DCC Warrior Class for D&D 5E

I've attempted to port the DCC Warrior to 5th edition. I'd play it. Check it out HERE.

DCC RPG Reference Booklet - Revised and Expanded

Finally, after over a year of toil, I can present you with the updated version of the DCC RPG Reference Booklet. I expanded it out to include more of the useful charts, cleaned up the layout, and commissioned two of my favorite artists, Stefan Poag and Doug Kovacs to create some great art for it. I offer it to you now, free in PDF, or in print from Lulu at a small markup, in the hopes I can recover some of the cash I laid out for the art. I've ordered several rounds of proof copies to ensure that the thing is error-free, but if you find anything, please let me know. Enjoy!

One final thing worth noting... When I began work on this thing, I designed it around Lulu's 6x9 saddle-stitched offering, which at the time included thick, glossy pages and a really bright and durable cover. They've recently changed their 6x9 saddle-stitch book to use thinner, cream-colored pages and what appears to be a lower-quality printing process for the cover. By the time I discovered this, I was too far along in the process to be willing to put the time and effort into exploring other options. Although the book is not as rad as I initially planned, it is still quite serviceable, and the cost is less so at least I can offer it for a few bucks cheaper.

Okay, enough rambling. Here you go:

DCC RPG Reference Booklet - Free PDF

DCC RPG Reference Booklet - Lulu Print $6.66

DCC Monk

I decided to make a monk for DCC. I love monks. I dislike clerics. I took the DCC cleric and mashed it up with the AD&D monk, one of the goals being to make a class that could reasonably replace the cleric entirely, and I think that's a possibility here. I believe I'm satisfied enough with it to introduce it as an option in my campaign. At a minimum, I'm tired of working on it, so I don't think I'll bother with it again until something comes up in actual play that would necessitate some sort of an adjustment. Check it out!

Link: MONK CLASS FOR DCC RPG

Lulu-Ready DCC RPG Reference Sheets

DISCLAIMER: This file, while perfectly usable, is still considered to be in a "draft" state by me. It is very likely I will still make a few minor tweaks before I consider it to be "final". Unless you are 100% happy with this version, or don't mind going through the trouble of making two copies of this book, don't bother with it yet!

Okay, now that we have that out of the way...

LINK: Lulu-Ready 6x9 DCC RPG Reference Sheets Interior File (DRAFT)

Here is a draft of the reference sheets that is ready to be uploaded to lulu so you can order your own copies with nice glossy paper, which I have found to be quite durable.

I am calling this a draft, because I am still entertaining the idea of potentially adding in some of the content from the appendices, such as poisons, but I haven't come to a conclusion yet. I'm also agonizing over whether or not to go through the trouble of getting a bit of art to fill in the whitespace. Part of me would like to, but most of the time it seems like more trouble than it's worth.

If you find any issues with the PDF, please let me know. I offer it up with no warranty whatsoever.

To make your lulu book, create a lulu account, start a new "paperback book" project, and choose the following options:

• Standard paper
• U.S. Trade 6"x9"
• Saddle-stitched
• Black and white

Click for bigness

From there, hit "Save & Continue" and then upload the PDF for the interior pages, and click "Make print-ready file".

After that, it's time for you to make your own cover. If you like really shitty covers, you can use the Lulu Cover Wizard. Otherwise, I suggest using the Advanced One-Piece Cover Designer. Below are the cover file specs for this particular book.

One-piece cover requirements:

• Your file must be a PDF, JPG, GIF, or PNG
• Spine width: 0 Postscript points wide (0.000") (0 px)
• Spine begins 441 Postscript points (6.13") (1838 px) from the left.
• Total cover width: 882 X 666 Postscript points (12.25" X 9.25") (3675px X 2775px)
• If using an image, its resolution should be set to 300dpi

As an example, here is one I worked up for the booklet I made for myself. I extracted the endcap images from the DCC rulebook PDF, pasted them together, and added the title and logo. Super easy! I'd love to see what kind of awesome covers other people come up with. Post a link or shoot me an email about yours if you make one.

Here's a real crappy and blurry photograph of it. I've been using mine for nearly a year, and it's held up quite well, so I think most would be happy getting a version like this. It's a nice step up from the home-made version.

Phone camera fail

P.S. - You can totally still just print this in digest size using adobe reader's booklet function. The only thing to be aware of is that the page count is higher, so taking it to a print shop afterwards and getting it trimmed is recommended. Otherwise you may be annoyed by how much the centermost pages stick out compared to the pages closer to the covers.

Mighty Deeds™ for Everyone!

I've found DCC's “mighty deeds” mechanic to be a very satisfying way to adjudicate called shots and the like. My only problem with it as written is that it's limited to warriors and dwarves. If someone else wants to attempt a called shot (and they always do, eventually!), you are pretty much put in a position where you have to say “no” (this is a bad thing), or you have to invent a whole new way to deal with it for these other character types. Instead, I propose to replace everyone's flat attack bonuses with (nearly) equivalent attack dice. This way everyone can perform crazy stunts – or at least try to. Note that warriors and dwarves are still the only classes that get to add their deed die rolls to damage. Everyone else applies it only to the to-hit roll. I've also excluded the use of the d5 and the d7 out of a simple personal distaste for those dice being used in anything that is rolled so often as an attack roll.

