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Switching my group to DCC

Posted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 9:37 pm
by zathras1974
A hair over two weeks ago I switched my group to DCC, and I have to say we are having a blast!

This is a group of somewhat new players who had just finished their previous campaign last month. We had tried several systems during the course of the year-long campaign, starting with Fantasy Age (which didn't even last the first session), through Open Legend (which was good, but all the characters just seemed to run together), and finally to Basic Fantasy RPG.

Now, I'm not knocking the previous systems, don't get me wrong, but nothing.. and I really mean NOTHING, could have prepared us for DCC. My magic user is happier because he feels powerful (and slightly scared of corruption), my warriors are loving mighty deeds, and I have one very happy cleric who loves playing the healer of the party.

But what I find most interesting is that our host's 6 year old son got into the action this previous Saturday. This is an ADHD boy on the spectrum who, while liking that we came over, has not shown an interest in gaming with us. In previous sessions he's on the couch, in the lazy-boy, or crawling under the table. In short, doing everything but paying attention to what's going on on the table.

But during the funnel two weeks ago (Portal Under the Stars) he sat and listened to the entire adventure for 3 hours, and this last Saturday he wanted to play a character. It was a 6 hour session, so he wasn't able to stay at the table the entire time, but he was engaged a LOT more than anyone, including his parent's, expected. We were able to do 2/3 of Doom of the Savage Kings before real-world caught up with us.

This is a fantastic system that I wish I had been using since the beginning. Thank you to everyone who has, and continues to make it what it is. :)

Re: Switching my group to DCC

Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2020 6:45 am
by GnomeBoy
That's an amazing story. Welcome to the community!

Where're you going after Doom?

Re: Switching my group to DCC

Posted: Tue Nov 17, 2020 9:31 pm
by zathras1974
I was thinking the People of the Pit, but think the plot might be a little too similar to Doom to do them back to back.

I was thinking, with the holidays approaching, of doing the level 1 adventure from HT1 (The Perils of Cinder Claws) "The Thing in the Chimney".

Actually, I might stick that in my back pocket for another 2 weeks and do a short 1-off from "Adventure Framework #1" by Stephen Grodzicki. I love their philosophy on boxed text. ;)
Every time a GM reads boxed text, an ad-lib fairy dies, and we've too much blood on our hands already. Paraphrasing and natural speech from the GM keeps players guessing what's pre-planned, and what's off-the-cuff-I-totally-planned-that awesome. And we wants that awesome, precious. We wants it.

Re: Switching my group to DCC

Posted: Wed Nov 18, 2020 6:39 am
by Mat Mobile
First off, welcome to DCC!
I was thinking the People of the Pit, but think the plot might be a little too similar to Doom to do them back to back.
I was thinking the same thing because the summaries of the adventures are so similar, but after reading Meadhelm's Road Crew report, Pariahs Pitted Against the People of the Pit [...], you can see that the stories are completely different. It made it's way up on my short list.

I agree with your comment regarding box texts, but I still think they are necessary for newer DMs. That being said, I think being able to re-phrase boxed texts into a DMs own words to make it look like everything is prepared (or is it?!?) is an important step in learning how to become a better DM. Great comment!

Re: Switching my group to DCC

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 6:30 am
by finarvyn
I have found in general that all of the DCC modules are different from one another, and agree with Mat that even if the descriptions sound similar there is a good chance that the adventures are different. Partly because of the design goal that monsters be unique and not "just another orc," and that feature alone means that the flavor of each module can be highly different.

Kind of like saying that every, "you begin in a tavern" adventure is like every other one. Sure they sound familiar, but.... ;)

Re: Switching my group to DCC

Posted: Sun Nov 22, 2020 6:49 am
by zathras1974
finarvyn wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 6:30 am Kind of like saying that every, "you begin in a tavern" adventure is like every other one. Sure they sound familiar, but.... ;)
I promised my players that I would never, ever, ever, ever start an adventure that way.

Believe me, as a teen and young GM, I threw the party into a tavern as a crutch.

"Can't figure out how to hook them into the plot? Throw 'em in a bar/tavern/nightclub!"
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Re: Switching my group to DCC

Posted: Sun Feb 14, 2021 5:33 pm
by qstor
I just ran Tower of the Black Pearl. It's a good 1st level mod.

Re: Switching my group to DCC

Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2021 7:41 am
by The Disgruntled Poet
zathras1974 wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 6:49 am
finarvyn wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 6:30 am Kind of like saying that every, "you begin in a tavern" adventure is like every other one. Sure they sound familiar, but.... ;)
I promised my players that I would never, ever, ever, ever start an adventure that way.

Believe me, as a teen and young GM, I threw the party into a tavern as a crutch.

"Can't figure out how to hook them into the plot? Throw 'em in a bar/tavern/nightclub!"
Image
Nothing wrong with eschewing taverns IMO, but on the other hand PCs die just as well in a tavern as anywhere else. It's a great setting for a false sense of security. :D