OSR How is Dungeon Crawler Classics?

[CandyLaser]

What games would you consider better?

Depends on what you're going for. Ultimately my big problem with DCC is that it's got more variance than I like in my games, so my recommendations are going to be for games that have a bit less randomness. Some recs:

• Worlds Without Number is one of my go-to OSR/OSR-adjacent games in general. I like how it handles magic; it's impactful in the way DCC magic can be without being random.
• OSE is basically B/X D&D, slightly modernized, and works well when I want to play that specifically.
• Old editions of D&D/AD&D are still perfectly playable! I'm a AD&D 2e guy, myself (heresy, I know).
• Ultraviolet Grasslands, Electric Bastionland, and (my favorite of these) Mythic Bastionland are all pretty far afield from their OSR roots but capture the weird, gonzo feel of DCC well combined with better, more engaging rule sets.

 

[overgeeked]

Depends on what you're going for. Ultimately my big problem with DCC is that it's got more variance than I like in my games, so my recommendations are going to be for games that have a bit less randomness. Some recs:

• Worlds Without Number is one of my go-to OSR/OSR-adjacent games in general. I like how it handles magic; it's impactful in the way DCC magic can be without being random.
• OSE is basically B/X D&D, slightly modernized, and works well when I want to play that specifically.
• Old editions of D&D/AD&D are still perfectly playable! I'm a AD&D 2e guy, myself (heresy, I know).
• Ultraviolet Grasslands, Electric Bastionland, and (my favorite of these) Mythic Bastionland are all pretty far afield from their OSR roots but capture the weird, gonzo feel of DCC well combined with better, more engaging rule sets.

What games would you consider better?

There’s also Shadowdark, Barbarians of Lemuria, any of the WFRP games, Black Hack, Black Sword Hack, Dolmenwood, Swords & Wizardry, Troika, Acid Death Fantasy, Mörk Borg, Pirate Borg, and dozens more besides. The OSR is dirty with better games and better companies to support. As mentioned Goodman has done an epic heel turn. Supporting his products isn’t worth the baggage.

 

[CandyLaser]

There’s also Shadowdark, Barbarians of Lemuria, any of the WFRP games, Black Hack, Black Sword Hack, Dolmenwood, Swords & Wizardry, Troika, Acid Death Fantasy, Mörk Borg, Pirate Borg, and dozens more besides. The OSR is dirty with better games and better companies to support. As mentioned Goodman has done an epic heel turn. Supporting his products isn’t worth the baggage.

I was sticking with the ones I've played - though I do like what I've seen of Black Sword Hack, Shadowdark, and Dolmenwood.

 

[Retreater]

As I have posted in other threads...
"According to JG, Goodman has been passing them money under the table for years, even for projects Goodman claimed they weren't getting paid.
Goodman has not addressed these specific challenges when they were brought to his attention.
So I'm unwilling to support them until I hear otherwise. And I will make sure every potential Goodman Games customer knows about their history of dirty money and shady deals with bad people."

 

[GM Lent]

I came across the DCC Core Rulebook in my FLGS in 2018 and fell in love immediately. It's been pretty much all I've played or run since 2020 or so.

If you are the sort, and game with the sort, that need rules for everything, DCC is not necessarily for you. If you like flexibility and weirdness and can trust your game master, you will probably love DCC.

One of the core principles of DCC is that you should change and adapt the game however you want to make it into whatever you enjoy. For example: like many of us, I'm not a big fan of excessive randomness and the way it can remove choices from players. For that reason, I allow players to pick wherever class they want at 1st level, not limiting it by their Occupation.

I find the game to be fast, flexible, and enormous fun. I've been running Road Crew games since 2022, and I have to say that one of the best parts of the game for me is having novices, old school games, and 5e players alike fall in love with it and its mechanics.

Goodman as a company has been involved in some shady naughty word, which is super disappointing to me because I've met and worked with most of the bigwigs and they all seem to be just incredible people. How big a shadow that casts across the game is for you to determine.

 

[GothmogIV]

Out of curiosity, do the people who are uncomfortable supporting Goodman Games still support WOTC/Hasboro? They have also done a lot of nasty stuff (still do re: unionization efforts.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Worth noting that Shadowdark also uses a roll-to-cast system with some variable effects, but the variation is much smaller than it is in DCC. So if you like the randomness but don't want your wizard to potentially bring down the dungeon around everyone's heads, Shadowdark tones that down.

That said, the possibility that your wizard might bring the dungeon down around your head is a big part of the appeal with DCC for many folks.

And while DCC is closely associated with funnels, you can find those in a number of other games, including Shadowdark, although I don't think any games have the catalog of funnel adventures that DCC does.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Out of curiosity, do the people who are uncomfortable supporting Goodman Games still support WOTC/Hasboro? They have also done a lot of nasty stuff (still do re: unionization efforts.)

If we start trying to compare the OGL crisis to going back on their word about not working with the Bledsaws, this thread will be nothing but. Probably better to make that its own thread.

 

[GothmogIV]

As I recall from reading Shadowdark a few years ago, there is quite a bit of DCC DNA in there.

Worth noting that Shadowdark also uses a roll-to-cast system with some variable effects, but the variation is much smaller than it is in DCC. So if you like the randomness but don't want your wizard to potentially bring down the dungeon around everyone's heads, Shadowdark tones that down.

That said, the possibility that your wizard might bring the dungeon down around your head is a big part of the appeal with DCC for many folks.

And while DCC is closely associated with funnels, you can find those in a number of other games, including Shadowdark, although I don't think any games have the catalog of funnel adventures that DCC does.

 

[GothmogIV]

If we start trying to compare the OGL crisis to going back on their word about not working with the Bledsaws, this thread will be nothing but. Probably better to make that its own thread.

You are correct, oh wise one. It all is what it is.