Let’s cut open Dungeon Crawl Classics and see how it bleeds | RPG Review
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2023
- DrivethruRPG.com (affiliate):
Dungeon Crawl Classics core rulebook: bit.ly/DCCcore
Sailors of the Starless Sea, a classic Level 0 Funnel: bit.ly/SailorsStarlessSea
Amazon.com (affiliate):
Dungeon Crawl Classics core rulebook (hardback):amzn.to/48Fqz4W
Dungeon Crawl Classics core rulebook (softback): amzn.to/3ZVGAA9
Sailors of the Starless Sea, a classic Level 0 Funnel: amzn.to/46f6rVY
Mutant Crawl Classics core rulebook (hardback): amzn.to/3ZH3WJx
DCC Dying Earth boxed set: amzn.to/3ZHHPT5
DCC Lankhmar boxed set: amzn.to/3F2he9S
DCC dice set (Eldritch Blast): amzn.to/3LMAZG6
DCC dice set (Immolation): amzn.to/3tjEAW3
DCC dice set (Mage Bullets): amzn.to/3F8uidL
DCC dice set (Mind Spike): amzn.to/3ZEdxR8
DCC dice set (glow in the dark): amzn.to/46BugXA
DCC dice set (Vampiric touch): amzn.to/3LH9PQX
DCC dice set (Polymorph): amzn.to/3rKxMjD
DCC dice set (Venom Bolt): amzn.to/46a8cnc
DCC dice set (rainbow): amzn.to/48P5Hsm
DCC dice set (red): amzn.to/45fL31t
DCC dice set (yellow): amzn.to/46DYLMN
DCC dice set (indigo blue): amzn.to/3LHWzf9
DCC dice set (orange): amzn.to/3tjmZ0t
DCC dice set (black): amzn.to/3RLdiSG
DCC dice set (purple): amzn.to/3rKPqnk
DCC dice set (green): amzn.to/48vo6do
Google Doc with all DCC resources: bit.ly/DCCResourcesMasterList
Goodman Games official website:
goodman-games.com/
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Игры
An example of weirdness of this game: in a game I played in (Temple of Elemental Evil in DCC style), the mage at one point turned greedy, and turned against the party. He used sleep spell with enough spellburn to get a very high roll to put the whole of Temple of Elemental Evil (together with rest of the party) in hundred plus year sleep! Great times!
Incredible outcome. Such events are the best. Then you can run rest of the game 100 years in a future.
Part of me wonders why a competent GM would let something like that happen.. but part of me plays The Fantasy Trip so i guess i can't say much.
Not really about “letting that happen” it’s part of the rules. Let the players tell the story.
@@charlessmith491 Exactly.
With that much spellbound me would have been a husk of a living creature and eaten by the first wandering monster. Stupid play gets stupid results.
I switched to DCC when all the WOTC issues started and have not looked back. It is my favorite TTRPG and I have run roughly 20 Road Crew games both online and in person.
Small note: Spellcasters can cast spells as many times as they want in a day. Clerics risk an increasing "Disapproval" range for each failure, which basically increases their critical failure range. Wizards and Elves can "loose" spells if they fail their spell check by a certain range. They can use optional rules to use a point of "Spellburn" (Reduce strength, agility, or stamina by 1) to gain that spell back.
Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea and DCC is everything I wanted from D&D.
So magic in this is chaos magic.
I was born the year Dungeons and Dragons came out and I have played it all my life. I'm ashamed that I have never heard of this. I'm sure I've seen it in a comic store but didn't know what it was. I would definitely try this.
I have also played since '75 or so. I originally bought the rules for the artwork but it turned out to be a terrific game. There's a lot of the original in there. Maybe not necessarily in the mechanics but the *feeling* of being afraid of what's around the corner, like before we knew every stay if every creature and what combination of spells to use. I heartily recommend it to the old grognards.
Happy birthday fellow Gen X'r!
I see a lot of complaints over the dice but it's a liberating aspect to the system and allows the judge to rapidly apply advantages or disadvantages without breaking their brain. Need to grant a slight buff, go up the die chain. Reward clever play, go up the dice chain. Damage your weapon, take a die step down. Pair this with Luck checks, and your players will get super creative with their strategies, weapon modification, or hilarious collaborations. Example: Toby has extracted the fangs from the monster, and now wants to modify his d4 club with his trophies. Pass a luck check and your club increases to d5 damage!
