Goodman Games

One of the things that turns me off most of 3e/Pathfinder is the power level. Stats are inflated way too much. If an 18 is the highest a normal person can achieve, magic should be able to exceed this limit, but not ridiculously so. I'd like to see the old cap of 25 in place, or something similar. There should be less emphasis on stats, and more on cool stuff. In 3E/Pathfinder, players reject the more flavorful items and opt for mechanical benefits? Robe of Useful Items? (My all time favorite magical item, btw) Sell it and buy a +2 headband of intellect. Folding Boat? Hocked for an extra plus on a weapon. This takes a lot of the coolness factor out of the game and makes it an exercise in mathematics only. I'd like to see the entire power scale trimmed down. Cap hit points at level 10 ala 1e, max pc attacks at 3. This will speed up combat immensely and make evocation spells useful again. Fireball has stayed the same damage for 30 years, yet hit points have tripled or quadrupled.

In a nutshell, I just want to see smaller numbers. Scale hit points, attacks, damage modifiers all back, and we'll have the same combat we have now, just fewer numbers to add.

Anyway, just my two cents.

I think you'll be very happy with it if that's what you're looking for.

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Dieter Zimmerman
[[Faceless Minion of the Dark Master]]

Every indication that I've seen is that the DCC rpg will have a much lower power scale than Pathfinder.

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Marv / Finarvyn
DCC Minister of Propaganda; Deputized 6/8/11

DCC RPG playtester 2011, C&C playtester 2003,T&T since 2003,
ADRP Since 1993, OD&D player since 1975

"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
-- Gary Gygax
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
-- Dave Arneson

Unless you sell your soul to the chaos gods, spellburn all your strength and con, and sacrifice the lives of your fellow PCs.

Then watch the sparks fly!

//H

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The lucky guy who got to write some Dungeon Crawl Classics.

DCC Resource thread: character sheets, judge tools, and the world's fastest 0-level party creator.

Darn it, where's the "like" button on this board?

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Dieter Zimmerman
[[Faceless Minion of the Dark Master]]

While this doesn't speak directly to the question of "numbers," one of Joseph's directives for the DCC was to ensure that magic is magical again. You don't give up a robe of many things .... it might be the only one in existence!

Magic items are no longer buffs to be slotted. They are awesome antiquarian relics that don't admit to the laws of physics. They are magical.

//H

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The lucky guy who got to write some Dungeon Crawl Classics.

DCC Resource thread: character sheets, judge tools, and the world's fastest 0-level party creator.

~like~ ~like~ ~like~ ~like~ ~like~

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Gnome Boy (a.k.a. "Jon") • DCC play-tester @ DDC 35, Feb 2011. • Beta DL 2111, 7:00 AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since 1977 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

Link: Here Be DCC Monsters

VOORAK, L, Hunter, S10, A12, Sm10, P6, I13, L13, AC 10, HP 3, Spear +0 1d8, Init 0; R 0, F 0, W -1, Holy water, Pelt, 3 iron spikes, 50' rope, 3d ration, 4-leaf clover (Find secret doors) (+1), Com +1

SARKLA, C, Gatherer, S9, A14, Sm14, P15, I14, L8, AC 11, HP 4, Knife +0 1d4, Init 1, R 1, F 1, W 1, Chest, Basket of veggies, 2d ration, lg sack, 1lb herbs, waterskin, torch, Seventh son (Spell checks), Com +1

TARR, C, Hunter, S14, A11, Sm15, P13, I7, L7, AC 10, HP 3, Spear +1 1d8+1, Init 0, R 0, F 1, W 1, Holy water, Pelt, 4 torch, flint/steel, 1d ration, sm sack, 10' chain, torch, Fox's cunning (traps), Com

TELVA, RIP

Well, based on my kill ratios at playtest sessions, I think power inflation is the least of your worries. I would focus more on getting ANY of your characters to 2nd level. Hell, even getting to 1st level would be an accomplishment. Last year I ran 4 or 5 playtest games at GaryCon, and in the very first session I wiped out the ENTIRE party of 0-level characters. Not like 3 or 4 of them, but something like 18 PCs. "Playtest feedback for self: ramp down the death rate!" I consistently wipe out large portions of every party that runs through my playtest sessions. Part of this is my style as DM and preference for deathtrap dungeons, so we've tried running other adventures under the DCC rules (e.g., Tavis ran Castle Zagyg using DCC RPG rules recently) to see how much of it is me vs. the game system. It appears to be a mix. But you need not worry, this game has power deflation, if anything!

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Joseph Goodman
Goodman Games
www.goodman-games.com

I too like to run challenging games that result in large PC body counts. There's different ways to balance that out, and I look forward to seeing the place (or, should there be optional rules for HP kickers and the like, places) where DCC RPG ends up falling on the spectrum.

Whereas I tend to be a lot nicer to my players, and I still kill a good 4-5 characters per session.

