DCC vs. BECMI

bat · July 11, 2017, 05:37:39 PM

DCC is worth having a copy for the art and giving it a go. The support is fantastic and the game has some superb ideas. I'm just personally not a fan of most of their modules or gimmicky items (all of which are of course incidental and not necessary). There is currently a kickstarter project for scratch off zero level character sheets. A dollar or two on index cards at a dollar store and a half hour or less and a Judge can have funnel characters made that are sufficient and can be tailored by the Judge for their own game.

quozl · July 11, 2017, 06:31:29 PM

Some guy wrote up rules for 0-level character funnels for Basic Fantasy here:
http://www.infinitedragons.com/character-funnel/

Harlock · July 11, 2017, 09:01:50 PM

Quote from: quozl;974668Some guy wrote up rules for 0-level character funnels for Basic Fantasy here:
http://www.infinitedragons.com/character-funnel/

Ha. Very cool. Thanks!

bat · July 12, 2017, 12:44:16 AM

One point to mention I suppose is that a 1st level DCC character doesn't equal a 1st level BECMI character. DCC characters are larger than life and capable of more without being as powerful as 3e+ characters. It feels old school but the characters are not as fragile and can do more.

Edgewise · July 12, 2017, 01:25:18 PM

Quote from: bat;974745One point to mention I suppose is that a 1st level DCC character doesn't equal a 1st level BECMI character. DCC characters are larger than life and capable of more without being as powerful as 3e+ characters. It feels old school but the characters are not as fragile and can do more.

I mentioned that, but like I said, this doesn't come into play in a funnel since the PCs are all level 0.

Harlock · July 12, 2017, 01:30:58 PM

Quote from: Edgewise;974901I mentioned that, but like I said, this doesn't come into play in a funnel since the PCs are all level 0.

I don't mind players starting with 1d4 more HP at level one after going through a funnel. Survivability at level 1 will still be a crap shoot.

Edgewise · July 12, 2017, 02:53:39 PM

Quote from: Harlock;974904I don't mind players starting with 1d4 more HP at level one after going through a funnel. Survivability at level 1 will still be a crap shoot.

I feel the same way. But if you want to be more of a BECMI purist, when PCs graduate from the funnel, you can let them merely reroll their HP, keeping the higher total. This gives a slight advantage over vanilla D&D characters (mostly for magic-users with their d4 hit die), but not enough to have any significant effect on play.

bat · July 12, 2017, 05:57:44 PM

Quote from: Edgewise;974901I mentioned that, but like I said, this doesn't come into play in a funnel since the PCs are all level 0.

Yes, sorry. I had read that. My fault for bouncing between conversations in different places. I know the funnel had come up, I was musing in a couple of places about how customizable DCC is. The patron and magic system truly make each game unique.

Baulderstone · July 12, 2017, 09:45:14 PM

Quote from: Edgewise;974921I feel the same way. But if you want to be more of a BECMI purist, when PCs graduate from the funnel, you can let them merely reroll their HP, keeping the higher total. This gives a slight advantage over vanilla D&D characters (mostly for magic-users with their d4 hit die), but not enough to have any significant effect on play.

I'd probably let them keep the 1d4 bonus in HP, but that is an elegant solution for a GM who is concerned with having characters remain firmly within official level limits.

Harlock · July 12, 2017, 10:11:06 PM

Quote from: Baulderstone;975040I'd probably let them keep the 1d4 bonus in HP, but that is an elegant solution for a GM who is concerned with having characters remain firmly within official level limits.

Not too much to worry about, really. In 3-4 levels and a couple of lucky or unlucky rolls it would be a wash. A high CON score could do more over the 14 levels of B/X than that initial 1d4.

Voros · July 12, 2017, 10:19:00 PM

Quote from: Edgewise;974589But the funnel concept is probably the easiest part to rip off for D&D. You can even take a first-level D&D adventure and run it as a funnel without much problem; don't forget that each players gets around four toothless peasants to control, so funnels and first level adventures are largely interchangeable. So you don't have to stick with a funnel written for DCC to run a funnel.

Isn't the funnel concept borrowed wholesale from Allston's classic Treasure Hunt adventure?

Edgewise · July 13, 2017, 10:31:50 AM

Quote from: Voros;975049Isn't the funnel concept borrowed wholesale from Allston's classic Treasure Hunt adventure?

I had to go look that up; it definitely appears to be an inspiration.

Madprofessor · July 13, 2017, 03:11:16 PM

IMO, DCC is both inspired and inspirational. If you don't own it, or haven't played it, and you like D&D, you owe it to yourself to seek it out. That said, I don't think it's a better game than the original. Its similar enough to feel familiar, and different enough to feel fresh. Its the only modern product that I have found that really brought that same sense of wonder that the original game had inspired decades ago... but it's not really a better game. Now that I've played it quite a bit, I prefer the original. It's still a seminal work in the D&D library.

Baulderstone · July 13, 2017, 04:15:04 PM

Quote from: Madprofessor;975288IMO, DCC is both inspired and inspirational. If you don't own it, or haven't played it, and you like D&D, you owe it to yourself to seek it out. That said, I don't think it's a better game than the original. Its similar enough to feel familiar, and different enough to feel fresh. Its the only modern product that I have found that really brought that same sense of wonder that the original game had inspired decades ago... but it's not really a better game. Now that I've played it quite a bit, I prefer the original. It's still a seminal work in the D&D library.

It's less flexible than standard D&D. All the mechanical bits in DCC are great, but they make it hard to homebrew. Making a new spell for D&D is easy. The hardest part is deciding what level to make it. Making a new spell for DCC is a project.

I don't really see it as one being better. DCC is just a focused version of D&D. When I want the kind of play it provides, it is the one to reach for. If I want more flexibility, I will start with D&D.

bat · July 13, 2017, 07:15:01 PM

Quote from: Baulderstone;975299It's less flexible than standard D&D. All the mechanical bits in DCC are great, but they make it hard to homebrew. Making a new spell for D&D is easy. The hardest part is deciding what level to make it. Making a new spell for DCC is a project.

I don't really see it as one being better. DCC is just a focused version of D&D. When I want the kind of play it provides, it is the one to reach for. If I want more flexibility, I will start with D&D.

I believe this is a great point. DCC is very thematic [or can be] and takes more work for the Judge. Thankfully [and much to my amazement ] there are people out there churning out good quality third party support. The guy that cranked out that pdf of spells almost half as thick as the core book is a machine.