TEXT: Creeks and Crawdads!
  Creeks and Crawdads!
  Another Masterpiece from M. Martin Costa & Crustaceum Games
  The 1st
  Realistic
  Post
  Holocaust
  Beer and Pretzels
  Role Playing
  Game
  
  2   Creeks and Crawdads
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   3
  1. INTRODUCTION
  Welcome to Creeks and Crawdads©, THE role playing 
  game of the ‘80’s. If you are familiar with role playing 
  games (RPG’s), please continue reading.  If you are 
  new to role playing games and/or the concept of role 
  playing (believe me, the two don’t always go hand in 
  hand) STOP. Go to any other RPG in the store. Open 
  the rules, and read the section titled “What is (a) 
  role-playing (game)” it should be right in the front, 
  probably in the booklet called a “Players Guide” or 
  “Character Handbook.”  Once you’ve done that, come 
  back, and continue reading.  Now off you go. In fact, 
  even if you do understand role playing, you may want 
  to do it anyway.  It’s usually good for a laugh or two. 
  Back to this game, in the basic game, you will be playing 
  the role of the highest surviving life form after a major 
  (or minor) nuclear war: the Crawdad.  In case you are 
  unfamiliar with them, a crawdad is basically a small 
  lobster, from 3 - 6 inches long, generally living in fresh 
  water, but pretty much amphibious in the case of 
  cambaris, the species in question.  However, these are 
  not our present day crawdads, NO INDEED!  This is 
  Cambaris sapiens (or would be if there were any 
  taxonomists around).  For in the radioactive hell following 
  the war, the lowly crawdad mutated into an intelligent 
  life form, or at least sort of intelligent.  As a crawdad 
  adventurer, you set out to discover wondrous now 
  technology, and relight the lamp of civilization - unless 
  you get hungry and forget about it.  So onward! 
  Enter the world of Creeks and Crawdads©!
  “Even a sentient 
  crawdad isn’t very 
  smart when you get 
  right down to it.”
  GENERAL STUFF ABOUT THE GAME
  SCALE
   
  1 action turn - the amount of time it takes a crawdad to do something
   
  1 combat turn - the amount of time it takes to hit someone
   
  1 movement turn - the amount of time required for any crawdad to move its full MA.
   
   OR
  1 or more action turns
   
  1 action turn - several combat rounds
   
  1 sleep - one sleep/wake cycle (go to sleep, wake up, go back to sleep)
  OR
  several movement turns
   
  several sleeps - an inconceivable amount of time
   1 movement factor - a scientific increment used to measure of how far a crawdad can move per turn.
  If these measures seem somewhat imprecise, it’s because they are.  These are crawdads, after all.  Besides, they’re hardly ever used.
  
  4   Creeks and Crawdads
  1.  PROFESSION
  The first decision that must be made in creating your 
  crawdad is what his or her profession (specialization) 
  will be. This is much the same as a character’s class or 
  occupation in other gaming systems.  The choice is very 
  important as crawdads are very poor at performing tasks 
  outside of their profession.  This is because even sentient 
  crawdads are still pretty stupid when you get right down 
  to it. They have to specialize because there simply isn’t 
  room in their tiny little crustacean brain for lots of stuff. 
  There are three such professions from which players may 
  choose: Fighter, Tool-User, and Thinker. There is a fourth 
  type, only represented by non-player crawdads(NPCs): 
  Proles. These represent the bulk of everyday crawdad-dom, 
  and are generally NPCrawdads, because they specialize 
  in nothing and thus do nothing well, even for a crawdad. 
  If a player really wishes to be a prole he or she may do 
  so, assuming the group doesn’t mind having a stupid 
  incompetent wimp along.  Perhaps it will seem appropriate 
  given the player’s personality.
  In a nutshell, Fighters fight, Tool Users make tools 
  and manipulate their environment (such as it is), and Think-
  ers (also known as sages) are able to remember things 
  beyond a few minutes or days, come up with new ideas 
  and generally be clever ... for a mutant crawdad anyway. 
  In Crawdad society, sages are the leaders, generally 
  because they can remember everyone’s name.  Proles 
  do very little, which is just as well. Sleeping, eating, 
  occasionally mating and performing VERY simple and 
  repetitive tasks generally make up a prole’s repertoire of 
  skills. Even at that they have problems. So choose well, 
  as this step will affect your characteristics.  If you have 
  to have tables, use this one to choose your character.
  2.  CHARACTERISTICS
  The next step in generating a player-crawdad (PC for 
  short) is determining its characteristics. There are nine 
  of these, and they COMPLETELY and REALISTI-
  CALLY define the TOTAL parameters of a crawdad. 
  So shut up. These characteristics are: strength (ST), 
  dexterity (DX), fighting ability (FA), tool use (TU), 
  Intelligence (IQ), awareness (AW), constitution (CN), 
  armor protection (AP), and speed (SP).  These are 
  determined by the crawdad’s craft in the table below. 
  Find the desired profession across the top and roll 
  the indicated number of six sided dice to generate the 
  characteristics value.
  OTHER CONVENTIONS
  - All rolls vs. a characteristic involve rolling less than or equal to said characteristic with a variable 
  amount of dice, determined by the CreekMaster (the CM for short).
  - Rolling the maximum number possible on the dice is always a failure, and generally a catastrophic one 
  This is true even if it is equal to or below your skill. Crawdads can ALWAYS fail.
  - Only standard six sided dice are used.
  - The game is usually set underwater, on the bed of a creek.
  - You are getting sleepy. Your eyelids are getting very heavy. You are having trouble concentrating. 
  Don’t worry, ten more copies of this game will make you feel much better, as will telling all your 
  friends about this WONDERFUL game. When you have done all of this, you will woke up and 
  feel refreshed and remember nothing about this. You will however hate and despise photocopy 
  machines that make unauthorized copies of copyrighted materials. Why ? Oh no reason. It’s just 
  the right way to feel.
  II.  MAKING A CRAWDAD OF YOUR VERY OWN
  THE PROFESSION TABLE
   
  Roll 
  Profession
   
  1-2 
  Fighter
   
  3-4 
  Tool User
   
  5-6 
  Thinker
  Fighter
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   5
  3.  EXPLANATION OF CHARACTERISTICS
   
  ST: How strong you are.
   
  DX: How well you can hold things, throw things, not fall over etc..
   
  FA: How well you can hit things. Basic “to hit” roll in combat.  Prime character-
  istic for Fighters
   
  TU: Basic roll to use and build tools. Prime characteristic for Tool Users.
   
  IQ: How smart you are. Basic roll to remember, invent, understand and be clever. 
  Prime characteristic for Thinkers
   
  AW: How well you notice new things and situations, hidden stuff. etc..
   
  CN: Your hit points. How much damage 
  you can take before dying.
   
  AP: How much damage your shell stops.
   
  SP: How fast you can move, while walk-
  ing. Swimming speed is 2x this, but 
  you move backwards (tail first).
  THE CHARACTERISTICS TABLE
   
  Fighters 
  Tool Users 
  Thinkers 
  Proles
   
  ST 
  3d6 
  2d6 
  1d6 
  1d6
   
  DX 
  1d6 
  3-d6 
  2d6 
  1d6
   
  FA 
  7-18* 
  2d6 
  1d6 
  1d6
   
  TU 
  1d6 
  7-18* 
  2d6 
  1-4
   
  IQ 
  1d6 
  2d6 
  7-18* 
  1d6
   
  AW 
  2d6 
  2d6 
  3d6 
  1d6
   
  CN 
  4d6 
  3d6 
  36d 
  2d6
   
  AP 
  2d3 
  1d3 
  1d3 
  1d3
   
  SP 
  1d3 
  2d3 
  1d3 
  1d3
  *=rolled as (2d6)+6
  What is shown is the number of dice to roll for that attribute.  3d6 is the sum of three dice; 2d6 is 
  the sum of two; 1d6 is a single die roll; 1d3 is generated by rolling one die and dividing the result 
  by 2. Rounding up.  To generate the range for 7-18 roll and add together the sum of 2d6 then add 
  6 to get the characteristic.  For 1-4, roll 1d6, and if die result is greater then 6 reroll until you get 
  a number between 1-4.  Now, where were we ? Oh yes . The characteristics chart.
  Thinker
  
