I know there's not a lot out right now (any?) but what is everyone looking forward to?
Of what is out, what's awesome?
Aside from all that what else have folks been doing with the DCC RPG?
I'm especially interested in what kinds of set-ups you used for the character funnel.
Hey Piestro. I hope you stick around this time because you'll be WAY better off here than you ever were at the big purple. Just sayin'.
In any case. There are a few 3PP lining up to produce some modules for DCC, amongst which Brave Halfling Publishing which came up with a new line of modules called "Appendix N modules" and actually launched a kickstarter around that venture. Will try to get some links for you.
There are a few other ventures others will talk about I'm sure. In any case, there'll be some stuff for DCC looks like.
One of the cool things about Goodman's game is the emphases upon a select catalog of inspiration, first AD&D's Appendix N. It's a clear concept for writers of content to take up. I would like to hear of any adventures that are in the works with this concept in mind. Joseph Goodman wrote The People of the Pit as an introductory adventure, as is Perils of the Sunken City by Jon Marr. Perhaps Jon is about here? Perils of the Sunken City includes 0-level adventure guidelines. It would be good to hear playtest opinion of these two adventures, even if one adapts them to an edition of D&D or some other system.
Quote from: Kuroth;543946One of the cool things about Goodman's game is the emphases upon a select catalog of inspiration, first AD&D's Appendix N. It's a clear concept for writers of content to take up. I would like to hear of any adventures that are in the works with this concept in mind. Joseph Goodman wrote The People of the Pit as an introductory adventure, as is Perils of the Sunken City by Jon Marr. Perhaps Jon is about here? Perils of the Sunken City includes 0-level adventure guidelines. It would be good to hear playtest opinion of these two adventures, even if one adapts them to an edition of D&D or some other system.
Yeah, the stuff coming from Goodman looks awesome.
I'll keep an eye on the Brave Halfling stuff too (I've bought a few things from them in the past).
How's the adventure included in the pre-order?
Well, ran the adventure in the back of the book (the zero-level one). The funnel setup was fairly easy and set up in the module itself. All the characters were from the same community. Everyone rolled up 3 characters randomly, we had some good ones in there squire, hunter, outlaw, so some people had weapons and one had armor. One was a sage, which helped a lot. We had 6 total.
Combat was quick and brutal. Not too many deaths though, the players got pretty lucky with combat rolls, plus some smart thinking allowed them to not get hit with some of the traps. At zero level, none of the game's unique systems really came into play (no one rolled a crit or fumble), so it was really just very basic D&D.
The players really liked the tone of the module, creepy, and very much S&S.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of the funnel. If done correctly, it can be ok, but it has too much of the "not even going to name my guy until 3rd level" aspect of early D&D. That makes the funnel system harken back not to Appendix N, but the gaming tables of our youth, which is self-aware and metagamey in a way I don't like. It can far too easily devolve into KoDT gaming, which takes away from the seriousness of the module.
So to the module itself. It's not very big, being a tomb. There's a central hub and spoke layout with a second level with two ways to get to the bottom. Good atmosphere, lots of links to further adventures the GM could run with. It packs a lot of good stuff into a few pages.
Quote from: Piestrio;543947Yeah, the stuff coming from Goodman looks awesome.
I'll keep an eye on the Brave Halfling stuff too (I've bought a few things from them in the past).
How's the adventure included in the pre-order?
Doom of the Savage Kings? I like it. Very atmospheric. Some nice, mythic elements, throughout. Very S&S.
The set-up is a rather common trope, but the author handles the whole thing adroitly.
It's short. Don't have it handy, but 10 pages, maybe? The author packs a lot into it, though.
Two of the three maps are in the same style as those included in the sample adventures in the HC.
1. Does this game have rules for ray guns and shit?
2. Is it humans only, or does it have other options?
2.5 Does it have rules to create your own racial options
3. Are there bare female human nipples visible in the interior art?
1. No
2. Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings
2.5 No
3. Unfortunately, no. S&S without nipples just isn't right.
As mentioned above, this is "what if" D&D was made with a more S&S vibe then medieval vibe. As such, the artwork evokes the early TSR offerings more then Frazetta.
Thanks, I'll give this one a miss.
Quote from: Kuroth;543946as is Perils of the Sunken City by Jon Marr. Perhaps Jon is about here? Perils of the Sunken City includes 0-level adventure guidelines. It would be good to hear playtest opinion of these two adventures, even if one adapts them to an edition of D&D or some other system.
I've picked this up.
I plan on doing a PbP funnel with it on the forums in a little while.
Here is a quick review I did for The People of the Pit, which I believe is the first 1st level adventure for DCC.
The Basics
The module is 32 pages if you include the front and back cover. I counted eight interior illustrations, one handout and three maps in the same 'artistic' style as the maps for the adventures in the core rulebook. The PDF is fully bookmarked.
Summary
The People of the Pit is designed for a party of 1st level characters. The adventure involves a pit, dark cultists and tentacles. I don't want to say more in a spoiler free review. The dungeon consists of more than 50 encounter areas spread out over four levels. The dungeon is a 'living' dungeon with a rationale (in fantasy RPG terms at least) provided for the contents and inhabitants of each room.
