Cyclopean Ruins

Almost two weeks ago I posted a query concerning Numenera. My interest in that book has cooled somewhat, but not the quote that I shared in that post.

I simply can not shake the image of a small band traversing a flat, windswept landscape. The wind howls, pulling at their cloaks as they clutch them desperately around their bodies. The light is failing, and in its twilight seems somehow thin, washed out. They arrive at a cliff face, not more than 10-12' high, curving away to either side, fading into the wan light.

They quickly negotiate that smooth face, gaining its summit. Continuing on their course, a short time later they arrive at a precipice. The lip curves away, behind them this time, symmetrical and smooth, lost in the gathering darkness. One of them takes a tube from a fold in his cloak and places it to one of his eyes. Instantly the distance shrinks before him and he can gaze upon far vistas as if they were at arm's length. There at the edge of his extended vision, he sees another precipice. This one, while curving beyond the limits of his vision, is marked by deep indentations, uniformly spaced and consistent in their depth. They march along the edge of that far cliff, fading from sight.

The view of this scene pulls back, revealing the group to be standing on a giant gear.

So, here is my idea: a post-apocalyptic fantasy set among the cyclopean ruins of an advanced previous civilization. The system I think would be suit my vision? Well, this is a weird, bleak, somewhat hopeless, blend of fantasy with a dash of sci-fi post apoc. It is over-the-top in-your-face balls-to-the-wall and a lot of other hyphenated descriptors. So, naturally, I'm thinking DCC.

DCC Tables

A lot has been made about all the tables in DCC. The opinions vary from bleakly negative to wildly positive. I figured I would toss my 2 coppers into the pot.

On first blush, I thought they looked like great fun. The "over the top" aspect looked like it could bring some laughs, not to mention some moments of genuine relief when an insanely high roll turns a disaster into a victory. Of course, it can go the other way, too, but that's the stuff of high drama.

Then, I started thinking about it. There is a table for almost everything. That can lead to a lot of table look-ups, which has the potential to slow a game down. Adding to that is the fact that most of the high drama moments I mentioned could having the energy sapped from them by a drawn-out table sequence (Spell Duels, I'm looking at you).

Now, I'm sure I've left you with the impression that I'm no longer a fan of all the tables. For a brief moment that was true. I had started buying in to all the nay-sayers and my own apprehension. I had another epiphany, though. The tables are used in relatively small doses. For example, every single spell has its own casting table. That comes up to over 220 pages, just for the Wizard spells. There are 5 pages of critical hit tables just for characters. The thing that I realized is that very few of the tables are actually necessary at any given time. A Wizard character is only going to know a small handful of spells. A character is only going to need one critical hit table at a time, and most of the classes will only ever need one critical table. Once that realization had dawned on me, I was off to the races with DCC.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I printed out the reference sheets from People Them with Monsters. I finally printed them out, with a twist. I found some blue paper laying around and printed the cover on that. It gave  it a certain old school vibe of its own, printed in grayscale on a sheet of solid color. I also printed What to Roll, which I used for my back cover.

I also did a mod on this limited edition cover to use as a cover for my spell tables booklet. If I ever do run the game, especially on a regular basis, I'll have a copy of the Tables for the players, plus one for my quick reference. The spell tables will be mine. The players will learn the extents of their spells through trial-and-error.

Massive Dice

I finally decided to order some dice for DCC. I only ordered d14s and d30s. I can "split" the d14 for a d7. I know I can simulate the d30 with a d10 and d6 as an "adder", but I didn't want to. I didn't get the d16 or d24 because I was worried they may look too similar to other dice (maybe I over-thought that one). Anyway, I ordered them Sunday and they arrived yesterday. That is freakishly fast. Oh, and they are HUGE.

Here are a couple of pics, one alongside a d20 and d10, in front of my DCC tome, you know, for perspective. The other is my dice box with the new boulders occupying almost 20% of the box.