Judges can utilize the dice chain with monsters who are much larger or smaller than the Players. For example, the rooster headed ape bear wants to challenge you at arm wrestling. The player will sling a d20 strength check against the beast who gets a d24.
There is more freedom, more chances to reward the player, and every time I tell someone to roll a d24 instead of d20... they smile.
I was born in 2000 and grew up with my dad's AD&D books playing with him and flipping through the books in my spare time. Playing pathfinder and 5e was always fun but to me it was missing a lot of the charm and "grit" of the old AD&D books. This seems like it encompasses everything i loved about those books, especially the artwork and the idea of every monster is dangerous and uncommon. I think this video sold me!
DCC and Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea are stunning works of art and deserve every bit of love they get.
I personally love the tables and verbose descriptions. It makes narrating action easier, especially for magic.
I need to second this. Not many of us exist.
Me too! My favorite part of the AD&D books was all the flavor it added
I'm so glad more of the DnD youtube community is covering DCC. It is insanely fun to play and run. It has this feel of something from another time that current DnD just doesn't capture, and the amount of fun I have had with my players running it every week is amazing! I would tell anyone looking at it to not be discouraged by the huge spell descriptions. If you play a wizard, most likely you will only have 4 or 5 spells to worry about. And the amount of variety you can get out of some spells more than makes up for the large word count.
DCC is in my top 5 favorite rpgs list. I love running it because of the fun chaos that usually results. I don't think it will appeal to players who like designing the perfect character and get very attached to them, but for everyone else it blows most other fantasy rpgs out of the water.
I run a high school D&D club, and one of my students let me play this in their group. I think this game shares a lot of DNA with Hackmaster 4th Edition, in the sense that the creators loved all the weird charts and baffling rules that 3rd edition D&D smoothed away, so they leaned into that aspect of the game.
For those who dont know, Hackmaater 4th edition was created by the authors of Knights of the Dinner Table, a long running comic about a D&D group. They got the rights to use 2nd edition AD&D rules for a number of years after 3rd edition came out, and the books are very funny. It's out of print, tragically, but apparently Hackmaster 5th edition is well designed in a different way
@@babayada I agree. The tables are almost there as flavor text
This came right on time, I'm due to start playing DCC in two weeks
Nice, I hope you have fun!
Good video. One comment on the Warrior deeds. It is more than just a flourish. You can use it to push enemies back, knock them probe, blind them, etc.
Deeds are so simple, and one the best single rules in the entire system.
Great review! As a disillusioned pathfinder/5e DM, I tried out several OSR games with a new party. While they mostly approved of OSE and Black Hack, they *loved* DCC, which became our standard.
Glad I'm not the only one 😅
DCC, Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea, and Lamentations of the Flame Princess all went over great in my group.
I cannot recommend this game enough. I have a group that meets weekly that plays this and the amount of just outright fun we've had with it far exceeds any I've had playing 5E. While it can be gonzo and random at times, it is also deadly. So it forces you to play smarter and rely more on you the player rather that what's written on your character sheet.
I LOVE DCC! Been running a Lankhmar campaign for over a year now.
Ooh got any stories?
Excellent review. DCC definitely brings back the ‘magic’ of early days D&D. The level 0 funnel we played were r surprisingly effective at producing VERY quirky fun characters which I grew quickly fond of, but would never have designed from scratch. The Magic system is simply amazing - low level wizards can be really powerful or pathetic with a single spell. Biggest draws of DCC ? 1) It’s just SO much FUN, we had a blast, and 2) The scenarios are really fresh, surprising and super imaginative - they feel like coming to old days D&D almost every scenario and all all written with originality in mind. Looking forward to hearing you explore more from this game Dave!
I’ve played DCC a handful of times and found it exceptionally fun every time!
As a 1st edition AD&D player who also picked up the original edition of Gamma World when it came out, I've now purchased both this and Mutant Crawl Classics. I'll be bringing these to a friend I'm hanging out with this weekend, who was talking about starting up a new RPG. Timing is everything, thank you for the recommendation.
Give Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea a shot !
