Review of Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG by Goodman Games

Warunsun · Jun 1, 2012

I want to try out this game but I think I would have a hard time "selling" it to the local players. It sounds like a fun thing to play alongside a more modern D&D experience. However, I don't think any of my players would dig the Paranoia six-pack character creation method.

Leif · Jun 1, 2012

For cryin' out loud, if you don't like the character creation rules, CHANGE them!

I was thinking that the char gen rules would be the first casualties if I were to run this game....

renau1g · Jun 1, 2012

I think they're oddly fun, I am not an old-school gamer, my first D&D was late in 2e's run (1 campaign in 2e, the rest in 3e/4e), but this seems like it's an interesting option.

Aberzanzorax · Jun 1, 2012

I'm not an oldschool gamer, and certainly not a hardcore oldschool gamer (like some in this thread may or may not be)...

...but I find the game interesting and a great juxtaposition to the extremes of 3.x, Pathfinder, and 4e...and will be buying it to play, understand and also...

...to provide additional context for 5e/ddn along with 3e, pathfinder, 4e, trailblazer, and the "odd books" like bo9s, ToM, etc etc.

It certainly does seem to be a well designed "capture" of a certain specific style. For that, I'll give it kudos.

I don't go to a horror movie and then post how "unfunny" it was. Nor do I go to a comedy and decry it for "not being scary enough". I think this game might just do the right things for the right people it's aimed at.

Nothing more, nothing less...and possibly spot on.

EDIT TO CLARIFY: I was responding to some of the comments in the thread, not to the OP Neuroglyph, whose review was great.

Wraith Form · Jun 1, 2012

Aberzanzorax said:
I don't go to a horror movie and then post how "unfunny" it was. Nor do I go to a comedy and decry it for "not being scary enough". I think this game might just do the right things for the right people it's aimed at.

Nothing more, nothing less...and possibly spot on.

Well said, and I agree. It's a fun iteration for those who would have fun with this kind of iteration of D&D.

Ravenheart87 · Jun 1, 2012

Aberzanzorax said:
I don't go to a horror movie and then post how "unfunny" it was. Nor do I go to a comedy and decry it for "not being scary enough". I think this game might just do the right things for the right people it's aimed at.

Well said. Honestly, I would've been disappointed if DCC RPG was just another fantasy rpg or D&D clone. We already have enough generic fantasy rpgs. The crazy stuff of DCC appeal to me, but I also liked many gonzo elements of Arduin and old Judges Guild products (yeah, those had some too).

jeffh · Jun 1, 2012

And there has been quite a bit of lively debate of what “Old School” gaming is like, what it should be like, and what are its defining characteristics - a debate which has focused almost exclusively around the still developing Next edition of Dungeons & Dragons.

Um... no.

I haven't gotten into the substance of the review yet, it could be great for all I currently know. However, essentially proclaiming wholesale ignorance of the entire OSR, which significantly predates the 5E announcement and has numerous websites, blogs, heck even small-press companies devoted to it, and a movement of which this game is very much a part... wow, talk about starting off on the wrong foot. It's like starting a review of The Avengers by talking about how new and innovative the characters of Iron Man and Captain America are, as though they didn't have a combined 100+ years of history before the recent Marvel movies.

Kunimatyu · Jun 1, 2012

IronWolf said:
It seems you have more of an axe to grind with Joe's decisions.

Absolutely. I was totally on board with a sword-and-sorcery Appendix N reimagination, and got yet another "OSR"-style D&D clone with a few weird house rules.

RevTurkey · Jun 1, 2012

Few things...

The dice: weird shaped polys were strange back in the 70s. That worked out okay...'I play Monopoly which has six sided dice so this D&D can get lost'?

Appendix N: Joseph and many people involved in the Playtests took great efforts to read most if not all of these books. Mr.Goodman certainly tried to add elements of these stories into the game. Imagining a world or setting in your head is going to be different for each of us. If you think he got it wrong but still want to play DCC then no problem. Change it.

Clerics: they are in D&D. We like D&D. I think that is why they stayed in.

New Players: I think it is more accessible than some editions of D&D and less so than others or retroclone versions etc (say Labyrinth Lord). Here is a link to a Forum posting about introducing new blood that seemed to go well enough:

Goodman Games • View topic - First foray into DCC and RPGs in general for the family

The Funnel: to me it is great fun but if you or your players don't like the idea or are nervous about trying something unfamiliar, that is fair enough. You can start the game at 1st level by just determining what happened during that 0 level stage without actually playing through it. Maybe then, if you enjoyed the main game, the next time you create characters you might want to try it out. Not a problem.

I am a fan of this game and would like people to try it to see if they may have fun and interesting adventures with it too. Trying to put people off for reasons that are at best subjective and not about terribly broken rules or horrendously offensive content, to me seems overly negative and smacks of trying to introduce some sort of flame war/game bashing to this thread. I don't want to upset the couple of posters my comment is directed at...I just want them to take a moment to consider why they want to be so negative about a new game that is just trying a different direction. Peace, love, beads etc

Folks it is a game. Maybe try it if you can. I enjoy it a lot.

I keep imagining a child saying to Mummy...'no, I won't eat the carrot, I don't like carrots! But son...you've never tried carrots'

I like funky dice and I like Carrots

(please don't be horrible to me in reply. I tried to be nice and friendly)

IronWolf · Jun 1, 2012

Kunimatyu said:
Absolutely. I was totally on board with a sword-and-sorcery Appendix N reimagination, and got yet another "OSR"-style D&D clone with a few weird house rules.

And that's cool - I can understand if it didn't meet your expectations that you would be disappointed.

It looks like fun to me and am anxious to pick it up and funnel some of my players through it!