Dungeon Crawl Classics What is cool to you from a player perspective?

[Voadam]

It looks like my face to face game group is going to shift from our current modern xfiles ish Cypher system game to a straight Dungeon Crawl Classics one.

I love the gonzo fantasy feel of a ton of DCC modules and have gotten a lot for possible use in other systems but I have not played the DCC system itself.

I have a bit of an issue, I do not like the idea of funnels and high lethality, I generally want to play pulpy characters who explore and interact and fight and continue throughout the campaign, not play disposable doomed characters and constantly be at risk of actually dying randomly and trying to focus my play just to avoid that result as long as possible. When I played Paranoia I had a similar issue of taking it seriously and getting into a character who was living in such a situation and trying to survive and subvert the computer which was not really a great match for cartoony slapstick black comedy where you die frequently in comical ways. In D&D I enjoy the experience of a lot of combat, more so in more modern systems, less so with older edition energy drain and save or die type threats. I don't generally want to be an old school low level dungeon crawling skulker who tries to avoid combat as a top priority where if I am successful I avoid a big part of the game that I enjoy. I have made this clear, but we as a group are going this way. The new guy in our group who will be DMing is of the opinion that without actual death of PCs being on the line there is no stakes for combat and so it is pointless and the current Cypher GM is completely down with switching to be a player and trying DCC with a funnel.

I recognize these aspects as counter to my preferences but also that funnel type stuff is only a temporary part of play and I am willing to give it a go with the group.

So I have the DCC core book PDF but have not delved into it. What are cool aspects of player mechanic stuff that I should explore and focus on? What should I know about how funnels actually work?

What are people's experiences as a player going through DCC funnels and playing DCC in general? What was fun for you and how would you suggest I approach playing to maximize fun and be in the spirit of things?

 

[Argyle King]

I know this is vague, but I like that DCC seems to allow for more emergent gameplay than a lot of D20 or D&D-adjacent games.

When you first sit down, there's enough similar to D&D that you kinda feel like you already know how to play. At the same time, the mentality behind the game and how things are designed still has enough wiggle room and uncertainty to allow for the experience to develop differently for each group.

I also think that Goodman Games (as well as the various 3rd Party Publishers) are really good at condensing most concepts and adventures down to about 10-20 pages (and often less than that). The adventure design and writing is both efficient and evocative.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

One of my favorite things as a player is the Mighty Deed of Arms. I almost always play a Warrior or Dwarf if I can. The ability to take a narrative approach to combat and translate it into mechanical effects is awesome. Am I playing a swashbuckler that slashes an opponent's belt to hamstring them, or a dwarf that just bashed their shield down on an enemies toes to the same effect?

I was not a fan of the Funnel either. Or rather, I should say that I'd done that a bunch at conventions as a player and didn't really feel the need to go through another one as a Judge. I gave the players the choice of using DCC Lankhmar's Meet instead, but they all wanted to have the Funnel experience.

As far as getting into the spirit, that's got to be reading Appendix N. Read some Dying Earth, some early Fafhrd & Grey Mouser, some Lin Carter.

 

[payn]

It looks like my face to face game group is going to shift from our current modern xfiles ish Cypher system game to a straight Dungeon Crawl Classics one.

I love the gonzo fantasy feel of a ton of DCC modules and have gotten a lot for possible use in other systems but I have not played the DCC system itself.

I have a bit of an issue, I do not like the idea of funnels and high lethality, I generally want to play pulpy characters who explore and interact and fight and continue throughout the campaign, not play disposable doomed characters and constantly be at risk of actually dying randomly and trying to focus my play just to avoid that result as long as possible. When I played Paranoia I had a similar issue of taking it seriously and getting into a character who was living in such a situation and trying to survive and subvert the computer which was not really a great match for cartoony slapstick black comedy where you die frequently in comical ways. In D&D I enjoy the experience of a lot of combat, more so in more modern systems, less so with older edition energy drain and save or die type threats. I don't generally want to be an old school low level dungeon crawling skulker who tries to avoid combat as a top priority where if I am successful I avoid a big part of the game that I enjoy. I have made this clear, but we as a group are going this way. The new guy in our group who will be DMing is of the opinion that without actual death of PCs being on the line there is no stakes for combat and so it is pointless and the current Cypher GM is completely down with switching to be a player and trying DCC with a funnel.

I recognize these aspects as counter to my preferences but also that funnel type stuff is only a temporary part of play and I am willing to give it a go with the group.

So I have the DCC core book PDF but have not delved into it. What are cool aspects of player mechanic stuff that I should explore and focus on?

Kind of a tough question. There isnt really anything to focus on other than your class. Add a few random points here, open up a new set of tables to roll on there.. Its part of the charm for the system is how easy to grab and go it is.

What should I know about how funnels actually work?

Dont get attached to a single funnel character. Death is around every corner and there isnt really a way to prevent it. Just go with it and then when your funnel character survives, then you can focus on concept.

What are people's experiences as a player going through DCC funnels and playing DCC in general? What was fun for you and how would you suggest I approach playing to maximize fun and be in the spirit of things?

