DCC RPG is absolutely my favorite fantasy roleplaying game now. I like it so much I own 3 copies of it. You can't go wrong giving this book as a gift to your DM. The artwork alone is worth the price of admission.

Initially reluctant to go the retro clone route (even though I loved OD&D and 1st edition AD&D), I decided to to finally purchase DCC. I'm glad I did. You should too. The wealth of adventure modules alone is astounding! Buy it, you'll enjoy it!

I've been playing RPG's since 1981and have experience a lot of rules systems. This is an excellent system that blasts pulp Sword & Sorcery right back into your gray cells. There is fantastic retro styled S&S art on almost every page and the rules are designed around busy people who want memorable adventures to remember rather than min/max accounting sessions.

The XP system is dead simple to understand and use. The funnel system of character creation is brilliant!

This game is about adventure and making the most of your play sessions, with minimal down time crunching numbers and bookkeeping. It's based on the Appendix N 'Inspirational Reading' of the original Gary Gygax AD&D and it shows. Very inspired RPG and I highly recommend checking it out.

We finished the 0-level funnel adventure, Perils of the Sunken City, and ready are to dig into SC2: The Ooze Pits of Jonas Gralk with actual class level characters. Aside from these 3rd party adventures being outstanding, this review is for the DCC ruleset itself, which is such a lovingly crafted game one cannot help but admire the craftsmanship, time and thought that went into it.

First off, the art is reminiscent of 70s and 80s era artwork, and for me, i love that. I think a lot of older gamers will feel that same nostalgic tug. It even has a few silly cartoons thrown in there.

What is similar to current edition D&D? Fighter, Thief, Wizard, Cleric. D20 rolls. Skill DCs.

What is different? LOTS. The 7 main classes, fighter, thief, wizard, cleric, elf, halfling and dwarf, all have very, very different abilities. Magic is powerful and mysterious in this game, and can actually corrupt a wizard physically and spiritually. Clerics call upon divine intervention, but can possibly displease their deity and must make appeals and sacrifices. Thieves have the standard set up thief skills everyone is used too, but they have special Luck recharging bonuses that most other classes lack. The fighter is special too, not just a dude who swings a sword, he has a special ability called Mighty Deed of Arms, which basically means, "If the player can think of something cool to do in combat, here's his chance at success." Thsi can be anything from plucking out the eyeball of a basilisk, parrying an attack, kicking someone down a set of stairs, swinging across a chandelier and impaling the black knight, etc.

The racial classes are interesting too: elves are essentially fighter-mages, halflings are thiefy, and dwarves make excellent fighters.

What else is different? The Critical Hit and Fumble charts. This game is DANGEROUS. Losing limbs and organs can be a common occurrence. For me, i think i might tone down some of that lethality just so the PCs can survive a little longer, but the system is imminently tweakable, i don't think any gamemaster in the world could resist putting his own stamp or twist on the rules.

There is more, but in the end i just have to say...buy it. You won't regret it.

This is one of the better Original Edition Inspired RPGs I have seen hit the market in awhile. While I have a great love of Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Castles and Crusades, and Swords & Wizardry DCC has a vibe all its own. Some people might say the game is crunchy, but that is where the fun begins. No one session is alike, the play is very random and keeps the players and referee on his/her toes. The game is class and level based and really takes the classic Appendix N to heart. Herein you will find true classic Swords and Sorcery handed over on a unique and well crafted plate. Also the third party support on this game is amazing!

If you do not own DCC and you are a fan of classic D&D or Swords & Sorcery, you need to pick this up now!

Back in the mists of time, I wandered into a meeting of the university's then wargames club and over the sound of jawbones hitting the floor at the sight of a woman, a lanky fellow asked "Would you like to play D&D?"

Opening this work takes me back to the sheer wonders and excitement that followed. The whole style, the artwork, the words, are redolent of those early books that soon found their way onto my bookshelves alongside the botany textbooks... and yet, this isn't merely another retro-clone, it is a coherent game in its own right, bringing its own freshness and elegance to the core of fantasy role-playing: the small band of adventurers battling enormous odds and terrifying monsters in search of awesome magics and heaps of treasure.

