How Complicated is DCC?

[RPGPundit]

So I had recently reposted, to theRPGsite, the review I did of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG.  At the time of writing the review I had not yet played the game; but I had prophetically stated that I had no doubt I would.  Since that time these past 9 months or so we've been running an English-language DCC game that has been very successful, and that frequent readers get some updates about.

I've heard some people comment, both in these recent conversations and in general, that DCC is very "Complicated".  But I have to say that if anything, from the time of my original review to now, my opinion after actually playing is that the game is far less complicated than I expected.  The various mechanics present in DCC but absent in regular D&D (eg. spell checks, criticals, fumbles, a few other things) do not excessively slow down play.  The funny dice (ie. d5, d7, d14, d16, d24) are actually much less intrusive or even essential than they appear.

The two most typical complaints I've seen have been about needing to get the dice, and about having to look up tables.  I would respond by saying that technically, you could play DCC without the fancy dice; I know this because I ran DCC for several sessions before I got my special gamescience dice and about 95% of the time there was no significant disruption.  When there was some situation that demanded a non-standard-D&D die, there were many possible quick fixes.

As for tables, this is perhaps slightly more legitimate, but really there are only a few tables one looks up more often than in D&D.  I mean first of all, let's be honest here: I'm also running Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and I have to pause to look up stuff there too (mostly spell info my players were too lazy to write down).  The same goes for standard D&D, the same goes for most games.  Unless you're playing some utterly insanely-ultralight game, there will be times you have to stop and look up shit in the books.
It may be a little more frequent than in D&D, but its not a terrible lot; at least not if your players have access to the tables for their own spells.

But if this still doesn't convince you, I have another answer for you: There's an app for that.  The Crawler's Companion is an absolutely awesome, free resource, that you can put into a laptop, tablet, and I don't know what else, that revolutionizes game play.  
It has a dice roller, a really great one, so you don't need to worry about the "funky dice" anymore.
It has all the spell lists. It can roll for you, or you can do the roll and look up the results.
It has all the crit charts, it has the fumbles, it has deity disapproval, it has corruption; all of them available to be rolled or in lookup mode.

And it has quick rules-references.

So even without this app, I think there was little cause for the kind of alarmism we hear about how "complicated" DCC is.  I think that almost anyone making such a claim hasn't actually played it.
But if you have the Crawler's Companion; your game will run faster than it would with any other edition of D&D.  Its that simple.

 RPGPundit

(originally posted March 6, 2014)

[Spinachcat]

DCC becomes more complicated (but not much) as you go up levels, but that's normal for any RPG where your PC gains more powers and access to more abilities. But never to the level of "complicated enough to really effect game play".

I still don't get inclusion of the weird dice, but only 1 dude I've played DCC with has bought them, everybody else I know has run the game without them.

[RPGPundit]

DCC becomes more complicated (but not much) as you go up levels, but that's normal for any RPG where your PC gains more powers and access to more abilities. But never to the level of "complicated enough to really effect game play".

I still don't get inclusion of the weird dice, but only 1 dude I've played DCC with has bought them, everybody else I know has run the game without them.

With the Crawler app, you don't need the actual dice. It has the BEST dice-rolling feature I've ever seen on an app.  Its awesome!

It also makes crawler worth getting even if you never plan to play DCC.

[Spinachcat]

What makes it the best dice roller app?

I have avoided using any tablets (or phones) at the table. How intrusive is using the Crawler app at the table?

[Just Another Snake Cult]

I had an awesome time on the two occasions that I played DCC, and I don't think it's a terribly complicated game per se, but multiple copies of the rulebook (And/or a PDF of the rules and a printer so players can have individual copies of charts that their characters use frequently) are pretty much essential for play.

The game has charts. Lots and lots of charts. All throughout the book. They must be consulted frequently.

Also, buy an actual physical set of the "Weird" dice. In addition to just being fun and often surprisingly useful in their own right, they're wonderful props towards establishing a feel of the exotic and uncanny... lay out that d5 or d14 and players instantly know they aren't in Kansas anymore. It must be like how people felt upon first seeing d20's and the like back in '74.

[RPGPundit]

What makes it the best dice roller app?

I have avoided using any tablets (or phones) at the table. How intrusive is using the Crawler app at the table?

Just download it and see. It has two modes, it allows you to roll all kinds of combinations, the interface is really nice, it has all the weird dice.

I don't find it intrusive, but then I (the GM) am the only one who uses it at the table.

[Khaleb7]

We use the crawler app primarily for critical/fumble lookups and haven't found it to be intrusive at all.

As to complexity of DCC overall, we gave DnD 5 a spin and found it to also be a page flipping exercise but with no 'high tech' options to speed up searches for how a given spell does its 1d8 damage differently than another spell.

So when it comes to our periodic forays into DnD-ish gaming, DCC is what we stick with.