The adventures are truly out there and gonzo fantasy fun. Its not like modern adventures where you are discovering a nuanced and detailed setting or even experiencing an adventure path. DCC is an old school survival sim. Make smart choices and survive!

That might sound fun for a min, but challenging for a campaign. Id agree, its why I usually dont play anything more than a funnel or one shot tourney type game of DCC. I dont have it in me to play this thing for the long haul because my heart is more in the character concept and adventure path modern style of playing. YMMV.

 

[overgeeked]

The main thing DCC has going for it is the warrior’s mighty deeds and the wizard’s roll to cast plus mutations mechanics. Other games have done what DCC did in half as many words with more coherent design, see Shadowdark as one example.

To be honest, I’d not willingly play, run, or buy any Goodman Games products since Joseph Goodman’s about face on working with bigots. See any of the numerous threads on Invincible Overlord and Judge’s Guild.

 

[Distracted DM]

What sold me on DCC originally was sitting down at a demo table and being handed a 3rd level wizard pregen. The magic was so interesting and cool and magical, not a science like DnD's is. Mighty Deeds of Arms is another great point, warriors can do cool things in a fight.

My regret? Running a funnel for a group that wasn't going to enjoy it. I was trying to pitch the game to some of my players, I should've done the same thing that sold me on the game: do a level 3 one-shot with premade characters! Because you get to see the cool stuff characters can do! Level 0s in a funnel can't do that cool stuff... They probably die.

There are rules for starting at first level and for more pulpy sword and sorcery games in the Lankhmar ruleset, you can probably just find a cheat sheet for the quick and dirty rules if you Google around. Lankhmar skips the funnel.

edit: to the above point by @overgeeked, yeah if you google Goodman Games/City of the Invincible Overlord/Judges Guild controversy you'll get some info on that. I haven't bought new GG stuff since that, I'm still not sure how to feel about it. It wasn't handled well; whether it should've been handled at all... yeah that's some controversy stuff to look into.

Oh and to others' points, yeah DCC has a lot of built-in mechanics for emergent story play. The game, the adventures made for it (many of them incredible), it really just rolls story out in front of you as you play, without trying.

 

[GothmogIV]

Embrace the chaos! Rather than writing an elaborate character backstory <cough cough 5e cough cough>, you begin as a nobody. A radish farmer. A peddler of trinkets. A bootblack. Then, through the horrors of the funnel, one of your 0 level civilians becomes a hero. You don't have to use a funnel to begin: there is no reason you can't make up a first level character and just go from there, but the funnel 100% leads to emergent play, and it is a blast! Give it a try and see what you think.

DCC is an incredibly swingy game. The highs are high--epic blasts of magic! Remarkable feats of swordsmanship!-- and the lows are low--magical corruption, horrible rolls on the fumble table. We are just now finishing up a six-month campaign and we've had a great time with it. I have run it myself starting with 1st level characters, and it's been great that way, too.

DCC has become my favorite system. There are ways to play it RAW with tons of randomization, and there are ways to stabilize it (for lack of a better word) and have more consistent magical results. Either way, it plays entirely differently than any other system I've tried. It's a true homage to the weirdness of Appendix N literature. Reach out if you have any questions I can help you with. There is a large and active DCC community on Discord, too. Enjoy!

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

DCC is an incredibly swingy game. The highs are high--epic blasts of magic! Remarkable feats of swordsmanship!-- and the lows are low--magical corruption, horrible rolls on the fumble table. We are just now finishing up a six-month campaign and we've had a great time with it. I have run it myself starting with 1st level characters, and it's been great that way, too.

The dice rolls are very important in DCC RPG, arguably more so than in current D&D. You really get those high highs and low lows. And that's okay. You are no hero with a grand destiny, but a reaver trying to make their way in a strange and deadly land.

It's a true homage to the weirdness of Appendix N literature.

Though D&D in all its forms has the stories of Appendix N woven into it, DCC is really a love-letter to Appendix N, a reaffirmation of sword & sorcery and high weirdness.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Funnels are optional. If you don't want to do them, start at level 1.

After DCC characters level up once or twice, the lethality goes way down. DCC levels are roughly equivalent to two D&D levels, so a level 3 DCC character is about as fragile as a level 6 D&D character -- not very, in other words.

In any case, Mighty Deeds of Arms is so good, it's a headscratcher that every game hasn't stolen it. And DCC does a great job of making magic (both arcane and divine) weird and mysterious. Characters are rightly nervous standing too close to the wizard or cleric.

 

[payn]

Funnels are optional. If you don't want to do them, start at level 1.

After DCC characters level up once or twice, the lethality goes way down. DCC levels are roughly equivalent to two D&D levels, so a level 3 DCC character is about as fragile as a level 6 D&D character -- not very, in other words.

In any case, Mighty Deeds of Arms is so good, it's a headscratcher that every game hasn't stolen it. And DCC does a great job of making magic (both arcane and divine) weird and mysterious. Characters are rightly nervous standing too close to the wizard or cleric.

Gotta second this. I was playing DCC for a couple of years before I even knew the funnel existed. At some point it seems to be seen as this requirement, but its a total optional game mode.