ALTERNATE CHARACTER ATTACK TABLE FOR DCC RPG AND OTHER FANTASY VIOLENCE SIMULATORS

Level	Warriors & Dwarves	Clerics & Thieves	Wizards	Elves	Halflings
1	d4	d3	d3	d3	d3
2	d4	d3	d3	d3	d4
3	d6	d4	d3	d4	d4
4	d6	d4	d4	d4	d6
5	d8	d6	d4	d6	d6
6	d8	d6	d4	d6	d8
7	d10+1	d8	d6	d6	d8
8	d10+2	d8	d6	d8	d10
9	d10+3	d10	d6	d8	d10+1
10	d10+4	d10+1	d8	d8+1	d10+2

Wandering Monsters for Bestiary 1

PDF version available HERE

I've been using the Pathfinder Bestiary in my DCC games lately. I'm pretty comfortable with the PF stat blocks, and tweaking on the fly, so it works well for me. I made some wandering monster tables for it, and decided to post them for grins. The number encountered is in brackets, and it should be readily apparent that the page number is in parentheses

If you want to get really fancy, you can use the following method for the dungeon tables:
Roll a d6 along with the d12. If the d6 comes up 1 or 6, look the monster up one table lower or higher, respectively.

Dungeon Level 1-3
1. Monitor Lizards [1-4] (p.194)
2. Giant Centipedes [3-6] (p.43)
3. Fire Beetles [7-12] (p.33)
4. Ghouls [2-5] (p.146)
5. Vargouille [1] (p.272)
6. Skeletal Champion [1] (p.252)
7. Cloaker [1] (p.47)
8. Darkmantle [1-6] (p.55)
9. Wight [1-2] (p.276)
10. Bat Swarm [1] (p.30)
11. Dretches [1-2] (p.60)
12. Goblin Dogs [1-8] (p.157)

Dungeon Level 4-6
1. Gibbering Mouther [1] (p.153)
2. Centipede Swarm [1-2] (p.43)
3. Ghost [1] (p.144)
4. Yeth Hounds [2-7] (p.286)
5. Troll [1] (p.268)
6. Greater Barghest [1] (p.27)
7. Vampire [1] (p.270)
8. Chokers [1-8] (p.45)
9. Black Pudding [1] (p.35)
10. Gorgon [1] (p.165)
11. Gray Ooze [1] (p.166)
12. Rust Monsters [2-5] (p.238)

Dungeon Level 7-9
1. Girallons [5-8] (p.154)
2. Iron Golem [1] (p.162)
3. Half-Fiend Minotaurs [3-6] (p.171)
4. Hell Hounds [3-12] or Nessian Hell Hound [1] (p.173)
5. Intellect Devourers [1-6] (p.180)
6. Kytons [3-6] (p.185)
7. Driders [1-6] (p.113)
8. Elder Earth Elemental [1] (p.123)
9. Bebilith [1] (p.32)
10. Rakshasa [1] (p.231)
11. Shadow Demons [1-2] (p.67)
12. Night Hag [1] (p.215)

Dungeon Level 10+
1. Neothelid [1] (p.214)
2. Xill [2-12] (p.283)
3. Horned Devil [1] (p.76)
4. Devourer [1] (p.82)
5. Tarrasque [1] (p.262)
6. Purple Worm [1] (p. 230)
7. Nalfeshnee [1] (p.65)
8. Greater Shadows [3-6] (p.245)
9. Medusa [1] (p.201)
10. Shoggoth [1] (p.249)
11. Elder Fire Elemental [1-3] (p.125)
12. Astral Deva [1] (p.10)

Plains
1. Giant Ants [1-10] (p.16)
2. Giant Wasps [3-6] or Wasp Swarm [1] (p.275)
3. Ankhegs [1-4] (p.15)
4. Bugbears [1-10] (p.38)
5. Cheetahs [1-4] (p.40)
6. Chimera [1] (p.44)
7. Cockatrice [1-12] (p.48)
8. Cyclops [1-6] (p.52)
9. Triceratops [1] (p.86)
10. Gnolls [1-20] (p.155)
11. Aurochs [3-30] (p.174)
12. Manticore [1] (p.199)

Hills
1. Bulette [1] (p.39)
2. Giant Ants [2-20] (p.16)
3. Giant Stag Beetle [1-6] (p.33)
4. Chimera [1] (p.44)
5. Wyvern [1-2] (p.282)
6. Ettin [1-2] (p.130)
7. Griffons [1-10] (p.168)
8. Hill Giants [2-5] (p.150)
9. Ogres [1-4] (p.220)
10. Phase Spiders [3-6] (p.226)
11. Dust Mephits [3-6] (p.202)
12. Bandits [2-20] (p.264)

