DCC World

[Jeff LaSala]

No disrespect to Gygax and Greenwood! I've got a signature from one, and I've given up countless days of my life to both their creations. Trust me, they deserve their celebrity.

[toper]

Psst. We'd love to see some shots of the DCC World maps...

::ducks::

Well, I can at least tell you this: The maps are done. As always there are some tiny little tweaks here and there (including the usual spell-checking, which is always a little harder when the names are not to be found in any dictionary on this particular earth), et al, but the graphics are DONE.

As for samples, well...I'd love to, of course, but I couldn't do that without consent from the big Kahuna, Mr. Joseph. E-mail him and ask, if he gives the go ahead, I'm sure I could post a few little swatches on my website or some such. Enough to whet the appetites. Personally I cannot wait to see them in print!

I can reveal that the style is perhaps not what you'd be expecting, but powerful and inspiring, nonetheless. If it's not, then I'm no cartographer.

[Jeff LaSala]

Thanks, Joseph, for posting the "official" announcement:

http://www.goodmangames.com/5034preview.php

And finally, everyone gets at least a glimpse of Jeremy Sim...err...Topographic Rex's hard, hard work!

Give it up to the Lord of Maps!

[Rick Maffei]

Judging from the glimpse, I'd say the maps look fantastic.

Awesome job. I personally can't wait to hold the real McCoy in my paws.

[Jengenritz]

Too cool...this is gonna be a blast!

I'm finally starting a DCC campaign for my Long Island group, and I plan on using this setting.

[Ogrepuppy]

OMFG, that set is so totally mine.

*thrusts wads of money at Goodman Games*

Here. Just take it now.

Sigh.

My only regret is that the first group I've ever GM'ed (in a long, LONG time) is starting this week, and I want this set now.

Need a playtester?

::ducks::

[Jeff LaSala]

Ogrepuppy,

I feel your pain. I know that feeling! My advice is, start small...start with some adventure in a city, or a sewer in a city, so that you can game for a few sessions before pulling back the curtain on the whole setting. Just have to buy yourself a couple of months. Or only one month, if you're going to GenCon.

Then, when you find out more about the rest of the setting, allow your players to make some adjustments based on their (and your) knowledge of the world. (i.e. a cleric now adjusts according to the god he/she chooses, and so on)

Just a thought.

[toper]

Yah, agree with Jeff there my friend.

Just start in an innocuous setting: choose a climate and then invent some generic wilderness (desert, mountains, icy tundra, jungle, pine forest, etc...it's all represented!), and maybe a ruin to explore and that should last you for more than a couple of sessions.

Then when the box set arrives at last (we're all champing at the bit too!), well, bob's your uncle! Plug it in and choose your setting! It's so cool, and my peeps spent many more hours than any sane person would devising this kick-ass setting which I had the priviledge to render. For my part, I can't wait to see all the details and read all the good stuff that fills my mapped landscape.

GENCON VENDORS EAT YOUR HEART OUT, AIN'T NOBODY GONNA COME WITH IT LIKE THE GOODMAN GAMES CREW!!! Let's see any of the other publishers come out with something this awesome in time for the con!

My computer is SOOOO glad this is done. Poor thing is the proverbial mule on the towpath pulling the oil tanker.

[Renshai]

Looks incredible guys. The maps look incredible and the style of the boxed set cover has that classic feel.

Those two adventures look incredible as well. Between The Adventure Begins, this boxed set and the rest of the DCC series, a DM has enough material to run his games for years to come.

Ren

[jason.richardson]

Very cool, thanks for the update.

Question: will there be regional, more detailed maps in the GM Guide?

[Renshai]

Some talk over at EnWorld about DCC World. I took the liberty of posting some of the world descriptions posted in this thread. So far only a couple of people have balked at the price. Most seem very interested.

http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t ... ge=1&pp=40

Ren

[ynnen]

It's hard to get a much better testimonial than this:

That looks great. IMHO, the Dungeon Crawl Classics series is one of the best things to ever hit D&D. I'm really looking forward to this boxed set.
__________________
Mike Mearls - Developer, RPG R&D

[toper]

Thanks for finding that post, it's good to see that word's getting about so fast, and I think people should always weigh any large purchase, considering how much stuff is out there these days (and not all of it good). Perhaps I'm biased (o.k., I AM!), but this as worthy of purchase for anyone in the market for, as so many have put it, a great campaign setting without too much baggage, as there ever has been.

One should also consider all the hard work and more importantly to the buyer, all the talent that has been poured into Aereth, and imagine having every last drop of that talent, imagination, collaboration and careful creation at your fingertips! I'll say this for it: Yea, it's old-school in feel, and yes we're all inspired in this work by the great works of the original D&D masters, but this is every inch a new and wonderful world-creation that is rich with adventure seeds and unexplored wonders (and terrors) that I can't imagine anyone regretting the purchase...once they've opened the box (insert visual here, of opening the box and that light comes out, a la Ark of the Covenant, et al). I feel it necessary to say that while I agree that there's not so much 'baggage' with Aereth, as some point out, this is a beautifully and deeply realized world with hosts of gods and histories, villains and heroes, and everything else you could ever want. How could that not be a value-for-money purchase for any GM?

There are some, too, who are voicing worries about the issue of future DCC's not being generic, etc. This might be a legitimate concern except that it has been a point of concern since the inception of the idea (see past posts on this very forum), and Goodman Games has made it clear that efforts will always be made to keep that mystery a vital part of the DCC series.

