So here are my thoughts- Years ago I posted this on another forum after soliciting input about DCC RPG and running the Game for my Kids Group (13-14yos at the time) This was in 2013 and first sessions report- Ran a mixup of N5 set in The Wilderlands along with "Portal" from the core book.
really enjoyed the "same but different" play of the game. The interesting bits that have become humdrum...healing, basic spells, are much fun and the new stunt type system...deeds... seemed to go over well. My son got really creative, which was nice to see. I felt like the system, despite the added crunchy bits played pretty smoothly ( I spent alot of time printing up tables and spells for quick reference and converted my 4e screen). It was not quite as smooth or easy as running ODD/SW, but I made a point to play up the excitement of crits and fumbles and spell rolls, which made for more "hurry up..what happens?" Comments rather than " this takes too much time to figure out" comments I get sometimes with modern D&Ds.
"feel" of the session certainly leaned towards old school/od&d, rather than "3e lite which was my fear.
2016- 3 years later my thread came up again...
I see this thread came back up.
Ultimately, DCCRPG was too fiddly and too random for the group. The kids are notorious bad dice rollers and they quickly found the game not fun with crits, wasted spells, fumbles ,etc. They just got plastered all the time. In addition, the chart lookups were tedious after a few sessions, despite having printed out copies.
I do think there are some solid mechanics to steal though- e.g. clerics healing and fighter stunts are things I incorporated into my BXOD&D/S&W mashup.
I also find it very inspirational in the "fluff/flavor" sense, and still keep it around for just that reason.
Some bits I would add for 2020
I personally don't like Funnels at all except as a separate one time session. Didn't like them initially either
Not terribly enamored of the DCC community- a bit clique-ish.
I still have a copy, but It's been in storage for a couple years. I think DCC RPG has some solid fun mechanics , but I think the DCC team/community try too hard to be edgy/gonzo, and it got old, quick. Some good adventure material buried under alot of "it's OK".