of ‘Reality’ and into ‘Cyberspace’ as ‘Avatars’. Inside this virtual world, they face not I.C.E. or Intrusion Counter Electronics per se, but Intrusion Counter Entities. There is not so much a virtual world as a cyber-dungeon. These are not the only dangers in Netcrawl. There is a chance of being detected and worse being noticed by the deities that are the A.I.s. Netcrawl is a setting suitable for one-shots as perhaps the Player Characters from another setting suddenly find themselves transported into a virtual world, hacking into a system in a Science Fiction setting like Mutant Crawl Classics as well as various also third-party settings such as Cyber Sprawl Classics, Crawljammer, Umerica, Terror of the Stratosfiend, and Star Crawl Classics. Plus, of course, it can simply be a roleplaying setting all of its own.

In NetCrawl, the Player Characters are ‘Avatars’. An Avatar has six characteristics—Power, Agility, Vitality, Wits, Psyche, and Hack. The latter enables an Avatar to manipulate the code which runs the WorldNet and its modifier affects critical hits, fumbles, and the like, and points of it can be permanently expended to gain a one-time bonus. It is the equivalent of Luck in Dungeon Crawl Classics, and can only be regained by great acts or courage, the Ciphomorph and Grifter Classes. An Avatar has access to three categories of skills—Security, Investigative, and Code Execution—of which he will typically be trained in one. Security covers breaking into and avoiding hazards in secured systems; Investigative skills provide clues; and Code Execution is exactly that. An Avatar will also have a certain amount of RAM. This varies by Class and Level, but is spent to purchase Daemons or equipment, Mod Chips, Programs, and Scripts.

Netcrawl has five Classes. The Avartarist sees the WorldNet as being alive and can Repattern WorldNet and holographic objects to heal them, receives a bonus Holo Die to run programs, and is bonded to an A.I. The Ciphomorph is native to the WorldNet and gains bonuses when rolling for Execute Program and the use of Hack, as well as being able to share Hack with others. The Cybernaut specialises in running Programs and can Burndown Vitality, Wits, or Psyche score to enhance the Program check. The Grifter specialises as either an Intrusion Specialist, Threat Eliminator, or Data Savant. The Intrusion Specialist is good at breaking into systems and hiding his tracks; the Threat Eliminator can harm ICE; and the Data Savant focuses on finding, analysing, and synthesising data. The Grifter also uses finished Scripts, programs with a static outcome and is also good at using skills. The Wardriver focuses on speed and power, relying on Mod Chips rather than Programs or Scripts, as well as Daemons for offensive and defensive countermeasures. Mod Chips give bonuses in combat and the Wardriver has a number of slots for his Mod Chips, being to swap and activate them, as necessary. There are different models for each type of Mod Chip, each proving a better bonus than the earlier ones and as the Wardriver’s Mod Die improves the better the bonus he gains from the Mod Chip. For example, the Brute Mk. I Mod Chip grants a +1 bonus to unarmed attacks, but the Brute Mk. II Mod Chip gives a bonus to both unarmed attacks and damage. Then with a Mod Die of three, the Wardriver gains +1 to his Armour Class whilst unarmed, whereas with a Mod Die of three, he gains the Armour Class modifier and an additional attack with a fourteen-sided die. The various Mod Chips cover ranged attacks, rate of fire, initiative, and more

What is important here is that this Avatar is a projection of a person into the WorldNet via a mix of hardware, software, and data, together known as a ‘Rig’. This person could be a ‘real-world’ person jacked in, a server in the Cloud, or other virtual entity, and is known as the ‘Host’. The ‘Host’ grants an Avatar a Hack modifier, much like the Star Sign does to Player Characters in Dungeon Crawl Classics. For example, ‘Samurai Mk. VII’ grants a modifier to ‘Daemon melee attack rolls’, whilst ‘Grid Punch Gold’ modifies the Avatar’s ‘Speed’. This is rolled for all Player Characters, including Zero Level Avatars who can then be run through ‘The Gig’. This is an entry-level scenario, the equivalent of the Funnel, one of the signature features of both the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game and the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game that Netcrawl is mechanically based upon—in which initially, a player is expected to roll up three or four Level Zero characters and have them play through a generally nasty, deadly adventure, which surviving will prove a challenge. Those that do survive receive enough Experience Points to advance to First Level and gain all of the advantages of their Class. As entry-level software, the Avatars are essentially network & system software, developer toolkits, and hacker tools.

Avatars wield a variety of Daemons, or items of equipment, which are divided in several categories—Melee, Ranged, Protective, and Support. The weapons and armour are mix of the old and the new, but all with a Cyberpunk theme. Thus, the katana alongside razor claws and the monowire whip. Some of these are nicely adjusted so that nunchuku has a bonus to Fumble rolls and the ICE pick will subvert ICE! In general, the melee weapons are more fun than the ranged weapons, though going into battle with a screamin’ skull that fires a cone attack or a viral gun that shoots malware is entertaining. The Protective daemons are more descriptive, but it is possible to use a Firewall as temporary ablative armour, although some versions reduce a character’s Action die. There are also Datagrams which provide small, one-off boosts to an action, such as ‘Electric jolt’, which forces a target to lose its next action if it fails a Reflex saving throw or ‘Logon credentials’, which grants a bonus to a False Identity check.

