Sell Me on Dungeon Crawl Classics For Long term Play, and NO Funnels

[Reynard]

I played in a long-term campaign of DCC. It went on for over a year and it was a whole lot of fun! It really only ended because the GM wanted to step down for a while and let someone else run games.
We did start with a Funnel (which I love) but from there the GM strung together a whole slew of DCC and non-DCC modules, as well as some stuff of his own creation. Usually these were presented as existing locations where there was some item/person/information we needed to locate. He did a great job of tying it all together... yet it never felt linear/railroady. Like any investigative adventure we hit snags, went after red-herrings, and occasionally bit off more than we could kill.

My PC (a wizard) was eventually one of the highest level characters (5th level). She was getting pretty damn powerful and truncated several encounters on her first turn. When we visited (I think) White Plume Mountain she ended the mission halfway through with a single spell (which was also nearly caused a TPK, because DCC magic is fun that way).
I was thinking she might be getting TOO powerful and was planning to retire her somehow... but then she was taken out by a dragon (DCC dragons are crazy dangerous to be on the wrong side of!). It was great!

It's definitely a game that avoids 'plot armor' and can lead to sudden death, but because of that it felt all that much more satisfying to make it through and succeed at stuff.
Short term play can be great, but there are loads of stuff in DCC that doesn't really come into the spotlight until you've been playing for a while, such as relationships with Patrons (I think any class can find one) and all the possibilities contained in the mantra 'Quest For It'.

Very cool description. Thanks!

 

[Parmandur]

The thing about DCC is that it is actually a pretty modern game, despite being lumped in with OSR, because the rules are designed to lead to outcomes that resemble pulp fantasy short stories of old, rather than be like 70s/80s D&D.

 

[Reynard]

The thing about DCC is that it is actually a pretty modern game, despite being lumped in with OSR, because the rules are designed to lead to outcomes that resemble pulp fantasy short stories of old, rather than be like 70s/80s D&D.

OSR has kind of lost most of its meaning beyond "your character can DIE!"

 

[payn]

OSR has kind of lost most of its meaning beyond "your character can DIE!"

I think its lost its specific "D&D clone" meaning and expanded beyond it into a style. I find it still very useful. YMMV.

 

[Reynard]

I think its lost its specific "D&D clone" meaning and expanded beyond it into a style. I find it still very useful. YMMV.

If OSE, DCC, Shadowdark and Dungeon World are all OSR, the term is pretty weak.

 

[payn]

If OSE, DCC, Shadowdark and Dungeon World are all OSR, the term is pretty weak.

Not at all, they all have much in common, and differences with many modern types of games.

 

[Parmandur]

If OSE, DCC, Shadowdark and Dungeon World are all OSR, the term is pretty weak.

Shoot, I could make a decent case that if those are all OSR, then so is 5E.

 

[payn]

Shoot, I could make a decent case that if those are all OSR, then so is 5E.

I dont think 5E is OSR specifically, but I know it was designed to attract older D&D players. You can see it in the DNA.

 

[Nightfly]

XP is "Encounter-based," not combat based: if PC engage in some activity, they all get 1-4 XP at DM discretion on how cool the interaction was. Get past a trap? 1-4 XP. Talk to a friendly Sphinx? 1-4 XP. Negotiate with a hag? 1-4 XP. Kill a bunch of Goblins? 1-4 XP.

Man, the way you describe this makes it sound my favorite RPG mechanic ever. The DCC rulebook makes it seem a lot less interesting: 1 XP for an easy fight, 4 for an extremely deadly one. Which is fine, but I greatly prefer your interpretation of "how awesome was it?". Thief simply rolls to disarm the trap, 1 or 2 XP... party thinks up a astonishingly brilliant way of circumventing it, 3 or 4 XP. Now I want to do something like that in all my games.

 

[Parmandur]

Man, the way you describe this makes it sound my favorite RPG mechanic ever. The DCC rulebook makes it seem a lot less interesting: 1 XP for an easy fight, 4 for an extremely deadly one. Which is fine, but I greatly prefer your interpretation of "how awesome was it?". Thief simply rolls to disarm the trap, 1 or 2 XP... party thinks up a astonishingly brilliant way of circumventing it, 3 or 4 XP. Now I want to do something like that in all my games.

Yeah, it leaves the judgement call somewhat ambiguous, but I do think it works as a better way to do milestone levelling: teeny tiny milestones.