I love being a game geek. A lot has made of nostalgia. This whole DCC experience has really taken me back, right down to having to mail order things I want for the game. This is so awesome and I am loving it.

My Homebrew Setting

I have posted before about various setting ideas. I have also posted about my world, Aranor. I first started mapping and writing about Aranor in 1990. I have written quite a bit in the last 23 years, unfortunately much of it is mutually exclusive. My gaming ADD takes a heavy toll on any setting development I am involved in. I am sad to say that I typically try to fit Aranor to the rules, rather than the other way 'round.

My vision (if it could be called such) has always been more tilted to swords and sorcery, but with some higher fantasy elements. Not many, but some. Whenever my attention shifts, it is inevitable that I will drag Aranor into it sooner or later. So it has happened with Dungeon Crawl Classics. I am hoping that I can settle on DCC and really get some deeper, sustained development going. The particular conceits of DCC seem to really fall into line with what I want in Aranor, so this should work well. As long as my attention doesn't drift.

With all that out of the way, I want to offer a new version of a particular region of the map. Below is a larger, hand-drawn, map of Northern Calanthas, one of the main areas. The black box indicates the area detailed in the map that follows.

Below is the detail of the area. The principle adventuring setting is the town and keep of Ravenhold, located in the 4-hex mountainous area to the SE of the lake. I haven't placed settlement symbols or names on the map yet.

As you can see, I rendered the map in the style of the old Judge's Guild maps. I thought it made a nice fit for a DCC setting. Besides which, I just like that style. It is very evocative and nostalgic. I did it using GIMP and some patterns that I downloaded from here.

The Object of My Desire

It came while I was at work yesterday. The big box was waiting patiently when I got home. It was glowing with an eldritch light and a chorus of angels was faintly heard.

As I said in the last post, I have the pdf printed and in a binder. Now, I typically do not print full-page art when I print pdf's. It saves ink on the home printer and money at Office Depot. Let me just say that the physical object that is DCC is a wonder to behold. There are numerous quotes in reviews about "oozing old school", which I could relate to, based on the prose of the pdf. Seeing the entire package, though, art and all, bound in that colorful, shiny cover, really took the oozing to another level. I have not been this excited about a single-book RPG purchase since Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (1st edition), 26 years ago.

I am now considering planning to have the spell tables bound into their own booklet for my reference. I will also get the "rules" bound for players' reference at the table. That not only helps keep the wear and tear down on my new book, I think it will also make the game less intimidating for new players. I've already printed out these reference sheets (thanks Jeremy). The essential player rules are relatively short and simple, so distilling them from the 488 page tome should help ease new players into the idea of such a gonzo style of play. I'm thinking of getting them all comb-bound, for a real old school ambiance.

With Bated Breath

Preface
     It is indeed "Bated Breath". I looked it up and this is what I found.

On With the Show
     I don't like Father's Day. It is a privilege to be a father, it is its own reward. I don't need a day to "honor" me for it. However, my wife informs me every year that I have to not only humbly accept the fact that our kids want to honor me, I also have to designate a gift. (They claim I am notoriously difficult to buy for. Posh! I say. Get me an RPG or action/historical war movie and call it done.) So, last Sunday morning I duly ordered Dungeon Crawl Classics Core rulebook. I ordered it off Amazon. The particular seller I chose claimed to ship within 24 hours, the chief reason I chose them.
     I didn't really expect that to happen, since I ordered on Sunday. I didn't expect it to go out Tuesday, either, which it did. I was really hoping to have it by yesterday at the latest, so I could get some quality time with it this weekend. Alas, it was not the case. Of course, I have the pdf. I even have it printed and in a binder. I want to hold the book. There is a certain je ne sais qiou about having the real deal. A certain mystique of the bound tome.

Thus it is that I wait. Tomorrow must surely be the day. In the meantime, in addition to the binder, I have been catching up on forums and the like. One thing that strikes me in a lot of the forum threads is the brewhaha over the dice. There is only one die type that can't be fully emulated with the dice already in any roleplayer's collection. The d7/d14 is the lone hold-out. I will order 2 or 3 d14's, half them for d7 rolls, and call it a day. In the meantime, I'll just use a d8 and re-roll 8's. Yet something so simple is very polarizing for a lot of people.