@@iantaran2843 Sounds kinda neat, save that when I go to the website it says "SOLD OUT! Watch for a future announcement regarding the next printing of HYPERBOREA in 2021." 😬
I am absolutely a member of the dcc cult, I run my home game exclusively with dcc and soon we'll try out the weird frontiers version
Same. WF looks so good. I got the rulebook last year and we’re making the switch at the end of this campaign as well.
I've not read Western Frontiers, is it good? Western and DCC never meshed in my brain
@@johnnygreenface4195 Weird Frontiers is amazing. The DCC rules (plus some western flair) but Mythos horror in the Old West. It's a great time.
@@johnsmith3085 maybe I'll check it out
Out of any RPG book, DCC was the first I ever bought. Something about the classic style art and atmosphere of mystery and inherent danger completely drew me in, and while I've sadly never been able to play or run it with some friends, it stands as a tome of majestic wonder in my library that I'm very thankful to have found.
TO ANYONE READING THIS: this game is ten times more fun than DnD and the weirdness of the setting is just so unique.
If you like weird settings worth checking out and enjoy DCC, I HIGHLY recommend Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea
Worth it for the setting alone but I still love the system.
And
Dolmenwood
We are still waiting on the Kickstarter stuff to get sent out but it looks AMAZING
Hell yeah, always love seeing more content done on DCC! ❤
More to come!
This is so awesome to be recommended to me, I literally JUST bought the DCC rule book this morning hoping to get into it with my fiance! Thanks for this video!! 😊
Hope you enjoy it!
DCC Rpg "is" my favorite version of DnD. If I'm going to run or even play DnD it's my go to. Otherwise I'd rather play some other system most of the time. DCC Rpg is what DnD should have been. Good review, Dave. I would say though that actually it's not really Vancian magic since you can keep casting spells as long as you don't fail your cast. Where as Vancian magic is cast once on a spell. I've never been a fan of Vancian magic, honestly I dislike it. DCC Rpg is different in that it isn't Vancian magic.
As a player, I print up the spells my character knows. They join the binder where my character is. Makes it easier to check results. I also print up the spell failure chart pages etc. Everything I need as a player to make play speed faster. This saves page flipping.
Yeah and the party and your PC have the option of spending luck or spellburn to avoid losing the spell. I run this all the time and rarely do people lose spells.
@@alajononon One of the really fun things about DCC is that aspect of magic. Or how as how clerics operate with their spell failure. Wanna tick off your god? Keep doing that mister! lol
@@Acmegamer yeah and that brings me back to what I really didn't like about this review. It's not intimidating. The funnel system makes learning the core mechanics a breeze. The rest is just tacking on the class abilities. Bonus is diving into the magic system which is quite straightforward on its face but oh so rich when you start diving in and messing with it. The way that's all set up really gives you nice chunks to learn and get comfy with as opposed to needing to know all of it at once to get started.
DCC is pure fun and the community is so passionate. I'm halfway through our first module and I'm hooked already.
Love it!
Oh hey, just saw this! Thanks, Jordan!
Great overview! DCC is my favorite fantasy rpg by a mile.
Great video! I've been enjoying DCC since the public beta, and it's my favorite system of all time. I've been playing since 1979.
One point of clarification: during the Third edition of D&D, Goodman published adventures for 3E (and 3.5E) under the title Dungeon Crawl Classics (old school feel, new school rules), but there wasn't a separate rule system in place. The big hardbound RPG book came later during the 4E version of D&D; partially as a reaction to the direction of 4E.
I love DCC. Seriously the amounts of sourcebooks and adventuring materials is truly the best part to this game. It feels like no matter where you go, there are so many wonderful stories to be told via this game and that is why it is amazing. The tables are truly what elevate the game even further. I am glad others are covering this wonderful and fun game.
Do you have any particular favorites materials you want to shout out?
@@Sensorium19 crawl #6 has an expansion on classes so if you are tired or want some fresh new classes go for that.
The scenario: Frozen in Time is a great funnel or level 1 adventure too!
Also Dying Earth setting is so beautiful with its art. I would personally recommend picking it up if you love beautiful art!
@@Blerdy_Disposition Thanks for your picks!
Heh, just when I was digging this game back up in a conversation about tabletop games with a friend, you uploaded this video just a day ago...that feels like a sign. I actually still have the original paperback copy of the starter ruleset from what was my local game store back in the day. Excellent review btw, goes into very good detail and explains the game as a whole well.