In general, combat in Netcrawl works like combat in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. However, there are some changes to account for the change in genre and setting. This includes ICE being able to enact ‘Traceback’ and track and even attack an intruding Avatar, HupLock an Avatar to prevent it from logging out or a Kick to force a disconnection. Lost Health is regained in Maintenance Cycles, whilst an Avatar reduced to zero Hit Points is de-rezzed, begins to pixelate and lose digital cohesion, but can be re-rezzed, either through certain programs or the Avartarist’s Repattern ability and restored to positive Hit Points. Some Avatars—Ciphomorph or Grifter—can channel their Hacking ability to attack opponents, shatter objects, and even launch a counterattack against program assaults. This requires the expenditure of points of Psyche, the result determined by a roll on the ‘Hacking Result Table’ or compared with the roll made for the program targeting the hacker, this being resolved as per the rules for spell duelling in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game.

In addition, an Avatar can install Mod chips that boost his combat abilities. For example, ‘Punisher’ grants extra damage and deadlier critical hits, ‘Stutter’ glitches an opponent’s movements and actions, and ‘Hardware’ provides defence and protection from special attacks. These are graded from ‘Mark I’ to ‘Mark IV’, as well as ‘Advanced’, and each has a minimum character Level.

Avatars have access to a variety of Programs. There are different types of code in the WorldNet of NetCrawl, but Programs are inert packets of static code that when run generate a variety of different effects in order to complete a specific function. They include Decrypt/Decompile, which makes the source code of a program human readable; Glitch causes a robot, A.I., or computerised target to buzz quietly and do nothing for one or more rounds; and Exploit allows an Avatar to implant malice code—computer virus, worm, backdoor, and the like—and so mechanically, impose a penalty into a creature biological or artificial. When an Avatar wants to execute a Program, his player rolls a Program check and compares the result to the table for the Program being run. A critical roll grants extra benefits, whilst a fumble means that a bug, fault, or critical error has occurred, and the player must roll on the tables for these possible effects. Mechanically, Programs work the same as spells in Dungeon Crawl Classics and mutations in Mutant Crawl Classics, but thematically, they are in some ways very different. Many help with particular skills, such as Pattern Recognition for the Data Analysis skill and some model the effects of classic Dungeon Crawl Classics spells in the WorldNet, like Subjugate works similar to Charm and Clone creates holographic images of the Avatar much like Mirror Image creates images of the casting Wizard. Other Programs draw from the world of computing and hacking, like Crack, a Program that breaks through Intrusion Countermeasures Electronic and other defences through brute force.

There is a list of potential Patron A.I.s, though the Judge is advised that they are option. They do provide their own Programs, and a bonded Avatar can run Invoke Patron A.I. to trigger further benefits. The main issue with the Patron A.I.s given in NetCrawl is that the Judge will need access to other content, including Mutant Crawl Classics, and both Scions of the Computarchs #1, Scions of the Computarchs #2, and Scions of the Computarchs #3.

There are some notes on visualising the WorldNet and running Netcrawl, and a guide to creating the various A.I.s, Avatars, ICE, Viruses, and Bots. This is because there no generic ‘monsters’ in NetCrawl. There are some examples though along with the tables of options for the Judge to create her own. Of course, this enables a Judge to individualise the threats that here players’ Avatars will face, but it does require more input and thought than using a traditional bestiary would.

Rounding out NetCrawl is the short adventure, ‘The Core Queen Slumber’. It is designed for First Level Avatars, who have to infiltrate a data server and locate a one-eyed wizard who has the information that they are looking for. They will need to manipulate the systems around the data server, hopefully without alerting the Core Queen, in order access it. There is a puzzle element to the adventure, which will definitely take a playing group less than a session to complete. It works as a taster for the setting or as task to slot into a loner and fuller scenario.

Physically, Netcrawl is decently written, but the layout is often jarring because it uses a lot of vibrant colours on black backgrounds which some may have difficulty reading. The switch to the standard layout for spells in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game or mutant powers in the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game for the Programs is also jarring, although more easily red. The artwork is decent and a nice touch for ‘The Core Queen Slumber’ adventure is that the locations are drawn as per the ray-traced depiction of the virtual world a la the film Tron.

Netcrawl is an interesting roleplaying game and setting that expands the format of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game and the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game into a virtual realm. It is well done and is perfect for the Judge who wants to drop her players’ characters into the realms of cyberspace and have them explore its virtual reality.

Yet conceptually, NetCrawl raises two issues. One is technical in nature. This is that there is a radical shift for the Judge and her players, not in terms necessarily of what their Avatars do, since it is suggested that the WordNet is a cyber-dungeon, but in terms of terminology, language, and how they do it. Adjusting to this is going to take some effort upon the part of both player and Judge, especially if they are not overly familiar with the Cyberpunk genre. To that end, examples of play and a bibliography would have been helpful.

The other issue is conceptual. Why play Netcrawl? After all, although not necessarily an unfamiliar genre, it is a niche roleplaying game, and it is not easy to use. This is because there is no ‘real world’ space against which to play the WorldNet off of, which raises questions where the WorldNet is, how it relates to the real world, and why are the Player Characters jacking into it? There is no discussion of motivation in NetCrawl and that is something that the Judge and the players will need to develop to have their Avatars explore the WorldNet. However, the liminality of NetCrawl does open up possibilities as it being a connecting space between worlds, so that a party of Player Characters could find themselves entering the WorldNet and after adventuring there, popping out again in another world, or roleplaying game setting. Alternatively, those worlds or roleplaying game settings could actually be massively virtual spaces within WorldNet itself. So there are ways of using NetCrawl, but as a roleplaying game on its own, it lacks strong underlying Player Character motivations and reasons to explore its setting in the long term.