Another head-scratcher for me is all the carrying-on about "all the tables". I know it is a lot of tables, but how many are used at the same time? In the same turn? In the same encounter? I'm sure there will be occasional times when more than a couple are in play, but I suspect not all that often. Couple that with the fact that a lot of them are more "player focused", which evens out the responsibility for their use. Give each player a copy of the relevant crit table for his race/class, spell tables as appropriate, and the "table burden" is much more evenly distributed.

Back to waiting, pondering, and reading about the game, while I await the tome.

Spellbooks in DCC

One of the things that struck me about the magic system in DCC is the "mythos" of the spells. There are a finite number of "known" spells, they are jealously guarded, and simply knowing that a particular spell exists is a feat. Add to that the fact that each Wizard casts each spell in a manner completely unique to himself, through the Mercurial Magic subsystem. There is also the fact that each time a spell is cast its effect and effectiveness is determined by the casting roll.

If I ever am able to run a DCC campaign, I have an idea regarding Wizards I plan to put into play.

My players will only have access to the casting tables for spells they begin the game with. Spells they gain once the campaign begins, they will need to keep notes on. I envision that each time a spell is cast the wizard's player will note the casting roll and effect. Ideally, these notes will be kept in a notebook of some sort, which will become the "spellbook". Eventually the player will have a complete grasp of what range of effects he can expect when this spell is used.

I don't know if this will work in play as well as I like the look of it on paper. If it does, though, it seems like a very cool way to really engage the player with his character.

Toil and Trouble

On page 314, under the heading General Principles of Wizard Spells, you will find the following quote:

Simply learning that a spell exists is a great accomplishment . . .

That simple sentence has captivated me. Elsewhere in the rules it is stated that there is a finite number of known spells. I'm not sure if spell research is permitted by the rules. It is my understanding (based on my woefully incomplete reading) that spells are "given" by powers beyond the kin of the masses, and that this is the way to gain them. If that is correct, then not only is it an intriguing assumption, it definitely means that a count of "spells known to exist" is conceivable.

At any rate, there are very interesting rules for Wizards learning of spells, in order that they may actually learn them and study them. I think that is a completely awesome idea. Upon attaining each level  a Wizard has the opportunity to learn a new spell. This is not simply a matter of the player perusing the spell lists and saying "I'll take this one". During the course of adventuring at the previous level, the player must make the effort to learn of the existence of spells. In fact, this should be as common to the Wizard as seeking rumors of fabled blades of power is to the Warrior. The judge should, of course, concoct these rumors and have them sketched out. Any spells that the Wizard learns of are eligible to be chosen from to be learned at the next level. But it doesn't end there.

If the Wizard knows of the spell through a tome or some other actual record of the spell, he must expend a certain amount of time and make a roll. If successful, the ordeal is over and he can cast the spell.

On the other hand, if he knows of the spell, but doesn't actually possess a "copy" of it, he must obtain such. It can be written, whispered from a demon's lips, or imparted in any creative way the judge can envision. In any event, it may take a quest of some nature to reach the source of the knowledge. There may also be a cost for acquiring the knowledge. Nobody said the path to magical power was smooth or easy.

If, by chance, no knowledge of a spell is discovered, there are tables to randomly determine certain particulars. There are three tables: Where Is the Knowledge Found, What Is the Cost of the Knowledge, and What Components Are Required. So, for example, I just rolled on the tables and discovered that the spell can be found in the purest drop of water, the price of knowledge of the spell is the Wizard wearing his hair in a topknot, in the custom of a sect of monks. Finally, a mother's love for her child is a required component for the spell to function. Of course, it falls on the judge to weave these random elements into something adventurous.

DCC is rife with tables such as these, but it should be remembered that the tables given are more like examples than holy writ. It would be a simple, and fun, matter to develop other results for these categories.