The opening pages include myriad armies of humanoids bearing the credits aloft on banners, passing a list of playtesters and even some photos of early games on their way to the introduction... or at least an admonitory page that lists what you are expected to bring to a reading of this tome, along with a large fire-breathing dragon to deal with those who come unprepared!

Then on to the Introduction, where the core mechanic of a single d20 roll is explained with sections detailing the differences and similarities depending on which rules systems you already know. That one page pretty much sets you up, the remaining hundreds supply the fine detail, the meat for the bones.

So, on to Chapter 1: Characters. Herein is the first novel concept, the 'Character Creation Funnel' where instead of labouring over a finely-honed character long before you get to adventuring, you create a handful of completely random Level 0 characters for each player, and run the whole lot through an adventure or two, unprepared as they are. Those that survive are rewarded with a proper character class and all the other stuff that most of us reckon belongs on a character sheet and, armed already with tales of the overwhelming odds that they have overcome, they'll be ready for the real adventures to begin. It's different, it sets the style of a game in which it is less important what awesome stats or cool gear you have than it matters what you do with it, an acknowledgement of the staple of fantasy fiction where some gawky unprepared farmboy or alley rat finds himself thrust into epic adventures and makes good.

These basic characters are described by their ability scores that represent their Strength, Agility, Stamina, Personality, Intelligence and Luck; all rolled in that order with 3d6. Game balance? Character concept? Pah! Roll your bones and live with what you get. Or not, this Level 0 fellow may not have a long life... but maybe he'll be a legendary sword-swinger or spell-caster before you are done with him. This new-spawned character is supplied with a random occupation (the trade he plied before some whim sent him adventuring) complete with appropriate trade goods and a weapon that he's learned to use, at least well enough to be more of a menace to monsters than to his friends. The 'occupation' table includes demi-human races, and in this game those who survive long enough to get a character class will find that their class is Dwarf or Elf or Halfling, rather than Wizard, Warrior, Cleric or Thief... each has its own section explaining what they can do, the abilities and resources on which they can draw as their career progresses.

Next comes Chapter 2: Skills. As well as being able to fight, and maybe cast spells or thieve, characters have skills pertaining to whatever occupation they had before they started on the road to fame, fortune or an early grave as an adventurer. If a skill is appropriate to what you are trying to do, and you can argue the case for someone of your trade knowing that skill, you can roll a d20 to attempt it, else you roll a d10 to represent 'untrained' use of that particular skill. Yet these skill checks are best kept for when abstraction seems appropriate - if players can describe clearly what they are doing in the given situation, the results may well be obvious to the referee and the dice won't be needed. So this is a short chapter, and we move on to Chapter 3: Equipment.

Starting characters of Level 0 are regarded as peasants who have probably never seen, let alone possessed, a gold piece in their lives (apparently the offspring of nobility or even wealthy professionals never go adventuring!) and are gifted a basic weapon from their former occupation, so will not be buying much. However, those who survive long enough to amass some loot are likely to want to spend it on gear so weapons, armour and some basic items of equipment are to be found here with prices and other details. For those wishing to start at higher levels, there are suggested 'starting gold' figures as well.

Next is Chapter 4: Combat. This covers the basics of the combat resolution system, with the assumption that the referee already has a fair idea of what he is doing from other similar games. One refreshing point is that the use of miniatures and battlemaps is, if not actively discouraged, regarded as optional. Combat is turn-based, with group initiative at low levels (moving to character-based initiative once the surviving few are all that remain of the original mob). Most characters can undertake but one action - fight, cast a spell or the like - as well as move when it is their turn. Normal attack rolls, along with criticals and fumbles (ranging from making yourself the laughing stock of the party to stabbing yourself and falling flat on your back!) are covered in sufficient detail to empower the orderly running of a combat encounter. Whilst the main focus is on melee, ranged and mounted combat are also detailed. Characters who fancy having songs written about them have a chance at performing a Mighty Deed of Arms - provided that they say so before rolling their dice, and roll well when they do so. Characters are encouraged to devise a 'Signature Deed' that they specialise in, although this is as much for colour than it is for mechanical effect!

