Table of Contents

• The World
• Characters
• Factions
• Archaic Alignments
• New Rules
• Equipment

Welcome to Teenage Mutant Ninja Crawl Classics

Teenage Mutant Ninja Crawl Classics (TMNCC) is a fan-created homage to the iconic 1984 comic ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,’ created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, with the post-apocalyptic role-playing game ‘Mutant Crawl Classics’ developed by Goodman Games. This home-brew project is designed solely as a non-commercial, fan-based expansion, serving as an additional rule set for Mutant Crawl Classics (MCC). It is important to acknowledge that all source materials, including characters, settings, and themes from ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ and ‘Mutant Crawl Classics,’ remain the intellectual property of their respective copyright holders. This project is a tribute to the original works and is intended for personal use only.

A full copy of MCC is required to play the game (https://goodman-games.com/)

The World

History of the Big Mutation

Sometime in the twenty-first century a world-changing event now called the “Big Mutation” ended the advanced civilization of pure strain humans known as the Ancient Ones. What happened exactly is lost to history, but it involved radiation, mass mutation, god-like artificial intelligence, and an inter-dimensional incursion. Now mutants, manimals, and plantients live side by side with the descendants of pure strain humans in fortified settlements in Manhattan and across the water in the dangerous lands known as Jersey, Brooklyn, and Upstate.

The Island of Manhattan lies mostly in ruins, overgrown by plants, riddled with subterranean tunnels, and teeming with dangerous mutated life. The Big Mutation diversified the sentient life on the planet, making pure strain humans the minority. In a few years, civilization regressed to stone-age and bronze-age levels.

The Village Held Out

Nestled on the lower east side of Manhattan is a walled section of New York that still resembles the old world. The East Village of New York City never fell to the chaos and violence that ended civilization, thanks to the brave acts of a team of crime-fighting manimals named the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hailed as heroes, the Ninja Turtles came out of hiding in the sewers and founded a martial arts school named Splinter’s Dojo. The dojo went on to train future generations of the Village in the skills and morals they’d need to protect the village and hold their society together against the chaos raging across the rest of the world.

The East Village may be the last bit of civilization on the planet, appearing as an anachronism to citizens of New York who have carved out new settlements beyond. The East Village is known for solar-powered taxi cabs, movie theaters playing recordings of the Ancient Ones, textile factories, TV news broadcasts, designer footwear, and the last delivery pizzeria in the known universe. Given the madness and regression to the stone-age level technology outside its walls, the East Village is a unique and mostly peaceful place that pure strain humans, mutants, manimals and even some plantients call home.

Right of Passage

As they exit childhood the residents of the East Village and other tribal settlements find work in the various remaining businesses and trades within the walls of the Village or by venturing into the ruins of New York as hunters and gatherers. However, until undergoing a Right of Passage they are not considered a full adult citizen of New York and are unable to own property or start a legal business.

While exact practices vary between settlements, in the East Village teenagers must adventure away from the village for seven to ten days and return with an artifact of the Ancient Ones in working order. For mutants, manimals, and plantients, it is also expected that the stresses of undergoing the Right of Passage will also trigger the meta-genesis - the blossoming and full expression of their inherited mutant DNA.

Ninja Teams

After the right of passage, many newly celebrated Citizens of New York return to their respected jobs or the tasks of hunting and gathering. The bravest and strongest, however, form into teams of adventuring ninjas to undertake missions for the Village leadership and carry on the tradition of the heroes who saved the village during the Big Mutation.

Characters

Zero-level characters and the Funnel

If you are playing TMNCC as a zero-level funnel adventure, likely at a convention or intro session, you will be provided with a sheet of 4 completely randomized characters. The Game Master may ask you to pick a subset of those 4 characters to run through the funnel depending on table size.

Zero-level characters follow the rules of Mutant Crawl Classics with the addition that they all have the special ability “Ninja Skills” having trained at Splinter’s Dojo in childhood.

Characters that survive a zero-level funnel become first-level adventurers. Pure-random is fun for some players, but not all. Changing the genotype sub-type of the character is allowed at the transition from zero to first-level. The funnel game counts as a session survival for the purposes of tracking character advancement.

Playing a randomly generated character that has survived a zero-level funnel is not required, but is a mark of old-school honor in this game.

Creating a First-level Character

Premade first-level characters are available at the start of each game from the game master.

As long as the current session is not a funnel, you may create a new character for the start of any game using the rules in MCC. You are allowed to randomize your Genotype, Genotype sub-type, and Class or pick from the lists in the MCC core book. For an option not in the MCC book, please confer with the game master.

First-level characters start with a flint dagger, a water skin, and three items from Table 1-4: Additional Beginning Equipment, which is one more than a level zero character.

Just like zero-level characters, all new first-level characters have the special ability “Ninja Skills” having trained at Splinter’s Dojo in childhood.

First-level characters may pick a Faction and Archaic Alignment if they have met the requirements of membership.

Factions

The following new factions are available to first-level characters. Characters may change their faction at any time if they meet the requirements of membership.