Of Wizards and Warriors in DCC

So, I haven't been abducted by aliens, joined a cult, or had my own private Mayan meltdown. I've been working my ass off. I found a job as a temp driver with FedEx and I've been working all the hours they will give me in hopes of impressing them enough to keep me. Now, as we approach the end of their "peak time" I am waiting to find out if I was impressive enough.

During my hiatus I downloaded the free pdf of Delving Deeper. I am quite impressed. It does what it set out to do, and does so beautifully. If LBB-style play is something you desire, definitely give it a look.

However, as I read it and marveled at the power of its simplicity, my mind kept wandering back to DCC. You see, DCC fulfills two of my most heart-felt desires:

• Magic is unpredictable. Truly unpredictable. There are a slew of games that require some sort of spell check roll to successfully cast a spell. DCC turns that concept up to 11. Each spell has its own unique casting table. Where the "unpredicability" before was simply does-it-work-or-not, with DCC the result and effectiveness are inextricably bound together. Where there may be fairly static fumbles/criticals on the casting roll, DCC's casting roll is on a sliding scale. Catastrophe at one end, dizzying success at the other, with all other results in between. Variable, random, and undeniably exciting.
• Warriors are the kings of the fight. No other class fights as good as the fighter. Fighters are truly deadly and not to be trifled with. They have variable to-hit bonuses and damage bonuses that scale with level. At first level their bonus is d3, so each turn they may enjoy a bonus to hit and damage (one roll determines both) of +1 to +3, plus STR bonus, if applicable. At 4th level the bonus has increased to d6, and by 10th, it is d10+4. So, your 10th level fighter will have, on average, a +9.5 to hit and damage, plus STR and/or magical bonuses. Sure, it could be a +5, but it could also be a +14. What really separates Warriors, though, are the Critical Tables. This is another concept where DCC takes a tried-and-true idea and cranks it to 11. Each class has its own crit table. Warriors (and dwarves who roll on the warrior tables, just not with quite as much potential for devastation) have three tables that they progress through as they gain levels. Additionally, Warriors roll increasingly better dice on their increasingly more lethal crit tables as they gain levels. Oh, and one more thing, their potential for crits goes up as they gain levels. It starts at 19-20, and tops out at 17-20 at 9th level.

Of course, there's much more to the game than this. It is incredibly easy to find all manner of reviews and breakdowns of the rules. This is just two of the things that DCC takes to another level, and I am very happy with how it was done.

Now, I'm going to do a post on Wizards' spells. It was some crap I was writing for this post and realized it needed to be its own thing. So, let's proceed, shall we?

Anguish and Abandon

Disclaimer: What follows is not meant as a comparison of two fine games. I am merely using the two games to contrast two different play styles, since they are such iconic representations of their respective styles.

As you know, immediately preceding my current obsession with DCC I had a dalliance with LotFP. There is a fundamental difference in their implied styles of play that I felt like pointing out.

Lamentations is notable for its total lack of a bestiary. There are several reasons that the author chose to go this route, but there is one that matters most to this post. In the implied setting of LotFP there are no "evil races". There are no orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres, or giants. There are no dragons who wear their moral affiliation in their color. This means that every time a character kills it requires accepting that the character is killing. There are no free passes. There are no unrepentant races or groups. There are no creatures that it is OK to kill. In a way, this makes LotFP very story-driven. At least that is how I define such things. The more angst the game promotes, or the more focus a character's internal conflict (or downward moral spiral) is given, the more I tend to think of the game as story driven. For example, in such a game, the killing is often anti-climactic to the fact that the character made the willful decision to kill.

At the other end, we have DCC. With the exception of wizards needing to be ever vigilant of the dangers of their craft, killing is done with wild abandon. Spells can succeed spectacularly, raining death. Warriors can perform deeds of great daring in pursuit of their enemies. While DCC does encourage unique monsters, it also includes the old favorite "bad guys", ripe for the slaughter.

