ORACLE

5/19/2011

DCC RPG Free RPG Day Adventure Starter "Advanced Look"

Tuesday morning I checked my email and found a surprise waiting for me from Joseph Goodman. Besides a nice note saying something about "an advance look at our Free RPG Day module," the email had a PDF of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Free RPG Day Adventure Starter (cover art shown above) attached! Joseph, you made my week, man!

Unfortunately, I have not been privy to the playtest rules that have been introduced at various gaming conventions these past few months, but looking over this introductory pair of adventures I can say that I am excited as hell to get my hands on the upcoming beta rules that will soon be released! According to Joesph the beta rules are in a “race to the finish”, and Goodman Games is "hoping to release them a couple days before Free RPG Day." I can't wait!

Looking over the adventures, there are two contained within the adventure starter: The Portal Under the Stars (Level 0-1), by Joseph Goodman and The Infernal Crucible of Sezrekan the Mad (Level 5), by Harley Stroh. Both are well written, and seem like they are going to be a ton of fun. I really like the art direction Goodman has taken with DCC RPG. The artwork hearkens back to the game's pulp roots, as well as the roots of the hobby, and it makes me want to play the game. There are several full page panels that showcase fantastic pieces by Jim Roslof and Peter Mullen. The hand drawn maps illustrated by Doug Kovacs are inspired, in my opinion. Not to mention the great cover by Mr. Kovacs.

It is apparent to me that Goodman has pulled out all the stops here, and is setting a precedent with this Free RPG Day adventure starter. If this is a sign of things to come then it looks like DCC RPG is going to be a huge hit. If ever there was a time for this kind of game I feel this is the time. And I am saying this without having played the game. I can be a hard person to impress, especially when it come to games. So far, color me impressed!

5 comments:

Aaron E. Steele said...

Looking forward to the final dead-tree release of the DCC!

Anonymous said...

This looks sweet. The art is nice and evocative.

Really enjoy your gallery of artist and author photos. Speaking of art--Bonazzi's work is special. I know him from online interaction over the past couple of years. Heck of a nice guy.

Shane Mangus said...

@imago1 (Laird) - Thank you for checking out my blog! I wasn't aware that you were into roleplaying games. I currently have your book, Occultation, on my wish list and can't wait to read it. I have heard so many good things. As for Bonazzi, I consider Andrea a close friend, even though I have only corresponded with him online. He is a hell of a sweet guy and I cannot say enough good things about him. In my book his talent is monolithic in scale.

Anonymous said...

I played 1e back in the dinosaur days. Decided to get back into--running a Greyhawk campaign for my brother and his wife with Labyrinth Lord and pieces of B/X and god knows what else. A blast. Change of pace from writing horror stories...

I agree--Andrea is a major talent. Anyway, I enjoy your take on things. Congrats again on the arrival of the little one. ;)

Laird

Shane Mangus said...

@Laird - glad to hear of your triumphant return to dungeon delving! :-)