Greetings, funnel survivors!

The Goodman Games gang is back from Gen Con, having braved record-breaking attendance, leaking roofs, and an-almost-honest-to-goodness-funnel in the form of a tornado warning that had gamers either hunkering down or blithely continuing with their playing. But, like the gongfarmers we are, we persevered and we're back to bring this Backerkit campaign to its end next week. Haven't pledged yet? There's still time to ride this whirlwind to the last minutes and beyond, and get some crowdfunding-exclusive gaming stuff like the over-packed DCC #115 The Book of Funnels which contains nearly 50% more content that the retail version.

While we were at Indy, the update I did for Monday struck a chord with people. Folks seemed eager to learn more about the art of funnel design and how it might differ from your usual adventure creation. Would you all be interested in a short book of essays on creating great funnels from some DCC RPG designers as a crowdfunding goal? A sort of short, more focused version of our How to Write Modules that Don't Suck and How to Write Even Better Adventures books? If so, let us know in the comments. Now, on to the business of the day.

Continuing our series of designer diary, today I bring you one from Erica Barlow who wrote the XCC funnel, "The Kraken Games." And yes, it's what you're thinking. Let's hear Erica's take on designing this adventure.

Writing The Kraken Games
by Erica Barlow

Writing a funnel for Xcrawl had its own challenges. Usually, Xcrawl events are controlled and televised. There are rules about what is allowed at the various division levels and what level of danger is acceptable. The low-level events have minimally trained participants (like in a funnel), and usually only play non-lethal dungeons. Xcrawl funnels like Murder Mountain Smackdown have the event go off the rails and suddenly become lethal. I had to emulate that genius and make it my own.

Thankfully, "The Kraken Games" had a an excellent source to borrow from. "Squid Game" was a wonderful show and gave me a great starting point: People who were willing to risk their life for money. I quickly wrote a very fun chart about why people needed money enough to put their lives on the line. The results of this chart carried into the event and created many fun roleplaying moments.

But this is Xcrawl and I still needed to kick it up a notch. XCC has its own zany universe, and I needed to honor it. I decided that the island the event was held on had a former temple to the titans, and that the titans would reach out from Tartarus to offer power to the crawlers for later favors. I thought this was cool, because everyone likes extra powers, and the pact with the titans gives the crawlers a bit more of a backstory.

I ran the funnel for my friends and my son’s friend group, and both groups had a great time. Players enjoyed the titan-granted powers, but more often, they found that they had favorite characters, based on how things were unfolding combined with their wacky backstories. My favorite play test moment was about two failed businessmen, each who had created “the last big thing”. They formed a team and did very well. When the one businessman died near the end, the other pledged that he would buy his friend's failed business and see that it succeeded and was restored to its former glory.

I hope anyone who plays the Kraken Games has as much fun playing it as I did writing it.

Now Funding: The Sorcerer's Condundrum

Before we call it a weekend, I want to direct your attention to the current Backerkit campaign from our friends at Nerdronomicon: The Sorcerer's Conundrum.  This puzzling level-2 adventure compatible with Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG will twist your noodle as you navigate a three-dimensional labyrinth filled with deadly challenges and confounding obstacles. What mysteries and miseries are the mad sorcerer concealing? Find out by backing The Sorcerer's Conundrum!