  6   Creeks and Crawdads
  4.  CONCLUSION
  The key to this game is to remember that you have 
  a character that is much more stupid than you could 
  ever be. I assume. Thus we have the key concept in 
  playing or running the game: for all but the most basic 
  stuff, if a player wants to do something, an IQ roll is 
  required. You will have to do this constantly. Granted, 
  as a player this may seem to result in your character 
  being unable to do everything you want it to do, and 
  being at the mercy of the dice. This is not strictly true, 
  in most other games the point is to role play a clever 
  character and do clever things (or violent or heroic 
  or whatever). In C&C the idea is to play a stupid 
  character doing stupid things. Think of the dice rolls 
  as a vehicle by which you are given an opportunity 
  to do very stupid things at unexpected times and have 
  lots of fun at everyone else’s expense. Or if you can’t 
  deal with that rationale, think of it as a challenge: 
  try to play your character in spite of the dice. The 
  important thing is that you have bought this game, 
  which makes ME very happy. Now, let’s move right 
  on to combat since that seems to be what gaming is 
  really all about, despite thousands of disclaimers to 
  the press and public.
  III.  THE COMBAT SYSTEM
  Combat is fought out as a series of Turns. Within each 
  turn, each combatant moves and declares attacks 
  individually: each combatant moves once, and no 
  combatant moves twice. Then, after all movement and 
  attack declarations. The claw to claw combat begins. 
  C to C combat is presumed to be simultaneous for 
  all participants. NOTE: This is a non discriminatory 
  game. Any references in the rules to “crawdads” or 
  characters” apply to all creatures equally.
  1.  MOVEMENT
  A. SEQUENCE
  Combat movement is a function of a characters SP 
  rating. Movement is in order of SP with highest 
  moving first.  In case of a tie, higher DX moves first. 
  Failing that, players should arm wrestle to break further 
  ties.  Exception: A Thinker may use his IQ instead of 
  speed to determine order of movement ONLY.
  After a crawdad has moved it’s turn, and before the 
  next crawdad moves, an attack may be declared on 
  any adjacent opponent (or friend, I suppose) in the 
  front 180° arc.  A combatant may not move if an attack 
  has been declared on him or her by a previously moving 
  opponent, in that turn.  Yes, that does mean that a faster 
  opponent can always escape from a slower one by 
  simply moving away NEXT TURN.
  B. ESCAPE
  If involved in combat as detailed above, a slower 
  player can only fight or declare, an escape move 
  (“Run awaaaaay!!!”) or forget what he’s doing. (and get 
  mauled)  The escaping character moves at swimming 
  speed (2xSP) backwards, directly away from the 
  opponent. A player may not make an escape move 
  against an opponent whose SP is more than the fleeing 
  players swimming speed.  If the opponent wishes they 
  may make an attack at +2 to FA, with no return attack 
  allowed.  You CANNOT make such a dastardly attack 
  against an escaping opponent whose swimming SP is 
  greater than 2x your normal speed.
  C. MOVEMENT COSTS
  To actually move, a player moves one inch (or hexagon, 
  or square, or whatever) per SP factor. This may be 
  reduced by terrain or maneuver or the whim of the 
  CM.  Turning more than one hexside per hex costs 1 
  extra SP factor. (or 60’ per inch or whatever.)
  D. FINAL NOTE
  I suppose I should mention that this complicated, 
  realistic movement system is entirely optional and 
  really doesn’t add much to the game in terms of play, 
  although it does help its saleability to real hard-core 
  garners. Since most of the game is purely descriptive, 
  why not make combat that way too?  As a CM, just 
  tell the players what is happening and go from there. 
  Thats what I do anyway.  Besides, when you get to 
  the point of needing miniatures to settle a dispute in 
  combat, you’ve clearly gone beyond the mentality of 
  a crawdad.  So don’t worry. Roll the dice and see 
  what happens.
  2.  HOW TO HIT
  A. GENERAL PROCEDURE
  After all players have moved in a turn, any declared 
  attacks are fought out. A character can generally only 
  declare an attack against one opponent in a given 
  turn (but see below: Claw Florentine technique). In 
  combat, both players attempt to roll equal to or below 
  their FA If both fail, obviously nothing happens.
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   7
  DAMAGE RESULTS TABLE
   
  fighters 
  toolusers 
  thinkers 
  proles
   
  Claws 
  3-9 
  1-3 
  1-2 
  1-3
   
  Rock  
  claw+ 1 
  claw+ 1* 
  claw+1 
  1-2
   
  Pointy stick 
  claw+2 
  2-6* 
  claw+1 
  ---
   
  Sharp rock 
  claw+3 
  2-6* 
  claw+2 
  ---
   
  Glass shard 
  claw+4 
  2-6+1* 
  claw+2 
  ---
   
  Sharp metal 
  claw+5 
  2-6+1* 
  claw+2 
  ---
  *when using one of these weapons, a tool user uses his/her TU characteristic rather than FA
  The underlined weapons are unknown to crawdads at the beginning of the game.
  (oooh! Magic weapon!)
  If both players succeed with their combat rolls (i.e.., 
  score equal or below their FA), compare the actual 
  numbers rolled. The higher rolling character rolls 
  damage upon the opposing player. The lower rolling 
  player does not roll for damage, but rather subtracts 
  the full value of his/her armor from the damage. 
  Damage is explained in the next section, so don’t get 
  impatient. The remainder is then subtracted from that 
  player’s CN.
  If only one player succeeds, then the successful player 
  scores damage as above, but in this situation, the 
  unsuccessful combatant may only subtract 1/2 of his/
  her armor rating from this damage, and then applies 
  the rest to CN.
  Note 1: Damage cannot be reduced to less than Zero. 
  So no increasing your CN with a negative result!
  Note 2: The armor rating always stays the same, no 
  matter how many times it is used to reduce, damage.
  It is important to note that in general only one character 
  will be damaged in a given melee round. The only 
  exception is when both players succeed and roll the 
  same number. In this case, both roll damage on the 
  other but use 1/2 armor. Essentially, you are trying to 
  roll as close to your FA as possible without exceeding it.
  B. WHEN MOBS CLASH
  In combats involving more than one crawdad per side, 
  pair the crawdads up evenly, then allocate any excess, 
  up to 3:1. The first two fight normally. Any excess 
  crawdads simply roll vs. FA; if they succeed, they do 
  damage against 1/2 armor. Armor subtracts from each 
  attack, individually. Otherwise, nothing happens.
  C. CLAW FLORENTINE
  In melees involving more than two opposing combat-
  ants, excess combatants are not in danger of being 
  damaged, unless the outnumbered crawdad is a fighter. 
  This rule ONLY applies to Crawdads or other two 
  clawed beings , despite the earlier disclaimer. In this 
  case, the fighter may opt to fight against two oppo-
  nents as if he/she were two crawdads. This is the 
  famous art of Claw Florentine, which only fighters can 
  comprehend and use. This involves using one claw to 
  engage each of two opponents: This technique may 
  only be used when outnumbered and to attack two 
  separate opponents. When using this technique treat 
  each claw as a separate fighter. Each claw has an 
  effective FA equal to 3/4 of the characters actual FA. 
  The claw is rolled for exactly as if it was a crawdad. 
  In regular combat (roll compared to opponent to deter-
  mine damage or armor use, etc.). By the way, this rule 
  was added because in my experience every combat 
  system has some weird idiosyncratic rules that don’t 
  add much to the system, but sound neat.
  3.  HOW MUCH IT HURT
  The table below is used to determine how much 
  damage is done in combat when a hit is scored. In gen-
  eral, a hit is determined by rolling at or below FA; this 
  is explained in detail later. As you can see, damage 
  done depends on the crawdad’s profession and what 
  weapons, if any, are being used. 3-9 is generated by 
  rolling three half dice,. 1-2 by rolling one dice and 
  dividing the result by three - for fractions, round 1/3 
  down, 2/3 up. Note that proles do less damage with 
  a rock. This is not a typo ... having a weapon just 
  confuses them. In fact, rocks (not sharp) are the only 
  weapon they can use.
  
