Creeks and Crawdads - Impact System

Much like the original game, this game uses a d6 dice pool. If you
don't know what that means, don't worry, just grab a bunch of six-
sided dice and read on.

Character Creation
There are four characteristics in this version of Creeks and
Crawdads, unlike the original, which had nine. Nonetheless, I feel
confident in saying that these four attributes COMPLETELY and
REALISTICALLY define the TOTAL parameters of a crawdad,
only with less attributes. So shut up.

The four attributes are:

Fighting Ability (FA) - This attribute tracks how well you can
hit things, how strong you are, and how well you can take being
hit. You roll this attribute to lift things, and quite often in
combat.
Intelligence (IQ) - This attribute tracks how well you can
remember things, understand them, invent new things, and
generally be clever. You roll IQ to see how well you can
remember things, understand them, etc.
Tool Use (TU) - Not only is this rolled to use and build tools
(but not invent them), Tool Use also does double duty as a
generic dexterity and speed attribute. If two crawdads are in a
racing contest, use Tool Use.
Awareness (AW) - Awareness tracks how well you notice new
things, situations, hidden stuff, etc. You roll this for those
things.
Attributes are rated in dice (remember those six-siders you
grabbed earlier?). Players have nine points to distribute between
the four attributes - this can be distributed any way you desire, as
long as each attribute has at least one die.

Crawdad society is divided into four castes. This is a very

important distinction - crawdads don't do too well when
performing tasks outside their specialization. Crawdads, even
hyper-intelligent ones, aren't too smart - they have to specialize
because, well, there just isn't room in their tiny crustacean brain for
a lot of stuff. These castes are:
Fighter - Fighters tend to be dull-witted sorts; even for those
with a high IQ, counting is usually beyond them. As befits
grunts, they are always able to follow orders from their Thinker,
or whoever might be in charge if there are no Thinkers around.
They do not always understand the orders, alas, but such is the
life of a crawdad. The combination of unswerving loyalty and
abysmal stupidity can lead to some amazingly amusing
situations. After proles, Fighters are the most common type of
crawdad - there are a lot of dangerous things in the water.
Tool-Users - These are basically the crawdad mad scientists.
They are brighter than the rank and file, can generally count to
two, and are also fairly loyal. They are, however, easily
distracted - often wandering off from a fight to check out a neat
looking rock, and then failing to remember they wanted to hit
the bad guy with it.
Thinkers - The main problem Thinkers have is that they're in
charge of the crawdads, and they can think (well, better than
their brethren, anyway). Imagine yourself as the poor fool in
charge of these pitiful creatures, and you'll see the state they're
in. Also, thinkers aren't as smart as they believe - just because
they can think doesn't always mean they can do it well. Thinkers
can count to seven, one for each leg. (You need a leg to point, of
course.)
Proles - Generally not a player character caste, proles are
mainly responsible for sleeping, eating, performing repetitive
tasks, and occasionally mating, and can't really do any of that
well. These represent the bulk of any crawdad society, because
they specialize in nothing and therefore do nothing well. Even
for a crawdad. If a player really wants to be a prole, he can,
assuming the group doesn't mind having an incompetent wimp
along.
The key to Creeks and Crawdads is to remember that you have a
character that is much more stupid than you could ever be. For all
but the most basic stuff (eating, obeying orders), if a player wants
his character to do something (comprehending orders, finding
food) an IQ roll is required. An IQ roll is NEVER required for a
failure.
Game Mechanics
The Impact System uses six-sided dice, which even non-gamers
seem to have. They're everywhere. But they're not edible. Anyway,
when a task needs to be accomplished, players roll a number of
dice equal to their appropriate attribute, and counts the number of
fives and sixes rolled. These are called "successes" - as much as
success has any meaning to a crawdad. There's a twist, however -
as long as you have rolled at least one six, you may choose to
reroll all your dice, and add the successes from the second roll to
the first.

This may be done as many times as desired, as long as each roll

brings up at least one six. However, if any re-roll comes up with no
successes at all, the entire collection is lost, leaving the character
with nothing. In other words, if you roll five dice, getting five
sixes, and then roll a second time to get 1,2,3,3,4 - your final total
is zero. It's a crapshoot, yes, but that randomness is part of what
makes this game fun, and part of what being a crawdad is all about.