All this skill at arms has the inevitable result of dealing damage and even causing death, so this is the next topic to be discussed. When a Level 0 character runs out of hit points that's it, he's dead; but as characters rise in level they get a bit tougher and there's a window of opportunity to save them before they bleed out entirely... although it is likely that they will suffer permanent damage and have a fine scar to show the grandchildren! Healing and other combat-related matters are dealt with here as well, from fighting two-handed to turning undead by use of a holy symbol and even spell duels!

Appropriately, then, next comes Chapter 5: Magic. This starts with an awful warning: magic is not something to be meddled with lightly. It's dangerous, hard to control and can levy a heavy price on those who dare to wield it. Hence, there are no casual, off-the-cuff small magics, the sort to make life convenient, just the big spectacular spells. The source of magical power depends on what sort of spell-caster you are. Clerics, naturally, draw on their deities. Wizards may practise white magic (or enchantments), elemental magic or consort with demons to learn black magic. In game mechanical terms, however, they work if you make a spell check, a d20 roll with appropriate modifiers, which you have to roll every time you want to cast a spell. Wizards desperate to succeed can engage in 'spellburn' which is a process to enhance capabilities by sacrifice (i.e. gain some extra positive modifiers!). Spellcasting takes a lot out of you, which is why wizards can only cast a limited number of spells a day. Moreover, no two wizards are the same and they don't cast identical spells - each time you learn a new one you roll on a table to determine how that spell works in your hands... an interesting and novel way to ensure that magic users are not clones, but individuals with signature abilities. But beware: while low-level wizards pack quite a punch, as they rise in level and power so do they run greater risks as insiduous corruptions beset them (especially whenever a spell check is fumbled!). Clerics, on the other hand, have to beware of gaining the disapproval of their deity. In classic style, there are numerous tables on which the GM can roll to determine precise effects. In time, it may be hard to distinguish between spell-user and monster!

So, on to the spells themselves, a full 716 of them for wizards alone, plus an assortment for clerics. Wizards, apparently, are a bit like trainspotters, almost in competition to find as many of those 716 spells - first described by a list-obsessed wizard who woke a somnolent elder deity to ask! - as they can! Each is described in detail, with tables to roll upon to determine the results of casting them successfully... or what will happen when you botch your casting. GMs will have hours of fun telling the party what happens each and every time magic is performed.

After delighting my way through that lot (and I shall be hoping to get a wizard character if I get a chance to play rather than GM!), Chapter 6: Quests and Journeys looks at the sort of things our intrepid characters might get up to in the course of their adventures. It carries with it an exhortation: to lift the game away from pure mechanics and die-rolling, and to turn to a quest format whenever someone wants to gain something or achieve a goal. Quite a few examples are given, and could provide scope for epic adventures in place of mere mechanics: if you wish mastery of a certain weapon, say, seek out a master and study under him, rather than select it at your next level-up! Then comes a discussion of the conceptual differences between the real modern world and the cod-mediaeval fantasy one the characters inhabit, and how to use it to good effect to make adventure out of a mere trip to the next town to seek out a swordsmith or a new mount. Travel is an adventure in its own right - even when you remain on the surface of your game world... and then there's underground or even other planes of existence to explore!

Next, Chapter 7: Judge's Rules opens by suggesting that rules should bend to the GM's whim, not the other way around! Other suggestions follow thick and fast, including maintaining openness and real risk, no die-fudging to keep characters alive: dungeon-crawling classic style is a dangerous occupation. There's a lot more about the underpinning logic to magic, how to design new spells, where wizards will find spells to learn (and how to make them work at learning, not just scribble down spell names as they come across them or level up). Details of wizard's familiars and how to make them intersting and unique in their own right... even some patrons and the benefits and drawbacks of associating with them. Magic in this game has the potential to be far more potent and powerful and story-driving than in many games. Clerics and theurgy gets the same kind of treatment, before the discussion moves on to heroes, experience points and luck.