  8   Creeks and Crawdads
  4.  DAMAGE, EFFECTS OF
  Damage that penetrates armor is subtracted from CN. 
  Armor is not reduced by damage. Also, it hurts, 
  although this doesn’t usually bother fighters.
  A. LIE DOWN. YOU’RE DEAD
  Damage effects a character as follows: non-fighters pass 
  out when damage exceeds 3/4 of the total CN rating; 
  fighters never pass out because, they are far too stupid 
  to worry about being hurt. (“stupid to the point of hero-
  ism”); both die when damage exceeds the CN rating.
  B. HOW PEGLEG GOT HIS NAME (optional)
  In addition to the above effects, whenever damage 
  exceeds more than 1/3 of the total CN in ONE round 
  there is a 1/6 chance that one of the victim crawdads 
  walking legs has been seized and separated. This does 
  no extra damage as it is done much the same way that 
  a lizard drops its tail, and for the same reasons. However, it 
  does look neat in a character description. This is called 
  chrome, and is what the game is all about, or hadn’t 
  you noticed?
  C. HIT LOCATION (optional)
  If you really want, a hit location chart may be used. 
  Go get a Biology 1A study sheet with a crawdad on it, 
  the kind with lots of numbered arrows pointing to it. 
  Use these numbers to determine where you hit. Roll 
  damage normally; wherever you hit, whether Rostrum or 
  Telson, it’s all the same. However, you are allowed to 
  yell “I hit you in the (whatever) Ha Ha Ha!”. Clearly 
  this is a real serious combat system, because it has an 
  advanced and scientifically correct hit location chart. 
  Do you feel better about it now? Good.
  D. HEALING
  Damage heals eventually. See the section, “Advice to 
  the Creek Master”
  IV.  BEING A CRAWDAD 
  AND DOING CRAWDAD THINGS
  1. OVERVIEW
  Perhaps the most important thing to remember in this 
  game is that even a sentient crawdad is pretty stupid 
  (the motto on this game’s coat of arms). They have 
  specialized because their brains are so limited that 
  they just don’t have enough room in memory to have 
  two jobs.
  This specialization is quite rigid: a crawdad will only 
  perform well when doing a task that directly relates 
  to its profession. The chance of success is related to 
  the type of task, with three factors being considered: 
  speciality, difficulty, and originality. All are explained 
  in more detail in separate sections.
  The three professions (Thinker, Tool User, Fighter) 
  define what a character can do well. Anything not 
  appropriate to a player’s profession will be done 
  poorly at best.  Of course, this does mean that there are 
  many things that fall into none of the professions. No 
  one can do these well.
  To be fair though, there are some things that all 
  crawdads can do well: these, however are the most 
  basic things possible: eating, sleeping, mating, seeing/
  hearing/smelling, being confused, etc. Further, all 
  crawdads always remember how to speak, albeit with 
  different sized vocabularies.
  2. SPECIALTY AND THE UNION CRAWDAD
  Speciality is simply whether or not the contemplated 
  task is within the crawdad’s profession. This should 
  be fairly strictly enforced. Think of them as union 
  crawdads, if you will. Remember: Tool Users manipulate 
  the environment, Thinkers analyze it, and Fighters hit 
  it. Profession is a major determinant of how successful 
  an action will be.
  A. INSIDE YOUR PROFESSION
  For tasks that are well known (not involving any new 
  concepts or skills), of moderate difficulty, and clearly 
  within the area of the crawdad’s profession the basic 
  roll is 3d6 vs. the appropriate talent (FA for Fighters, 
  TU for Tool Users, and IQ for Thinkers). Examples of 
  this would be a Fighter trying to hit someone, a Tool 
  User making a pointed stick, or a Thinker trying to 
  determine if anyone in the party is missing.
  B. OUTSIDE YOUR PROFESSION
  This is a bad idea, generally only proposed by desperate 
  Thinkers.  Most other crawdads will not even think of 
  the concept. “I’m a fighter, not a brick layer.”
  Trying to do something outside of your profession is 
  penalized as follows. First, the basic 3d6 roll is made 
  against the characteristic appropriate TO THE TASK 
  IN QUESTION. In other words, the player has to roll 
  against the same characteristic that a character of the
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   9
  appropriate class would have to. However, this roll 
  never uses less than 3d6. Take a look at the charac-
  teristics chart: it should be instantly apparent that this 
  will be a very hard roll to make. In some cases scores 
  will be such that it is impossible: for instance, a 3d6 
  roll vs. an IQ of 2 . This is as it should be. When work-
  ing outside your specialization there are NO bonuses. 
  However, all additional dice penalties for complexity 
  or difficulty or, spite still apply. So lots of luck. No 
  “renaissance man” crawdads in this world.
  Some examples:
  A Fighter (TU=5) trying to make a pointed stick 
  would roll 3d6 against TU (an unlikely occurrence).
  The same Fighter (IQ=2), trying to remember how 
  many companions are in his group would roll 3d6 vs. 
  IQ, an impossible task. The Fighter will not succeed, 
  even with a roll of 3.
  A Tool User trying to think of a new tool would roll 
  3d6 vs. IQ. This last example may seem contradictory, 
  but is a good example of the high degree of special-
  ization of the (so-called) brain of the crawdad. Tool 
  Users MAKE and USE tools - they do not specialize 
  in inventing them...this requires thinking, the forte of 
  the sage. The sage would be the one who thinks of a 
  new and wondrous piece of equipment...such as a bag 
  (this is an important factor to remember to get into 
  playing or running a crawdad...to most of them, think-
  ing is a strange and unknown art...much like assembly 
  language programming is to me, or orthodox Freudian 
  dream analysis is to you guys).
  C. TOOL USERS AND WEAPONS
  There are of course exceptions to this rule. One major 
  one is in the realm of weapons. Weapons are tools 
  used to fight with. As such they fall into the expertise 
  of both Fighters AND Tool Users. Fighters roll vs. FA 
  when fighting with weapons, and Tool Users roll vs. 
  TU. The difference is that Fighters will generally do 
  more damage with weapons.
  D. USE OF OTHER CHARACTERISTICS TO DO
  YOUR DUTY
  Another exception is in situations where a characteristic 
  other than the one specific to that profession must be 
  used in a way that directly relates to that crawdad’s 
  profession. Examples of this are a Tool User trying to 
  spot a stick to sharpen (using AW), or a Fighter trying to 
  understand a battle order other than “charge” (using IQ).
  In these situations, the number of dice used to roll 
  against the characteristic should be the same as the 
  number of dice used to generate said characteristic.
  In the previous examples, the Tool User’s AW is gener-
  ated by 2d6 (see characteristics chart) resulting in, say 
  an 8. Thus, to find a likely stick, the Tool User would 
  roll 2d6 vs. AW, 6 or less resulting in success. Similarly, 
  the Fighter would roll 1d6 vs. its IQ.  Again, to get 
  this benefit the use MUST be directly related to the 
  crawdad’s profession and should not be something 
  another profession would do. For instance, the Fighter 
  in the previous example would have to roll (at least) 
  3d6 vs. IQ to think of the tactic by itself. This is 
  because following orders is a major part of what being 
  a fighter/grunt is all about; however, thinking of new 
  and wonderful strategies is what Thinkers do. Tool 
  Users also often need to follow the orders of Thinkers, 
  and/or to understand descriptions of a new type of tool 
  that the Thinker has conceived. Actually, no roll is 
  needed to obey the orders: crawdads are usually more 
  than happy to obey the Thinkers - what is necessary is 
  that they understand said orders, and thus the roll vs. IQ.
  3.  ORIGINALITY
  Originality is a measure of how similar a new task is to 
  a well known task. This also applies to ideas, actions, 
  concepts. etc., whether it involves thinking or seeing a 
  familiar task in a new way, or combining several things.
  A. GENERAL STUFF
  In general, any change in this variable will also result 
  in more or fewer dice being rolled vs the appropriate 
  characteristic. In general, the progression of crawdad 
  knowledge should be step by step; leaps of insight and 
  innovation are for primates (and look what it got them, 
  hmmm?) The principle of  “easiest common denominator” 
  should be used: when something can be done in a simpler, 
  less complicated manner, that must be done first.
  Originality applies to more than just inventing new 
  tools. New patterns of thought, and new reactions to 
  events are all affected by the monumental conservatism 
  of a crawdad’s brain. For instance:  crawdads at home 
  in their village, have probably never been beyond a 
  short walk from a food supply. Thus, adventurers may 
  have to roll to see if they think to take food along. 
  They’ve never had to before - it may not occur to them.
  Tool User
  
