You’re no hero.You’re an adventurer: a reaver, a cutpurse, a heathen-slayer, a tight-lipped warlock guarding long-dead secrets. You seek gold and glory, winning it with sword and spell, caked in the blood and filth of the weak, the dark, the demons, and the vanquished. There are treasures to be won deep underneath, and you shall have them.Return to the glory days of fantasy with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game. Adventure as 1974 intended you to, with modern rules grounded in the origins of sword & sorcery. Fast play, cryptic secrets, and a mysterious past await you: turn the page…
Dungeon Crawl Classics is an OSR (Old School Revival) game based off the original Dungeons and Dragons game from 1974. It first came onto my radar back in 2011 at Free RPG Day when they released a small booklet with a couple of starter adventures and some basic rules. I kind of blew it off at that point because it required dice I didn't own and because I was really into more crunchy RPGs like D&D 4th Edition. Click the following video to have a soundtrack for the article:
Since 2011 I've run a bunch of RPGs for my gaming crew of buddies from college. We played 4th edition a long time, played some Star Wars WEG and Saga, played some Edge of the Empire, and have been playing 5th Edition D&D lately. 5th Edition is a fun, somewhat simple game, and as the DM it is certainly much simpler than a lot of other games to run, but I feel like my players would really enjoy DCC for its simplicity and its "Appendix N" ideals.
One of the new covers for the 4th printing
What is Appendix N? The game is inspired by (like D&D) the pulp works of fantasy and horror authors that came before it (Howard, Lovecraft, etc.). The spirit of the game is not based on the rules, but by any rules or style of play that allow one to simulate adventures of classic fantasy heroes. I love this idea - I've always run my games as I see fit but this game is built from the ground up to support pulp adventures. The core rulebook is supported by a huge line of adventures written with the Appendix N philosophy as a guide.
An adventure for DCC
Goodman Games has decided to run a Kickstarter to support the 4th printing of the game. The new printing has new options for covers, fixes to wording, and a slew of new art. They also have some great stretch goals that have already been hit, including sewn in bookmarks and gilded page edges. They're almost to drilled out dictionary style finger tabs (the book is almost 500 pages). They are re-printing some adventures that backers get free in print as a stretch goal. That's my favorite stretch goal - if you buy into the core book, you get a whole bunch of adventures to get you started with the game, too. They've even created a special tier for new players to get into the game $20 cheaper.
Wizards are very metal in DCC
I really like that this Kickstarter is doing great stretch goals that just give backers more free stuff - I'm tired of Kickstarters with uninspired stretch goals that add nothing to the game or stretch goals that just unlock more payable add-ons. Goodman Games really know how to treat backers.
A 0 level funnel
Perhaps my favorite feature of DCC is the 0 level funnel. Before players hit first level, you run a mob of angry 0 level dirt farmers through an adventure. The idea being that you are just a barrel maker going into the dungeon to defend your village against rampaging undead - and whoever lives through the adventure makes it to first level, picks a class (or race as class). Each player has 3-4 0 level dirt farmers who can be killed in one or two hits by a Skeleton.
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