This is followed by Chapter 8: Magic Items. Don't expect to get them out of a catalogue, each is unique and brings its own flavour to the game... and there are tables to roll upon and advice to help you come up with your own items that will feature large in the legends of your world. Swords, scrolls, potions, wands... the usual items, but with a certain spin to them that makes them truly remarkable, as they ought to be. You are encouraged to create backgrounds, provenance, personality, for each and every magic item you place.

And where would we be without Chapter 9: Monsters? Monsters are not the catalogue of adversaries you might expect. They are mysterious, and knowledge about them can be as valuable as slaying them outright. Referees are urged to describe them as they appear, not baldly name them as an orc or ogre. And they are not alike. The orcs hereabouts may be quite different from the ones two valleys over - and as likely to fight each other as to lay in to the characters. Oh, and they do things their way, have powers or skills that characters do not. Then a real shocker for many modern gamers: no encounter balance. In this game, it is not only all right to run away, that may be the best option if you want to stay alive. Plenty more tables to roll on here to help you make this all come about. Example monsters are provided, along with notes on what treasure they might have. The worst monsters - the ones who ostensibly are 'people' just like the characters - are also included. And now, we are ready to begin. Rolls your bones and face the funnel...

This does indeed do what it says on the tin: the full heady flavour of early fantasy gaming coupled with elegant thoughtful rules that show considered understanding of a good thirty years of game development. And it comes redolent with images of the kind that take you right back to those early days.

Introduction: Dungeon Crawl Classics has been making some buzz on the RolePlayingGeek forums. The "not just another return to old school" RPG comments and Goodman's reputation made me take a closer look at this highly thematic fantasy RPG.

Art: Probably what hits you first is the "old school" art. It's not the slick Magic the Gathering art that's been infecting coffee table RPG's, but art last seen in the old first edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. I'm namedropping, but Erol Otus, Jeff Dee, and Jeff Easley are contributing artists. And, yes, the art still has no relevance to the text the page is on, comsuming gobs of laser printer ink if you're even thinking of printing this out. I REALLY wish a printer-friendly PDF version of this book was released.

Core Mechanic: It's OGL.

Differences from other systems: Basic D&D's Cleric, Thief, Warrior, Wizard, Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling classes. Surviving 0th level. The Luck ability score. Spell checks -- which work differently for wizards versus clerics. Critical hit tables, fumble tables, and other tables of thematic fury. No prestige classes, attacks of opportunity, feats, or skill points.

Organization: The book is pretty intuitive to use. For example, character generation comes first (because all the old school gamers did that sort of thing), before the actual combat mechanics. It's also a PDF, so searching is easy. While it has a simple Table of Contents, it has no index. Chapters are Characters, Skills, Equipment, Combat, Magic, Quest snad Journeys, Judge's Rules, Magic Items, Monsters, and two Adventures.

Characters:

You start at to 0th level, with its high mortality rates. The book states upfront you'll generate -- and play -- several characters and see who survives. The core book comes with a 0th level adventure so DMs will have an idea of how to design one. And there IS a random character generator at Purplesorcer.com. Still, you can easily make first and higher levels if you want to do boring things like survive.

In addition to the standard platonic solids (and the heretical d10), the game calls for Zocchi dice: d3, d5, d7, d14, and so on. They'll set you back over $20 on Amazon.com. Rather than just using positive and negative modifiers, you will "step up" and "step down" dice. A d8 might be stepped up to a d10, or stepped down to a d7, for example. Unfortunately, for those of us who own iPods, there's no app for this (yet). But see Purplesorcer.com for a web die roller and KickStart app.

DCC pretty much uses the standard six ability scores and modifiers. Personality replaces both Charisma and Wisdom. Luck is a new ability score used for a variety of skill checks and other rolls. You can burn Luck for a one-time bonus on a roll (typically life-or-death) and gain it back through roleplaying to your alignment. Your character will roll on the Luck Score table to see what special ability they can modify with Luck (eg. The bull: Melee attack rolls).