  10   Creeks and Crawdads
  B. MEMORY DECAY
  Also, don’t forget that even the best Thinker in the 
  world will forget the simplest thing if it hasn’t been 
  reinforced for a while. Rule of thumb (But crawdads 
  don’t have thumbs): if it hasn’t been done, discussed 
  or thought of for a while, then treat it as a new 
  idea. Thus, if the party has stopped asking where 
  they’re going and why, the leader may well forget. 
  Exception to the rule of thumb: what a crawdad HAS 
  to remember is etched in stone. A Thinker never forgets 
  how to count or what everyone’s names are. A Fighter 
  never forgets how to fight or use weapons. Tool users 
  can always use tools that they have used most of their 
  lives; they, can remember how to count to two. Everyone 
  remembers how to speak, eat, obey thinkers, etc..
  It’s the stuff that isn’t 100% vital to staying alive 
  that slips through the cracks, though things that relate 
  to the crawdad’s profession will stay longer.  Unless 
  there is constant reinforcement over a long period of 
  time, it goes away. Fighters on adventure may quickly 
  forget that they ever lived in a village...when they 
  go back they won’t recognize their friends. In a new 
  village, they will probably forget they ever have 
  lived elsewhere. Thus “new” ideas are often highly 
  dependent on memory span. Lower IQ means a worse 
  memory. The axe can be invented a dozen times, and 
  forgotten just as often if it isn’t used frequently. The “you 
  forget about it” clause is entirely at the CM’s discretion.
  C. WHY CAMBARIS STRIVES
  Another rule to remember is that innovation in crawdads 
  is invariably a response to some challenge or new 
  situation. Thus thinkers can’t just sit around at home 
  or in a secure hidey-hole and invent useful gizmos. 
  The bag was invented to carry food for a long journey 
  across a desert, as the journey was begun; the layer, 
  when some crawdads HAD to get under a big rock. 
  Things aren’t invented because they “might come in 
  handy later” - that’s far too advanced thinking for a 
  crawdad. There has to be an immediate need.
  D. FINALLY,  ACTUAL GAME MECHANICS
  In general, a new idea, even if it is just a simple 
  modification on an old idea, is worth +1d6 to the roll 
  to succeed. Unfortunately, after this point there are no 
  hard and fast rules. The more original, the more dice.
  Look for combined familiar concepts and changes in 
  usage or old concepts/tools (whatever) when rating 
  a new idea - a stone headed club (a mace) is a new 
  idea, involves - combining two familiar objects (rock 
  and stick). If the stick in question has been used as a 
  weapon (a “pointy stick”) it involves using a familiar 
  thing in an unfamiliar manner (you poke with a stick - 
  you swing with a club).  Each of these should be worth 
  +1d6, for a total of a 6d6 roll vs. whatever - this would 
  apply to the thinker conceiving the idea, and the Tool 
  User making it. It also may cause the Fighter using it 
  problems at first. Thus changing familiar tools may be 
  actually harder than using something original.
  Another example: making or inventing a “long 
  pointy stick”(spear). This is fairly simple, it’s a 
  slight modification of an old tool, and involves no 
  change in function :  +1d6 total.
  4. DIFFICULTY AS IT AFFECTS DOING STUFF
  This is easy. If it’s harder, you have to roll more dice. 
  If it’s easy, roll one less. Only in the most pig-ignorantly 
  simple cases should a bonus of two be given, and this 
  should be rare. The rationale behind this admittedly 
  unfair system is that almost everything is difficult to 
  at least some degree for a crawdad. That’s it for difficulty. 
  Wasn’t that easy?  None of that long winded dry 
  lecture about originality, here. But then, what do you 
  expect from a psychology student anyway ?
  A. WHEN THINGS GET EASIER
  On the subject of tools and Tool Users, in general, it 
  should be somewhat easier for a Tool User to re-create 
  a tool, if it has invented or seen built.  If it hasn’t been 
  too long, and/or an example is around (and recognize 
  as such). Perhaps give them a -1 to their roll for each 
  time its been made recently, or for an example around. 
  This bonus shouldn’t be more than -4, under any 
  circumstances. This concept can also apply to thinkers 
  and frequently used ideas, like setting a guard during 
  sleep time. In fact, it could even be used for Fighters, 
  for understanding frequently given orders, I suppose.
  In any case, the important point is that whatever 
  is being given the bonus should have been recently 
  enforced how long this is depends on the crawdad. 
  Longer for thinkers (perhaps two or three sleeps, or 
  even more if very important), less for tool-users, least 
  for Fighters (until hungry again).
  “If the party has stopped 
  asking where they’re 
  going and why, the leader 
  may well forget.”
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   11
  B. USE OF OTHER CHARACTERISTICS TO DO 
  OTHER THINGS
  Essentially, when characters have to do something, 
  have them roll against the appropriate characteristic. 
  To push over a rock, roll vs. ST.  To avoid the falling 
  rock roll vs. DX. To figure out that pushing on the 
  same side of the rock as everyone else is a good idea, 
  roll vs. IQ.
  If a situation arises that doesn’t seem to fit any of the 
  characteristics, fake it. Anyway, this shouldn’t happen, 
  as these rules are totally perfect, and will never need 
  a supplement, unless it becomes a best-seller. Then 
  you’ll see five supplements, four editions, a basic 
  set, an Advanced set, the signed designers edition, an 
  advanced second edition collectors copy for experts 
  only, and the gold leaf limited edition sealed into 
  a space capsule and sent to the nearest life bearing 
  world; and if those rotten aliens make unauthorized 
  photocopies, I’ll sue them and garnish their ecosystem. 
  So just imagine what’ll happen to a lowly Earthling 
  gamer who tries it.
  I seem to ‘have wandered off the subject, somewhat. 
  To continue:
  5.  IDIOSYNCRASIES OF THE VARIOUS 
  PROFESSIONS
  Fighters should tend to be played as rather dull-witted 
  sorts. Counting is beyond them. As befits grunts, 
  though, they will always follow orders from their 
  Thinker, or whoever-is-in-charge. This does not necessar-
  ily mean that they will understand the orders Also, 
  they tend to be very literal about what they have been 
  told to do. This combination of unswerving loyalty 
  and abysmal stupidity can lead to some amazingly 
  amusing situations. After Proles, Fighters are the most 
  common type of Crawdad.
  Tool-users are sort of the mad scientists of the crawdad 
  world. They are brighter than the rank and file, and 
  utterly fascinated with tools. They can generally count 
  to two, and are also fairly loyal. They are however 
  easily distracted. They have been known to stop in the 
  middle of a fight to check out a neat looking rock, and 
  never quite remember that it would be a very good 
  idea to hit the bad guy with it. Tool-users are the least 
  numerous of all the types, even rarer than Thinkers.
  Thinkers. Hmmm...how to say it? The main problem 
  Thinkers have is that they are in charge and can think. 
  To understand this, read any of the examples, and try 
  to imagine yourself as the poor fool in charge of the 
  situation. Also, Thinkers aren’t as smart as they think 
  they are. Don’t be mislead by the name: just because 
  they can think doesn’t mean that they can do it well. 
  Oh yes, Thinkers can count to seven, one for each leg 
  (yes, I know that they have eight legs, they need one to 
  point at the other ones with).  This can cause problems if 
  they’ve lost a few legs, and don’t remember this fact. 
  For further details, see “Travels with Peg-leg and Why 
  We Almost Starved to Death” soon to be in-print in 
  your favorite crawdad bookstore.
  A. GENERAL TENDENCIES FOR ALL CRAWDADS
  Also, on the subject of starving, a major motivational 
  factor is hunger. Trying to do anything while hungry 
  is harder and should add dice. Crawdads will be less 
  attentive and useful when hungry.  Loyalty tends to 
  suffer as hunger gets worse.  I have yet to have a party 
  start eating its members, but given time and crawdads, 
  almost anything can happen.  Fighters are especially 
  bad about this.
  However, crawdads will eat almost anything, being 
  scavengers.  Thus any combat kills that aren’t friends 
  tend to become lunch. The crawdad feeding cycle is to 
  wake up and eat wait until hungry, eat and fall asleep. 
  Again, Fighters are especially bad about this.
  B. MATING
  Mating is actually not that major a drive among 
  crawdads. Read how they do it in a biology book: 
  you’ll understand why it’s no big thrill for them.
  6.  EXAMPLES AND EXPLANATION
  I feel that at this point it should be pointed out that 
  this is not as complicated as it seems and can be lots 
  of fun too. As a creekmaster NEVER laboriously com-
  pute dice - go with your first impulse in most cases. If 
  you find yourself getting confused. You’re working too 
  hard. Don’t worry about it. If you screw up and they get
  
  12   Creeks and Crawdads
  something too complicated or advanced, then it’s just 
  more likely that they’ll forget how to use it, and next 
  time, make them roll more dice, or invent more steps.
   
  CM: “You wake up...roll three dice.  Hmmm. 
  There’s a strange thing lying next to you.  It 
  looks like two rocks and a stick mating”
   Player: “Does it look edible?”
   
  CM: “No”
   Player: “The hell with it...what’s for breakfast?”
  And so on.
  A. HUGE ALL-INCLUSIVE EXAMPLE
  Now for a complicated example that explains every-
  thing , involving three crawdads trying to cooperate to 
  achieve a goal. A Thinker (named “The Sage”): IQ 12, 
  FA 3. AW 9; a Tool User (named “K’krtch”): TU. 13, 
  AW 7, IQ 7 ; and a Fighter (named “Brown”) FA 13, 
  IQ 5, OX 3, AW 4. Not all characteristics are shown.
  The sage, trying to figure out how to kill a huge lob-
  ster-ogre, thinks that a sharp rock would penetrate its 
  shell, especially from below. He must think of the rock 
  (in this campaign, a known, if uncommon item): 3d6 
  vs. IQ: rolling a 10, a success.  Then the tactic of 
  attacking from below must be thought of (New tactic, 
  rules the creekmaster, +1d6) 4d6 vs. IQ, roll=13, 
  success. Sage then tries to remember that Brown 
  already has a sharp rock: (simple memory, nothing 
  new, common task) 3d6 vs. IQ: roll=14, failure.  The 
  merciful creekmaster allows him a roll to see if he 
  happens to see the rock in the Fighter’s claw (basic 
  test, not in profession) 3d6 vs. AW: roll=10, failure. 
  “Well,” he thinks “it’s a shame we don’t have any 
  sharp rocks around...hmmm....perhaps the Tool User 
  can do something about this.” (thinking to have a Tool 
  User make a tool is a very common and simple con-
  cept thus getting a 1d6 bonus) 2d6 vs IQ, roll=10, 
  success.  Thus sage tells K’krtch to get a sharp rock 
  for the Fighter (normally, for common instructions, 
  such as making a pointed stick or finding a rock, a 
  very common Tool User task, no understanding roll is 
  required).  K’krtch then proceeds to look for a sharp rock.
  The creekmaster rules that sharp rocks are found rather 
  than made and so this is indeed a fairly common task, 
  using awareness within profession: normally 2d6 vs. 
  AW, but the CM rules that the area is mostly sand, thus 
  making it a hard task. + 1d6) 3d6 vs. AW, roll=17, fail-
  ure. Since searching Fighters for tools is NOT a stan-
  dard Tool User task, K’krtch doesn’t bother to look for 
  the sharp rock Brown is carrying.
  Faced with this problem, Sage thinks that perhaps a 
  sharp rock could be MADE, (new idea, +1d6), 4d6 
  vs. IQ, roll=12, success.  Sage explains his idea for 
  making a sharp rock to K’krtch, who must now under-
  stand the idea.  As said earlier sharp rocks are found, 
  not made, thus an understanding roll is necessary 
  (basic attempt to understand a new but not radically 
  new idea...sharp rocks are already known about...no 
  more dice added, having to make the roll itself is the 
  penalty, using IQ in pursuit of profession) 2d6 vs. IQ, 
  roll=5, no problem.
  “Wow, neat idea”, says K’krtch, who then attempts to 
  procure a sharp rock.  First he must find ANY sort of 
  rock, (not as difficult as finding a sharp rock in the 
  sand, only a +1 to his roll) roll 2d6 vs. AW, roll= 7, +1 
  =8, still a success. Now he must make it sharp (new 
  task. +1d6 ) 4d6 vs. TU, roll=16, oops.
  K’krtch has probably managed to smash the rock into 
  a thousand useless pieces.  “Oh well, it’s impossible, 
  rocks are too fragile.” 
  He reports to the sage who grows desperate and cries 
  “Does anyone else see a sharp rock?” 
  K’krtch doesn’t roll, as he has already failed at that 
  task, but Sage and Brown can. Sage must roll a basic 
  3d6 test vs. AW since looking for tools isn’t a Thinker 
  kind of task, + 1 d6 for the local conditions = roll 4d6 
  vs. AW. Poll = 16, failure.
  Now for brown . While a sharp rock is a weapon, 
  finding one isn’t a Fighter task thus it is a 3d6 test vs. 
  AW. However, there is a sharp rock around, the one in
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   13
  Brown’s claw, remember?  This negates the +1d6 pen-
  alty for the sandy bottom, and also makes the task 
  absurdly easy for the fighter, thus giving a rare -2d6 
  bonus. Roll 1d6 vs,. AW.  Roll=2, success.
  “How bout this one boss ?”
  “Good, yes, perfect!!!” replies Sage.  
  “What now?’ asks Brown.
  At this point with all the delays, distractions and 
  general dismay, the CM rules that Sage must roll to 
  remember his original idea (new idea, +1d6, recent 
  memory -1d6) 3d6 vs. 10: roll=16, failure. “Um...keep 
  hold of it.’
  “Yes boss, can we eat yet?”
  And so our intrepid crawdads wander off into the 
  distance looking for lunch, the evil lobster-ogre 
  forgotten, for now.
  B. FINAL THOUGHTS
  You might want to note how many dice you decided 
  were needed for a roll so that you can be consistent 
  later when an object has to be reinvented (and it will). 
  On the other hand, never let consistency get in the way 
  of the flow of the game.
  For the player it can be a lot of fun failing rolls.  In a 
  situation where you have to roll to connect cause with 
  effect, the most idiotic conclusions can be reached 
  via a failed roll.  One party found another crawdad 
  village, and the fighters, getting separated, failed to 
  grasp the concept of ‘other village’.  They promptly 
  decided they were home, even though they didn’t 
  recognize anyone, and everyone had a funny accent. 
  These facts puzzled them, but then again, fighters are 
  used to being puzzled.  Needless to say this caused 
  extreme trouble.  Getting out of town can be a major 
  adventure in this universe.
   New sage: Halt, bitte! Vere are you two from ?
   Player 1: Umm...here.
   New sage: No youre nott! Und who sent you here 
  hmm?
   Player 2: I remember... it was our...uh... 
   Player 1: Our sage!
   Player 2: Right ! Our sage sent us here.
   Player 1: But he’s gone, so we came here.
   New sage: I see! Und vhere are you vrom?
   Player 1: Home.
   New sage: Und vhere iss home?
   Player 2:  Here. 
   New sage: Vhat? Who are you?
   Player 1: Who are you?
   New sage I’m ze sage zat iss who! Vhat are you 
  do-ink here?
   Player 2: If you’re the sage, then you sent us here.
   Player 1: Yea-what he said.
   New sage: You’re not vrom here!
   Player 2: But if you’re our sage we must, be from 
  here
   New sage: Vun more time, vhy are you here?
   Player 2: YOU sent us.
   Player 1: Jeese! They call US stupid?
   New sage: I didn’t zend you ANYVERE !!!
   Player 1: Hey! That must be why we’re back home 
  !
   Player 2: Wow! Way to go! I wondered about that. 
  What’s to eat around here?
  etc
  
