Matt De Micco joined the publishing scene a few years ago and has produced a consistent output of DCC related material. He’s done Massacre Grounds for Weird Frontiers, Port Mirror for DCC, and now Hell on Hooves for Xcrawl! The crowdfunding campaign has already funded but there’s stretch goals to hit before it ends! Matt spent some time sharing extra details about the rodeo-themed adventure so that he can convince you to help him get some guest authors to help make this project bigger and better. Take a moment to check out the interview and take another to go back Xcrawl Rodeo: Hell on Hooves over on Backerkit.

Xcrawl usually has a DJ for traditional crawls. Does the rodeo announcer function as our DJ or are you doing things a little differently?

It is designed that the DJ can act as the announcer. I introduce Harry Barnet and his side kick Ian the Imp as the voice of XCrawl Rodeo. I will add that having a player with the big personality that wants to take over the roll of the announcer makes it a lot of fun and is encouraged. I tried this at North Texas RPG Con during the Weird Frontiers Luchador tournament I ran. It added an element of fun and it really made it an event. There are three modes of play in Xcrawl Rodeo: cooperative mode, adversarial mode, and single player mode. Cooperative is your typical RPG mode where everyone does their best to help get the best scores possible. Adversarial mode is a full on competition. Alliances are made and broken. Players work together on some events and against each other on others. Adversarial mode really shines with an independent announcer. The last mode is single player mode. You and a friend take turns between being the DJ and playing. In short the answer is yes the DJ can do it, but it is so much more of an event if a player is dedicated to it.

Tell us about the prizes and the wild sponsors of the Xcrawl Rodeo! Those are some of my favorite little ways to do some Xcrawl worldbuilding.

The bragging rights prize for rodeo are always belt buckles. I am having a set of gold, silver, and bronze miniature buckles made that people can add-on to their purchase. They will also be offered as a stretch goal. You will also win a cash prize purse divided amongst the 1st-3rd place winners. I have several sponsors, Guacho Jeans, Crawl Cola, Mithril Spur Beer, Murdock Hats among many that will possibly offer sponsorships after winning an event. A DJ can roll a d10 to decide or pick an appropriate one. I have gotten permission to use Vegas Crawl by Brendan LaSalle. Depending on how in-depth your DJ decides to play, competitors could be asked to enter one of the dungeon levels to retrieve an item or prove themselves to a potential sponsor.

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What’s a favorite moment from your playtests?

My favorite moments in play-tests was working on the dice mechanics. We reworked the mechanics several times and it was a challenge to bring to life all the factors of each event. Bert Isla was very much my sounding board on this as was David Baity. We did not just want a dice rolling game. We wanted mechanics that represented the mounts, the rider and the monster competitors. It is funny how I thought something would work perfectly only to find out it would become and endless slog of rolling if a PC did not roll well. This is very much a game I plan to run at conventions. A lot of thought was put into running the game with a full table of players, an arena, miniatures and a dedicated announcer.

Have any of the stretch goal authors given you a hint at what they might be planning?

Jim Meyers is writing a buckaroo class. From what Jim has shared with me I’m excited. I am looking forward to play-testing it.

David Baity is doing a Rodeo Clown. As soon as David offered a clown I was all in. Carnival of the Damned visits Xcrawl Rodeo.

Barndon Georinger and Lou Hoefer (Luau Lou) are still working on concepts.

John Watson has mentioned bring a bit of rugby into the rodeo arena.

Honestly I am excited to work with all of these men and I am honored they said, yes.

Thanks for sharing! Anything else that you’d like to let us know?

Stay tuned for some live play-tests. We will be either hosting them on Gilbert Isla’s channel Steam, Steel & Murder or on Brandon’s RPG Overview site.

I really want to showcase all the different elements involved with this adventure. The events, side quests, chasing sponsorships, and vendors. Think of an event being held at a large convention center. It is a modern day village with constant activity going on even outside the rodeo arena.

What else in the wide world of sports do you think needs a little integration into Xcrawl?

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