Now that the maps and all the artwork has at last been sent to the printer (at least on my end), I think I'm going to sleep for a month or so. Wake me when it's time to go to GenCon.

[Renshai]

Enjoy your torpor, toper You've earned it. I wish I was going to Gen Con this year... oh well. I'll have to wait until September I guess!

[jason.richardson]

Toper,

Will there be regional, more detailed maps in the GM Guide? Not that the maps posted so far aren't detailed, they look lovely. I'm just curious if there will be "zoomed-in" maps of the regions or kingdoms, etc.

[Omote]

WoW! I just found out about this project today and I have to say that I am totally psyched! I am very much looking forward to this project...

BTW, the MAPS look frackin' gorgeous. I need a new world to explore.

QUESTION: I may have missed it, but is DCC#35 going to make a debut at GENCON by any chance? I see that the release date is September, but plenty of big releases like this find their way to GenCon...

I know I'll be there and how awesome would that be to actually get to pick this box set up! YES!

........................................Omote
FPQ

[Harley Stroh]

QUESTION: I may have missed it, but is DCC#35 going to make a debut at GENCON by any chance? I see that the release date is September, but plenty of big releases like this find their way to GenCon...

Yup. Baring printing disaster you will be able to buy your copy at GenCon. It might pay to show up early though --- don't know if there will be copies still hanging around Sun afternoon.

//H

[Omote]

It might pay to show up early though --- don't know if there will be copies still hanging around Sun afternoon.

Oooh, you can guaren-damn-te that I'll be there on thursday for a copy or two. Oh yeah baby! It sounds like DCC#35 will go quickly. Save me a copy, would ya?

Personally I think this is going to be one of the "hits" of the year, and hopefully DCC#35 will be one of those "must-have" RPGing gems.

.........................................Omote
FPQ

[toper]

QUESTION: I may have missed it, but is DCC#35 going to make a debut at GENCON by any chance? I see that the release date is September, but plenty of big releases like this find their way to GenCon...

Greetings (still awake, apparently), and thanks much for the compliments, it means a lot. I've taken a different slant on the design theme here than what most would expect (most, I think were expecting the very simple, almost vector-ish, Greyhawk-style. We considered that, but decided on this theme instead and I think (hope! ulcers in anticipation) that it will be as much of a hit as the rest of the material in DCC #35.

In answer to your question, I'm afraid we just didn't have the room for another round of maps! In all seriousness, when you work on a campaign setting you could work for four years and STILL think of more stuff to make it good, but at some point you have to prioritize. It's possible, and I'm just hypothesizing here (Joseph has said nothing to this effect yet), but I could forsee future projects where we might release sourcebooks on some of the different parts of Aereth that "zoom in", as you say, with maps, even city maps...who knows!

But I must qualify that by saying that I am not basing this on anything but my own wishful thinking, and perhaps my ability to wheedle...

So send these requests directly to the Man, and so will I. Obviously our hands have been overfull with what we've got now, but if this setting sells like I think it will, and achieves the popularity that it should, then we'll all pester Joseph to release yet more goodies!

[Eryx]

I've only just heard about this product, but count me in for a copy!

[jason.richardson]

Thanks for the reply toper.

Can you tell us what the scale is on the poster maps provided? Maybe how many miles to the inch?

I'm hoping they aren't something like "100 miles to the inch", because that's too large for useable gameplay. Sure, you get a nice visual of the over-all world, but adventures don't happen at that level.

To be honest, I'm one of those DMs that was hoping for the "very simple, almost vector-ish, Greyhawk-style", because they are very practicle and useable at the table.

[Renshai]

Yeah Jason, I would have actually liked something like that too.

Not that I don't think the current ones are great.

[Omote]

...but if this setting sells like I think it will, and achieves the popularity that it should, then we'll all pester Joseph to release yet more goodies!

That's some confidence! Frankly in today's gaming age confidance about a product such as this is hard to find it seems. That makes me feel like my $70.00 won't go to waste, and I'm sure that confidence will flow out through the fans as well.

With the kind of hype that this product is going to generate in the next 40 days or so, I'd get to working on the setting follow-up products!

................................................Omote
FPQ

[toper]

Thanks for the reply toper.

Can you tell us what the scale is on the poster maps provided? Maybe how many miles to the inch?

I'm hoping they aren't something like "100 miles to the inch", because that's too large for useable gameplay. Sure, you get a nice visual of the over-all world, but adventures don't happen at that level.

To be honest, I'm one of those DMs that was hoping for the "very simple, almost vector-ish, Greyhawk-style", because they are very practicle and useable at the table.

Yea, you can't make everyone happy with the style you choose, but that's part of the beauty of this sort of thing, everyone has their own vision and that's cool.

As to scales, my man, I gotta remind folks that once you've got a copy in your hands, it's your map! If the scale doesn't work for you, no problem! Just change it to whatever you need. There really is no reason or compulsion of necessity anywhere within the information gathered here that would prevent that. And if you're going to map a whole world with vast oceans, unexplored land masses, every climate represented, entire belts of lost civilizations and cheek-by-jowl kingdoms and principalities then it's gotta be sort of big, if you think about it.

But like I said, the beauty is that none of this is gospel. It's your world, at the end of all the hype, you can do what you want with it, everything is just guidelines! Have fun with it! It's a palette for your GM's creativity, more than anything else.

[Jengenritz]

It's a palette for your GM's creativity...

You, sir, are going to be quoted!