  14   Creeks and Crawdads
  C. MORE RULES OF THUMB
  1. If you think of an idea which seems clever, you’ll 
  have to roll to do it. Tell the CM.
  2. Conversely, if an idea seems stupidly obvious. roll 
  anyway.
  3. When faced with an opportunity to do something 
  sensible, roll the dice. If you fail, do somthing stupid. 
  It’s more fun in the long run.
  4. Things shouldn’t matter much since you’ll probably 
  forget them anyway. This applies to almost anything.
  5. Whenever you fail a roll, consider invoking 
  Murphy’s Law, especially if it’ll get a laugh.
  6. Never, ever argue with the CM or other players. Do 
  you think this is a real game or something?  Go play 
  “advanced, big FRP. expert set, collectors edition”.
  VI.  CONTINUING CHARACTERS
  A. NAMES AND PERSONALITIES
  Real crawdad names are generally things like “Big 
  Head”, or “Brown”, or “Stump Claw” or “K’Krtch” or 
  “B’rrack”. They also are pretty changeable depending 
  an whether you’ve done something of note recently. 
  Then there are the player generated names like 
  “Capt. Nemo”, “Cray-1”. “Buttertail”, or “Scarlett 
  O’Crawdad”, to name a few.  Whatever turns you on. 
  Also, it can be amusing to go into a campaign with no 
  name and wait for the rest of the party to decide what 
  to call you.  That ALWAYS gets interesting results.
  B. EXPERIENCE
  This is simple.  After each game, add one to one 
  of your characteristics.  However, you can’t add to 
  that characteristic again until all others have had one 
  added to them.
  The exception to this occurs when you make a spec-
  tacularly successful role against that characteristic.  
  This is at the CM’s discretion, although a unanimous 
  vote of the players should carry SOME weight.  When 
  a roll is designated to be sufficiently spectacular, put a 
  check mark by that characteristic.  When you have 3-5 
  such marks, (CM discretion, again) you may immedi-
  ately increase that characteristic by one, even if it has 
  been raised previously and some or all of the others 
  haven’t.
  Experience may only increase a given score to the 
  maximum for that characteristic in a character’s pro-
  fession: Thus a Fighter may not raise his IQ above 6.
  C. ADVENTURE TO ADVENTURE
  Very little will be remembered from adventure to 
  adventure. So don’t worry about it.
  D. DEATH AND A NEW CHARACTER
  Don’t worry too much. Just roll up a new one. It only 
  takes a minute.  Pretend it’s the old one if you wish - 
  after a few sleeps, who’ll remember, anyway?
  VII.  ADVICE TO THE CREEKMASTER
  Perhaps the first and most important thing that I can 
  say is that ANY of the rules are subject to change 
  at your discretion.  One of the big advantages of 
  this system is that unlike most games, consistency 
  is optional.  Characters can’t map their progress, 
  have only the vaguest concept of how much time 
  has passed, where they have been or even where 
  they are. Given this, it is no problem to get characters 
  into any scenario you want.  Just say...“You’ve been 
  walking around for a while, suddenly ...”
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   15
  Want to let a new character into an ongoing adventure? 
  No problem:
   
  CM: (to the new player) You were out hunting, 
  made a big kill, gorged yourself, fell asleep, 
  and unknown to you, were washed down 
  river and landed in the middle of the group. 
  Make an IQ roll. (the player fails)  You 
  don’t notice that you’ve moved anywhere. 
  You are a little curious as to why the members 
  of your hunting party look different.
   
  CM: (to the group) You wake up. Make a 5d6 
  IQ roll. 
  (they do this)
   
  CM: Hmmm.  Okay, the fighters don’t notice 
  anything different, the tool user realizes 
  there’s more people around, but gets hungry 
  and forgets it.  The thinker sees the new 
  crawdad who wasn’t there yesterday.  What 
  do you do?
   Thinker: Hey, who are you?
   Fighter: I’m K’nan - why are you asking me, sage? 
  you know.
   Thinker: Not you, you fool!  The new guy!
   New PC: Me ?
   Thinker: Yes, you, new guy.  What’s your name?
   NewPC: (concentrating on the wrong part of the 
  question) I’m not new...I’ve been here a 
  while.
   Thinker: Notnu? Glad to meet you Notnu.  I’m 
  Sage.
   NewPC: I’m not “Notnu!”
   Thinker: “Notnotnu”?  That’s kind of weird.  We’ll 
  call you “Notnu” for short.
   K’nan: Hi.  So you’re Notnu ?
   NewPC: Right.  I’m Not New. I’ve been here a 
  while.
   K’nan: (ponders) Then I guess I’ve known you for 
  a long time.
   Thinker: Right!  If K’nan knows you, Notnu, that’s 
  good enough for me.
   New PC: (becoming confused) But if I know you, 
  why do you all look different?
   Thinker: We don’t look different.  You look differ-
  ent, Notnu.
   Notnu: Oh. I guess that explains it...you are a 
  thinker and should know.
  And so it goes.
  In the previous example, I’ve omitted all dice rolls to 
  try and show the flow of a very typical encounter. In 
  fact, in the actual situation, the players were either 
  rolling the dice themselves, or being intentionally 
  stupid.  This raises two important points: first, no roll 
  is required to be stupid or to reach the wrong conclu-
  sion.  That’s right, it encourages non-linear thinking. 
  That’s what this is all about.  You can play someone 
  clever in any other system on the market; how many 
  allow you to forget what your mission was because 
  you’re hungry?
  The second point is that the game goes much faster 
  when, the players start taking the initiative to roll the 
  dice for themselves.  In other words, when they force 
  THEMSELVES to make an IQ roll, and do some-
  thing bizarre because they didn’t roll to do the sen-
  sible thing: It also makes it a lot more fun for the 
  players. When they’ve gotten to this point, you know 
  that they’ve made a conceptual breakthrough and are 
  truly thinking like crawdads. The CM still has final 
  say, and should feel free to override players when nec-
  essary, but player participation of this kind should be 
  encouraged.
  SETTING THE CAMPAIGN UP
  This is actually fairly easy. First, decide what tools 
  the crawdads have already invented, and might have 
  access to.  These should be fairly limited.
  In my campaign, the crawdads used rocks and 
  could manufacture pointy sticks.  Sharp rocks were 
  used but were found, not made.  They lived in a 
  village that consisted of a jumble of burrows (did 
  I mention that crawdads lived in burrows? They 
  do, you know) arranged around the “God Rock” 
  which was worshipped because it was the biggest 
  rock they had ever seen. Actually the rock was a 
  ceramic bust of Abraham Lincoln, which caused a
  
