Advanced Creeks & Crawdads

Advanced Creeks & Crawdads

Warrior. 10+claw HP. d10 damage. 2-armor.
Soldier. 8+claw HP. d8 damage. 1-armor.
Worker. 8+claw HP. D6 damage. 1-armor.
Talker.
Thinker
Tinker
Scout
Chief
Prophet


The stats are:
Claw
Think
Use
Talk
Plan
There is no instinct stat. Players are required to provide that themselves. Being clever has its downsides for even the brightest sentient mutant crawdad.

History
At the start of every session write down or each of +2, +1, +0, -1, -1 next to the name of each other character. Use this modifier when rolling Help or Hinder moves. Crawdad memories being what they are, there's no obligation to relate this number to what happened last session.


Moves

The Unknown Future
When you try and do something complicated, roll +plan. On a 10+ you have a plan that will work and can get started. On a 7-9 forget one of.
Why you were doing it, but you've got this thing.
How you did it, You've got the thing and a plan but…
To tell anyone you did it.
An important step.

Percussive Psychotherapy.
When you need to whack some sense into another crawdad, roll +talk or +think. On a 10+ they snap out of it and come around to your way of thinking, remove any Dazed on that character. On a 7-9, remove 1 Dazed from them and they'll believe the next thing you tell them. On a miss, the GM may add a Dazed to them and will make any other move they think is funny.

Float like a waterbug, snip like a crab.
When you do your dance of death (make your players actually do, or at less describe the dance) and give your enemy the death of 1000 snips, roll +claw. On a 10+ avoid their attack, reduce their armor by 2 and do your damage. On a 7-9 reduce their armor by 1 and do your damage. On a miss you dance right into an attack, the GM makes an appropriately hard move in response.

What were we just talking about ?
When you roll a miss on a talk, use, think, or plan roll (maybe just think and plan), take 1 Dazed. Take -1 ongoing to any talk and think rolls for each Dazed you have.

Red of Claw
When you try and reduce an opponent to finely chopped bits, roll +claw. On a 10+ ignore their armor and do your damage. On a 7-9 reduce their armor by 1 and do your damage. On a miss, you leave yourself open for a counterattack or other hard move-ish problem.

Gift of Gab
When you try to persuade other critters you can talk to to do or believe what you say, roll +talk. On a 10+ they bought it. On a 7-9 they're skeptical and want more to actually believe you. On a miss they call you on your BS.

Deft claws
When you attempt to to use tools or manipulate your environment roll +use. On a 10+ it works (as well as any crawdad could do it anyway) ! On a 7-9 choose between a partial success

Even a sentient mutant crawdad isn't all that bright.
When you have an idea, roll +think. On a 10+ you actually have the idea and can begin to execute it. On a 7-9 you've got the gist of it, but the GM will complicate matters for you as you implement it. Obvious bits of the idea that bypass the obstacle are not a new trigger for this move, clever plans to get around obstacles are; roll +think again. On a miss, describe how it goes hilariously wrong.
Players are encouraged to roll this move on their own initiative when they come up with an idea, the GM is advised to moderated the results out of sheer kindness.

Help or Hinder
When trying to help or hinder another player, or to take credit for what they just did, roll +Hx. On a 10+ they take +1 or -2 forward, or you get the credit. On a 7-9 as 10+ but also choose. On a miss, they get the opposite bonus or you get blamed for something, and the GM follows wthi an appropriate move.
* they gain one less of any mechanical benefit or favorable options
* you get in trouble somehow

Nasty, brutish, and short.
When you try and escape a danger, say how you're doing it and roll
+talk when you try and tak your way out of trouble.
+claw when you right your way out.
+think when you do something smart.
+use when you use tools or the environment to dodge danger.
+plan when you expected this all along.
On a 10+ you get away unscathed. On a 7-9 you either pay a price or end up in trouble that might cost you more. On a miss, you'll at least get off a one liner before inevitably succumbing.


The Creek
This is where crawdads live and, somehow, thrive to build a new civilization. Your creek just tastes right, other bodies of water are somehow wrong, and filled with strangers and dangerous denizens of the flowing waters. The old human civilization has also left their mark, old boots, bits of glass, a whole tin can and other such wonders can be found and made use of in your quest for food, knowledge you can retain past a nap, and the successful conclusion of your many capers and antics.

Maps of the creek.
The creek is represented in a node and branch map style. Each node on the map is of one of a few types.
* Run. A free-flowing segment characterized mainly by a strong current. A few quiet or developed areas might be found in a Run node, but generally it is just a place you pass through, not stay in.
* Pool. An area of calm water, usually at a bend in the creek. These large bodies of water make excellent food sources and sites for crawdad colonies.
* Bend. A bend in a pool, creates an open, gentle flowing space in the creek. Good hunting here, and there's room and safety to develop.
* Branch. Two streams of water meet here, a tributary flows in to or a subsidiary leaves the main course of the creek. The other stream can run either upstream or downstream from here.
* Locks. A series of pools that allows the creek to gently decrease in elevation. Each pool is likely to be good foraging or hunting territory.
* Dam. A pool created by an artificial or natural blockage, with a nasty stretch of rapids leading downstream. Good foraging in the pool, not so much just downstream,
* Rapids. Like a Run, but dangerous somehow, not necessarily from white water. There's never enough time in one of these nodes to do any gathering or hunting.
* Source. Where the creek begins, usually from a strong spring.
* Outlet. This is where the creek meets a bigger body of water, a pond where bigger critters can be found or a river where the stronger current makes travel difficult.

Notable locations

A deepness. A spot in a pool that is deeper and darker than your average crawdad ever wants to go into. Even crawdads can recognize a dangerous spot, sentient crawdads can spot a mystery that needs looking into.

An old tire. These are common artifacts. In the wild, they are good spots for foraging and hunting. They are also defensible positions and are used as outposts, larders, and forts by crawdad communities.

Root nests. Tangles of tree roots running into the creek, almost always a a pool or other slow-running spot. These provide cover, places in which to lurk and hide stuff, and can often shelter a whole colony of crawdads or other critters.


Media
The Three Stooges. You can stop here.
About half the characters on Arrested Development. Never mind which half.
Mad Max if everyone was on heavy doses of Ambien. Also maybe if a Tinker got some old old RC cars and trucks working. Beyond Thundercome only made so much sense with people involved anyway, switching to crawdads doesn't hurt the premise beyond recognition.
Wagon Train. But it's an actual little red wagon and nobody can remember where they were pushing it or why at the same time.
Star Trek. As above, but you run into weirder things.
Anime. There are probably at least half a dozen series I've never heard of where you could swap the characters for sentient mutant crawdads without affecting the plot or character arcs in the slightest detail.