Tag: Dungeon Crawl Classics

Zine Review: Pulp Heroes

Zine Review: Pulp Heroes

Posted on by sullijo

I’m a latecomer to the sword and sorcery (S&S) subgenre of fantasy literature. Growing up in the 80s and 90s I read Tolkien, Dragonlance and the Drizzt novels, and plenty of other high fantasy books. It’s only later in life that I’ve come to delve into Leiber, Howard, Moore, and other early fantasy writers. They’ve helped me to understand the importance of Appendix N and how it shaped early fantasy RPG rules and tropes.

Jeremy “Father Goose” Shuman’s Pulp Heroes draws on those inspirations to help bring a more solidly sword and sorcery approach to Dungeon Crawl Classics characters. The zine is not a full setting book. Rather, it’s designed to help players and Judges craft their own swords and sorcery tales in a setting of their creation or utilizing other published settings.

Designed to support DCC Lankhmar and other third-party DCC publications, Shuman tweaks the character creation process to focus like a laser on S&S tropes. This includes a completely updated character creation process that utilizes the “Sezrekan method” (roll 4d7 for attributes, dropping the lowest roll), a custom occupations chart, new Birth Augers, and new Benisons and Dooms.

The zine also reintroduces 0-level PCs into the DCC Lankhmar system by including 0-level class features for S&S settings. The zine removes both the cleric and thief classes and reskins the the demihuman races: elves become cultists, dwarves become soldiers, and halflings become assassins or pirates. Each class then starts at 0-level with a couple of the normal class features. A smattering of additional rules rounds out the zine, including Beginner’s Luck and new AC options to better reflect S&S characters who don’t wear the heavy armor of high fantasy.

If I have two criticisms of the book it would be the typesetting and the lack of a table of contents. The font is a little small for my aging eyes, and the font justification shifts randomly, which I find distracting. And while page numbers are cited in the character creation overview, a table of contents up front would help users find specific rules more easily.

Those complaints aside, the content is fantastic and will be a boon for anyone looking to infuse their DCC campaign with classic sword and sorcery adventuring. Pulp Heroes is a worthy addition to the pantheon of DCC zines!

Interview on This Ol' Dungeon

Interview on This Ol’ Dungeon

Posted on by sullijo

My friend Luau Lou had me on his podcast This Ol’ Dungeon to talk about my history in gaming, designing for Dungeon Crawl Classics, and my current projects:

Give it a listen, and if you like Lou’s style be sure to subscribe to the podcast!

Resource Review: 101 City Encounters by C. Aaron Kreader

Resource Review: 101 City Encounters by C. Aaron Kreader

Posted on by sullijo

I’m pretty picky about purchasing resources that purport to add to your game. I’ve been burned by more than a few that, when push comes to shove, I’ll never actually use at the table, either because they’re too cumbersome or because they do something I can just as easily do myself.

On the other end of that spectrum, C. Aaron Kreader’s 101 City Encounters is a book I can’t imagine running a city campaign without. Designed as a sort of mega random encounter table, the book offers a variety of interesting vignettes and situations a party might stumble across while traveling through a fantasy city. Some are relatively mundane (a funeral procession, a request for help unloading goods from a ship), while others offer tantalizing hooks that could lead to their own mini adventure (a carrier pigeon is killed and its note taken, a red devil appears and disappears leaving strange runes where it stood). Each entry includes suggestions for running the encounter and possible follow-ups.

101 City Encounters also includes a simple system for tracking a PC’s reputation in the city with a variety of groups: the Thieves’ Guild, nobles, the townsfolk, and religious temples. Higher ranks grant various benefits from each group, while lower ranks can cause problems when the party has to deal with the group in question. The system offers just enough detail to be helpful without becoming onerous to the Judge, especially with the inclusion of a custom reputation tracking sheet.

Although compatible with DCC RPG, the book is light on stats and can easily be adapted by a competent Judge to other fantasy systems.

101 City Encounters has already benefited my games and is highly recommended, especially if you’re running a DCC Lankhmar, Planescape, or similar campaign.

Battle with Me at War of the Cyclops Con!

Battle with Me at War of the Cyclops Con!

Posted on by sullijo

Goodman Games will be hosting another one of their fantastic online cons this May 6-7! I’ll be running two sessions on Saturday:

A Fairly Odd Tale (12n-4p Eastern Time): A band of hapless adventurers is sucked into a book of fairy tales and must use their wits and cunning to make it out alive! I’ll be kickstarting a print run of this module later this year. Come get a sneak peak!

Museum at the End of Time (7p-11p Eastern Time): The Rite of Passage is a generational custom, and the PCs’ future position and rank within their society is largely determined by the quality of artifacts brought back to the tribe! This 0-level funnel is one of my favorite adventures to run at cons!

Event tickets go on sale tomorrow, so get your badge now!

Gen Con PostOp

Gen Con PostOp

Posted on by sullijo

Wednesday

I arrived in Indianapolis in the early afternoon and got my vaccination status verified. I wandered down to the stadium and must have passed my luck check, because I later found out I shouldn’t have made it down there without a badge. In the stadium I beheld the wonder of the Wizard Van in all its glory! Then I met some of the Goodman Games’ judges for a group photo before picking up my GM badge. On my way out the door I ran into Alexi and Leah Sargeant of Cloven Pine Games! Alexi was kind enough to sign my copy of The Great Soul Train Robbery.