  16   Creeks and Crawdads
  rather bizarre twist when an old penny was found and 
  the Thinker made an extraordinary roll and recognized 
  the profile...but I digress.
  Next, determine how much of their environment the 
  crawdads are aware of.  Have they EVER been out 
  of the water? (Probably not) What creatures do they 
  know about?  How far have they explored? etc...etc.
  Get all this written down and leave it at that.  What 
  isn’t listed, isn’t known.  The less they start with the 
  better.  Never give any new knowledge away or free 
  - make them roll to identify or understand anything 
  new
  For the actual terrain, I strongly advise against making 
  maps of any detail at all.  This game should really 
  be played out of your head without minia-
  tures and/or maps.  I’ve written that big because 
  it’s important. So pay attention, there!  In this game 
  props and ploy aids just get in the way: they encourage 
  you and the players to take this game seriously, which 
  is a deadly mistake.
  Remember: the characters won’t, remember.  If terrain 
  changes from visit to visit, it’s because they forgot, not 
  because you are being inconsistent.  The players may 
  well remember, but so what?  If they’re playing with 
  the right attitude, they won’t worry about it.
  I have stressed that the CM is very unrestrained in 
  terms of what can be done.  I don’t want to give the 
  impression that CM’ing is being a despot.  The CM is 
  not out to destroy the players, or to “get’ them.  If you 
  want that kind of power, we all know what game YOU 
  should go out and buy.  But no free plugs, here, no 
  sir.  Remember: the players should be able to confuse 
  themselves well enough that you won’t have to go out 
  of your way to force it.  Okay, enough of the sermon.
  ORGANIZING THE PARTY
  Always have a keg, even if it’s BYOB.  No, wait...
  The first rule is that a group has to have AT LEAST 
  three characters, one of each profession.  This is 
  purely for practical reasons.  Lone crawdads are VERY 
  boring adventurers and also very unlikely to accom-
  plish anything.
  The second rule is that there should be more than 
  two players.  Player interaction is a major part of this 
  game.  In addition, the more players, the more likely 
  it is to get them confused.  Again this is where at least 
  half of the fun of this game is.
  The third rule is that for a party of up to six characters, 
  there should only be ONE Thinker, and no more than 
  two Tool Users.  The point here is that the game 
  isn’t much fun if things become too easy or too obvi-
  ous.  With more than six players a party should never 
  have more than two Thinkers.  Okay, three at the out-
  side. But that’s it: too many Thinkers, especially, gives 
  the crawdads access to far too much information and 
  knowledge.  A crawdad, even a Thinker, spends most 
  of its life in a fog. Simulate this.
  Finally, no player should start the game with a score in 
  their professional characteristic above 14, or below 9. 
  The ideal is 10-12.  High scores make it all too easy. 
  Conversely, a player has to have SOME skill or they’d 
  just be a prole.  Also, these ARE beginning players, 
  after all.
  RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN
  Keep it pretty abstract.  Keep measures of time very 
  vogue (“It’s been a while. You’re hungry again.”) 
  Never map for the players, nor let them map. Are you 
  kidding?  When its necessary, draw out what they can 
  see in the immediate vicinity.  But wherever possible, 
  rely on description over concrete example.  The com-
  pass directions should be appropriately limited.  I use 
  “Hard to swim”, “Easy to swim”, “To the side”, and 
  eventually, “Up”, and “Out”.  The last was for ANY 
  direction above the water.  Crawdads have NO sense 
  of direction out of the water, and must navigate by 
  sight and other senses.
  Damage heals, “eventually”.  Faster for Fighters, 
  slower for Thinkers.
  One other note.  Remember that this is theoretically 
  underwater, and is a three dimensional environment 
  even though Crawdads mainly walk on the bottom. 
  Also, the environment is in motion.
  TAKING THE GAME SERIOUSLY 
  Don’t.
  “ A Crawdad, even a 
  Thinker, spends most
  of its life in a fog.
  Simulate this.”
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   17
  VIII. List O’ Monsters
  The number of creatures encountered is entirely at the 
  discretion of the CM.
  All characteristics are either assigned a constant 
  number, or a dice range. An entry such as 2d6 means 
  “roll two six sided dice, and add them together. Unless 
  otherwise specified in the individual description, crea-
  tures will flee/fight as follows: IQ 0 Creatures will 
  never flee. IQ 1 creatures will flee if CN is reduced 
  to 1 (not if it started at 1). IQ 2-7 will flee if CN is 
  reduced to 1/2, and they are not obviously winning. 
  They will always flee if CN is reduced to 1. If a crea-
  ture has a MA of 0 or is Unable to retreat, it will never 
  flee. Feel free to ignore all of this.
  TOOTH WORMS (Nematode Dentate)
  ST:0 DX:6 FA:9 IQ:1 AW:5 CN:6d6 AP:0 SP:8 
  DAMAGE: 1d6
  Basically a worm with a mediocre bite on it. Any 
  single attack, doing over 1 /3 of the worms CN value 
  in one phase has cut it in half. The teeth are hollow and 
  conical, and make useful daggers (claw+2) or spear 
  heads for pointy sticks (additional +1 damage). Either 
  idea is a new concept. They live primarily under-
  ground.
  LEECHES
  ST: 4 DX: 8 FA: 10 IQ: 0 AW: 5 CN: 1d3+1 AP: 0 SP: 14 
  DAMAGE:special
  When leech scores a hit, it does no damage the first 
  round. However, it is now attached, and will automat-
  ically hit each round thereafter, ignoring armor, and 
  doing 1 pt of damage (draining the victims blood).
  This will continue until it is killed or has drained twice 
  its CN rating, at which point it will fall off, sated.
  WATER SPIDERS:
  THE SMALL, THE LARGE AND THE UGLY
  SMALL
  ST: 1 ea. DX: 10 FA: 9 IQ: special AW:Special 
  CN:Special AP:0 SP: 3
  DAMAGE: special
  These are a particularly unusual mutation.  Singularly 
  they are non sentient and harmless.  However, when 
  in close proximity to each other, and in large enough 
  numbers, they form a highly intelligent group mind. 
  For every three such spiders within one hex( or what-
  ever) the mind has 1 IQ point.  In combat, each spider 
  has a 3 in 6 chance of doing 1 pt of damage, with the 
  victims armor only counting on the first turn. Any hit 
  destroys 1d3 spiders.  When in mass they can only 
  drift on the surface.  However this apparent helpless-
  ness tends to draw their prey to them.  In short they 
  look like a big lump of food.  If they are scattered (per-
  haps by a thrown rock), they must take 1d3 turns to 
  reform and are harmless until then.
  LARGE
  ST:3 DX:14 FA:10 IQ:1 AW:14 CN:2d6 AP:0 SP:7
  DAMAGE: 1 d6
  These only attack on the surface of the water, or on 
  dry land.  The only exception is a species that builds 
  an underwater nest out of a bubble and webbing, and 
  commutes to the surface, to eat and add air to the nest. 
  There is a 2 in 6 chance that any spiders of this size 
  will be poisonous.  If so, any hit the spider scores 
  AND that penetrates armor will do an additional 1 
  d3 worth of damage on each succeeding turn for 1-6 
  more turns.  Naturally armor doesn’t protect against 
  this.  And yes, multiple hits are cumulative.  So watch 
  it.
  B-MOVIE SIZE
  ST:16 DX:8 FA:9 IQ:2 AW:5 CN:8d6 AP:1 SP:4
  DAMAGE: 4d6
  Big hairy Tarantulas that live under water and so can 
  grow to REALLY immense sizes (1-2 feet across). 
  They are never poisonous, but can still bite the heck 
  out of you.  They can also be encountered on dry 
  land.  These are smaller (CN:6d6) but still do 3d6 
  damage, and are usually (5 in 6) poisonous to boot. So 
  REALLY watch it.  As with all B-movie insects these 
  have a voice, either a dull roaring, or an obnoxious 
  high-pitched chittering.
  LOBSTERS
  ST:35 DX:7 FA:9 IQ:2 AW:10 CN:10d6 AP:8
  SP:( 1 - 3)* 
  DAMAGE: 3d6, or 2d6 per claw if each used separately.
  Generally passive, freshwater lobsters will fight if 
  attacked.  Having few natural enemies, they tend to be 
  friendly, if dull witted.  Two to four times as large as 
  a fighter crawdad, they are sometimes used as war or 
  riding animals by highly advanced crawdad tribes.  In 
  Crawdad terms, lobsters are about on the same intel-
  lectual level as a dumb fighter.  They can talk, but 
  don’t have much to say.
  Lobster
  