Character generation consists of: 3d6 for each ability. 1d4 hit points, modified by Stamina, one randomly determined piece of equipment, one randomly determined occupation, and zero XP. On the character Occupation tables, you roll your character's occupation and if their character is a non-human (such as a halfling chicken butcher). You get to choose your alignment: Law, Chaos, or Neutral.

PDF Notes: Character generation is only twelve printed pages long, so you can print this section as a handout for players.

Classes: As said, the classes are Basic D&D's Cleric, Thief, Warrior, Wizard, Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling. Each class has its OGL level progression table, but also have special abilities that set them apart. Clerics and Wizards cast spells (that's a whole chapter in itself). Thieves have thief-related skills and can better use Luck than other classes. Warriors can make cinematic Mighty Deeds of Arms, such as blinding or disarming an opponent, and have improve critical hit tables. Dwarves and halflings are fighters while Elves are fighter/wizards. Besides racial abilities, dwarves have a shield bash attack, and halflings can fight two-handed and serve as a party good luck charm! The non-spellcasters are easier to play. Each class's section is only a few pages long so you can print out these sections as player handouts. (Spell casters, however, will need to know the Magic rules.)

Combat: Combat is pretty much OGL with chromey tables and without a grid. Roll for Initiative, roll for your Attack, roll for damage. A Natural 1 results in a roll on the Fumble table, and a Natural 20 means rolling on your classes' Critical Hit table (yes, there's more than one Critical Hit table!). Warriors and Dwarves have their Mighty Deeds. NPCs have Morale Checks. Characters can fight two-handed with penalties, and clerics can turn unholy opponents. DCC also has a complex Spell Duel subsystem that can accomodate multiple spellcasters -- and can result in nasty eldritch side-effects (demonic invasion, anyone?). With the grid gone, combat has been simplified back to AD&D.

Magic: Magic is dangerous. Spellcasters make a spell check, and each spell has its own results table. The higher the result, the better effect the spell has. Critical failures and successes add highly thematic penalties and consequences. A cleric's failure reduces his chances of casting spells until the next day (his deity's busy fighting a holy war) and a roll on the disapproval table (eg. a test of humility). Wizards have the far worse (and amusing) miscast and corruption failures. Miscast an Animal Summoning spell, and your familiar might disappear and come back very very angry. An example of a minor corruption would be ears mutating, major corruption corpulence, and greator corruption tentacles replacing limbs. Wizards' spells are further individualized with side effects ("Mercurial Magic"). Spellburn rules allow wizards to temporarily sacrifice ability points to add to his spell check or recover cast spells. Wizards have familiars, can consult spirits, and can even acquire supernatural patrons. These effects are handled by extensive but uncomplicated tables in the book. Unfortunately, the magic rules and spells are not well layed out for printing from a PDF. The magic section mixes rule players must know (eg. descriptions and ranges of spells) with information a gamemaster may wish to keep from the players (eg. the various tables of effects). Spells are about a page long, but some spells wrap to the next page, making printing of individual spells inconvenient. Clerical spells and wizard mechanics and spells differ enough that I would have preferred to see a different chapter on each.

Magic Items and Monsters: In the DCC world, magic items are rare and unique, monsters mysterious and heresay. Swords receive an extensive treatment of tables to personalize them. Rules for scrolls are provided. Potions have a table in under the Make Potion spell, but that's about it. Magical items are more like the One Ring than Home Depot. Although a monster bestiary is included (they get their own Critical Hit tables, too!), so are suggestions to make a stock creature unusual enough for players to be unsure what they're facing. Stat blocks are also included for human non-player characters. Treasure is relegated to an opinion piece against the conventional "monster guarding a pile of coins". If you (and particularly your players) don't like this aspect of the game, it shouldn't be too hard to change.