Great video as always! I would love to try DCC especially the funnel start and the art I mean wow but the dice chain not so much
Excellent video. Thank you for breaking this down.
I recently picked up the rulebook at my FLGS and am looking forward to playing. I played RPGs back in the '80s so am quite comfortable with lots of tables.
Although you mention multiple times its a B/X clone , - and yes regardless of writers opinion - It is a clone- I feel its Not a B/X clone -at least only in spirit, Mechanically it takes too much from 3.0 D&D like ascending armour class and the 3 saving throws is ripped straight from the yr 2000 / 3.0 D&D rules. It feels like old school for sure but even OGL/SRD is the 3rd edition
I love DCC! The dice that Goodman Games sells need to be less round, that would solve a lot of dice ID issues.
Old DM ran this years ago and I really enjoyed it because it was different and I managed to get all 3 of my characters through the funnel whereas others lost all of their characters.
The funnel is about the best thing in ttrpg
I love the tables. One thing I do for my players is assemble a little packet of tables their character will need. You, as a DM, don't need to use 4-5 different crit tables. Just give the player the crit table that applies to their character to them and let them roll on it. I do the same with spells.
I will forever endorse Goodman Games and DCC. DCC being one of my favorite games aside, but I had the absolute best retail experience with Goodman Games. They kept me informed at every step of the transaction and the products I ordered even arrived early. They were a pleasure overall to do business with and I cherish the game they have produced.
That’s really cool to hear.
You helped push me over the edge for OSE, but DCC had me early on, and it makes for a great home for the Dying Earth. But if you find yourself eager for more Dying Earth, DtRPG has all (I think) of Pelgraine Press Dying Earth, at the least a good read. Easy, though exhaustive, home brew conversions. For d20, 3.X and probably convertible to 5E is The Primer of Practical Magic, Dying Earth flavored magic for your D&D.
Such an awesome system, and also presents a really robust and fun philosophy of story and gameplay.
ALSO the incredible off-shoots of the game shouldn't be overlooked! I've played Mutant Crawl Classics and Weird Frontiers and boy howdy do they deliver. It's super easy to cross over and have a gonzo wild adventure which is really appealing to players (in my experience).
Great video ! Especially not coming from a DCC Freak (yet). DCC force players and Judges to play and run the game the way I like it the most. 100+ references to « quest » in the book. Personal Quests not found in the modules. Outcome is totally unpredictable. Character-driven open-world persistent campaign. Spellburn recovery and healing takes time and must be played to be balanced. Judges need to take surfing lessons to ride the wave of true Chaos 🤘👁.
I think this is one of the best breakdowns of the book really interesting to have something else beside Mork Borg to play and mess with. This hits that similar spot of risks and death I love that and this has more stuff overall. This has help me big time
Thanks for the kind words. Glad I could help!
@@DaveThaumavore do you know of any good expansions or zone collections that would be good for newer players to try out? If not it's cool no harm in asking ☺️
@@yagsipcc287 I left links in the video description to all the top DCC modules.
@@DaveThaumavore oh I missed that thanks a million.
DCC is truly amazing. Such fun at the table. Love starting with a meat-grinder funnel and seeing who rises to the rank of hero.
Great video, as always! Embarking on the classical feeling train, think there could be a video on Barbarians of Lemuria or Honor&Intrigue someday?
I’ll check them out!
As one who's spent some time with DCC I've really learned to appreciate what to me seems to me, a hybrid of the classic D&D feel along with it's countless inspirational material that was used to craft this amazing game and it's tools. It's also been quite smooth to incorporate along with newer OSR style games.
I just want to thank you for a great overview and review of DCC. I have always been interested in DCC and I think this gives me a really objective idea of what it is all about, pros and cons which seem well reasoned. There are a lot of takeaways even though I think DCC is probably very specific to old school dungeon style RPG gaming. I may try running a DCC game as a sort of curiosity alongside 5e and others. Great video.
Glad it was helpful!
I have been familar with DCC for a while and recently started playing in a game. It quickly shot to my number one spot for a rule set. But the best part -to me- is that it explicitly tells the players that they are not a hero. I feel like too many games (5e) assume that you are going to be the good guy and if you don't play that way it feels wrong. I love games that encourage you to be what you want.