Forest
1. Wolves [1-12] or Dire Wolves [3-8] (p.278)
2. Treant [1] (p.266)
3. Unicorn [1] (p.269)
4. Grizzly Bears [1-2] (p.31)
5. Boars (1:6 chance Dire) [1-8] (p.36)
6. Centaurs [3-10] (p.42)
7. Dryad [1] (p.116)
8. Ettercaps [3-8] (p.129)
9. Owlbears [1-6] (p.224)
10. Pseudodragon [1] (p.229)
11. Satyrs [3-6] (p.241)
12. Elves [3-30] (p.114)

Mountains
1. Stone Giants [1-8] (p.151)
2. Tengu [3-12] (p.263)
3. Stone Golem [1] (p.163)
4. Duergar [3-30] (p.117)
5. Huge Air Elemental [1-2] (p.120)
6. Shadow Demons [1-3] (p.67)
7. Rocs [1-2] (p.236)
8. Salamanders [2-5] (p.240)
9. Medium Earth Elementals [2-7] (p.122)
10. Wyverns [1-3] (p.282)
11. Crag Linnorm [1] (p.190)
12. Red Dragon (d6: 1-3=young, 4-5=adult, 6=ancient) [1] (p.98-99)

Swamp
1. Constrictor Snakes [1-6] (p.255)
2. Giant or Poisonous Frogs [3-12] (p.135)
3. Will-O-Wisps [1-4] (p.277)
4. Boggards [1-12] (p.37)
5. Shocker Lizards [1-12] (p.248)
6. Basilisk [1-2] (p.29)
7. Chuul [1-4] (p.46)
8. Crocodiles (2:6 chance Dire) [1-6] (p.51)
9. Dracolisks [1-2] (p.170)
10. Green Hags [3] (p.167)
11. Harpies [3-12] (p.172)
12. Froghemoth [1] (p.136)

Jungle
1. Giant Flytrap [1-2] (p.134)
2. Gorillas (3:6 chance Dire) [1-12] (p.17)
3. Army Ant Swarm [1] (p.16)
4. Boars (4:6 chance Dire) [1-8] (p.36)
5. Dire Lions [3-8] (p.193)
6. Tyrannosaurus [1] (p.86)
7. Giant Mantis [1-10] (p.200)
8. Giant Frilled Lizards [1-8] (p.194)
9. Vegepygmies [3-30 plus chieftain] (p.273)
10. Assassin Vines [3-6] (p.22)
11. Zombies [2-20] (p.288)
12. Spider Swarms [2-5] (p.258)

Tundra
1. Winter Wolves [6-11] (p.280)
2. Yeti [1-8] (p.287)
3. Dire Wolverines [1-2] (p.279)
4. Frost Giants [2-5] (p.149)
5. Ice Golems [1-4] (p.161)
6. Ice Linnorm [1] (p.191)
7. Remorhaz [1] (p.233)
8. Ice Devil [1] (p.77)
9. Ice Elves [2-200] (p.114)
10. Dire Polar Bears [1-4] (p.31)
11. Ice Mephits [3-6] (p.202)
12. White Dragon (d6: 1-3=young, 4-5=adult, 6=ancient) [1] (p.100-101)

Desert
1. Behir [1-2] (p.34)
2. Bebilith [1] (p.32)
3. Couatl [1-2] (p.49)
4. Lamias [1-8] (p.186)
5. Efreeti [1] (p.140)
6. Vrocks [1-6] (p.69)
7. Bone Devil [1] (p.74)
8. Giant Scorpions [1-10] (p.242)
9. Sphinx [1] (p.257)
10. Sand Worm [1] (p.230)
11. Phoenix [1] (p.227)
12. Blue Dragon (d6: 1-3=young, 4-5=adult, 6=ancient) [1] (p.94-95)

Underdark
1. Giant Slug [1] (p.254)
2. Violet Fungus [3-12] (p.274)
3. Xorn [1-6] (p.284)
4. Yellow Musk Creeper + 1-6 Yellow Musk Zombies (p.285)
5. Troglodytes [3-30] (p.267)
6. Basidironds [1-12] (p.28)
7. Aboleths [1-6] (p.8)
8. Cave Fishers [1-6] (p.41)
9. Derro [3-30] (p.70)
10. Mites [2-200] (p.207)
11. Ropers [1-6] (p.237)
12. Shoggoth [1] (p.249)

Some day I'd like to make versions for the Bestiaries 2 and 3 as well, but even if I do, I'm probably not going to do those links again, because man that was a pain in the buns!

Staff of the Insane Magician [DCC]

Here's a draft of an artifact item I'm working on. Enjoy!


