Joe B.

climber creation. also d66 jobs, d36 triggers/phobias

More excerpts from rules for fantastic mountaineering campaigns.

the climber

The climber is represented on paper by an itemised inventory, their level, a list of completed climbs, and three statistics: stamina, luck, and cool.

climber creation

  1. Write your name at the top of a bit of paper.
  2. Write "IN HANDS" and two underlined blank spaces beneath it; "ON HARNESS", and two more blank spaces; "IN BACKPACK", and an empty list numbered 1-12.
  3. record the climber's saves, determined by rolling 1 die and adding 6 to the result in this order: stamina>cool>luck.
  4. Decide what your climber did before this. They count as extra skilled and knowledgeable in it. See Appendix A for inspiration.
  5. Decide what your climber's trigger/phobia is. It should be feasible for it to come up during the game (e.g. don't be afraid of sharks in a landlocked country). Ask the referee for help, or roll on a table from appendix A.
  6. Roll for your starting equipment. Additionally, all climbers start with a HARNESS, BACKPACK, POCKET KNIFE, WATER BOTTLE, 30m ROPE, 12 PITONS,and a BELAY DEVICE.
  7. On the other side, make two columns with the headings 'First Ascents' and 'Freed', for newly established routes and all completed routes, respectively.

inventory

Inventory is measured in slots. A slot is anything that fits in the hand, irrespective of weight. A dumbell is one slot, an inflated beach ball is two, and so on.

A belt has two slots. They are trivial to access. A backpack has a dozen slots numbered 1-12. To dig something out, roll two die. You can access anything in a slot numbered lower than what you rolled. You can't roll again until you spend ten minutes in a safe spot repacking.

saves

When a climber accomplishes something strenuous, they should make a 'save' to see if their reserves are depleted. Do this by rolling two die, aiming to score below the most relevant statistic. On a failure, the statistic decrements by 1.

A save is not for determining the success of an action. If you're climbing or fighting, there's rules for that1. In all other cases, just have an argument. If you are really stuck, flip a coin.

stamina: pulling a dangling climber away from an edge
cool: leaping over a small, but extremely high and exposed, gap
luck: anything not covered by another statistic

Saves can be restored with downtime activities.

stamina

Physical health and stamina. When stamina is at zero and a save would be called for, the climber instead suffers injury or death. Roll a die and compare the result to the death & injury table in Appendix B.

cool

A climber lives by their ability to keep their cool under pressure. When a climber's cool is at zero and a save would be called for, they instead 'lose their cool'. Roll a die and compare the result to the table in Appendix B.

Every climber has a trigger or phobia that makes it easier for them to lose their cool, as detailed in climber creation and Appendix A.

luck

When a climber relies on chance alone to avoid something bad, a luck save can be called for. In the case of a fall, the climber makes a luck save to catch themselves at the last second. If they fail, compare the result of the dice to the falling table in Appendix B.

level

Broad measure of technical climbing ability. This number is always added to the climber's contested roll. Level can be increased with experience and training.

advancement

The referee awards climbers experience points (xp) for various achievements and activities. Each level has a prerequisite xp threshold:

Level 1: 2,000
Level 2: 4,500
Level 3: 16,000

Below is an inexhaustive list of achievements and their xp value:

specialisation

When a climber claims the first ascent of a new route, they gain a specialisation from it. This is added as a bonus to level when ecountering similar routes in the future.

There is no single definition of a route. It may be a single epic pitch, or a chain of them from base to summit. The only rule is that everyone should agree the route is notable and worthy of a specialization.

example: A climber claims F.A. of a steep overhung route. They write it under 'First Ascents' on their character sheet as:

MT. MAKA ROOF ROUTE. +1 on Overhangs

Each F.A. awards only a single specialisation. If the MT. MAKA ROOF ROUTE also had a slabby section, the climber could gain a specialistion in either, but not both.

appendix A: jobs, phobias/triggers

Roll two die. The first die indicates the relevant list, while the second indicates the list sub-item.

phobias/triggers

1-2:

  1. heights: -1 cool when moving on exposed ridges or on overhangs.
  2. isolation: -2 cool when a member of the party leaves your line of sight.
  3. failure: -2 cool when you back down from a challenge.
  4. death: -2 cool every time you lose stamina.
  5. chaos: -1 cool every time another climber loses cool.
  6. blood: -2 cool when another climber loses stamina.

3-4:

  1. wild animals: -2 cool when threatened by a wild animal.
  2. greatness: -2 cool when 1 pitch away from a summit or F.A.
  3. enclosed spaces: -2 cool when in an enclosed space.
  4. darkness: -3 cool when there is no light.
  5. thunder: -2 cool when a storm begins, and when moving in one
  6. hunger: -2 max. cool if you have less than 2 days of food and -1 cool every meal skipped

5-6:

  1. strangers: -2 cool when a stranger is encountered in the wild
  2. taboo: -4 cool when remains, ruins, or artefacts are disturbed
  3. inferiority: -2 max cool per nearby climber of a higher level than you
  4. exposure: -2 cool when caught in either extreme of temperature
  5. confinement: -3 cool when your agency is threatened or restricted by an NPC
  6. mediocrity: -1 max. cool per week gone without an F.A. or summit

jobs


    1. zoologist
    2. archaeologist
    3. ecologist
    4. chemist
    5. geologist
    6. physicist or astronomer

    1. miner
    2. trapper
    3. porter
    4. carpenter
    5. farmer
    6. mason

    1. translator
    2. architect
    3. governor
    4. engineer
    5. magistrate
    6. gardener

    1. shoptender
    2. auctioneer
    3. banker
    4. artisan
    5. collector
    6. cook

    1. footsoldier
    2. officer
    3. watchman
    4. detective
    5. sailor
    6. captain (roll again on this list to determine what you were a captain of)

    1. occultist
    2. thief
    3. prisoner
    4. magician
    5. dilettante
    6. pirate

  1. As a standalone ruleset, cliffcrawl's chief concern is climbing. The other things are so unimportant as to be abstracted to the extreme. If using these rules as a supplement to another game that ascribes meaning to non climbing activities, you can of course use those rules for their resolution.↩

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