While there is a part of me that can really appreciate the style of LotFP, it's not really the way I want to play anymore. Maybe when I was in my "serious role playing" phase, sure. Now, if I can ever manage to get a game together, I just want to have a few laughs, some hair-raising chills, thrilling adventures, and ultimately kill some monsters and take their shit. And for all the angst-love I have for LotFP (and it is considerable), I want to do all that killing without having to anguish over it.

Firstest with the Mostest

"I didn't really talk like a total hick"

Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest is credited with coining the phrase "Get there firstest with the mostest", when asked to describe his tactics. I suspect he said it a bit more intelligently than that, but since he was a hated Confederate general, and the victors write the history books, his words were written as if spoken by a genuine rube.

At any rate, I think his personal philosophy of battle holds up pretty well in Dungeon Crawl Classics. Allow me to explain.

I was reading a forum post over on the Goodman Games forum. It's about combining DCC and AD&D. The parts that I found of particular interest were concerned with using old 1E modules with DCC and the conversions necessary for such. Module T1: The Village of Hommlet was batted around quite a bit. As I read it, my very first thought was to use the fluff and descriptions, but for anything mechanical, just grab the Libram (my personal nickname for the DCC rulebook). It seems pretty straightforward to me. Hommlet is a shining example of Gygaxian naturalism, so subbing in one set of mechanical details for another shouldn't really be a problem. Plus, both games are founded on a core belief that encounters do not have to be fair or balanced. So, if a DCC version of a monster is too powerful, the characters should just beat feet and look for a way 'round.

So, all that sounds fine, up to now. But . . . Hommlet is a 1st level module. What about using more potent modules, like White Plume Mountain? DCC tops out at 10th level. So, Gods forbid the party should ever enter the Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. Can you imagine a 10th level fighter with d8 hit dice strolling through the G series? Sure you can, but not very far through it, right?

Which really starts bringing this post full circle. I realized something wonderful about DCC combat. It is fast and deadly. Yes, the characters don't walk around with triple-digit hit points. Their damage potential though is off the charts compared to any other form of D&D, except maybe 4th with its semi-mystical "Powers".

A DCC Hill Giant has AC16 and an attack bonus of +15, doing 2d8+8.They average a crit about every 5 rounds, have 8d10 HP, and roll a d24 for attacks. Yikes! Oh, and their crit table is a thing of terror. So, what about our fighter? Well, he'll have 10d12 HP, not the d10 of AD&D, so that's a start. He can attack up to three times a round. One of those is with a d14, but that is mitigated by the attack die. His attack die will grant him a minimum of +5 to-hit and damage each round. It could be as high as +14, and remember: the single roll applies to all attacks and damage for the round. So, if he gets a +14, and assuming he hits all three times (a very safe assumption with a +14 to-hit also), he will do at least 45 points of damage. That is if none of the attacks crits and all his damage rolls come up 1's. Which brings us to crits. Our fighter's threat range is 17-20, which translates into a 20% chance for a crit each turn, or one every five turns, like his giant opponent. A 10th level fighters crits are the stuff of nightmares.

What does all this mean? It means lots and lots of blood and gore flying around from the start. It means that when the fight is joined the warriors need to wade in and handle business real quick. I haven't studied the monsters yet, but I suspect that each level is challenged similarly. So, the monsters are stone cold killers, more than capable of meting out enough damage to ruin a character in short order. But the characters are also capable of raining down death. A sound plan, when there's time to formulate one will be beneficial, and in some situations crucial. Along with an exit strategy. Always know which way to run. Survival is a matter of who hits hardest and fastest, or avoids getting hit at all.

More Gushing About DCC

My reading continues. I finished the Combat chapter last night. Here are some more of my thoughts.