Adventures: The core book comes with two adventures, The level 0-1 Portal Under the Stars, and 5th level Infernal Crucicable of Sezrekan the Mad. These adventures were also released at the 2011 Free RPG Day, so do not purchase the Free RPG Day product. True to its lethal character generation, Portal is designed for fifteen to twenty 0th level characters, with each player definitely controlling more than one character. The author's playtests show games of up to 28 players and a 50% mortality rate, with only one TPK. Infernal is more conventionally suited for 4-8 5th level characters. Portal has nine encounters and Infernal three. I haven't played them, so don't have a sense how long the adventures take or how "meaty" they are.

Support: Despite the new release of the core books, DCC already has some adventures and other support available. Purple Sorceror Games has a free character generator and dice roller. Their first adventure, Perils of the Sunken City for 0-1 level, is available on DriveThruRPG and has free paper miniatures and battlemaps at the website. Goodman Games has released two DCC adventure: Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea, and Dungeon Crawl Classics #68: People of the Pit(previous DCC adventures are for other game systems). Other 3rd party companies (even Paizo) are advertised with the PDF but their websites don't show product released yet. DCC is OGL, so, except for 0th level 15+ character adventures, I don't think it would be difficult converting from D&D 3.x to DCC.

Conclusion: Dungeon Crawl Classics puts a fantastic spin on generic fantasy roleplaying. Those of us who remember "old school" games with their extensive critical hit tables and other wild ideas have them again. Spells are no longer lifeless stat blocks but are to be feared, even by those who wield it. With D&D Next returning back to its "old school" roots, Dungeon Crawl Classics is definitely worth a look at.

Simply excellent.

I've grown up with RPGs in the background, considered myself one of the early "Munchkin" gamers... "Go play Atari, kid, this stuff is too...complex for you..." ---Thought balloon "If he sees our Heavy Metals and that topless lady pewter figure and tells Mom..."

But I've played D&D/AD&D and others for years, sadly not much after a year or so into the 00s

Reading this, and I got the "Free RPG" a year ago, it's well worth the price. I'm starting to like "Old school" rpgs. Oh, I do not bash the future and idolize the past, I simply like the imperfect RPG worlds of past times versus the more slick, modern worlds created by big businesses. They have better writers, artists, etc. But I like the RPGs that were hashed out in a bunch of adventures and kind of formed consensual mish-mash fantasy worlds. Being real geeky I hope there's "Oerth" somewhere in the multiverse, but oh, well...

So, it made me feel like a kid again, but I've played enough RPGs to "Run" this in my head and it's brilliant. Enough chaotic/offbeat/old school to be random, enough experience in people making it that the problems with the old rules aren't out to inspire another "Nodwick". Don't get too nerdy/attached to characters, though. Plenty of real death, encounters too powerful to charge in fighting.

I'll note they did a "Recommended Reading" list in the back which was a photo of a pile of books. Many of these are in my list. One note, and I'm not saying ill, but there's no Clark Ashton Smith despite there being clear CAS influence, notably the "Vombis Mold and Vombis Zombie" but big deal!

Now, as a PDF. Obviously it reads perfect on my computer using default PDF viewer software and Corel PDF Fusion. I also have a Toshiba Thrive tablet. On this it reads very well, though a few pages towards the beginning, the ones with photographs with text imposed over don't show up, but I can read the full thing OK. Likewise subsequent modules I've bought the two released as of this date of this comment work perfectly on all screens.

The DCC RPG is the most plaesant surprise of the year. It's a game that not only captures the feeling of old-school gaming and appendix N literature, but does it with the use of innovative and fun game mechanics and with the help of writing that's going to have an impact on how you play and run your games.

The size of the book might be intimidating, but it's a bit deceiving: it's full of cool illustrations made by the best old-school artists of the past and the present, the font is quite big and there are plenty of whitespace. I found it quite easy to read, it didn't strain my eyes like some other, flashy products. Joseph Goodman has a very strong opinion and goal, and the writing mirrors his enthusiasm very clearly. I enjoyed it very much, especially since he gives a lot of good advice for players and judges too. I think this is one of the defining aspects of DCC RPG: instead of more and complex rules, you get inspiring advice and content to customize the game. Goodman Games deserves a praise for the bookmarks too, which make navigation in the pdf very easy. Too bad there's no index, which makes it harder in the hardcover version...