Well explained, I get those moments from Rolemaster. It has always had most of that since like 1982. Bet this guy modified d&d with Rolemaster Crit tables back in the day:)
It feels like B/X but, mechanically it's 3rd edition.
That deed action, describing an action with a flourish is always a good idea.
First it adds to the fun of the game, and makes the action more memorable.
Second it increases the chance that if the roll fails the GM will say “You can re-roll it if you like.” That works both when I’m the DM and when another has that role. Invest the GM with your character’s action for mutual enjoyment.
I deeply love the funky dice, but my collection did bite me in a game I played with Dave 😭
Accidentally used a d3 instead of a d6 for the first hour of the game
An epic self-own!
Mighty Deeds mechanics are one of the single best rules designs in modern RPG, because it leverages and enables, all the creativity and flavour of 100s of 3.5/pathfinder feats into something accessible at the table.
Seriously Dave, just pause a moment and really look at what this is allowing fighters to attempt. There is even an expanded Mighty deeds results table on RPG Drive THRU.
And compare this to all the mini game rules associated with feats in other editions...... Mighty deeds does away with this, while allowing a creative player to draw from: cool things fighters can pull off.
You could do a full video on the design significance of Mighty Deeds within the context of feats usage in other systems. Why? Because gamers want to attempt what they see in movie and read in books, and GMs what a set of rules to handle that somehow...... this dynamic is a huge enormous time, and focus and frustration sink at the table. How many fucking times have people reread the Battle Master 5e rules right when they needed to use a move??
Again this one rules design is an indicator of where future RPG design is heading: Simple elegant design mechanics to channel innovative player creativity within the context of the players skills set and action dynamic at the table .....
Really great idea for a video. 🙏
I'm VERY curious what you have to say about the Dying Earth ruleset, because I like the sound of some of this, but I find humor comes natural enough to players that having it reinforced by mechanics would just make it harder to maintain tension with DCC's core ruleset. So I'm curious if that would be a good alternative for a much more tension focused GM like me.
I recommend Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea 3E.
It's my favorite system of all time and a work of art.
Would love to hear what you think if you get around to it 🤘
Best game I haven't got around to running yet. I ran a funnel in DCC and have played in MCC, but haven't been in full games of them yet. I also have Weird Frontiers which I'm dying to run that's the same system and published by Steve Jackson Games but not written by them.
Just a clarification: Weird Frontiers is not published by Steve Jackson games. It was a Kickstarter from Stiff Whiskers Press.
ERRATA: You can use spells more than once per day, but must win a casting check with each cast or lose the spell for the rest of the day.
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Due to a lack of gm's earlier last year, I gm'd a funnel without any prior experience gm'ing or playing DCC. It worked fine and we had two great sessions.
It's not as hard as it seems, but you do need to be well organized so you can quickly look up the required tables. As a player, I can absolutely recommend DCC to everyone. Every single class is more fun than its 5e counterpart. There are fewer classes, but each class has (much) more depth. The mighty deed dice, for example, are amazing at giving martial characters cool options; it's like battlemaster on steroids. The magic system is without peer, and I haven't even touched spell duels yet.
The biggest negative for non-USA players is that physical items are extremely expensive to ship.
Yep. I was looking at buying materials from Goodman Games directly, and it was just too pricey. I was able to get the main rulebook on Amazon, though, and got a number of modules from a Humble Bundle recently.
I'm dying to play something old school. Think I might go with this
Give Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea a chance if you check out anything else 🤘
It's BEAUTIFUL
Someday soon im going ro get to play DCC.
DCC ends up being one of the fist full of retroclones actually worth a damn, warts and all.
Best comment.
Good review of a very fun system. Does the newest printing still come with the funnel adventure Portal Under the Stars? That's a recommended one when you want to try out the system for the first time. It's a short and compact funnel without too much craziness for the GM to handle. It's, um, not *entirely* unlikely to TPK completely, but hey, just run one of the full-fledged module funnels then, or just start out with a level 1 adventure anyway. DCC has a very relaxed, "just run with it" vibe.
Two slight comments/clarifications:
10:18 The system doesn't have spell slots and Vancian "preparation" of spells like in D&D, instead, wizards normally only lose access to a spell for the day when they *fail* to cast it. As long as they keep succeeding, they can cast the same spell any number of times. Clerics do typically not lose access to spells even on failure, but the deity disapproval gets worse the more they fail.