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Dieter Zimmerman
[[Faceless Minion of the Dark Master]]

Ditto. I've had a couple TPKs, but they are usually player inflicted, going out in a blaze of righteous glory.

Had one PC sacrifice herself to off the big bad guy, and drag an unwilling participant along. She (a halfling) won contested strength checks all the way down. That was fun.

//H

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The lucky guy who got to write some Dungeon Crawl Classics.

DCC Resource thread: character sheets, judge tools, and the world's fastest 0-level party creator.

That reminds me of my buddy Trevor. Back in the 80s he had one of his fighters grab the necklace of missiles from the magic-user while all were attempting to get away from the "very bad thing" (I can't, for the life of me, recall what it was) and race right up to the monster hurling the necklace down point blank. He stopped the monster as both went out in a mushroom cloud!

While I am a fan of low-powered games, I also think that it should be realistically doable in AD&D for a magic-user to attain 18th level so as to be able to use those 9th-level spells. Sorry for using an AD&D example. I don't know enough about the DCC magic system to be able to use an example from it.

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Each of these modules is self-contained. No other books are required other than the three AD&D rulebooks (or a similar set of rules if you prefer).
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DCC spellcasters can be incredibly powerful, pulling off miracles, but it can come at a terrible cost. There is only so long that mortals can dabble in the dark arts without being changed. Stare into the abyss and the abyss will look back.

//H

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The lucky guy who got to write some Dungeon Crawl Classics.

DCC Resource thread: character sheets, judge tools, and the world's fastest 0-level party creator.

I am with the OP... stat have gained too much importance in the late edition of the game, while it should be nice to have a 18 it should not be mandatory

also I like the point on magical item (I would also go for "you need a sword bathed in the blood of a dragon to kill the lich, instead of you need a +4 weapon to hit a lich"

and what I am reading of DCC is really nice

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in D&D since 1984

In all the playtests I've run, players have been excited to have a 16 or 15. I don't think I've seen a single 18.

I have seen a couple 3s though. And that is *always* the PC that pulls through.

//H

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The lucky guy who got to write some Dungeon Crawl Classics.

DCC Resource thread: character sheets, judge tools, and the world's fastest 0-level party creator.

There was an 18 in one of the games I ran. Pretty sure he still died.

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Dieter Zimmerman
[[Faceless Minion of the Dark Master]]

I like this concept, that you have the "robe of many things" rather than a "robe of many things." The unique factor helps lend the feeling of magical wonder, since it's not like you can just buy another at MagiMart.

I've run monsters like this sometimes as well, where each dragon has a name so that you're fighting a particular dragon rather than just "a dragon." Or, you fight "the minotaur" or "the medusa" ... much more in line with the literature.

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Marv / Finarvyn
DCC Minister of Propaganda; Deputized 6/8/11

DCC RPG playtester 2011, C&C playtester 2003,T&T since 2003,
ADRP Since 1993, OD&D player since 1975

"The worthy GM never purposely kills players' PCs, He presents opportunities for the rash and unthinking players to do that all on their own."
-- Gary Gygax
"Don't ask me what you need to hit. Just roll the die and I will let you know!"
-- Dave Arneson

Is that all? Done. I wasn't using my soul anyway.

That's good to hear. It's not just how powerful pcs are, I still want them to be able to do cool stuff, I just want the cool things to have lower numbers attached to them. In my Pathfinder game, the ranger with kukris (d4 damage weapon) routinely hits for 25-30 points of damage per hit - and he NEEDS to do that kind of damage, the monsters hit points are so high. I'd rather cut that number at least in half and reduce hit points similarly. Net result, same battle, less modifiers to add, more time gaming, less time doing math. I'm really looking forward to the DCCRPG!

This game definitely sounds exciting. I am hoping that the power level is close to what C&C is. I feel that C&C fits nicely between Pathfinder & AD&D. After playing 3.x, AD&D feels a bit too light in terms of power, but Pathfinder & 4ed feels a bit too much. 1st level characters going up against BBEGs with 100 hps just feels too heavy. Based on what I am reading, this could fall close to what I am looking for.

And who needs high damage when you can ram your kurki in the minotaur's eyesocket and dig around until you find the brainstem?

Else what are critical hits for?

//H

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The lucky guy who got to write some Dungeon Crawl Classics.

DCC Resource thread: character sheets, judge tools, and the world's fastest 0-level party creator.

Starts with the letter 'q'.

Now, how much for that soul?

I agree that any magic item you find should be treasured and not parted with lightly. My old DM would probably say something like... Who do you think this shop keeper is Donald Trump. He doesn't have 50,000 GP sitting around waiting to buy all the magic items you want to dump. You might actually need a folding boat to save your skin in the future. Maybe you should keep it.

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"When creating your character,choose an ethical system that can justify nearly any fit of temper, greed, cowardice, or vindictiveness, for example, Chaotic Violent..."

THE PROTOCOLS, ADVANCED PROTOCOL #10

THIS is what magic should be! Am really looking forward to reading the rules.