The rules are based on a the d20 system, but leaves the crunchy character optimizing game elements and pain in the ass rules out. Your character is an amalgam of a profession, six attributes (strength, stamina, agility, intelligence, personality, luck), a birth augur, and of course a character class. By default the game advises the players to start with a handful of level 0 commoners, who will become level 1 adventurers after their first adventure, but you also get the rules to start at higher levels. The attributes go from 3 to 18, their bonuses going from -3 to +3. Luck is and odd one, because it can change a lot: you can burn your luck to survive dangerous situations, and you can gain more if you find a way to please fate and the gods.

The seven classes might be well known from earlier editions of D&D, but they are very different from their origins and even each other when it comes to gameplay and mechanics. Warriors are brutal in combat and have the Mighty Deed of Arms, which is probably the coolest and most flexible subsystem for martial maneuvers I've ever seen. Thieves are good at thief skills and their luck reacharges with rest. Clerics can use the power of their gods to turn unholy (what's unholy depends on religion), lay hands, ask for divine aid and summon spells, but they must be careful, for the overuse of their powers or bad luck might anger the god, and pleasing the gods requires sacrifice. The wizard cast spells in a semi-vancian way, can serve and invoke various patrons for more power, but at a cost. Dwarves are underground fighters who can smell out treasures, detect strange constructions and are adept at using their shields. Elves are a mix of warriors and wizards, who can find patrons easier, are immune to sleep and paralysis, have infravision, but the touch of iron burns their skin. Halflings are good stealthy, ambidextrous and bring luck to the party.

The core system is very light. The whole skill chapter is only two pages long and the rules for combat aren't complex either. It's the extra stuff, that makes thing more complicated, and in my opinion, interesting and cool. You get critical and fumble charts for combat, Mighty Deed of Arms for warrior maneuvers, and a seperate sub system for spell duels. The latter is perhaps the only part of the game that's more complex than needed, and might slow down gameplay. DCC RPG also uses the Zocchi dice, and in a good way: instead of adding or subtracting modifiers, some situations change what kind of dice you roll, eg. when fighting with two weapons, you might roll a d20 for your right handed, and a d14 for your left handed attack.

The largest chapter of the book is of course magic. Every spell has various power levels. How powerful you cast a spell depends on your roll, caster level and spell casting attribute modifier. Most spells aren't really single spells, but contain multiple variations. Wizards must be careful, for fumbles and low rolls can result in corruption, misfire and the loss of the spell until the next rest. Clerics are safe, but the overuse and failures will give them penalties for their following spells. I also love the mercurial magic chart: every wizard gets a side effect for each spel he learns. There are good, bad and even neutral side effects, and these make it sure that two wizards won't cast the same spell the same way.

The rest of the book contains supplementing rules, guidelines for running the game, craeting magic items, a bestiary with lots of charts to craete unique humanoids, demons, giants, dragons, undead. There are some appendices at the end of the book for curses, poisons, house ruling, names, titles, etc. Not much to write about these, I already praised them in the second paragraph enough. We also get two modules, one for zero level characters (this one is quite good) and one for fith level (this one is an interesting, but way too short deathtrap). After that, all you get is more art and ads about third party publishers.

Overall I'm very satisfied with the product. It's good to see in the big old-school mania a game, that not only captures the feel of old-school fantasy literature, but improves it, and does it with modern mechanics, without cloning an older edition of D&D. It's also a very good and useful supplement for Judges, Dungeon Masters, Referees of other games, since it's full of great guidelines, advice and mechanics, that you can use elsewhere.