Staff of the Insane Magician
This iron-shod black oaken staff is adorned with multi-colored ribbons and the tiny skulls of unidentifiable creatures. It deals 2d6 DARO* damage in melee combat, and can fire magical bolts of energy which automatically hit and deal 1d6+2 damage at-will. However, its true power lies in its ability to amplify the casting power of the user, and channel that power into the casting of a random magical spell. The caster first makes a spell check as normal, then rolls a die on the effect chart based on the result of the spell check (see below).
*DARO: "Doubles add and roll over" (see Tunnels & Trolls)

Spell Check Result   Die to Roll on the Effect Chart
        1            None. User suffers two greater corruptions
                     and staff loses all power except for its 
                     melee combat ability.
       2-9                   d8
      10-13                  d10
      14-17                  d12
      18-21                  d14
      22-25                  d16
      26-29                  d20
       30+                   d24

Effect Chart
(all effects last 6 turns/1 hour unless otherwise specified)

1. All surface areas (floors, walls, ceilings, etc.) within 100’ of the caster become covered in a 1”-thick sheet of ice. Anyone attempting to move at greater than ¼ speed - or doing anything else that could result in a loss of balance – must roll under half their agility score or fall prone.
2. All creatures hostile to the caster within 100’ become illuminated in faerie fire. Attacks against such creatures are made at +2 and they have no hope of hiding, etc.
3. The entire room the caster is in becomes filled with a thick, opaque smoke. Although perfectly breathable, everyone in the room is effectively blinded. If outdoors, the smoke covers a 100’ radius area around the caster, and clears in 2-8 rounds.
4. 1d30 kobolds are summoned from the ether (2 hp, AC 12, Spear +0(1d4), +0 all saves). Roll 1d10. If the roll is equal or under the caster’s level, then the kobolds are bound to his every command. If the roll is failed, half the kobolds attack the caster while the other half attack his friends. The kobolds remain until destroyed.
5. A random character or monster within 50’ of the caster (but not the caster himself) is permanently polymorphed into a cute fuzzy bunny rabbit. Roll 1d10+18 to determine the power of the spell for dispelling purposes.
6. The staff becomes charged with 10d6 damage worth of fireballs. They may be fired by the wizard as a single 10d6 blast, two 5d6 fireballs, ten 1d6 mini-fireballs, or whatever. For each fireball launched, the caster makes a spell check. Targets that make a reflex save with DC equal to the spell check only take half damage.
7. The caster (50%) or a random ally (50%) permanently becomes a skeleton, loses any existing racial abilities, but gains the following:
a. Convert hit dice to d12
b. +2 natural armor
c. +2 Agility
d. 1d4 claw attack
e. Immune to Cold
f. DR3/bludgeon
g. No need to eat or sleep.
h. Can be turned by clerics
i. Any healing done to the skeleton is reduced by half.

8. The caster and his party are teleported to a random room in any dungeon that exists in the judge’s world. (Judge’s choice)
9. Transmutation! All gold within 100’ of the caster is transformed. Roll 1d6: 1= lead; 2= copper; 3-4= silver; 5= electrum; 6= platinum. No experience is gained or lost due to this effect.
10. Uber-Mensch! Caster grows to 150% size, and all abilities increase to 18 for 1d6+6 turns.
11. Under-Mensch! Caster shrinks to 50% size, and all abilities decrease to 3 for 1d6+6 turns.
12. Caster can fly for 6 turns.
13. A djinni appears and offers to grant a single wish, but the wish must be made in 60 seconds real-time, or the djinni disappears. He is also a bastard and will screw over the caster in any way possible.
14. 2d6 smiley-face cookies appear. Eating one grants a permanent +1 luck increase. They are very tasty as well.
15. A powerful 2" thick stream of silly string spews forth from the staff for 1d6+6 rounds. The caster must spend his actions to brace the staff. If the staff is released, it will be propelled in a random direction at a speed of 60’ per round.
16. All within 50’ of the caster must make a Will save or become confused for 1d20 rounds. Caster makes a spell check to determine save DC. Each round a PC/creature is confused, roll a d4: 1= act normally; 2= babble incoherently; 3= attack nearest living thing; 4= attack self.
17. The staff emits strong gamma rays for a few moments. All within 50’ must make a DC 20 Fort save or suffer a random permanent mutation. Use whatever mutation chart you have handy – Mutant Future, Carcosa, Encounter Critical, or whatever.
18. A yes-man appears, showering the caster with compliments and praise. This causes the caster’s confidence to increase and he gets +1D to all rolls while the yes-man is present. The yes-man disappears after 6 turns.
19. A random magic item belonging to the caster (80%) or a random party member (20%) is transformed into a gigantic python that is very hungry at the present moment. Giant Python; Init +3; Spd 20’; AC 15; HD 11d8+14; hp 63; Bite +11(2d8) [swallows on 18-20]; F+8, R+10, W+4
20. A cloned duplicate of the caster is formed, that exactly copies all of the caster’s actions and takes 50% of the hits. Lasts 1-3 turns (10-30 minutes).
21. A familiar comes into the service of the caster. (Permanent)
22. No effect is apparent to the caster. However, the contents of the next dungeon room entered are replaced with 1d20 rats guarding 2,000 cp.
23. Congratulations, you’ve earned a corruption! Roll d6: 1-3= Minor; 4-5= Major; 6= Greater.
24. Caster now has a pet luck dragon that may or may not be named Falcor. Pals 4 Lyfe!

I think I'll need to go back and re-jigger the order so that most of the bad ones are earlier on the list. I was just typing them as I went along without much regard for that.