Faction: Splinter’s Dojo

Located in the East Village, this martial arts school is hundreds of years old, having trained generations of heroes. While most citizens of the East Village trained in self-defense classes, learning the basics of Splinter’s karate and ninjitsu techniques, you continued your studies and are considered a full teaching member of the dojo, carrying on the traditions of honor, respect, and non-discrimination in this world of mutants - treating others as one would be treated themselves.
Open to: all like-believing genotypes
Benefits: Once per session, the character able to focus on their task can narrate they are tapping their inner Ninja and achieve a state of physical, mental, or spiritual harmony to re-roll a failed attack or save.
Secret Sign: the Shaka

Faction: Ninja Pizza Delivery

You are counted among an elite group of scouts and wilderness seekers risking life and limb to deliver hot, delicious New York pizza in the post-apocalypse. You work for Ninja Pizza, a business still making the wondrous delicious pie of the Ancient Ones from an artifact-equipped facility in the East Village. Using your vehicular skills and memorized knowledge of the ruined city, you navigate the wilderness between villages speeds. Delivery pizza is more than a trade to you and the Citizens of New York. Delivery Pizza is the last remaining luxury of the old world and you are its noble defender.
Open to: all like-believing genotypes
Benefits: You gain a +1d bonus on all rolls to drive or pilot a vehicle, once per session you may ask the game master for extra knowledge or information you believe you may have gained from your many high-speed deliveries through the wilderness and to other villages
Secret Sign: a single finger tapping the opposite wrist as if it had a wristwatch, pizza show not be delivered late

Faction: Scrapper’s Chop Shop

You are a member of Scrapper’s Chop Shop, a cooperative maker space and junkyard in possession of an Ancient One cutting torch useful for taking apart scrap found by gatherers in the ruins of Manhattan. Founded by Scrapper, a generous but grumpy wheel-chair-riding gerbil manimal, who is known to teach the children of the East Village useful technical skills.
Open to: all like-believing genotypes
Benefits: use of the Chop Shop’s tools, once per game you can re-roll any failed technical, mechanical, artifact, or other reasonable check that benefits from your long hour spent working with Ancient One scraps in the shop.
Secret Sign: Two fists held together and tapped twice

Archaic Alignments

The following archaic alignments are available to first-level characters. Characters may change their archaic alignment at any time if they meet the requirements of membership.

Citizen of New York:

A reskin of “The Clan of the Cog” from MCC.
You are an adult resident of a settlement or village in the greater New York area who has survived the Right of Passage. You have pledged your allegiance to the village leadership or tribal elders and believe in cooperation between all intelligent, self-aware beings. While citizens of New York are not afraid to defend themselves utilizing their ninja skills when necessary, they are taught from an early age to respect life and avoid killing innocents.
Open to: all like-believing genotypes who make their homes in a village of New York
Benefits: A home base in the East Village. Safe passage through territories controlled by members; right to invoke hospitality with other clan members and tribes.
Secret Sign: a rude hand gesture

The Chosen of Zuu

As listed in MCC
Open to: like-believing manimals regardless of species or mutation
Benefit: Merit-based rank in a para-military organization that is universally recognized among all alignment members; shared material resources and intelligence among members and allies.

Children of the Glow

As listed in MCC
Open to: Membership is open to any like-minded mutant, manimal, or plantient. Applicants must undergo a trial consisting of spending one week in a known radioactive area and surviving the experience, proving the devotion and piety of that individual’s belief in “The Glow.”
Benefits: Members add +5 to all mutation check rolls, or when gaining a new passive mutation or defect.

The Curators

As listed in MCC
Open to: like-believing pure strain human, mutant, or manimals
Benefits: After acceptance into the order and a brief apprenticeship, members gain +1 to their Artifact checks (in addition to any other bonuses derived from genotype abilities or class abilities).

The Atomic Equinox

As listed in MCC
Open to: all like-believing plantients, and to select pure strain humans, mutants, and manimals who have been determined to serve the greater good
Benefits: Members cannot become lost in any wilderness area containing plants; members are likewise readily able to locate sources of fresh water.

New Rules

Session Based Leveling

Characters advanced in levels based on the number of sessions they have survived. Characters still advance to first-level after surviving a zero-level funnel session. The level-zero funnel game is considered a session survival for the purposes of Session Based Leveling

Slot Based Inventory

Characters have a number of equipment slots equal to their strength score. Most equipment occupies a single equipment slot unless indicated. Some equipment items are themselves containers for smaller consumable items such as batteries or arrows, and only occupy one equipment slot.

Carrying more items than available slots incurs penalties denoted as an Encumbrance Level equal to the number of occupied slots over the character’s strength score. Encumbrance Level affects physical rolls and character movement speed.

Ninja Skills

This home rule is meant to be very similar to the Heroic Deeds ability of Warriors in Dungeon Crawl Classics

Before an attack roll a character can declare use of ninja skills and describe how their action is more interesting and creative than simply swinging a weapon and hoping to deal damage. Creative description, utilizing terrain, or brilliant ideas can all trigger the game master to grant a bonus to the roll. Before the character rolls the Game Master determines whether the move is Bogus, Radical, Bodacious, So Ninja, or Cowabunga. The typical determination is Bodacious, which grants a Ninja Die. Lower determinations are used to indicate a character is being repetitive. Most players engaged and contributing fun to the game can expect to get a benefit from their ninja skills every round.

This modification only affects the roll and not damage, which can still be changed by a critical hit.

Ninja Skills should not be mistaken for situational modifiers which, affect the base d20 roll by using the dice chain.

Equipment