Xcrawl as a Word-of-Mouth RPG phenomenon

Brendan LaSalle created Xcrawl with his personal gaming group, figured out he had a monster on his hands, and designed an entire world around the concept, using d20 rules as a basis for the gameplay, publishing the core book in 2006.

Having run countless games at countless conventions already, in 2014 Brendan teamed up with Goodman Games to publish Maximum Xcrawl: Powered by Pathfinder, PLOWING through a $4,000 crowdfunder goal to raise over $18,000.

The Maximum Xcrawl Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1409961192/maximum-xcrawl-powered-by-pathfinder

Goodman Games has since published a number of modules and source books, both in the Pathfinder system AND more recently using the Dungeon Crawl Classics system.

Xcrawl as a Feature Film

Brendan LaSalle met Paul Suda in July 2015, at a roleplaying gaming weekend orchestrated by Pharlain Ross and Cameron Hays, and hosted by Christian Vanek at his home in Nederland, CO. Both GMed some games, and played others, and developed an instant respect for each other's play styles.

A month later, Paul began preparations for producing "Tower of Joy - A Game of Thrones Fan Film". BEFORE launching the ToJ crowdfunder, Paul called Brendan and said "Have you ever considered turning Xcrawl into a feature film?"

"Yeah, for about ten years now," Brendan replied.

"Okay, let's team up and write it. I'm going to be slammed for about 6 months making 'Tower', but let's start the brainstorming process now and hit the ground running after my film is in post."

The "Tower of Joy" IGG page:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tower-of-joy-a-game-of-thrones-fan-film/x/11638114

the finished film:

With "Tower of Joy" in post production, the Xcrawl script began to take shape. Working for 18 months, first in broad strokes, then to an outline, then down to the dialogue, Brendan and Paul hammered out a story about an underdog Xcrawl team, the Agronauts, hacking and slashing and mugging-for-the-camera their way to the Emperor's Cup championship.

The Team

A respectable first draft of the Xcrawl script completed in spring 2017, originally the agenda was to produce a proof-of-concept trailer, complete with stunts, prosthetic makeup, fully-built arena sets, and post-production visual effects. After giving notes on the script and hearing about the tentative agenda, Paul's friend (and fellow Emerson College alum) director Seamus George offered a faster, cheaper way to show off the Xcrawl concept: the Pitch-Vis.

Seamus George and his production coordinator Morgan Walker hand-held Paul and Brendan through the mechanics of a Pitch-Vis-- using pre-visualization techniques that every big movie uses to illustrate the look, rhythm and blocking of a big complex action sequence so that a film's crew is crystal clear on the product they are making, BUT INSTEAD of mocking up a sequence for a movie that is already in production, a pitch-vis is used to sell the movie concept (and its attached script) to studio executives and financiers in the first place. An easy example of this happening is 300: Rise of an Empire. The pitch vis of the naval Battle of Salamis sold the concept, the movie was made, and it was a financial success.

Crowdfunding our Pitch Presentation

WE NEED YOUR HELP to make our Xcrawl pitch presentation as slick and as clear as possible. For those of you who have played Xcrawl, you know it's a very tricky world/concept to explain to people. They have to be SHOWN Xcrawl. For gamers, this means sitting down, rolling dice, and being immersed in the world. For film industry who's whos, this means WATCHING Xcrawl.

To create a compelling pitch-vis, we will work with 2D and 3D artists, as well as visual effects computer technicians. Their time and attention comes at a price, especially given the fact that we will be employing the same professionals who work on Hollywood's most spectacular movies and TV shows.

THANK YOU ALL

If you're reading this, there's a strong chance you've played Xcrawl in the past, very likely played Xcrawl  WITH Brendan LaSalle GMing, and we can't say this loudly enough: We LOVE the Xcrawl RPG, and are on fire to bring Brendan's wacky world of the North American Empire to the widest possible audience. If you're as hot as we are to see Xcrawl on the big screen, please contribute to our efforts, enjoy our perks, and share our page with other gamers who have their own "I-got-eaten-by-a-hydra-and-all-Pluto-got-at-my-funeral-sacrifice-was-this-dumb-T-shirt" stories.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for contributing.

It means the world, and you've changed our lives forever.