DCC Level 0 Character Funnel is a Bad Concept

[Mannahnin]

I've used those cylindrical dice - they're mostly fine (though the smaller numbers make them harder to read at any distance) but the d20 version will often just keep rolling until it hits an obstacle...or the floor.

Sure, as with other many-sided dice which naturally roll long, like the d30 or d100. So you compensate using a dice tray or whatever.

But to play DCC without running into the aesthetic issue Retreater is talking about you mostly just need replacements for the d5 and d7 (d14, d16, d24 and d30 have aesthetics so similar to the d20 that they shouldn't have that issue, though I could see using faceted cylindrical for the d14 and d16 to distinguish them better from the d20. Or maybe just the d16, as that's closer in size and the d14 should be easier to distinguish at a glance ).

 

[CapnZapp]

My best suggestion as to use 5E with the funnel is to clearly state players can always change anything and everything about their character during the first two levels. That is, you can choose a simple class like Fighter when you build your character secure in the knowledge you aren't locking yourself out of Ranger or Warlock (etc) later on, when you not only know which characters have survived but you also have played so much you can choose which one of the survivors you'd like to play the most.

Hopefully 2024 5E makes every class start the subclass at the same level, and that no class requires you to make this choice already at level 1.

 

[teitan]

IGNORE ME!

 

[teitan]

That's a statement so often repeated when talking about DCC that I sometimes wonder if the game book should even have rules beyond funnel.

I understand that I can start with level 1 characters if I want, but it seems there's so much time and effort outside the book dedicated to the funnel gameplay that it makes a hard time for me to take the game serious beyond "killing fun house". And, to me, that's not worth the investment in a big book and weirder dice. I can run one-shot killing fun houses with the material I already own.

TLDR: DCC media focus so much on the funnel experience it fails to sell the game as something else to me.

Old comment but I find the higher the level the more fun we have because of not only the mercurial nature of magic but because the game changes at level 1 into a very different game. It fully embraces that Moorcock meets Anderson, meets Lieber, meets Vance vibe of early D&D. Anything goes, multiplanar, yeah that is a hill giant at level 1 what do you do action.

 

[teitan]

I think you were oversold on the funnel concept. It's not the crown jewel of DCC (I didnt even know about it until after playing a campaign) its just an element that is tons of fun.

Yeah the crown jewel is that magic system!

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Yeah the crown jewel is that magic system!

When I first started playing DCC, I thought that the magic system should have been crafted so that a handful of tables would've covered all the spells. But now, each spell getting its own table is definitely a work of genius. It creates such unpredictability that magic stays, well, magical.

 

[overgeeked]

When I first started playing DCC, I thought that the magic system should have been crafted so that a handful of tables would've covered all the spells. But now, each spell getting its own table is definitely a work of genius. It creates such unpredictability that magic stays, well, magical.

Exactly. Magic stays magical. So it stays fun and interesting. Nothing more boring than “magic” as predictable, repeatable science.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Exactly. Magic stays magical. So it stays fun and interesting. Nothing more boring than “magic” as predictable, repeatable science.

And if a PC does want a degree of surety, it comes at a price in the form of Spellburn. Which itself adds all sorts of flavor and mysticism. And then there's Corruption!