Crawl! #6 Review

The latest issue of Crawl has been out for several weeks. I've had it for several weeks, too. I was also sick right around the time I got it. Thankfully, I've kicked whatever was making feel like death and had the chance to go through this a few more times.

Crawl #6 is the end product of a contest Reverend Dak ran on the Goodman Game forums. Forumers were asked which classes they wanted to see most, then the community submitted their versions for consideration. The best Bard, Gnome, Ranger, and Paladin are featured in this issue.

One of things I really enjoy about the DCC RPG is how many archetypes fit into the four base classes. Clerics can easily fill their iconic role or play more like a Druid depending upon your alignment. Give a Warrior a pet and you're not too far away from having a Ranger. You can see where I'm going with this.

Let me start with the good. The Bard class is very well done and is one of the few classes I feel isn't covered in the four base classes. Bards can use their performances to affect their audiences. These effects might grant bonuses to will saves or act like Charm Person spell. It feels very balanced, and I will definitely be including this in my future campaigns.

I was particularly impressed by the Gnome. They are essentially slightly more Hardy Wizards with a restricted spell list to reflect their nature. Gnomes are typically the least favorite of all standard fantasy races, but I like them quite a bit. My only complaint is that this is only a five level class. The creator explains this as they usually lack the penchant for long term adventuring, but I feel this is a bad decision. Most members of the other races do not become adventurers. That's what makes them special. I will be expanding this to a full ten level class before including it in my campaign.

I have mixed feelings about the Paladin. I would best describe it as a cross between the Warrior and Cleric class. It gets a Smite Die, which functions like a Deeds die but only against unholy enemies. It casts spells and suffers disapproval as the Cleric. It also has a secondary disapproval-like table. I'm not sure I see the need for a full Paladin class. Simply rolling a Warrior with a belief in god and adding a few unique uses of the Mighty Deeds to reflect this devotion would cover it, in my opinion. I think the inclusion of more disapproval is not particularly exciting because the normal disapproval is already so punishing. Still, I think this is useful to take bits and pieces of and adapt as you see necessary.

I feel similarly about the Ranger class. It has a deeds die. It gets favored enemies. I just don't feel the need for a full class when the Warrior covers this so well. Unlike the Paladin, I don't see much in the way that there is to take and adapt.

Despite my hesitation about some of these classes, I'm never disappointed when the envelope from Stray Couches Press arrives in my mailbox. As with all community-generated content, your mileage is going to vary. If you haven't ordered it yet, you need to add this to your collection. Don't forget, Crawl! is now available in PDF form, too!

Digital Crawl!

PDFs of the zine devoted to DCC RPG are now available. Get the full story here.

Crawl! #3 Arrives!

I got my  copy of Crawl! #3 on Saturday morning and finally had a chance to go through it this morning on the subway. As you can see, this issue's theme is the magic and features rules for NPC magic, Patron Spells for Van Den Danderclanden, Familiars and more. Building each issue around a theme is a smart decision, and there are some real treats in here to make either your adventuring or party-killing lives easier.

As you know, magic in DCC RPG is very different from most other FRPGs on the market. Success is never guaranteed, failure is catastrophic, and, should you be so lucky so cast a spell, the effects will wreak havoc on your targets. While these rules are a blast to use, it can be quite time-consuming to fully implement them for NPCs. Reverend Dak has given us simple rules for handling NPC magic that I will be adopting for my future games. You still make spell checks, but it the effects are static and the spell check is handled similar to a skill check. Also included are rules for critical hits.


The real highlight of this issue are the patron spells for Van Den Danderclanden, the patron that one of Dak's players made and introduced to the world from Craw! #1. If you have spent any time on the Goodman Games forum, one of the most common requests is rules for creating patrons. While you'll find no how-to rules here, these are an excellent example to model yours after. Now that we have the full rules for Van Den Danderclanden, he will beshowing up in my game as soon as a Wizard shows up in the party.

I also really appreciate Raven Crowking's Magic Wand spell, as the rules for doing so were not present in the DCC RPG book. At the same time, you may wish to disallow players access to rules for creating every type of magic item available and just offer them as rare loot. No matter how you approach Wands, these rules will be useful. 

I can't stress this enough: if you're playing DCC RPG and not getting Crawl!, you're really missing out. While your mileage is going to vary from issue to issue, it's a steal at $3.50 (that includes postage!). Besides, if you're not finding the kinds of things you want to see, you could always submit.

Crawl!

Just as I thought I was going to have nothing to post about, Reverend Dak dropped this in my mailbox today. Now, given that I've only had it for about two hours and haven't really had a chance to go through it, I can't really give a proper review.

What I have managed to digest is very useful. The DCC RPG book doesn't have any treasure tables or mechanical guidelines for handing out treasure. What it does have is an explicit warning about handing it out carelessly. The world of DCC RPG is a grim one, and most commerce happens with as an exchange of goods, not coin. The piles of gold we associate with fantasy gaming are only won through adventuring, and even then it is no guarantee.

This issue gives us plenty of random tables fit to the scale of DCC RPG. It's also jam-packed with lots of art from various artists across the blogosphere who are involved in this game one way or another. My normal gaming schedule has been a little off this week, so rather than run my usual Sunday game I will tear through this. I'll also be working on my first homebrew class for DCC RPG which is in the final stages (I hope) right now. In the meantime, get over to Dak's blog and snag yourself a copy now!

Crawl!

This showed up in my mailbox last week but I haven't had time to talk about it until now. For the uninitiated, Crawl! is a fanzine for the newly released Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG by Goodman Games. This is the debut issue and it's release was carefully timed to coincide with the game it's supporting. Those who per-ordered it were surprised with the black-on-black cover, a nod to the limited edition heavy metal version of DCC RPG.

Digest-sized and only 20 pages long, Crawl! is crammed full of odds and ends for both DMs and players. This issue features rules to run Human-only campaigns, Cleric-less parties, alternative skill systems, rules for how to integrate spells from older editions, and a whole new patron for your campaign. Of course, the usefulness of this material is going to vary depending upon your needs, but all of the content is top quality. I particularly like the rules for Cleric-less parties and Van den Danderclanden, a patron who has suffered extensive corruption. It's also got some neat, full page art spreads.

The entirety of this first issue is brought to us courtesy of its publisher, Reverend Dak at Stray Couches Press. He jumped into the beta tests for DCC RPG early and these variants come hot off his gaming group's table. This brings me to the best part: Crawl! takes submissions. Now that you've got your copy of DCC RPG (you do have it, right?) you're probably busy sending hordes of peasants to their death and adapting the game to your needs. Don't toil alone! Share your weird creations with the world and get involved!