Thursday

I started Gen Con with a session of Savage Worlds, a game I’ve heard a lot about but hadn’t played before. It was a 1950s Stargate-esque scenario; I played a military medic escorting a scientific expedition to another dimension where we saved a some villagers from being sacrificed to a hideous beast. I found Savage Worlds very quick to pick up, but a little swingy for my taste — the exploding dice mechanic makes every roll a lot more tense than I expected.

After a quick trip through the exhibitors (where I picked up some Goodman Games exclusives) I met up with my friend Luau Lou for lunch before setting up for my session of The Museum at the End of Time. I only had three of five players show up, but they had a great time traversing the Taboo Lands and descending into the titular museum.

Friday

In the morning I ran a second session of Museum which included a woman who came with her husband — it was her first RPG, ever! In the afternoon I ran Luau Lou’s module Seekers of the Un-K’nown, a Mutant Crawl Classics romp that may or may not be based on a classic D&D module. I was a little nervous since I hadn’t run it before, but it wound up being a great session with some memorable moments including mounting spears on a hover bike and befriending the robotic security guards by tending for a damaged unit.

Saturday

Saturday morning I ran a session of my Dungeon Crawl Classics module A Fairly Odd Tale. I’ve been honing this adventure for a year or so and I think I’ve got it to a solid place — enough so that I plan to publish it sometime next year. I had a mother/daughter pair at the table and they may have been my favorite players of the convention!

My Saturday afternoon game was canceled, so I took the opportunity to grab some classic fantasy novels from the Goodman Games booth and headed back to my room to get some rest.

Sunday

Sunday morning was supposed to feature a session of Star Trek Adventures, a game I’ve owned for over a year but never had the opportunity to bring to the table. Unfortunately only two of us showed up, so I wandered the exhibitors hall, picked up a few more items, and then went to the Goodman Games raffle. Unfortunately I didn’t win anything, but I had fun seeing all the prizes and watching people delight at their wins.

Final Thoughts

I had a great time! I haven’t been to Gen Con in 10 years, and this is the first time I ever ran games there. Being with other DCC/MCC fans made it super easy, and Goodman Games was very supportive (they brought afternoon snacks around to all their judges!). I was also grateful that all the games I ran were in Lucas Oil Stadium — it wasn’t nearly as loud there as in other spaces, so even though we all wore masks I never had to strain to hear people.

I intentionally didn’t hang around for a lot of evening events; I tend to be susceptible to con crud, especially when I overextend myself. This seemed to work out really well, as by the end of the con I still had plenty of energy. I may ad an evening event or two in the future.

I look forward to returning to Gen con next year!

Module Review: Welcome to Eastwood

Module Review: Welcome to Eastwood

Posted on by sullijo

Welcome to Eastwood presents a clever sandbox location — a mysterious Old West town that, through the vagaries of magic or technology, can be dropped into any campaign — for players to explore and interact with.

Like Museum at the End of Time, combat isn’t the only danger in the town of Eastwood. Without giving too much away, PCs can become enamored of the various opportunities and encounters, failing to realize (until it’s too late) that they’re trapped in the town. The more they attempt to peek behind the scenes, the more bizarre — and perilous — the situation becomes.

This includes a clever resource management component the Judge must handle concerning PCs’ ability to leave. Normally I’m not a fan of putting additional work on the Judge, but the module comes with a handy tracking sheet, making the task less onerous. The adventure also comes with an appendix detailing various features of the “town,” including random encounters, new artifacts, and new creatures.

The module is well laid out and illustrated throughout, giving Judges a taste of the town’s atmosphere and inhabitants. The map is especially nice and makes a good handout to give the players once they have the lay of the land.

I’ve had the opportunity to both play the module with the author and run it for my regular MCC group. Both times we had a blast as the PCs came up with theories as to what was happening and who was puling the strings of Eastwood.

Welcome to Eastwood is a 28-page 1st- or 2nd-level module compatible with both Mutant Crawl Classics and Dungeon Crawl Classics. It was written and illustrated by C. Aaron Kreader of Studio 9 Games.

Game with Me at Gen Con!

Game with Me at Gen Con!

Posted on by sullijo

Event tickets for Gen Con Indy go on sale this weekend! I’ll be running four games:

  • Museum at the End of Time – Thursday, 2p: During your Rite of Passage, you stumble on a monument to the greatness of the Ancient Ones. Will you find glory and treasures for your tribe or the bitter sting of failure? A 0-level funnel for Mutant Crawl Classics.
  • Museum at the End of Time – Friday, 9a: During your Rite of Passage, you stumble on a monument to the greatness of the Ancient Ones. Will you find glory and treasures for your tribe or the bitter sting of failure? A 0-level funnel for Mutant Crawl Classics.
  • Seekers of the Un-K’nown – Friday, 2p: Brave the dreaded Lands of Boom to rescue members of your post-apocalyptic tribe! Can you discover the secrets of Quartum-Q and its inhabitants? A level 1 Mutant Crawl Classics adventure.
  • A Fairly Odd Tale – Saturday, 9a: A band of hapless adventurers is sucked into a book of fairy tales and must use their wits and cunning to make it out alive! A new 2nd-level DCC adventure; younger gamers welcome!