Mole-Man Class for DCC

Since the cat is out of the bag, I can now release my Mole-Man Class that I did for Secret Santicore 2012!

I got to watch this movie as "research". It didn't really yield anything useful, but it was a fine film!

I hope somebody likes it!

One-Page DCC Spell Charts

I've begun my attempt at reworking the DCC spells that span across multiple pages, and getting them trimmed down to fit on a single page. I've done the 1st-level cleric and wizard spells so far, and will do the rest as time allows. Check them out on the DCC Resources Page. I hope you find them as useful in your games as I have in mine!

DCC RPG Character Sheet

An updated version of my DCC character sheet is now available on the DCC RPG resources page. Enjoy!

DCC RPG Reference Sheets Updated

Check the DCC RPG Resources Page for the updated document. Feel free to drop me a note if you think I missed an important table, or made a mistake. I worked very quickly to crank this out, so I wouldn't be surprised if there was an error or two.

Cover I threw together for my personal copy!

No art, no frills, just the tables you need to help you run a fast-paced game without having to crack open that massive tome of a rule book!

Enjoy!

Feast of the Gods

Adapted from one of the Arduin books (I forget which one).

This large golden platter is usually held by a statue in some deep, dark, and super-dangerous dungeon. At the foot of the statue is a plaque which reads in a long-forgotten tongue, something about eating if you believe the gods are on your side, etc. Read languages will easily decode the message, or possibly an intelligence check for a bard or some PC with a background in linguistics.

On the platter are three items - a loaf of wonderful-smelling bread, a large piece of juicy roasted meat, and an ornate chalice filled with a rich, dark wine.

Should the PCs be brave enough to partake of this feast, here is what happens.

Guidelines: There is only enough of each item to benefit (or screw over) one person. A single person may only benefit from one of the items.

For each item consumed, roll a d10. All effects are permanent.

Meat
1-3: Strength/Agility/Stamina (STR/DEX/CON) are reduced by 1d4.
4-10: Strength/Agility/Stamina (STR/DEX/CON) are increased by 1d4.

Wine
1-3: Personality/Intelligence/Luck (INT/WIS/CHA) are reduced by 1d4.
4-10: Personality/Intelligence/Luck (INT/WIS/CHA) are increased by 1d4.

Bread
1-3: PC loses 1d4 levels.
4-10: PC gains 1d4 levels.

Theoretically, one person will get screwed over, but of course it all depends on the dice gods. PCs should have at least a hint of what they are getting themselves into - perhaps rumors could be dropped in well beforehand. Just be sure you are okay with following through with it if a PC with bad luck loses 4 levels!

In our game, the level 5 cleric lost 3 points of Per/Int/Luck. The level 6 barbarian gained 4 points of Str/Agi/Sta. And the level 6 ranger leapfrogged to level 10!

Loads of Free Fun

A few weeks back, I ran a sort of experiment. I wanted to run a level 1 Pathfinder adventure with level 0 DCC characters. I already had some copies of the free DCC RPG Beta Rules printed up, and I had picked up this free goblin adventure on Free RPG Day.

In order to make it a little more meaningful, I told the players they could each roll up 4 level 0 goblin dudes, and any survivors could become level 1 henchmen of their main characters in our Pathfinder/DCC frankenstein game that has been running for almost a year now. It was easy to fit this in plotwise with our ongoing campaign.

The adventure was a ton of fun. The module needs a little bit of adjustment to run for DCC, but I did it all on the fly without any problem.

The dares were especially fun, and since level 0 DCC characters don't get hardly jack for items, it is very worthwhile for the players to try. I think I killed like 5 PCs from the dares alone.

Here were the most memorable:

The very first dare, "Dance with Squealy Nord", where a character has to ride a piglet rodeo-style for three rounds (3 successful Agility checks, roll equal to or under Agility score on a d20). First roll was a fail, and the PC fell off the pig and died.

Hide or Get Clubbed: This is the goblin version of hide and seek. The dare-taker rushes off into the marsh without any weapons and attempts to find a good hiding spot (I allowed the PCs to make two checks - d20+agi mod and d20+int mod and take the better result for their hide check). The other goblins try to find him, and if they do, the finder is allowed to whack the previously hidden goblin with a club. Once the goblins start looking, roll 1d10 to determine how many goblins come close enough to the hiding goblin to attempt –1 Perception checks to notice the hiding goblin. (Rolled a 10 and the first one found him.) If a goblin finds the hidden goblin, the resulting club strike automatically inflicts 1d4–1 points of damage. (BAM! DEAD! HAHAHAHHAA!) If no goblins find the hidden goblin, he wins a loan of the mystical Ring That Lets You Climb Real Good (a ring of  climbing).

After the dares, there's just one encounter on the way to the target. (Note that the adventure references the Pathfinder Bestiary, but you can get the needed stat blocks for free at d20pfsrd.com if you don't have the actual book.) This is a relatively straightforward encounter against a big spider. Probably one or two guys will die depending on initiative. I made certain to explain the obvious trail back to the spider's lair after the fight so the PCs could pick up a few more mundane weapons.