9:00 Your occupation probably won't greatly influence what class suits your character, unless you're an elf, dwarf, or halfling of course, in which case you have no choice. Your attribute array is more important to whether you'll make a good warrior, cleric, thief, or wizard. Your occupation only determines your starting gear, which hopefully becomes not very relevant after the funnel, and what knowledge you have (like, a hunter might know about tracking, and a cheesemaker would know all about, um, curdling and stuff).
It should be noted that only the modules released by Goodman Games from 66.5 forward are designed for DCC. Everything before that is either for 3rd or 4th edition D&D so to play them conversions would be necessary. That said. There’s about 40 modules that have been released by Goodman since they began DCC and further modules outside the numbered 40 made for Lankmar, Dying Earth, various holiday one shots, Free RPG Day releases, etc. which probably bring the total somewhere near 100.
Awesome!!!
I never played DnD before 3 ed.
But this reminds me quite a bit about Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Especially 1st edition.
The black and white art work.
The deadlyness.
The humor that suddenly appears in all its wackyness.
A whole host of charts and long lists of spells.
I became quite interested in this system. Seems cool
If I’m not mistaken, I believe you also start as some variation of a low-level peasant/layman in WHF.
@@Sanguivore yeah.
Ratcatcher, toll Gate guard etc
@4:58 Are these tokens available somewhere? I'd love to use them when running my first funnel in Foundry! Thanks for the video.
Unfortunately they are long gone.
I appreciate the slip in wording when talking about alignment "either good, neutral, or chaotic", because that is very much how these things are presented (not just in DCC). I appreciate that the game tries to make the choice matter mechanically, but I think as a descriptor for PCs and monsters, alignment is of extremely limited utility.
That said, I've had a ton of fun playing DCC; it is at time unwieldy, but always surprising and fun to play - and the only game I've gotten to roll a NAT 30 in!
Living in Canada the DCC dice aren’t always always the easiest to get and they are extremely expensive also.
Yeah that’s unfortunate.
the zochi dices are the single most reason of why I don't play DCC in the table and only occasional in a VTT
IMO most players always confuse the d8 with the 10 and the d12 with the d20 and is hard enough having to always clarify that, now add to that MORE DICES!!!
DCC is a great game but it is hard to prep as a judge. Especially if you wanted to try out high level play. Great review as always Dave.
I can see that as being an issue.
@@DaveThaumavore yeah. The layout for monsters/adventures is kind of confusing. Lots of block text that’s hard to get through. And some low level spells can be absolutely end encounters before they begin
I've been running a DCC Lankhmar game for a year and a half now and it's lots of fun. Prep can be tricky though. My players are nearing 8th level so I'm intending to start a new campaign soon.
How so? I've personally found it to be the easiest system to prep for.
@@n3kkidninj4 personally I’m a slow reader and the block text of the adventures/monsters just made it harder to read through fully. Monster stat blocks in particular always were easy to miss. And as my players kept leveling up they could take care of a lot of problems much faster than I expected. Not exactly a problem, but just made things hard to prep for (specifically finding things that might counter my players). I had a lot of fun running it, but prepping each game was hard.
Fun to read. I like the idea of letting PCs be killed by dice a little more often. It's kind of fun just to keep a little stable of characters and see how far they can get. If you don't get too attached.
I'd definitely rather play this than D&D.
DCC modules are just so good.
I played a game my friend designed off of this actually, but it was play by post so it felt a little off.
I'm curious how this would feel at a table.
thanks:)
They should have added a d18 too ,and a d22. Those dice actually exist, but then so does a d13, d15, d17 and d19 and other 'odd numbered dice'.
Hi Dave! Are you going to review Shadowdark?
It's possible. If a really compelling review of the game has already been made or will be made in the near future, then I won't.
Now that you've tackled DCC, I'd like to see you're take on Shadowdark (an OSR game that feels a bit like a lean 5E)
I've only had one experience with this game. Made a character, I liked the idea of starting off as basically nobody important (my guy was a gravedigger). The our party set out on the mission and two of us promptly died because.... WTF?... some burlap bags we were carrying on our belts suddenly got inflated by a gust of wind and we were dragged over a cliff by like a skydiver in a twisting parachute? I called BS and haven't gone back. I don't know if this was by design or just the guy running it liked to kill characters for his own amusement but I was left with a distaste for this game from day one.