If your character is not a prole, he gets a benefit when performing

tasks connected with their profession. Normally, this only applies
to tasks involving the appropriate statistic (IQ for Thinkers, TU for
Tool-Users, FA for Fighters) but in rare circumstances, it can be
another one - most often AW. If the CreekMaster determines that
the roll is associated with your profession, you may also re-roll the
dice if any 1s come up - although 1s don't count as successes, so
you can still lose your whole wad, even if you get to roll again.

Originality

The more original something is, the more difficult it is for a

crawdad to try it, or think of it, or do it. Innovation is invariably a
response to a challenge - crawdads aren't smart enough to think
things up because they "might come in handy later." It has to be
useful now.

At the baseline, before considering innovation, crawdads require

two (2) successes to succeed at an action - although particularly
easy actions might require only one, at the CreekMaster's
discretion. If the action is original, however, this difficulty quickly
rises.

Small leaps of logic are easier than very large ones - the
CreekMaster should try to imagine every separate new idea that
would be needed, and add an additional required success for each
one. Don't take too long at this, however - just wing it, go with
your gut. If your characters get something too advanced, they'll
forget about it soon enough.

In addition to innovation, crawdads have horrible memory decay -

even the best Thinker in the world might forget a simple thing if it
hasn't been reinforced for a while. Rule of claw: if it hasn't been
done, thought of, or discussed in a while, treat it as a new idea.
Yes, your crawdad might carry something important all day long,
only to forget what he's carrying and toss it aside before reaching
his destination.

Certain things, however, crawdads always remember. Thinkers

always remember everyone's names, and how to count. Fighters
never forget how to use weapons. Tool users always remember
how to count to two, how to use the tools they've seen all their
lives. Everyone remembers how to eat, speak, obey thinkers, and
how to recognize the various castes. It's the stuff that isn't 100%
vital that slips through the cracks.

Oh, yeah, by the way, if crawdads get hungry, both loyalty and
attention get worse. Add one success needed to all actions for
every "sleep" passed without food. Sleeps, for those who don't own
the main book, is "one sleep/wake cycle" and is the longest length
of time most crawdads understand. The general pattern for
crawdads is to wake, find food, and sleep again.
(The game goes much faster when the players take the initiative
and start rolling the IQ and Awareness dice themselves. Encourage
this!)
FIGHTING
Crawdads strive. Sometimes they fight. It's a dangerous mutated
world out there. Besides, the original game had fighting
mechanics, and there is an entire caste called Fighters. So, without
further ado...
When in a fight, all participants on both sides roll Fighting Ability
(for Tool Users, keep in mind that weapons are "tools" for the
purpose of counting 1s). If a combatant is facing multiple
opponents, he may split his dice before rolling. Whoever gets more
successes gets to inflict "damage" on the loser. Ties mean both
sides are unhurt - and if it's crawdads, maybe they'll wander away
before any more pounding happens.

Damage is rolled separately, as follows:

Fighters roll 2 dice, plus one per success by which they beat the
opponent.
Tool users and proles roll 1 die, plus the above.
Thinkers roll 0 dice, plus the above.
Weapons can add to damage (halved for Thinkers, rounded down,
and proles can't use any weapons at all):
Rocks add one die
Pointy sticks add two dice
*Sharp rocks add three dice
*Glass shards add four dice
*Sharp metal adds five dice
(*These are weapons unknown to crawdads at the beginning of
the game. Oooh, magic weapons...)

Crawdads have a carapace that requires a certain minimum damage

to pierce - this subtracts from the successes rolled. Fighters are
rated at 2; Proles at 0; and all other crawdads are at 1. Non-
crawdad creatures have their own minimums, which will be
defined in the upcoming Bestiary

Every success rolled over the minimum can be used to reduce the
attributes of the loser - in any way the winner chooses, although
the winner may not reduce the "primary statistic" of a casted
crawdad unless all the other attributes are reduced to zero. All
crawdads except Fighters pass out when any one of their attributes
goes to zero - Fighters don't pass out until they die. Crawdads die
when all of their attributes reach zero.

HEALING
Damage heals "Eventually." Fastest for Fighters, slowest for
Thinkers. Even proles heal faster than Thinkers. A good rule of
thumb is one attribute point per sleep or two.

NOTE
The entire game should happen entirely underwater. It is a three-
dimensional environment, even though crawdads generally walk
on the bottom. Also, the environment is constantly in motion. Keep
this in mind.

CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT
No. Shut up.