  18   Creeks and Crawdads
  SNAILS
  ST:5 DX:1 FA:5 IQ:0 AW:9 CN:1d6 AP:8* SP:1
  DAMAGE:0
  *AP= 0 on the first round, if surprised.
  Stupid, slow and passive, snails are generally harm-
  less and are frequently hunted for their delicious meat. 
  A snail, if not surprised when attacked, will withdraw 
  into its shell. To flip one over, is a 6d6 roll vs ST. Up 
  to two crawdads may add ST score to make, this roll. 
  When inside its shell and right side up, a snail is auto-
  matically hit by any attack, but always uses its full 
  armor value.
  PIRANHA SNAILS
  ST:2 DX:2 FA:12 IQ:1 AW:2d6 CN:2d3 AP:10 SP:5
  DAMAGE:3d3
  *When out of the shell end fighting, total AP is at -4.
  These nasty mutants are absolutely indistinguishable 
  from their harmless cousins until it’s too late. Essen-
  tially a buzzsaw in a shell. Also known as “Killer 
  Escargot”. If their CN is reduced below 1/2 they will 
  either flee or seal up’ ( as with snails above)
  CLAMS
  MUTANT AND OTHERWISE NORMAL
  ST: 1 DX:1 FA: 10 IQ:0 AW:1 CN:3 AP:13 SP:0
  DAMAGE:2d6
  A normal clam is basically an armored mouth. It is 
  only dangerous as a trap. If the character doesn’t make 
  an AW roil and steps on it, the clam gets a free attack.
  MUTANT
  ST:6 DX:12 FA:9 IQ:7 TU:14 AW:7 CN:1d3 AP:7 SP:4
  DAMAGE: 1d3 or as a tool user with the appropriate 
  weapon.
  These are clams that have somehow evolved arms and 
  legs. They are natural tool users and make and use 
  many advanced tools. They are not very inventive, 
  but learn quickly and don’t forget much where tools 
  are concerned. They are very greedy and have a rudi-
  mentary barter economy, largely to rip off customers. 
  Luckily they’re not as smart as they think they are. 
  They live in either underground warrens or mud ‘castles’.
  WOLF SHRIMP
  ST: 1 ea. DX:n/a FA:8 IQ:0 AW:7 CN:1 ea. AP:0 SP:4 
  DAMAGE: 1 ea.
  Travelling in packs, these mutated freshwater shrimps 
  act much like terrestrial wolves or tropical piranhas, 
  though on a smaller scale. All the Wolf shrimp that 
  hit a single character in one turn add their damage 
  together and armor is applied once to this total.
  MUTANT KILLER TROUT
  ST:15 DX:12 FA:13 IQ:3 AW:12 CN:8d6 AP:1 SP:13
  DAMAGE:2d6
  Killer trout are the most feared of all encounters. Fast, 
  agile and viscous, trout attack mindlessly, and fight 
  until dead. Naturally they are quite hard to kill.
  JOE FISH
  ST:up to 6 d6 DX:3d6 FA:7 -10 IQ:2 AW: 8- 13 CN:up 
  to 12d6 AP:0 SP: up to 18 DAMAGE: 1 d6
  This represents the generic normal fresh water fish 
  that will be encountered, in other words, the ones that 
  aren’t psychotic killer trout. Actual slats are deter-
  mined by the CM. They generally will only attack a 
  crawdad if very hungry (or if attacked, naturally).
  CRABS, NORMAL AND MUTANT
  NORMAL
  ST:7 DX:2 FA:9 IQ:4 AW:10 CN:2d6 AP: 5* SP:3
  DAMAGE:3d3
  Normal crabs are highly territorial, and will attack vis-
  cously as long as an intruder is within their territory. 
  They are totally passive to anything outside of this 
  area. May use Claw Florentine technique.
  *always used at full value
  MUTANT
  ST:17 DX:7 FA:11 IQ:2 AW:6 CN:8d6 AP:9 SP:1d3
  DAMAGE:2d6 per claw
  These are non-territorial, big stupid viscous brutes. 
  They are able to attack separately with each of two 
  claws even against a single opponent. Luckily, like 
  most ogres, they are easily fooled, even by crawdads.
  HUGE HAWAIIAN SNAILS
  ST:66 DX:1 FA:8 IQ:1 AW:4 CN:7 AP:11* SP:1
  DAMAGE:1d6-1
  *When out of the shell and fighting, total AP is at - 4.
  This is a bigger, more aggressive version of the normal 
  snail. However, if it hits an opponent (regardless of 
  damage) its next attack will be a ‘crushing’ attack (i.e. 
  crawling up on top of the character). This attack is at 
  +4 to FA and does 2d6 damage. If this attack is success-
  ful, the opponent is helpless and will automatically take 
  2d6 damage each round unless a 3d6 ST roll is made. 
  If a character escapes or if the initial crushing’ attack 
  is unsuccessful, that opponent is still liable to another 
  initial ‘crush” each turn, until the character disengages 
  for a round, or the snail attacks another character.
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   19
  OTHER CRAWDADS
  ST:4d6 DX:1d6 FA:3d6+1 IQ:2d3 AW:1d6 CN:5d6 
  AP:3d3 SP:1d3
  DAMAGE:4d3
  These are big nasty barbarian crawdads of Genus 
  “Orconectes”.  Guess what they’re called for short. 
  No prizes given for the correct answer.  They have no 
  tool users or thinkers and only rarely use weapons. 
  Basic bad guys.
  GIANT MUTANT AQUATIC SOW BUGS
  (WATER DEMONS)
  ST: 1 d6 DX:2d6 FA: 2d6* IQ:1 AW:1d6 CN:2d6 
  AP:1d3 SP:1
  DAMAGE:special
  This atrocity is one of the worst encounters, espe-
  cially if the victim is alone, Water Demons lair on the 
  bottom, or in caves.  Attacking by surprise (roll 3d6 
  vs 1/2 awareness to spot and then 3d6 vs IQ to figure 
  out that avoiding it is a good ideas).  It grabs the prey 
  with its huge front pincers ( a successful roll vs FA 
  indicates this has happened), and anchors itself with 
  a small pair in the rear.  The initial “grab” does 1d3 
  damage.  On each round thereafter, the victim auto-
  matically takes damage as follows ( Armor counts): 
  1d6 on the second round. 2d6 the third, 4d6 the fifth, 
  etc, until one of you dies. The only escape is to kill it. 
  or to break loose: to do this is a 3d6 roll vs. ST on the 
  first round, 4d6 the second, 5d6 the third, etc. Upon 
  initial inspection, the body is usually hidden from 
  view, and the legs and mandibles appear to be jagged 
  rocks or crystals.  Naturally, water demons seek areas 
  where they can blend in.
  FLATWORMS (PLANARIA)
  ST:1 DX:1 FA:8 IQ:0 AW:10 CN:1 AP:0 SP:2d3 
  DAMAGE:special
  These creatures are one of the most repulsive end 
  annoying creatures to encounter.  Flatworms feed by 
  turning their stomach inside out and sticking it out of 
  their mouths onto whatever they plan on eating.  If 
  a flatworm scores a hit, it has started this nauseating 
  procedure and will automatically do 1 point of damage 
  per turn until one of you is dead.  This wouldn’t be a 
  problem except that this attack applies to armor first, 
  and DOES reduce the AP score.  This damage takes a 
  LONG time to heal.
  Orconectes
  
