Other D&D Variant What's going on with the DC20 RPG?

[Elvish Lore]

Last I heard anyone discuss it, the game has been pushed back nearly a year from when it was originally promised. And then I hear tale that the game, which stated its aim to be "more dynamic and fluid" than D&D has 29(!) conditions in its latest iteration. I don't know much more about this.

So, those who do know more, what is the game like nowadays? How has the playtest been going?

Is DC20 still the 5e-but-better game that was originally marketed during its $2.2m KS?

 

[SteveC]

I'm interested in this as well. When this was announced, I didn't back it, but had the expectation that I'd be picking up the PDFs if people found it interesting. I'm considering this game part of the projects that are going to hit the scene in 2025 and I wonder if it's another example of too much in a tight time frame. It will be interesting to see what finally comes out.

 

[Matrix Sorcica]

From what I've heard, it's a bloated mess. Besides the 29 conditions, apparently there's also variations of damage resistance that combine with armor except when you roll high and deal more damage unless you apply immunity, and remember to take into account the 13 or so weapon properties that unlock the various weapon styles. Something like that, and damage are only numbers like 3, you'll be dividing and round down, yet have minimum, except when you don't...

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm not sure anyone cares about this game at this point, but I just got a PDF with monsters in it.....and holy moly it looks not fun at all. This game really needed someone to edit/stand up to the creator and pull him back, IMO.

 

[Bomberooski]

Any updates on this game. I really loved DC's D&D content back in the day and wish he was still doing it (he had great TTRPG AMA's on Wedsnesday nights). Then he stopped doing it for DC20 and I thought that was coming out in 2025 but it's still not. Just looked up to see if it was still happening or not.

Hope it comes out and DC stats putting up some GM tip style content again

 

[Elodan]

There was an update sent on July 1. As far as I can tell, no official end date in sight.

At this point, I don’t regret backing it, but definitely have lost all interest.

There are a lot of angry backers in the comments section of Kickstarter. Supposedly those who have requested refunds have only gotten partial ones. Admittedly, that’s more than one is entitled too based on checking that box when pledging.

 

[Zaukrie]

There was an update sent on July 1. As far as I can tell, no official end date in sight.

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At this point, I don’t regret backing it, but definitely have lost all interest.

There are a lot of angry backers in the comments section of Kickstarter. Supposedly those who have requested refunds have only gotten partial ones. Admittedly, that’s more than one is entitled too based on checking that box when pledging.

I completely regret backing it. It's a mess.

 

[The Sigil]

I think I've posted elsewhere, but I've been more or less "out" on RPG Kickstarter projects.

I backed a number of them a few years ago and have not been impressed. They're nearly always months to years late, and frequently the quality of the product suffers over time - during the Kickstarter funding period, everyone is excited and riding on hopes and hype, but when a product is months delayed, the bar for quality usually lowers so that it can be "pushed out the door" and completed. A couple of Kickstarters have not fallen victim to the quality lowering issue, but most seem to and so I'd rather wait.

Once bitten, twice shy, I guess, but nowadays I want to see the reviews on the finished product so I can spend my money based on what's actually been produced rather than on pre-production hype. I want to know what the quality level IS, not what the funder optimistically hopes it will be. It's actually kind of depressing to see some of the creators towards the end; they vastly underestimated the amount of work needed to produce a product and they seem exhausted by the end. It's sad, really, that pressure to produce turns something fun into something that seems to become soul-destroying.

The only Kickstarters I've thrown money at over the past three years or so are the Clyde Caldwell and Jeff Easley art anthologies - precisely because they aren't new content but anthologies - I know the content (art) has already been finished for years and I know exactly what kind and quality of content I can expect in them. I still don't expect them to be on time, though. Everyone underestimates delivery time.

 

[Belen]

I checked and I guess I backed it. Now I am regretting it. I need to get my KS rpg habit under control.

 

[Morrus]

I think I've posted elsewhere, but I've been more or less "out" on RPG Kickstarter projects.

I backed a number of them a few years ago and have not been impressed. They're nearly always months to years late, and frequently the quality of the product suffers over time - during the Kickstarter funding period, everyone is excited and riding on hopes and hype, but when a product is months delayed, the bar for quality usually lowers so that it can be "pushed out the door" and completed. A couple of Kickstarters have not fallen victim to the quality lowering issue, but most seem to and so I'd rather wait.

Once bitten, twice shy, I guess, but nowadays I want to see the reviews on the finished product so I can spend my money based on what's actually been produced rather than on pre-production hype. I want to know what the quality level IS, not what the funder optimistically hopes it will be. It's actually kind of depressing to see some of the creators towards the end; they vastly underestimated the amount of work needed to produce a product and they seem exhausted by the end. It's sad, really, that pressure to produce turns something fun into something that seems to become soul-destroying.

The only Kickstarters I've thrown money at over the past three years or so are the Clyde Caldwell and Jeff Easley art anthologies - precisely because they aren't new content but anthologies - I know the content (art) has already been finished for years and I know exactly what kind and quality of content I can expect in them. I still don't expect them to be on time, though. Everyone underestimates delivery time.

Sounds like you got unlucky. I've been much more lucky--and I've backed about 60 of them and got everything, I think. That said, KS is in a new stage now.

The initial stage was funding to get stuff made. That was the risky stage. It lasted a few years. Sounds like that's when you got burned.

Then it went into the pre-order stage. That was a few years ago, but basically most stuff on TTRPG Kickstarter is a pre-order for a thing already made. This is a very safe stage.

Now it's mainly that, but the 'pop-up brand store' age is emerging, chasing that million dollar funding total. It's a month-long shop crammed with brand-related stuff. It has become more risky again.