The dungeon does include a few traps and secret doors but not so many as to be annoying. There is also one puzzle that is designed to challenge player and not character skill (and looks like it should be fun). There are several clever touches in the module, including a unique method of traveling from level to level that could possibly allow the PCs to skip most of the dungeon and end up at the end encounter! (which could prove deadly)
The writing of the module seems solid to me and I was able to comprehend what was going on in each encounter area with the first read through. I haven't found any errata yet. The People of the Pit looks like it should be a blast and I can't wait to run it for a group. And where else can you go swimming in a pool of pit-beast poop?
I am curious about these, but a bit reluctant to spend money sight unseen. Do any of these adventures fit the following criteria?
- Not zero-level abbatoirs
- Terse and evocative writing
- More complex than a linear trek or a mini-lair dungeon (or a combination of the above); the module should offer an interesting combination of action, exploration and environmental or social interaction
- Modular, easily ported into other sword&sorcery-inspired campaigns
What I'm saying is, I want more than a vague and unfulfilled promise underlined by nice art. I don't really care how nice the production values are. In fact, two-column text and Times New Roman are good enough for me if the content is actually good.
A 0-level adventure doesn't have to be an abattoir, does it? I mean I understand the remark as it pertains to DCC 0-levels with the assumption in the game that you'll go through a few before one makes it to level 1, but I'm sure one could build an effective adventure site that doesn't automatically wipe out a 0-level party.
That would be my assumption in a game that didn't pride itself on its "character funnel". Not that I mind PC death, but there is a point where it becomes too much.
That's the one thing I don't like about the funnel. It's not Appendix N at all, it's "playing the way we were playing when we first read an Appendix N source". In other words, playing like we did when we were 11-13. It's a self-aware metagame construct like KoDT...but it doesn't have to be that way.
You don't need to play farmers charging in doing the Battle of Stalingrad "wealth through attrition" method. The "funnel module" in the back of the book is one that could be done with a small number of level zeros if they play like Kaldric's crew played the 5e test.
How hard is it to create straight 1st level characters in DCC?
Quote from: Benoist;546164How hard is it to create straight 1st level characters in DCC?
Not hard at all. You just create the characters as normal.
Well then, you can enjoy the funnel a couple of times with your mates, and when they get tired of it you just skip it to generate characters the 'normal' way. I'm not sure where the problem is, here.
Is that because it conditions official and 3PP introductory modules published for the game?
Quote from: AnthonyRoberson;546178Not hard at all. You just create the characters as normal.
Remember to give them the additional 1d4+Stamina hit points though! (which is what you get in creating a 0 level character).
BTW the inherent danger to see your level 1 character die horribly before he ever reaches level 2 was one of the fundamental aspects I remember enjoying when I played AD&D for the first time. Oh I wasn't happy to see my characters die after making this or that stupid mistake, that's for sure, but when one of them finally reached level 2 man... I was on top of the world. That was awesome.
Quote from: CRKrueger;546153That's the one thing I don't like about the funnel. It's not Appendix N at all, it's "playing the way we were playing when we first read an Appendix N source". In other words, playing like we did when we were 11-13. It's a self-aware metagame construct like KoDT...but it doesn't have to be that way.
You don't need to play farmers charging in doing the Battle of Stalingrad "wealth through attrition" method. The "funnel module" in the back of the book is one that could be done with a small number of level zeros if they play like Kaldric's crew played the 5e test.
Heh.
Sounds like the D&D games I played back when I first started.
We usually made a dozen or more characters in advance, which we easily churned through over several sessions. Then we made even more characters to churn through. (Rinse and repeat ....).
ggroy, mate, you really need to write a book one of these days about "The most awful RPG experiences you EVER read about." That'd be awesome. Between the drunken guys, the fist fights at the game table and all that stuff... you got some stellar material, I tell you! :)
Quote from: Benoist;546186ggroy, mate, you really need to write a book one of these days about "The most awful RPG experiences you EVER read about." That'd be awesome. Between the drunken guys, the fist fights at the game table and all that stuff... you got some stellar material, I tell you! :)
Make it into a metagame. :)
I like that the first monster in the monster section is "Android".
Stuff like this is in there, but it's pretty limited.
I suppose the 'funnel' concept also has mid-game use, if you're flexible. For example, if the 'usual' PCs got themselves in the sort of jam whereby they're captured but not likely to be killed, I'd be totally fine running the next session with the party's zero-level hangers-on (some henchmen, the cleric's acolyte, the milkmaid who has an annoying crush on the thief, Stupid Bill the donkey-wrangler, etc) all band together to try to bust their friends (the usual PCs) out of the klink.
Quote from: VectorSigma;546324I suppose the 'funnel' concept also has mid-game use, if you're flexible. For example, if the 'usual' PCs got themselves in the sort of jam whereby they're captured but not likely to be killed, I'd be totally fine running the next session with the party's zero-level hangers-on (some henchmen, the cleric's acolyte, the milkmaid who has an annoying crush on the thief, Stupid Bill the donkey-wrangler, etc) all band together to try to bust their friends (the usual PCs) out of the klink.
I can totally see that working great.
And it'd have that multiple-PCs-of-varying-levels-in-the-campaign flair of some of the campaigns of old.
Yup. I pulled the same trick back in my 2e days, although the 'rescue party' weren't zeroes, they were significantly lower level than the usual PCs (something like 2-3rd as compared to 8-9th). It was enough to impress upon the players exactly how far they'd come.
Quote from: danbuter;546255I like that the first monster in the monster section is "Android".
That is a plus in their favor, at least.
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