Building a funnel

[DM Cojo]

So, I ran some of my group through "Sailors on a Starless Sea", and I plan on playing in a funnel using "Portal Under the Stars" (so I don't want to read it myself)...but I need to run another funnel for a mix of my group that played Sailors, and some that did not. But I don't know of other level 0 adventures out there.

So I am considering making my own character funnel. I was hoping some more experienced judges of DCC RPG could offer some pointers on what critical elements are needed in a funnel.

Thanks!

[Rick]

But I don't know of other level 0 adventures out there.

Here's a half-dozen:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/112845/Ap ... f-Ramat%22

Appendix N Adventures #1: "The Ruins of Ramat"
From Brave Halfling Publishing
A Level 0 Adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

By John Adams with art by Doug Kovacs, Mark Allen & Steve Zieser

The product includes:

• Bookmarked Digest & Letter Sized PDFs
• Map and Player's Handouts PDF
• Bookmarked Text PDF for Tablets and E-Readers
• System-Neutral Template

It is mid-spring, the time when the land’s rulers and their men-at-arms go to war with their neighbors. Nearly every able person is already involved in such conflicts, or helping the remaining militia protect the local village.

A little girl comes running and crying into the center of the village. When questioned, she sobs that she and her dog were playing just outside of town, by Rose Hill, when a giant, clawed creature came up out of the ground and took her dog. The girl is completely terrified and her dog, which never normally leaves her side, is nowhere to be seen. You and your companions volunteer to look into the matter.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/112844/Ap ... ydfield%22

Appendix N Adventures #4: "The Witch of Wydfield"
From Brave Halfling Publishing
A Level 0 Adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG

By John Adams & Colin Chapman

Art by Steve Zieser & Mark Allen

The product includes:

• Bookmarked Digest PDF
• Map
• Bookmarked Text PDF for Tablets and E-Readers
• System-Neutral Template

You are abruptly awakened by the frantic sounding of the chapel bell. As you gather with the other villagers in the village square, you are told that the light of morning has revealed that Sister Thara has been murdered and the young maiden Dela, is missing. The only clue to this terrible mystery are three letters written in blood beside Thara’s body; "Y U L."

Thara was the town’s protector and healer. Now she is gone. Who will protect Wydfield now? Who will right this wrong? No man, woman or child will sleep again in Wydfield until this evil is dealt with and defeated. If there was ever a time when Wydfield needed new heroes, now is the time! Who will go?

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/102457/Pe ... DCC-RPG%29

Perils of the Sunken City (DCC RPG)
From Purple Sorcerer Games
Most find death in the crumbling ruins that stretch beyond sight into the mists south of the Great City; once rich districts now claimed by swamp and dark denizens. But for the desperate folk of the city, the ruins offer treasures the Great City denies them: fortune, glory, and a fighting chance!

The massive crumbling ruins of the swamp-ravaged Sunken City await! The way is filled with peril, but those who survive will be ready to face even more dangerous fare!
Just a pointy stick and a dream!
Features of Perils of the Sunken City

• Compatible with the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games (easily convertible to your favorite 'old school' system!)
• Effortlessly integrate 0-level mobs into your world! Or challenge smaller 1st level bands.
• Travel into danger using demon-powered sending stones, battling dark powers in the forgotten arena of the foul necromancer Madazkan!
• Free support downloads available at purplesorcerer.com, including battle maps, adventure specific paper minatures, and more.

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/103929/Th ... DCC-RPG%29

The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk (DCC RPG)
From Purple Sorcerer Games
The second Sunken City Starting Adventure is here!

Most find death in the crumbling ruins that stretch beyond sight into the mists south of the Great City; once rich districts now claimed by swamp and dark denizens. But for the desperate folk of the city, the ruins offer treasures the Great City denies them: fortune, glory, and a fighting chance!

Do you dare re-enter the deadly swamps of the Sunken City? The hamlet of Slither's End needs your aid, but after meeting the bizarre locals, you might wonder if you need someone to protect you from Slither's End! Can you unravel the mysterious abductions plaguing the town? Do you chance trekking through the open swamp seeking answers when death lurks around every bend? And who is this Jonas Gralk that everyone mentions with grave suspicion? Answers await in The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk!
Images from the Adventure

Features of The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk

• Compatible with the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games (easily convertible to your favorite 'old school' system.)
• Effortlessly integrate 0-level mobs into your world! Or challenge smaller 1st level bands.
• Encounter the decidedly quirky folk of Slither's End and unearth clues about their troubles. First question: why does there appear to be giant pool of bubbling blood in the center of town?
• Battle unforgettable foes in the surrounding swamps, including Mist Men, axe wielding trees, pixies with bad attitudes, giant nut-bombing squirrels, and the return of the not-so-fearsome opossumen!
• Lovely full-color maps and art throughout all 19 pages. (With a 10 page appendix stuffed with adventuring goodies including rumors organized as player handouts, a clue checklist, town notes, and pre-gen replacement characters.)
• Free support downloads available at purplesorcerer.com, including battle maps, adventure specific paper miniatures, and more!

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/115635/A- ... DCC-RPG%29

A Gathering of the Marked (DCC RPG)
From Purple Sorcerer Games
The Sunken City Starting Adventures Come to a Chilling Conclusion!

"A Gathering of the Marked looks fabulous! I love the appendices and handouts!" - Stephen Newton, Thick Skull Adventures

Rich and poor, bond and free: every few months an unsuspecting few awake to find a ragged circle of midnight black scrawled on their foreheads; a dark summoning whispering on the edge of their consciousness. All who live in the shadow of the Great City know to ignore the call of the mark is to invite madness and a lingering and horrific death, so each will find his way to the sending stones, and the unspeakable peril that waits beyond.

