DCC Level 0 Character Funnel is a Bad Concept

[Parmandur]

Back in my day we'd roll four (or more!) sets of ability scores, scrap three of them, and choose the character with the scores that best represented what we wanted to play. It was done in 5 minutes, and that's all the character funnel we needed. Haha.
But now having purposeful character creation to match a concept is preferred. And if you don't have a concept for a character going into a new campaign, then spend a bit of time researching the setting, system, talking to your fellow players, or just brainstorming. It's going to be more satisfying for a long-term game.
As for the DCC Funnel "Lulz" - yeah, I can see how that might be fun for a one-shot - maybe a 2 hour session if the pace is good and the stakes are ridiculous enough. I just can't imagine wanting to start a campaign in that manner.
Don't get me wrong: I do like old school systems. DCC just seems to take the worst elements of the old school experience and rolls it into a single game.

It operates in a real "embrace the chaos" space, even as things even out at higher levels.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Going from 5e to DCC has been freeing. Don't get me wrong, I love 5e (and continue to run it with my other group), but the wild chaos and quick adjudication of DCC RPG is awesome. I am so looking forward to the first corruption roll the wizard gets!

See? That's the kind of stuff that just doesn't happen in other games. I love it.

It sounds like you had a rough experience, to be sure. I would say try it again at a con, but try it at first level or higher. A good Judge can make a world of difference, too.

And yeah, Mork Borg rules.

I had a blast with Mork Borg, playing it the next day at the same convention. The difference was that what our characters did mattered. And they had flavor and could interact with the world. And when I died in a fiery blast at the end, it was because of my own choices, bad luck, and the decisions of the party.
It didn't feel like someone throwing noodles against the wall to see what sticks.

 

[epimetrius]

I am overwhelmingly late to this topic. However, OP's experience sounds like a crapshoot. I also feel like there is this bad approach to DCC Funnels. A Funnel is a dungeon, yes. However There is a whole lot more to DCC as a game. The funnel should not be treated as session 1. In a way, the Funnel is session 0.

You made a villager! Now in the name of the ever-loving gods how and why would they ever EVER delude themselves into believing they could adventure? Because they survived that ordeal. Their occupation is just what they would be doing if they weren't caught up in this. Living through this is the background.

 

[Reynard]

Back in my day we'd roll four (or more!) sets of ability scores, scrap three of them, and choose the character with the scores that best represented what we wanted to play. It was done in 5 minutes, and that's all the character funnel we needed. Haha.

Emphasis mine.

There's your problem right there! In DCC (or any funnel; you can do them in any RPG and are arguably even better in a straight B/X game) you aren't supposed to decide what you want to play before you start. The whole point is that you're just some person who has been dragged into this adventuring life. Surviving that funnel is all the backstory you need, and now you actually care about that PC.

 

[Reynard]

Also -- and this should go without saying, but we seem to have to say it a lot -- just because you didn't like a thing doesn't mean it is a "bad concept" or "bad design."

 

[epimetrius]

It just occurred to me, the Funnel acts almost like a way to deter that thing a lot video games get criticized for: "This could have been gameplay." Sure you can TELL me all about how your humble baker went from loving to make fine-fresh hot cross buns to being a grizzled cleric of the Higher Lords of Law, or you can play through that process.

 

[Reynard]

The funnel -- if played the way it is designed -- is a true expression of the idea of "emergent narrative" that RPGs promise. You roll a character completely randomly and then put them through the meat grinder. They did not exist, even in your imagination, until the dice hit the table, and their story ends when the dice say it ends. That's beautiful in its way.

 

[overgeeked]

A whole lot of this is down to the trend of main character syndrome so dominant in modern RPGs. The player assumes they get to make the exact hero they dream about who will valiantly win against all odds and never be hurt or threatened or lose or die. DCC’s 0-level funnel is specifically designed to disabuse players of that notion in the funnest and funniest way possible.

 

[Reynard]

A whole lot of this is down to the trend of main character syndrome so dominant in modern RPGs. The player assumes they get to make the exact hero they dream about who will valiantly win against all odds and never be hurt or threatened or lose or die. DCC’s 0-level funnel is specifically designed to disabuse players of that notion is the funnest and funniest way possible.

Heroes are the ones who survived and did the big things. You can only assess that at the end -- death or retirement.

This touches on the subject of what a "campaign" is, too. Is it a "story" about a certain set of characters, or is it a world? If the former, of course things like TPKs ruin campaigns. But if it is the latter, the story doesn't end just because some group ends up moldering bones on the bottom of a spiked pit. There are other heroes.

 

[epimetrius]

The player assumes they get to make the exact hero they dream about who will valiantly win against all odds and never be hurt or threatened or lose or die.

To elaborate on that point, that's a big thing to even PbtA games; "Play to find out."

OP's experience with the dungeon sounds so bungled. I don't want to rag on the Judge, but like quis judget ipsos judges