I hope to see you in Indy!

Game with Me at Ethereal Gary Con!

Game with Me at Ethereal Gary Con!

Posted on by sullijo

Ethereal Gary Con will be running online March 24-27, 2022! Game tickets go on sale tomorrow; I’ll be running three games at the con:

  • Museum at the End of Time (Friday, 7p ET): The Rite of Passage is a generational custom, and the PCs’ future position and rank within their society is largely determined by the quality of artifacts brought back to the tribe! A zero level funnel adventure for Mutant Crawl Classics; pregens provided.
  • A Fairly Odd Tale (Saturday, 10a ET): A band of hapless adventurers is sucked into a book of fairy tales and must use their wits and cunning to make it out alive! A 2nd level Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure; pregens provided.
  • The Sunken Temple of Set (Saturday, 6p ET): To the east of the village of Mitra’s Fist is a secluded temple, partially flooded and shunned due to a deific curse. But now a host of evil resides in the once sacred edifice which plots to thwart the efforts of good in the region. Is your band of seasoned heroes up to the challenge of exploring the sunken temple? D&D 5e; pregens provided.

I hope to see you there!

Three Great Things about Dungeon Crawl Classics

Three Great Things about Dungeon Crawl Classics

Posted on by sullijo

At the end of 2019 I was planning to dive deep into board games: I was putting together a little card game about a robot who saves a crippled spaceship’s crew, I had started attending a local board game meet-up, and I even had tickets for Gen Con 2020.

Then came a global pandemic and lockdown.

As a result, 2020 was the year I went deep into role-playing games, spurred on by a late 2019 invitation to play some Mutant Crawl Classics.

At first I was a little skeptical. I don’t consider myself an old school gamer (I cut my teeth on AD&D 2e and Werewolf: the Apocalypse) and my experience with grognards was uneven at best. And now a gonzo game with lots of random tables, high lethality, and a design aesthetic from the 70s?

Instead I found that I loved the game. Reflecting back on the last year I think there are three things in particular that make the Dungeon Crawl Classics system (on which MCC is based) right for me:

Randomness acts as a guardrail. One of the things that made me keep old school gaming at arms length was the perception (and some experience) that the “rulings not rules” ethos was used as justification for GM fiat. As someone who wants the characters to be proactive and try things, I tend to at least give players the opportunity to fail. But I’ve played with old school DMs who just say “no, that won’t work” without even letting me roll the dice.

What I found playing MCC is that the randomness actually puts the brakes on some of this because “that doesn’t work” is baked into the system. For instance, the DCC spell system incorporates random tables specific to each individual spell. Roll too low and the spell fizzles out (or even causes physical corruption of the spellcaster!). On the other hand, the effect of the spell becomes bigger and more spectacular the higher you roll.

Even when attempting something that isn’t covered by a system in the rules there’s an easy mechanic for letting players try out something crazy, because…

Luck is the secret sauce. DCC characters come with five stats that will be familiar to most gamers: Strength, Agility, Stamina, Personality, and Intelligence. But instead of Wisdom, DCC (and MCC) has Luck.

Luck can be used in two primary ways. First, if a character wants to try something outside the box, the judge can call for a simple Luck check: roll a d20 and try to roll under your Luck score. If you succeed, it works; if not it fails. This can be used in a variety of situations: did you remember to bring a tool that will help you out? Do you find anything useful in that discarded backpack you found? Is the dragon asleep or awake as you creep into its lair? All can be handled by a Luck check.

Even more importantly, Luck can be used to boost any roll. By taking a permanent decrease in your Luck score you can add a bonus to almost any roll. Decrease your Luck by 1, get a +1; decrease it by 2, get a +2; and so on. Desperate times call for desperate measures and taking a hit to your Luck will get you out of an immediate scrape, but will catch up with you eventually. That extra dash of resource management really balances out Luck and is one of the unique spins the creators of DCC brings to the hobby. Speaking of them…

Goodman Games treats its fans well. Without calling anyone else out, I don’t know of an RPG company that does more outreach and support for its players than Goodman Games. They have regular programming on their Twitch channel with actual plays, shows about the literature of Appendix N and old D&D modules and previews of upcoming releases. They host regular online conventions and actively support a large number of regional and national cons.

They even have their Road Crew program which rewards judges (their term for GM) who run public games in their local community or at cons. How cool is that?!

On top of that, they understand that lots of gamers don’t have a lot of cash to spend on modules, so their price point for the standard adventure is just $10 for the printed version or $7 PDF. They do have some deluxe boxed adventures that cost a bit more, but the fact that I can get a solid adventure that will last 4-6 hours for just $10 is amazing.

All said, getting into DCC/MCC this past year has been a boost to my gaming life. I’m looking forward to running some modules at cons this coming year and continuing to meet more members of the DCC community!