• The equipment chapter is sparse, but I'm OK with it. It contains lists for weapons, ammo for missile weapons, armor, and mounts and related gear. Aside from that, there is a single table with precisely 24 items of a more general nature. They are all items that are useful, if not essential, to the successful dungeon crawler. There's a geek in me that likes extensive equipment lists, I have to be honest. But I can also appreciate the brevity of a list like this. After all, equipment lists are everywhere in this hobby, and with DCC's stated target audience, it is a certainty that anyone with this game has access to more than two or three extensive equipment lists. I know I do.
• The writing style is direct without being terse. For example, in many games there is a multi-page section in the combat chapter dealing with odds and ends. Things like fire, falling, charging, shooting into a melee. These things are described in detail, either for those new to the hobby, or those with lawyerly aspirations. Not here.  All of these peripheral combat relations are given a grand total of a full column plus about half another. In that span you will find rules for: Ability Loss, Catching Fire, Charge, Dropping a Torch, Falling, Firing Into Melee, Grappling, Recovering Armor, Recovering Missile Weapons, Subdual Damage, and Unarmed Combat. All that in a column-and-a-half.
• A lot has been said about the art and layout, so I won't rehash stuff you've probably already read. Both are superb. The thing I do want to say about it (two things, actually) is this: The fonts are outstanding. I'm a total font geek and the ones in this book are near perfect. Easy to read and definitely evocative of an old school experience. The layout is genius. Most of the time it is 2-column, but every now and then it slips out to single column to better wrap a particular art piece. Sometimes the text is part of the art,  as in the descriptions of the fighting orders under the Warrior class. So far, I haven't seen that effect used on anything "crunchy", it has been limited to parts that are implying the background.
• Back to the writing style, for all it's brevity, it is not dull or lifeless. This is not a technical manual on fantasy gaming. It is a big ass set of guidelines for having a good time playing a gonzo fantasy game. The prose is loaded with dry, sarcastic humor (which is right up my alley). Several times I have laughed out loud while reading.

For my last item, I give you the paragraph on falling damage. I woke my wife up laughing last night as I read this.

Falling causes 1d6 for every 10' fallen. For every damage die that comes up a 6, the victim breaks a bone. For each broken bone, the victim permanently loses 1 point of Strength or Agility (player's choice). The affected limb, rib, or vertebrae never heals quite right and affects the character in some fashion from then on.

OK, we all know that one of the oft-lamented facts of D&D is that a character with enough hit points can jump from a known height without fear of the damage. If I have 83 HP, I can just step off that 50' cliff without a blink because the worst it will be is 30 points of damage. There have been all sorts of work-arounds and house rules for this problem. This particular solution is, to me, pure genius. There is no other rolls, no math, nothing else to consider. Roll the d6's and get on with it. Yet, it introduces a truly sobering random element. Go ahead Mr. 83HP, step off and let's see what happens. I just rolled 5d6 and came up with 19 points of damage, but guess what. One was a 6, so OUCH! That 50' jump was a little more serious than it first looked. In fact, I did that little experiment five times and had broken bones on all but the last time. One time had two breaks. That is a fairly elegant solution, I think.

There you have it. There is a lot more I am loving about this game, but that's all I am posting this time. I think the Mighty Deeds of Arms probably needs a post all to itself. Plus, I'll be digging into the magic chapter today. I am a little intimidated by it, but it is an exciting sort of intimidation, like a rock climber staring up at a formidable cliff face.

Speaking of which, there is one more thing I wanted to say. When I started playing D&D, when I wanted to try to introduce a friend to it, I always said something along the lines of "you can do whatever you want to". Somewhere along the way that sense of derring-do became lost in a mountain of rules designed to adjudicate "whatever you want to". Not just D&D, but pretty much every game out there. Games went from players saying "I want to try to . . ." to them saying "Can I . . .?" That's just no good. Nobody told Indiana Jones that a whip only does d3 damage and he shouldn't waste a proficiency slot on it. Nobody told him he couldn't snap his whip out and wrap it around a bunch of electrical wires and swing around to the room next door, in the pouring rain. He just did it. That's adventure. Trying the shit nobody else thinks of, or would dare even if they did think of it. Too many rules kills that spirit of adventure, that sense of "you can do whatever you want to". Simple rules, elegantly applied, will carry the day every time.