  20   Creeks and Crawdads
  HORSESHOE CRABS
  ST:14 DX:3 FA:8 IQ:1 AW:5 CN:12 AP:20* SP:2 
  DAMAGE:3d3 (tail)
  *this score is always at full value if right side up. 
  AP=0 if flipped over.
  A mobile pillbox is what this little darling is. It is 
  pretty much invulnerable unless flipped over (a 10d6 
  roll vs ST. Up to four crawdads can add their ST 
  scores together to make this roll this counts as an 
  attack). Its tail can only hit its rear 180˚ arc, but can be 
  dangerous. On the other hand, it tastes good, and its 
  shell can house two or three crawdads.
  FROGS
  ST:12 DX:8 FA:8, 13 with tongue IQ:5 AW:14 
  CN:3d6 AP:0 SP:10
  DAMAGE: 1d6+special
  These are mostly dangerous near the surface. Their 
  special attack is its tongue. It has a 6 hex range and a 2 
  hex minimum.  If It, hits, it will entangle and draw the 
  victim into its front hex next turn.  It will automatically hit 
  thereafter with its mouth, doing 1d6 each turn unless 
  the victim escapes.  This requires a 3d6 roll vs. ST.
  A frog will naturally attack the smallest member of a 
  party, and usually prefers ambush tactics.
  TADPOLES
  ST:2 DX: 14 FA:10 IQ:6 TU:10 AW:12 CN:3 
  AP:0 SP:2d3*
  DAMAGE:1d3 or as tool user with weapon.
  These are not true tadpoles, but rather a variety of frog 
  that retains juvenile characteristics (arms with hands, 
  legs and a tail).  They are tribal and highly territorial. 
  They will vigorously defend their territory, usually 
  through particularly nasty hit and run guerilla tactics. 
  They also have a nasty rudimentary sense of humor. 
  Their tool use is limited to weapons, and traps which 
  they prefer to use .
  SLUGS , various types
  ST:2-7 DX:1-6 FA:6-8 IQ:1 AW:7-9 CN:2-4D6 
  AP:0  SP:1
  DAMAGE:1d3
  This is what we call a gravy encounter.  As a general 
  rule, slugs are slow stupid harmless helpless and tasty. 
  In many ways they are the ‘cows of the creek’ How-
  ever, there have been rumors of large intelligent slugs, 
  using Telekinesis to move things around, or maybe it 
  was just that pizza I had before bed
  WATER SCORPIONS
  ST:DX:FA 10/ 14 IQ:0 AW:10 CN:2d6 AP:3 SP:4
  DAMAGE:1d6 per claw, 1d6+1 and poison for tail
  Solitary and aggressive, Scorpions attack anything 
  they encounter. They attack once with each claw (FA 
  10). But always against the same opponent. If BOTH 
  claws hit in the same round, in addition to damage, 
  they lock and hold the opponent helpless unless it 
  makes a 4d6 roll vs. ST. On the next round, if the 
  victim is still held, the tail will strike (FA14). If it 
  hits and penetrates armor, the target Is poisoned. This 
  causes an immediate 1d6 damage, and a further 1d6 
  each round for 1-6 rounds. Further, unless said victim 
  is a fighter, they well be in far too much pain to do 
  anything other than thrash around and scream.  I do 
  not recommend allowing the players to roll play this 
  out, as the neighbors invariably call the police.
  DRAGONFLIES
  ST:15 DX:14 FA:10 IQ:0 AW:12 CN:2d6 AP:0 SP:15 
  DAMAGE:special.
  In the absence of most vertebrate left on the surface, 
  many insects have reverted to their prehistoric sizes, 
  which in the case of dragonflies is quite large indeed. 
  Dragonflies attack near the surface, or on dry land. 
  They swoop down, and attack from above usually by 
  surprise.  If not surprised, the targets can fight back, 
  but are at -3 FA and the fight is not resolved as a stan-
  dard combat. Both roll vs. FA: If the crawdad makes 
  its FA roll it can either do regular damage or try to 
  grab and immobilize the dragonfly; this requires a 2d6 
  roll vs. DX no damage is done if a grab fails, half if 
  it succeeds.  If the dragonfly makes its FA weather the 
  victim was surprised or not, the victim is picked up 
  and carried away.  It well rise for 1d6+1 rounds, and 
  then drop the victim on a convenient rock.  This does 
  1d6 of damage for each round the dragonfly spent 
  rising.  If the victim survives they are stunned (Dura-
  tion equal to IQ score.  Yes, this does mean that the 
  smarter you are the worse it is. Sometimes it helps to 
  be clueless), and unless dragged to cover, or defended, 
  well soon be attacked again. (1-6 rounds later)  While 
  in the air, the unwilling passenger can attack the drag-
  onfly but at -5 FA.  This counts as an unopposed 
  attack.  If successful, the crawdad is automatically 
  dropped, as above.  If the Dragonfly has been held 
  down by a successful grab, it is totally helpless and is 
  easily beaten to death.
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   21
  WASPS
  ST:5 DX:13 FA:12 IQ:0 AW:12 CN:1d6 AP:0 SP:5 
  DAMAGE:1d6+special poison
  These attack much like dragonflies, except that they 
  are far too small to carry off a crawdad. Also, they 
  are far from helpless in combat. Wasps can only attack 
  above the surface of the water. If they hit and penetrate 
  armor the opponent is paralyzed unless a 2d6 roll vs. 
  CN is made. If it fails, the victim is paralyzed, and if 
  alone, essentially dead. If, the roll is made, nothing 
  happens. However, if stung again, each further roll 
  that crawdad has to make is increased by one for each 
  previous sting. Victims are paralyzed until the CM 
  decides otherwise, but certainly for longer then the’ 
  present combat. Opponents are at -3  FA for the first 
  round only.
  WATER BEETLES
  ST:7 DX:7 FA.7 IQ:0 AW:7 CN:7 AP:3 SP:3 
  DAMAGE: 3d6+2
  Water beetles would be particularly third rate encoun-
  ters if it wasn’t for their immense mandibles. They 
  don’t hit often but it hurts when they do: Plus they 
  don’t run away. However, some tribes have domesti-
  cated them for pack animals.
  MUTATED BANANA SLUGS
  (SLUGDRAGONS)
  ST:20 DX:1 FA:special IQ:1 AW:15 CN:40 AP:1 SP:1 
  DAMAGE:2d6 bite, 2d3 “breath” weapon, 1 d6 “spit” 
  weapon.
  Slugdragons tend to lair in caves, but when hungry can 
  be found anywhere. They attack and, try to eat ANY 
  creature that they encounter if they are, hungry. They 
  also will attack anything that disturbs them or enters 
  their lair, in any case. Slug dragons can use one of the 
  following three attack types in a given round.
  1. They can bite in combat for 2d6 damage (FA 12).
  2. They can spit venom up to 9 hexes. The first shot 
  is at FA8.  Subsequent shots at the same target are 
  +2 per additional shot. Each successful hit causes 1d6 
  damage and a further 1d6 each round thereafter for 
  1-6 additional rounds. A typical slugdragon on a hunt 
  has 2-12 such “shots”.  In its lair, it has 12.
  3. They can exhale a cloud of venom. This uses up 
  3 “shots” This cloud effects every thing in front of it 
  within 3 hexes. All victims within it must make a 3D 
  roll vs. IQ to avoid its effects. The cloud causes 4d3 
  damage to all who fail this roll. Armor does NOT pro-
  tect against this damage.
  WATER BEATLES
  ST:7 DX:7 FA:7 IQ:0 AW:10 CN:2d6 AP:0 
  SP:sometimes DAMAGE: sonic attack. special.
  This tiny aquatic pop music band ... Oh forget it. Even 
  I can’t stomach this joke.
  
  22   Creeks and Crawdads
  Incredible fawning thanks are due to a lot of people in 
  this project. Here are a lot of them:
  First and foremost. Susan, for doing everything and 
  being wonderful about it.  Also she promised to injure 
  me very painfully if I didn’t mention her. She was a 
  major co-conspirator in getting this started.
  To Jim for being the other major accomplice in play-
  testing and running the system. Also thanks for a good 
  portion of the art in this beast, and for working for 
  peanuts.
  To Raven for giving up a day off to cut and paste the 
  rules and for being amazingly enthusiastic.
  To Betty who drew such a nifty crowded.
  To Kevin, the draftee creekmaster.
  To Ed for technical assistance on the subject of Marine 
  Biology, and the interminable loan of the textbooks. 
  (See if this really is scientifically accurate !)
  To that crawdad in the river in Muir Woods who started 
  all of this. Hope he and his Auntie enjoyed tea.
  Thanks also to those brave pioneers who play tested it 
  all those times:
  The South Bay Colony: Betty. Kevin, Keith, Jim, 
  Cheryl. Barry, Belly. Dane.
  The Fremont tribe: Raven. Garth, Chris. Shura (also 
  pets)
  The Strawberry Creek Tribe (Roger, Avi. Ed, etc.)
  The Pacificon and Dundracon crawdads.
  And of course. Brown, K`nan, K’krtch and Sage,
  who were there first and most frequently.
  Also to John. Pete, Avi, and Roger who have never 
  gotten to play yet, but wanted too ‘real badly’.
  Actually, by the time of the second edition. Pete, Avi 
  and Roger have now played.  John, however has not. 
  Get off your butt John.
  To the UCB department of Psychology for making me 
  what I am today. Take that as you will, Cynthia and 
  Gerry.
  Also to Jeff and Dan, for saying it would never work, 
  thus convincing me that it would.
  And to persons anonymous who bribed me to mention 
  “Crawdad of Norham” in the game somewhere.
  And the Marquis and Marquissa, who are NOT 
  pirates.
  THANKS !!!
  For further reference,
  Studies In Adaptation: The behavior of higher
  Crustacia; Rebach and Dunham. 1983.
  Crayfish of Florida; Horton H. Hobbs, Jr. 1942
  The Crayfish; T.H. Huxley F.R.S., 1880
  Endocrine control in Crustaceans; David B. Carlisle & 
  Sir Francis Knowles. 1959
  The Crustaceans of South Australia; Herbert M, Hale, 
  date omitted.
  Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States, 2nd 
  Ed;  Robert W. Pennack. 1978 (Actually Consulted)
  Ed Allen, Graduate Student in Genetics U.C. Berke-
  ley; 1965, 1st ed.
  Everything Copyright Martin Costa, 1986.
  Creeks and Crawdads is Martin Costa’s Trademark for 
  his game of Crustacean Role Playing trademark pending.
  
  Creeks and Crawdads   23
  
  THE HUMAN RACE HAD DESTROYED ITSELF.  Nuclear war had erased all human 
  life from the face of the earth.  Only the cunning, lucky, or well prepared had survived the 
  initial bombs.  They all died shortly thereafter.  There were no mutants, no crazed war vets 
  returning home, no cryogenic. sleepers trying to change civilization.  Not even the vultures 
  to pick their bones.  Consider then the plight of Cambaris, the common crawdad.  For in the 
  radioactive hell that followed the war it found itself evolving towards intelligence.  Well, 
  part of the way.  No matter how smart a crawdad gets, it’s still pretty stupid.
  Nonetheless, despite their basic stupidity, they set forth to rebuild a shattered world, to 
  relight the torch of civilization, to get hungry, find lunch, and forget about everything else.
  Creeks and Crawdads.
  The late night role playing game you need
  when you don’t need another role playing game.
  CREEKS AND CRAWDADS
  a game by M. Martin Costa.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Creeks and Crawdads/Creeks and Crawdads Corebook.pdf