Sorry that you had a bad experience with it. I think if you told any DCC fan about those character deaths, they'd laugh with glee. But everyone enjoys things for different reasons I guess.
I've played one session of this game but still remember one of the greatest things I've ever done. I had a family of halflings and one of them had a high mental score and a voodoo doll. Our group had 4 players with 4 toons each against a fight we were not expected to survive. One person had bled the boss and I had the gypsy halfling dip the voodoo doll into his blood and then toss it into a fire. The DM was dumbfounded and spent the next 20 minutes figuring out what to do while the rest of us got snacks, we came back to the table with the boss' mini removed and the DM described that as Tharja tossed the doll into the flame the moment it caught the boss suffered Spontaneous Combustion and died. We got our 10 XP with 12 characters left.
"toons" Ugh.
When it comes to tables i print out all the ones i need for my pc.
It's funny how the entire opening chapters are just the author trying to convince the reader to play the game according to the rules as written, as if he's worried that people are going to hate the old school feel 😄"Give it a try, you might end up liking it."
this helped me answer so many questions about DCC. I see their rabid fans in discord, but have yet to try the game. The funny dice seem like a novelty and a headache, but I love so much more about this system. Might pick up a welcome kit or maybe lankhmar if it has core rules too.
Thanks, I'm glad I could help. I was looking for an informative video myself and couldn't find one that scratched the itch, so I made this one.
Hi, the Lankhmar set does not contain core rules but some variation to the rules (luck changes and no elves, halflings and clerics). So you still have to get the core in order to play the Lankhmar adventures
The dice in the newbie kits are all different colours and styles so that aids in telling them apart. The kits are great value too. You can get a new group kit if you've got a few friends who are keen.
Any die that isn't a d6 is a novelty.
(8.14min) What are these beautiful cube containers?
DCC dice trays found on Thingiverse for free. Well, you need a 3D printer or a friend with one, but the model is free.
@@DaveThaumavore Thanks for it and for very good Video!
Best. Game. Ever.
It is the heavy metal, black light poster, bring out the bong Fantasy RPG. D&D is a lot more white bread Disney stuff, DCC is for a PG-13 or R audience especially if you want t get creative with spell misfires :).
I burnt out on the whole fantasy genre 30 years ago, M/DCC is brought the fun back in it for me.
Great review. DCC looks a little dice-complicated to me but it has good spirit to the game.
It really isn't. Instead of 5e's advantage system, you just roll a bigger die. Instead of disadvantage, you roll a smaller one. The game IS a little heavy with tables, but the magic and crits are worth it.
the dice chain comes up so very seldom when ran RAW that I have no idea why reviewers even mention it
Great analysis, I agree it's almost too cumbersome with all the tables however if you play online (foundry) all those roll tables are built in so you don't have to look up a bunch of stuff which bogs games down.
I think Purple Sorcerer's Web based DCC app covers that for you as well.
Great video. DCC isn't related to B/X in the least, it's a modified version of 3.5.
Where does it say that or has anyone said that ?
As a fan of DCC and someone who's first system was 3.5 for YEARS 😅... I uh.. I don't see it 🤣
Good overview but I think some characteristics were not emphasized enough.
- In world of DCC players characters are victims of it. Everything is randomized, almost without mitigation of some sort. Player can control nothing, because gods of dice control everything.. You can actually have 1 HP. If you survive randomness of funnel and lower levels then you can reach (with help of gods of dice) to higher levels of specialness. Your character becomes special entity. Thats why DCC is embodiment of exepcionalism in RPGs. Character climbs up on backs of dead companions. Not every player likes it, because funnel makes players to treat many characters they play as pawns not beings. That's why DCC emphasize vanquishing weak and individual thriumph, which is not very modern approach.
- Funnel can be run extremely easy, because GM needs to know very little rules, scenario and can generate lot of characters using online generators very fast. So entry time to start a game is very low. It is not same for levels 1+ where GM needs to know much more rules. Flipping rulebook in funnels is also very low. I have run "Sailors of the Starless Sea" funnel scenario and there is fight against over 20 enemies, which GM can run exeptionally fast and furious even without lot of preparations.