DCC: 2nd Impressions

I've finished reading the classes, and I am really digging what they've done. In no particular order, here are some of the things that caught my eye:

• Clerics seem like a unique class, rather than a sort of Fighter/Magic-user. They are mechanically tied to their deity (and not just with the lame ass areas of power or whatever it was called). There are real mechanical consequences for a cleric pissing off his deity, which I think is awesome. Equally awesome is that the clerics spells are fundamentally different from wizard spells because of the Disapproval mechanic. I have always thought that the cleric shouldn't memorize his prayers like a magic-user does his spells. It makes no sense for the cleric to wake up in the morning and think "Hmm, I think I might need to pray for some food later today. Better memorize the prayer for that. " I've always thought the cleric's spells should be more like very specific god-calls, and that's pretty much the way this game portrays them.
• The warrior's Deeds die has been talked about a LOT, so I won't go into detail. I'll just say that I love the idea of the fighter being able to try anything. One of the things I detested about Feats was the notion that I had to give up ten things in order to do one. Not so with Deeds. Total flexibility and ease of use. Win-win.
• Wizards and the magic system ROCK. I can totally see playing an Elric-type character under these rules. Wizards are tied to a patron, whether that patron is an evil god, an elemental force, or a demon from the Pit. They can also call directly on their patron for aid, but at a price. Blood and souls for my lord, Arioch!
• The race-as-class demi-humans look interesting and, more importantly, fun. Too often they look like an exercise in tit-for-tat, and any real thought about them is an after-thought. These seem fun, but still balanced.

All in all, I am as excited by this game as I have been since I first played Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. So far, this seems like a set of rules I could either play or run and never have to worry about being pumped up and ready for the next session. Everything I've read so far just screams FUN! I can't wait to read more.

DCC RPG Follow-up

So, I was going back through the beta, and was enjoying it more than I remember the first time. As I usually do, I started looking at reviews, forums, and general things related to the game. I love reviews, even if it is something I have owned and played for several years. A particular reviewer's insights may draw my attention to something I had missed altogether. But, I digress.

One of the forum topics I discovered described the differences between the beta and final release. Based on how much more I was enjoying the beta, and the changes reported in the final, I decided to go ahead and get the final release pdf. So, hopefully I'll have at least a couple of posts on my thoughts and impressions. It will probably be next week, but there is an off chance something will come out over the weekend.

Crumbs and Misconceptions

If you've read even a few of my posts, you'll be aware that I am a stream-of-consciousness writer. Well, it isn't just writing. Much of my life is spent following the whims of my free-wheeling right brain. The specific whim I am referring to in this post is downloading. Sometimes when I start reading reviews or forums, or pretty much anything game-related, I'll start following a winding path of references and comparisons. For example, if a review of ACKS happened to mention that there was a new printing of Swords & Wizardry Core, I would immediately go download it. That might, in turn, lead me to something else, and so on. I may not even pay any particular attention to those downloads at the time.

Sometimes, though, I will pay attention to one of these "tangent downloads". Many times when this happens I'll be a little more critical of it. I think it is because I'm skimming it in the midst of a serious lack of focus, and also because it may actually bear very little relation to whatever led me to it in the first place. If I'm on the trail of old school rules and download something that ends up looking more d20-ish, I'm likely to be unkind. Not necessarily because it is bad, but because it isn't what I thought it was going to be. Unfair, I know, but who said life was fair? Where is that written?

One such download was Dungeon Crawl Classics.I was motoring around the internet some 8 months ago and noticed that the free beta was only available for a short time longer. So, I zipped on over and downloaded that puppy. I was in no particular mood for it at the time, I just wanted it. I started skimming it, and initially like what I saw. Then, my mood started to sour. I made a couple of posts about it. My specific point of souring was with the "voice" in the section on the funnel.