Then, the final part, which really needs to be toned down unless you don't care about having a TPK. There is a wasp swarm trap, which the PCs will find impossible to kill off once triggered using Pathfinder swarm rules, since they are immune to normal weapon damage. Additionally, the druid at the end can summon a swarm (and she should!), which can be very deadly, potentially killing up to 4 PCs per round, but that one only lasts 2 rounds.

By the end, only 2 PCs remained from the 16 we had at the beginning. One of the players took a body part from one of his deceased 0-level dudes that he was particularly fond of, in order to have his main character get him resurrected someday. (Awww, how sweet.)

In summation, this session was a big hit with the players, and we spent most of the session laughing our asses off, which is how it should be. I highly recommend trying this combo, as the silliness of DCC 0-level play and this particular adventure complemented each other perfectly.

Sample Monster Entry

I'm working on compiling all the monsters from Labyrinth Lord, the Advanced Edition Companion, and Mutant Future into one volume and filling in the necessary info to use it for DCC. Here is the entry format I came up with:

Does this look usable? Did I miss anything? Dan did a really great job compiling the info, and gave me the best starting point. Plus there is the added benefit of having the weird stuff from Mutant Future in an almost identical format.

I left in some of the B/X-isms, such as the format of the movement speed and morale score. I intend to use B/X morale rules anyways, rather than the Will save rule suggested in the beta rules.Anyways, if you have any other suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them!

I Love Rules!

So, I've been thinking I'm going to start a megadungeon campaign at the game store. I had a great time with the game I ran on Free RPG Day, and my regular group has been a bit flaky lately since my sister is pregnant and everyone is just really busy with life. I gotta figure out what I can actually commit to, but I'm thinking once or twice a month with long (8+ hours) Saturday sessions. I figure people can play the first half, or the second half, or both, or whatever they want. Not sure if that schedule maintains a high enough frequency to keep interest alive, but that's about all I can do.

BUT - the dilemma I am running into is what to play. I love DCC, but there are a few things I don't like about it, mostly just having to do with the fact that it's not yet a finished product. I can say with certainty that I will be using some stuff from it (spell checks), regardless of what the final game is. Anyways, here are the rules sets I've come to love lately:

• DCC Beta - This game is just hands-down fun. I just don't like the old standby human/elf/dwarf/hobbit guys. I'd probably add separate race/class, using the classes fighter/sorcerer/thief, and these races: human, pict, cambions/tieflings, bird men (kenku/tengu), goblinoids, redcaps. Players would make 4 level-0 guys, and 3 would have to be human. Seems like a good solution for having weird races, but keeping them as minorities. But part of me also feels bad about hacking the hell out of the game in open beta. I feel a bit selfish about turning it into the game I want instead of playing it as written and giving feedback. In fairness, I did run the Free RPG Day game and post notes about that. I did proofread the draft of the beta, and I have contributed a lot in the way of forum discussions and homebrew content. It's not like I've been all take and no give.
• S&W Complete - The physical book I have (hardcover) is a specimen of utter crap, but Matt did a great job with these rules. It's almost like a stripped down AD&D. The content is really good.
• BHP White Box - I've always loved this set and really need to play it someday, but I know I will start piling on the rules once I get my hands on it. I like the idea of being able to give each player a little book or two that has the info they need in it. Even if I don't play this game I may have to make little books because they are awesome.
• Holmes Level 12 - This is probably the best hobbyist rules set on my hard drive. I wish I could get hardcovers of it. Only hangup is decending AC. I just don't dig it.
• OD&D - Would be fun for the coolness factor, but I don't know how practical it is. Also leery of doing public gaming with all my bootleg LBBs and such. Not that I'm scared of getting in trouble or anything, just more that it might be viewed as distasteful.
• D&D 3.0 - I just recently got these books back from my sister's house, where they've been collecting dust for 10 years. I'm really impressed by it. The feats list is short, the spell names have the familiar IP (Bigby, Tenser, etc.), it seems readily playable without minis. It almost feels like Pathfinder light. Although I'm sure this won't be my choice, I would like to give this a shot some day using just the core books and no mins... and no buying/selling magic items... and no skills.

So basically my hangup is that no matter what I play, I want to fiddle with it. I don't know if that's okay for a gamestore game. Do players need to be able to have an expectation of the rules? I was thinking of just making up character creation guides, and having it so only I know the actual rules of the game, and the players just tell me what they want to do, and I adjudicate it. That's cool for me, but is it fun for players? As a player myself, I like to be able to dig into rules a bit and make clever use of them on occasion. That's part of the fun for me. If I run a heavily houseruled game, am I taking that agency away from the players, thus making the game more lame for them?

Also, none of these are things that the store will be able to get from their distribution channels. The guy already told me he doesn't care if I run out of print games, but I still feel somewhat odd about it. I feel like it should be a situation where a player can sit in on a session, say "that was cool", and purchase a copy of the game on the way out. DCC is the big contender here, because even though it isn't currently available, it will be. Also, the store in question does have funny dice available.