- Funnels let GMs to run make much more interesting scenarios, because fear of TPK is alleviated by sheer number of players' characters.
. In basic DCC there is no morality except cosmic balance. No good, evil, neutral character just chaos, lawful, neutral. Player characters are pawns in cosmic game as in older fantasy settings in literature. Motivating players by greed and promising them to kill boss at the end of the dungeon (as in DCC advertisments) don't make them exemplary citizens. Alignment has direct influence on your character survival, not only magic user.
- It is difficult to find good setting for this game. Goodman Games original world - Aereth, doesn't really give you this specific, gonzo vibe of it as they scenarios give. It was done for earlier period of DCC development, but I don't think it is adequate right now. There is Hubris, but it is extremely gonzo setting and there are literature based worlds published by Goodman Games which may not be for everybody. So this is possible you will need to produce your own world for it.
- Rulebook has not best organization, so new GMs will need to produce tools to run it smoothly anyway.
- To recognize proper dice without searching just buy brighter ones and make black dot with Sharpie on highest result face. Players will always know what is highest result for this dice this way.
- Those descriptive tables results will give you best RPG experience ever. Even some critical hits results may produce new adventure for party alone and push story in completely different direction. Rather not best for GMs wanting to control everything, but great for feisty parties.
Hope it will help, if you are interested in it.
DCC and Mørk Borg I gotta check out! To utter chaotic madhouse ttrpgs where its 110% chance you WILL die! Could you check out and review? ( take your time ) Dragonbanes mirth&mayhem, Væsens dark fantasy folklore horror and Forbidden Lands rough work to travel the land and build a Stronghold base!
The first yo I feel tons more at home with, being set in the nordics where I live. Drowns in atmosphere and authencity I tell ya!
Dave has reviewed Forbidden Lands and Vaesen.
@@ErikLevin Gonna check it out👍 Would be great to see his take on Dragonbane too
I guess you could say this game is a classic
My all time favorite DnD book ever
Everything 3.5 ever condensed into one single book.
Love DCC, do not love DCC Rulebook formatting.
looks really great but I'm not a fan of vancian magic system :|
This doesn't use Vancian magic. You can cast spells as much as you want until you fail the check. Failing the check as a cleric increases your disapproval range.
Also the zocchi dice are not essential. The book tells you how to use normal dice if you end up using rhe dice chain.
DCC has a lot of good ideas to use for better game systems. I feel like every GM should read the book and then take what they like.
The funnel, for example, is easy to duplicate in any system and that notion has already been spreading.
I wish the 2nd edition was reprinted
I don't dig on the Zocchi dice because I'm a Platonic snob, but I wonder why I never thought of using the odd numbers on VTT.
A moment of Triumph, sure they play 5e because of that and the fact they love Loot, money is secondary, but Loot and Treasure in the form of Cool Magic Items is a key draw, but this is 5e, don't be thinking it will be +5. Nope, think +1, maybe +2 or +3 as 'legendary'. Yes, old school gamers hear that and say 'what +3 is legendary you must have weak legends. We had +6 weapons in 1e, yup, and I hear there was even once a +7. Word?!! Yup that is Legendary so you can keep your paltry +3 and go play your 5e.
Zocci dice is my only gripe with the game. I wish someone would come up with new edit of the game that removes them completely
Just add a numerical modifier in place of the stepped up or down die.
@@backcountry164 Ok. But what number to add. There are some irregular jumps there?
@@PixPunxelSuggestion:
Action dice:
d30: d20+4
d24: d20+2
d16: d20-2
d14: d20-4
Other rolls e.g. weapon damage:
d7: d8-1 or d6+1 depending on whether it's a bonus or penalty to use the d7.
d5: d4+1 or d6-1
d3: unchanged as d6/2 or d4-1 if you rather want that.
do you prefer games that only use d6?
@@datrux I actually like d6 games. But have no problem with usage of dice set that most of us actually have at home
:D
Honestly, the 0th level stuff immediately turns me off from this game. The rest looks good, but that's a ridiculous idea to me and one I have no desire to put up with. There's no player agency IMHO in "don't bother getting attached".
It’s optional.
@@DaveThaumavore oh? That's great I might have to give it another look then! Thanks for clarifying that
Yes, definitely optional, though worth giving a try at least once! Even has a section on starting at levels other than 0.