Tuesday, March 23, 2010

more on DCC the RPG

I've had a couple more requests for further info on the Dungeon Crawl Classics rpg that Joe Goodman has been playtesting at some cons.  Below's a list of what I know.  Keep in mind that I played one session with zero level characters, so my experience with this game is limited.  Also, DCC-rpg is due out in 2011 and still in early draft form, so what I say here may not be true of the final game.
  • Roll 3d6 in order for six stats: Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence, Personality, Luck
  • Stat bonuses work as in 3.x: +1 for 12-13, +2 for 14-15, +3 for 16-17, etc.
  • Strength modifies melee attacks and damage.
  • Agility modifies missile attacks (and damage?  I'm not sure), intiative, Armor Class and Reflex saves
  • Stamina modifies hit points and Fort saves
  • Intelligence modifies spell casting rolls (see Sunday's post for how that works) and Will saves
  • We didn't really talk to any NPCs, so I don't know how Personality works
  • Luck is weird.  What it modfies is determined by a separate d8 roll.  I ended up with my Luck modifying all damage rolles.  Other guys got mods to saves and to-hits.  Also, Goodman noted that Luck is subject to alteration much moreso than other stats.
  • Most operations are d20 throws.
  • AC is ascending, base 10.  Scale mail is +4 AC, chain +5.
  • Weapon damage seems pretty much like you'd expect.  A battleaxe does d8, a spear does d6, etc.
  • The chart for randomly assigning race, profession and starting equipment to zero level characters is supposed to appear in the final product.
  • Not much of a skill system.  Your class and/or occupation broadly cover what you can do.
  • The charsheet has fields for "Actions" and "Weapon Proficiencies" but neither came up in play so I don't know what they do.
  • Ninefold alignment.
  • There are classes, but I couldn't really tell you what they are, since it was a zero-level game.
Although this game is clearly in the same Old School/d20 Hybrid camp as both C&C and Basic Fantasy, I found myself digging this game more than those systems.  But I've not had a real opportunity to play either of those, so a straight comparison can't be made.

14 comments:

  1. Strength also modified ranged sling attacks at close range, much to the chagrin of Fingers McGee.

    We played a zero level (high mortality rate!) game, and then I was lucky enough to fall into a first level game.

    The Actions, I think, go up as you rise in level - at least that was the inference I took when Joe said something like "You're not even first level so Actions is 1." So my guess would be that when you hit various levels (and it may be different for different classes) you get more actions.

    Jim Skach

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  2. Oh yeah - classes look to include racial classes. I played a Halfling Gypsy in the 0-level game. When I stumbled into the 1st level game, I was late to the table so Joe just had me pick one of the 0-level characters from the previous days game and then level him to 1. I chose Fingers McGee, Halfling gypsy. When I went to level up, Joe said something like "normally you would level up in Halfling, but to speed things along..."

    So it looks to me like you can be a class like Dwarf or Halfling or Elf.

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  3. Anonymous10:02 AM

    You had only 1 hit point? Poor slob.

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  4. I like the idea of starting as 0 level rubes. Sounds fun.

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  5. Geoffrey: With my abysmal Stamina score and d4 hit die for zero level characters, I didn't even need to roll the dice. I was getting one hit point no matter what.

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  6. DId "Skills" get used? Was it a Level Check modified by an Attribute? Personally, I'm hoping for anything that falls under your class/background use your Good Save & everything else use your Average Save. But, I can house rule that if needed.

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  7. The idea of Luck modifying things based on a random roll rocks.

    Looks like a great houserule:

    1. Add a new statistic to any classic D&D: Luck, generated normally.

    2. At the beginning of each session role a die on a chart for what it effects.

    You could even include reversing effects. What if your luck will modify damage roles against you for this session? Gee, that 18 luck isn't working out too great today, is it. Or maybe have a rule that reverses luck: 18 become 3, 17 becomes 4, and so on.

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  8. I guess I 've been playing Dngeon Crawl Classics without knowing it all along.

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  9. Sunsword: Other than it involving a d20 and stat mods, I have no idea.

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  10. Anonymous9:14 PM

    @Sunsword: I remember Joseph saying things like "Spot check" in the playtest on Friday, although we didn't have skills listed on our character sheet and I don't know what he was using to resolve them apart from ability modifiers. I like your idea (if I understand it right) of using saving throws to do what skill checks + training normally do, because that frames it in the right way for me: "If you were clever, you would have had an invisible servant open this chest. You didn't, but if you save vs. poison/make a skill check I'll let you live anyway".

    I did my song and dance about player skill like in Tomb of Horrors instead of rolling to see whether you can see anything for Joseph and he seemed to get it. Even before I knew he was at Gary Con I've been begging to be a playtester, and if so I'll agitate for your idea (or my misunderstanding thereof).

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  11. @Jeff, I understand & appreciate all the information.

    @muleabides, thanks too. My inspiration is S&W using Akrasia's General Task System, except instead of Save Modified by +4, its "if this is something that falls under your class/backgroound use the Good Save Progression (max of +12) with appropriate Attribute Mod. If its not, use the Average Save Progression (max of +6) with appropriate Mod.

    However, your idea could be easier to implement. If your class/background could apply to a situation, use your Good Save regardless of what would normally be called for. Quick & Straightforward.

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  12. It was just too good a houserule to skip, so I created one:

    Adding a Luck Stat to Classic D&D

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  13. Jeff,

    thanks for the awesome report! i'm pretty excited to check out DCCRPG when it drops.

    -k

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  14. Hi Jeff, I'm long time reader, first time commenter. I would like to quote this article on my blog (there is not much to read yet, but there's an argument to make) and add you to my blogroll. I have no idea how such a thing usually goes, but I thought it polite to ask your permission first. Your blog is very awesome, btw!

    JD

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