So I don't know, my brain is just overloaded. Any advice is welcome.

DCC Monster Helper

I recently came across some very useful info in the 3.5 SRD which I had not previously been aware of. Basically it's a set of guidelines that can be used along with table 3-1 in the 3.5 PHB to calculate all (or at least most of) the stuff you'd need to run a monster from a pre-3E D&D monster book in a DCC game. I put all the pertinent info together in a 1-page document that can be used for quick reference at the table. All you need to know is the monster's type and it's hit dice.

The document can be found here: DCC Monster Quick-Stats

Note: I haven't play-tested this method, but hopefully I'll get the chance to test it out in our next game this Saturday. On paper it looks reasonable.

So bust out your MMII or your Fiend Folio and have a good time!

P.S. - I also have a few "new" DCC spells linked on my DCC resources page. They are just ports of basic spells, so they don't really deserve their own post, but if you're interested, you can click the DCC RPG Resources link at the top of the page.

More DCC Spells

I whipped up a few more spells today. They are not very exciting and are pretty much straight conversions from the d20pfsrd, but at least you now have a few more level 2 and 3 spells if you need them.

Spells added:

• Burning Hands (wizard 1)
• Phandaal's Mantle of Stealth a.k.a. Invisibility (wizard 2)
• Fireball (wizard 3) Note that I did this before noticing that Marv posted up the "official draft" version of Fireball in this thread.
• Flame of the Forge (cleric 2)
• Prayer (cleric 3)
• Speak with Dead (cleric 3)

I know I have a lot of fire spells, but I have a 5th level cleric of Sarenrae with fire domain in my game, so he has lots of fire spells that I need to convert.

So, if you are interested in any of these spells, just click the "DCC RPG Resources" link at the top of the page.

Another DCC RPG Character Sheet

Here is the character sheet I whipped up for the DCC-ification of our Pathfinder game (you can read more about this experiment here).

It is nothing fancy, and you should find it perfectly suitable for straight by-the-book DCC as well. The only thing worth noting is that there are separate spaces to write in race and class.

As with all my DCC stuff, you can also find it on my DCC RPG Resources Page.

Pregenerated Level 3 Characters for DCC RPG

I've completed the package of the level 3 pregens I made for me Free RPG Day playtest. Both PDF and Excel 2010 versions are included, for your editing pleasure. There are a couple goofy things, like thief skills are just a target number on a d20 rather than a %-based skill. Clerics only have 3 level 2 spells (You'll have to make your own if you want a fourth).

Hopefully this will eliminate some of the busy-work of getting a playtest going that is higher than level 0.

You can download the file HERE

P.S. - This can also be downloaded from my DCC Resources Page. Check it out if you haven't already!

Free RPG Day: Pod-Caverns Under DCC RPG Rules

Just got home from Lake Geneva Games where I ran a slightly truncated version of Matt Finch's Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom (great module by the way!) using the DCC RPG Beta rules. It was pretty much awesome, but I'll try to keep this short and sweet (and fail miserably at that as usual). Here are some points about the game, in no particular order.

• The adventure states it's for 6-8 OSRIC (AD&D) characters of 2nd to 4th level. We ended up with 6 players, each running a 3rd level DCC character.
• I generated the characters beforehand, doing everything mostly by the book. To get ability scores, I rolled several series of four sets using 3d6 in order, choosing the best set from each series. This was to replicate the filtering that would have happened at level 0. (I'll post up a downloadable package of all my pregens as soon as I get a chance)
• The PCs started with a single healing potion (one for the whole group, not one each), a magical tent that would allow them to rest once or twice inside the dungeon, and no other magic items.
• I ran the module almost exactly as written, with no changes to monsters aside from converting their AC to ascending and giving them an attack bonus equal to their HD, which was all easily done on the fly.
• I didn't use a screen, and made all rolls in the open. If a player wanted to see my notes or maps, they probably could have easily done so, but it wasn't an issue. I spent about 2/3 of the time sitting and 1/3 on my feet. I really enjoyed running the game this way, and will probably do it this way from now on, unless some player takes advantage of it and sours me on the method.
• I followed Harley's tips as he outlined in this thread. This really helped the flow of the game. It also helped that I got to play in a game run by him, so I was able to learn a lot from that. Harley is an excellent DM, and if you ever get the opportunity to play in a game run by him, I suggest doing so. I did forget to have players roll the damage they took a few times, but no biggie.
• Another thing I did that was very important to the flow was this: When a caster is up, have them make their spell check and then go to the next character's turn while they look up the result. Then go back and let them roll their damage or whatever. This was very effective, as it kept the spell lookups in the hands of the player, but eliminated the issue of everyone else sitting at the table staring at them.
• I used my ref sheets to great effect. They were extremely handy and helped keep things moving. I referenced them on average 2 or 3 times per round, so it made a big difference.
• Funky Dice! I think everyone enjoyed using them. I purchased and brought 3 sets with me, but three of the players already had their own sets! They were the topic of discussion quite a bit as well. I don't care what anyone says, Mr. Goodman made a good move by having DCC use these dice. I think a set was sold that day as well.
• We had a 10-yr-old (my little cousin) playing a warrior to great effect. I didn't even tell him what Mighty Deeds of Arms were, he just did his thing. He often used stuff from his backpack, like a crowbar or chain rather than his weapon, and was doing all sorts of crazy stuff. The MDoA tables were a great way for me to adjudicate the results of his crazy stunts. Big thumbs up to MDoAs, and big thumbs up to giving the imaginative kids the warrior!
• Deaths. There were none. At least not any permanent ones. There were several times where people were knocked to zero, but without fail they were healed back to life by the cleric within the requisite 3 rounds. At the very end, I could have possibly had a TPK against the shroom, but a lucky save turned the tide in the PCs favor, and a high spell check blew the boss to bits. Victory belonged to the PCs.
• I think the adventure would have been a lot harder if the players weren't so good at spellburning and burning luck at the appropriate times. They used this mechanic to great effect.