Well, I'm not saying that my opinion has changed. What I am saying is that I recently rediscovered that download and I feel like I am ready to examine it in a more objective light. So, my opinion might change. At any rate, I'll be giving it another go, because it really does look like a fun system. I'll let you know how it goes.

The DCC Funnel

I think the funnel looks like fun. Once. I wouldn't try to force it on a group more than once, and really, it shouldn't come up too much anyway. Characters replacing slain characters later in the campaign certainly won't go through it. It does look like it could make for a comedic/stressful first session.

Still, there is a nagging part of me that says it has "Screw Job" writ all over it. On the surface it's pretty cool. Make up 2-4 0-level characters, by rolling 3d6 in order, roll 1d4 HP, roll an occupation (which grants some rudimentary, crappy equipment), and seek glory. It is expected that only 1 or 2 will survive. From the survivor(s) one is chosen to be your player character. At this point you select a class, and complete all the other details.

The Screw Job whispers start when I realized there is nothing mechanically to guide this process. Say one of your characters has kick-ass stats, and they're arranged how you want. So you can just use your other three 0-levels as meat shields. You come out the other side with the character you want. Done. Why not just roll up four characters and keep the one you like best? Isn't that what it comes down to anyway?

The other thing that sort of obviates this process is that nothing in the 0-level adventure actually steers the characters toward a class. When it is over, the player still selects whatever class he wants, with nothing in the adventure informing the decision. It is largely based, as this decision has been from the beginning, on stats. Of course, role play can enter into it, but when you're rolling straight 3d6 do you really want to call your guy with a 16 STR and 11 INT a magic-user? Probably not.

None of this is meant to imply that the choice of 0-level character to "elevate" to PC is as cut-and-dried as my examples. However, any nail-biting is largely not due to the funnel. Unless your early favorite becomes goblin food. The point is, whether it is an easy decision or not, the decision will be based on stats and the class you want to be playing anyway. The funnel will have very little influence on your decisions, and any influence it does have will be of the restricting-your-choices-through-attrition variety.

Something else about the whole process that seems disingenuous: The rules are very explicit (bordering on demanding) that character be made with the funnel at least once. We are told in a very stern voice that we must roll 3d6 in order, must randomly determine starting occupation, etc. There is an air of superiority in the tone, a hint of "This is how REAL role players roll up characters". Yet, if you strip away all the superfluous baggage of the funnel, you're rolling up four characters and keeping the one you want. Not as strict or random as the Dire Rules Voice leads you to believe.

I'm not bashing it, much as it may sound so. Like I said, it sounds like fun. Let's just keep it in perspective. It should not be viewed as an integral part of character generation. A fun pre-game when the group desires it, sure. Some great and lasting stories can arise from such misadventures. That alone can be worth the time, especially on the eve of a campaign that is intended to be long-term. Those "Remember when we first went into that burned out chapel and I saved your ass?" stories make a fine foundation for a life-long adventuring relationship.

Dungeon Crawl Classics: Initial Impressions

I just downloaded the Beta Rules (available here). I haven't had time to do more than skim through it, but I did want to post my early impressions.

I sincerely hope this game is as much fun as it looks. This is possibly the most evocative art I have ever seen. Almost every single piece makes me want to grab a sword, staff, holy symbol, lockpick set, or bag of dice. Or maybe all of the above. Reading this I feel almost like I'm in high school again and can't wait to get together with John, my gamer buddy, and play all night long.

The interior art is provided by no less than the  luminaries from the glory days, such as:

Jeff Easley,  Jim Holloway, Diesel Laforce, Erol
Otus, and Jim Roslof. Even the "whippersnappers" possess the old school aesthetic.

Finally (for this initial impression), I want to mention pg 4. In the ToC it is listed as "Proclamations". It is a really cool manifesto, which opens with the following:

So, I deeply hope this game lives up to the initial impression it has made on me. If so, it could be my holy grail, the Way-back Machine that will take me back to the halcyon days of the beginning of this hobby for me. A time of wonder and mystery, discovery and exploration unequalled in the many years since.