Designed for 0-level adventurers, A Gathering of the Marked challenges a band of strangers to endure the mad games of a power who's motivations are as mysterious as its identity. Can the summoned survive to wrest control of their lives once more? Will they turn on those they struggle with, or band together to defeat a common enemy? Will they finally come face to face with the twisted power that has called them, and uncover its dark secrets? All will be revealed in A Gathering of the Marked!

Features of A Gathering of the Mark

• Horrifying fun compatible with the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG from Goodman Games (easily convertible to your favorite 'old school' system... and by easy, we mean easy easy!)
• Explore the cursed village of Haven's Fall, battling shambling horrors, freakishly nimble puppets, cow-devouring tentacles and more!
• Uncover the secrets of the Cult of Athax: foul minions of a Shadow Wizard with dark designs on not only the world, but you in particular!
• Packed with adventuring possibilities: twice the length of Perils of the Sunken City, with full color artwork throughout all 24 adventure pages + 24 additional appendix pages.
• Nearly 100 paper miniatures included for those who want to see the action unfold. (13 Free battlemaps available on the Purple Sorcerer Games website.)
• Virtually every image is included in easily printable format in the appendix making creating handouts a breeze!
• New: Comes with two streamlined tablet versions for both large and small tablets and mobile devices.
• Each Sunken City Starting Adventure stands alone: you don't need either SC-1: Perils of the Sunken City, or SC-2: The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk to enjoy SC-3: A Gathering of the Marked. (Perils of the Sunken City does provide useful background on the Sending Stones that are mentioned in this adventure, and The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk just plain rocks, so we'd suggest getting them anyway!)

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/103335/At ... the-Frawgs

Attack of the Frawgs
From Thick Skull Adventures
When creatures prey on the innocent, the meek must become the hunters!

Panic is mounting in the isolated settlement of Sagewood! Frightened villagers speak in hushed tones of “walking frogs the size of men” peering at them from within the woods. And now, a severely wounded local trapper has barely managed to return from Dead Goblin Lake; the fate of his partner known only to the foul creatures that so savagely attacked them.

In a small village without heroes, the townsfolk look desperately towards each other for salvation from this terror. Those who face the creatures will almost certainly pay with their lives...

Are you brave enough to risk it all?

Attack of the Frawgs is a Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game adventure designed for 8-14 0-level characters or can be easily adapted for use with 1st-level characters.

[DM Cojo]

Thanks for these, I will definitely get a few and check them out!

[Skyscraper]

So, I ran some of my group through "Sailors on a Starless Sea", and I plan on playing in a funnel using "Portal Under the Stars" (so I don't want to read it myself)...but I need to run another funnel for a mix of my group that played Sailors, and some that did not. But I don't know of other level 0 adventures out there.

So I am considering making my own character funnel. I was hoping some more experienced judges of DCC RPG could offer some pointers on what critical elements are needed in a funnel.

Thanks!

I'm not that experienced, but I ran a home-made funnel for my group. Here are a few thoughts on designing a funnel:

- Tricks and traps are pretty fun for level zeros. For example, I had a magical druidic portal in my homebrew that had 16 different possible destinations depending on the direction you crossed it. A couple of destinations were ultimately lethal to the PC who tried it.
- Avoid designing large fights. One or a few creatures will provide ample challenge. If one PC dies in a battle, it's plenty already.
- In the same vein, you can use weak monsters. The PCs are weaker I had a hay golem confined to the small hut of a witch. He ended up being able to attack a single time, critted and broke the PC's arm, before they retreated outside and destroyed it from afar. I had one 5 hit-point fish-man attack them by surprise in swamps, he captured one PC by the throat to strangle him, but they killed it before he could kill the PC. The question is not whether they'll win: of course, at 15 vs 1, they'll win. The question is: was one PC in danger of dying? If yes, the threat level is high enough to be exciting. To me that kept the fights interesting.
- Throw in some casual items here and there and a couple of superior or even magical items if they make sense in your adventure. These will take on a very high signficance and value.

Maybe not much up here that you hadn't thought about, but those are my funnel related thoughts I guess

Have fun!

[DM Cojo]

So, I ran some of my group through "Sailors on a Starless Sea", and I plan on playing in a funnel using "Portal Under the Stars" (so I don't want to read it myself)...but I need to run another funnel for a mix of my group that played Sailors, and some that did not. But I don't know of other level 0 adventures out there.

So I am considering making my own character funnel. I was hoping some more experienced judges of DCC RPG could offer some pointers on what critical elements are needed in a funnel.

Thanks!

I'm not that experienced, but I ran a home-made funnel for my group. Here are a few thoughts on designing a funnel:

- Tricks and traps are pretty fun for level zeros. For example, I had a magical druidic portal in my homebrew that had 16 different possible destinations depending on the direction you crossed it. A couple of destinations were ultimately lethal to the PC who tried it.
- Avoid designing large fights. One or a few creatures will provide ample challenge. If one PC dies in a battle, it's plenty already.
- In the same vein, you can use weak monsters. The PCs are weaker I had a hay golem confined to the small hut of a witch. He ended up being able to attack a single time, critted and broke the PC's arm, before they retreated outside and destroyed it from afar. I had one 5 hit-point fish-man attack them by surprise in swamps, he captured one PC by the throat to strangle him, but they killed it before he could kill the PC. The question is not whether they'll win: of course, at 15 vs 1, they'll win. The question is: was one PC in danger of dying? If yes, the threat level is high enough to be exciting. To me that kept the fights interesting.
- Throw in some casual items here and there and a couple of superior or even magical items if they make sense in your adventure. These will take on a very high signficance and value.

Maybe not much up here that you hadn't thought about, but those are my funnel related thoughts I guess

Have fun!

These are excellent tips, thanks!