Here were a few of the awesome moments from the game:

• The chaotic wizard had an awesome mercurial result with his scorching ray spell, allowing him to roll a d30 instead of a d20 for spell checks using this spell. Of course, on his first roll, he rolled a 1, and earned himself some elephant ears. Even still, he kept using this spell almost exclusively (who wouldn't!), and it basically smoked the shit out of a lot of encounters.
• When they got to the phosphorescent pool, they promptly filled their waterskins with it, poured it all over themselves, rubbed in on their gums, drank it and peed it out later - you name it. I'm guessing many groups would have avoided this pool like the plague. Basically this is a good example of how I had a great group for enjoying this game and trying silly things.
• At one point a stirge inserted his proboscis (a body part I had to repeatedly ask one of the players what it was called) into the warrior's eye. Another stirge had his proboscis in the wizard's knee, and was sucking the marrow out of his bone.
• The dwarf's "smell gold" ability led them up the ledge to a fun encounter they would have probably otherwise skipped. This ability is awesome for leading PCs to those cool areas or treasures that they have a tendency to miss.
• The thief did a good job with negotiating a backstab attempt with me just about every single round. Lots of failed thief skill attempts, but a few were made when it really counted. I was afraid the thief would be totally lame, but he was run by a good player, so he was pretty effective. However, I'd still like to see something more flashy given to the thief. Something that gives him another viable combat option besides backstab.
• The lawful wizard failed a magic missile attempt and earned himself a pustule-covered face and a permanent -1 Personality score.
• The "stuff you do to spellburn" table was a source of great amusement. We had a wizard brand himself with an image of a tadpole, rip out one of his fingernails and burn it, and the other wizard offered up his firstborn son to an unnamed demi-god. Good stuff, and I look forward to fan versions of this table.
• Probably close to a dozen crits in the session. They were a good source of entertainment for us all.
• Found magic arrow that happened to be black was named Rick James by our 10-year-old warrior, and there were many times it was fired to the tune of "I'm Rick James _____" (The one drawback to playing in public - not nearly enough swearing. This games goes well with lots of colorful language at the table.)
• The last fight could have gone very badly for the group, as I had the chaotic wizard charmed under my complete control, with 3 of the PCs on the floor already. If I would have taken a moment to think about it, I could have probably killed the cleric with the wizard, but I was caught in the moment and tried to have the wizard blow his own head off with a scorching ray, which afforded him another save - a difficult one - but one he was able to make with some smart luck burning. He immediately roasted the boss after that.

Other observations about the game:

• Luck burning and Spellburn played much differently than I anticipated when reading about them. I would have expected them to barely be used, but it seemed the casters were using these roughly every other turn. They were obviously metagaming the fact that this was a one shot. I am curious to see how players manage these resources in campaign play. In future one-shots, I will likely amp up the difficulty of the adventure and make this use an expected tactic, or I will place limits on the use of these abilities. They were just playing within the rules, but something about it didn't feel right, and it had the stink of munchkin-style gaming. 
• Taking the above into account, I think there should be some advice in the rules for one-shot beer and pretzels style play versus campaign play. I think the general impression of the game is that it is primarily for one-shot convention play, and that it is overall an unserious, gonzo game. However, it seems the luck and spellburn stuff is more geared for campaign play. I still have high hopes for the game as being a viable system for campaign play, but I would be welcoming of some advice about how to do it. If it just intended for beer and pretzels fun, that's cool too, but let's just come out and say that explicitly if that is the case.
• I know it's already been addressed and is going to be fixed in the final release, but we got some further confirmation in the game today that the multiple chained "as above" statements in the spell tables are cumbersome.
• Taking this module as an example, 1E content seems to work great for this game. If the PCs have any magic items, my best guess would be that a DCC group could tackle content 1 or 2 levels higher than their AD&D counterpart PCs.

In summation, this was a great session. I am lucky in that a had an awesome group of players, and this system is simply built for action-packed adventures. This was my first public game I've ever run, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a very rewarding experience.

Please post any questions you have about the session or the game itself. I'd be happy to answer!

Hvaen't played DCC yet? Get off your ass and get to it!