DCC Level 0 Character Funnel is a Bad Concept

[payn]

You might be right! All I can speak to is my own anecdotal experience, where some players were interested in trying it out but found the odd dice off-putting enough that we tabled the idea and tried a different system.

And these were players (3 different players!) that were open to new systems, with plenty of OSR-type experience, and liked several other aspects of the system.

Doesnt seem to atypical to me. I know my friends only like one shots or short modules and dont want to play DCC in perpetuity. On the other hand, we feel the same way about Call of Cthulhu. A lot of folks may see this as a failing, because they dont play the game in perpetuity, but again I think that is unduly placing a standard upon RPG design and play.

 

[Von Ether]

One thing I noticed is that folks often use D&D as their lens for everything. If the game doesn't use standard dice, its instantly going to have detractors. If the game isn't designed to be balanced with modern sensibilities, it wont have longevity. If it strays too far from the trad experience, it isn't a good RPG. On and on.

My recent anecdotal experience with this mindset has been with online interactions for Free League's new Dragonbane game, which some described as a "5e roll under" system, unaware of its Swedish BRP roots.

Before that, it was difficult to get on con panels about community content if you were not doing 5e content.

 

[Retreater]

Do you have some of the same aesthetic distaste for the d10 / Pentagonal trapezohedron?

No. Some of it might be that I've had decades of play to get used to that design. Or it may be that it seems more "balanced" (discussing only aesthetics - not implying the DCC dice don't roll accurately.) Some of the DCC dice have different sized faces, numbers placed outside the center of the faces, etc.
It's just a design that bothers me and others in my group. Maybe it's petty, but honestly there's so many fantasy RPGs that we can be petty, right?

 

[Swanosaurus]

My recent anecdotal experience with this mindset has been online interaction for Free League's new Dragonbane game, which some described as a "5e roll under" system, unaware of its Swedish BRP roots.

That was a really weird one ... I also heard it described as "5e, only roll-under and simplified", and I couldn't see it at all. It's just a simplified and modernized take on BRP with a d20 instead of a d100; it doesn't even have levels, instead it has the organic advancement which is the hallmark of most BRP games, an the classes are more like "starter packs".

 

[TwoSix]

That was a really weird one ... I also heard it described as "5e, only roll-under and simplified", and I couldn't see it at all. It's just a simplified and modernized take on BRP with a d20 instead of a d100; it doesn't even have levels, instead it has the organic advancement which is the hallmark of most BRP games, an the classes are more like "starter packs".

I just played Dragonbane last night; it's bizarre to me to that someone would consider it comparable to 5e, outside of a d20 being the primary resolution die.

 

[Retreater]

Some people have only played 5e, I guess?

 

[Mannahnin]

No. Some of it might be that I've had decades of play to get used to that design. Or it may be that it seems more "balanced" (discussing only aesthetics - not implying the DCC dice don't roll accurately.) Some of the DCC dice have different sized faces, numbers placed outside the center of the faces, etc.
It's just a design that bothers me and others in my group. Maybe it's petty, but honestly there's so many fantasy RPGs that we can be petty, right?

I suspect that being long-accustomed to it is part of it. Being relatively more symmetrical than most non-Platonic Solid dice may also be a factor.

I have also seen polyhedral dice in the shape of faceted cylinders, all the way up to d20, which could be another option.

 

[Retreater]

I have also seen polyhedral dice in the shape of faceted cylinders, all the way up to d20, which could be another option.

I certainly prefer the look of those.

 

[CapnZapp]

BRP with a d20 instead of a d100;

The decision to switch Drakar och Demoner over to a d20 (from the d100 inherent to BRP) still feels controversial, and that must have been 40 years ago...

 

[Lanefan]

I suspect that being long-accustomed to it is part of it. Being relatively more symmetrical than most non-Platonic Solid dice may also be a factor.

I have also seen polyhedral dice in the shape of faceted cylinders, all the way up to d20, which could be another option.

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.