I started playing RPGs in 1981 and played up to and into college for a few years. I played B/X, BECMI, AD&D, Traveller, Star Frontiers, Gamma World, and many other systems. My favorites were B/X and AD&D. I stopped playing in college and took up miniature war games. I started playing again a few years ago and have been playing Pathfinder. I did not care for 4E. At the beginning of 2012 I decided to play some of the retro games, C&C and LL.

I recently bought and read DCC RPG. I can tell you I read much of the rule book over about a week and was amazed. I remember the sense of wonder I experienced so long ago when I initially read the Basic Rule book out of my red box. That is the same way I felt when I read DCC. I have not played the game yet, but I am preparing to run my group through a DCC campaign. The book is visually stunning with so much wonderful old school artwork. I enjoyed distinct flavor each character class represents. DCC is truly a homage to Howard, Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, and Sword and Sorcery in general.

$40 is worth the price if you are a fan of OSR, Sword and Sorcery, and great game mechanics. Even if you never play the game. On a side note the game seams like it was made to House Rule for those who like to make small changes to their games.

Ian

I cant wait to try this out. Ill post a more detailed review later after ive played it. The art is fantastic and the concepts for making magic dangerous, risky and powerful with costs and long-term consequences is great. My only caveat is that i didnt care for the racial classes (elf, dwarf, halfling) but im sure those will be easily amended with house rules or later expansions.

This is no retro clone.

It is brilliant. Fresh and inventive.

It is like nothing else out there.

The artwork is incredible.

It will be supported with a mass of material.

Buy it!

In all fairness, I received a review copy of this excellent book a while ago, and posted the following review to NerdTrek originally.

The first thing one can not escape when scanning through the 488 pages of Goodman Games Dungeon Crawl Classic (DCC) Core Rule Book is the art. It’s everywhere, and I do mean, everywhere. The TOC is laid out inside art panels held up by characters, credits, play tester thank yous, designer notes, all tucked into the artwork, that is…for lack of better explanation, straight out of the 70′s. Seriously, this IS your daddy’s artwork folks lol. The art instantly took me back to my childhood and the style of RPG games that were on the shelves at my local game-store when I first got into role playing as a hobby. Is it cheezy art? Oh yeah, but in all the ways that make it good, that type of silly weird art that feels like a guilty pleasure.

Not looking to simply be yet another retro clone, DCC holds it’s own with a rule-set that brings old school simplicity to today’s audience of players, with just enough of the standards in today’s rules to make even hardcore edition warists feel comfortable learning how to play. One of the first things that stuck with me, when reading how one designs a character for DCC, was that your race is your class….You are an elf, or a wizard…remember those days folks? No Elven Wizards here, nor Dwarven Warriors…nope, uh uh. Old School standard put elves and dwarves as their own class, and so does DCC. We also have the concept of the Zero level character, which I could see being an absolute bloodbath for the poor players. Building characters as the rules layout, which will really irritate those min-maxers out there, you will end up with at least four zero levels characters per player at the table, all with truly random abilities and gear. Why so many? Why so Random? Simple. You roll your stats and right them on the sheet in the order you roll them, with 3d6, no re-rolling, no dropping low rolls, just take what you get…then roll for a profession to determine what piece of gear you get to take with you (anything from a farm implements to barnyard animals). You create a handful of characters because, well, you have no real weapon, skill, or armor….and barely any hit points, your gonna die, a lot, lol. But, with a crowd of characters the odds of one making it to 10 XP is good, and at 10 XP you become first level, and get to pick a class, and begin building your character into someone. Where as the concept of how to start a character is very different from most games in it’s approach to forcing a player to truly play a nobody at start, its a refreshing difference, and one that I think has the potential to be a lot of fun for a group, I can see them tracking the dead pool, and sharing tales of how their zero’s died, lol.

Another of the many concepts within this system that I found interesting was that magic corrupts, pure and simple. The longer one uses it, the higher in level one gets, the more chance the run that magic will corrupt them, both physically and mentally. Why? Simple, magic is derived by dealing in pacts with demons and devils, negotiating with celestial beings, and harnessing raw elemental forces never meant to be channeled by humans…so it kind of makes sense when you put it in perspective, and I find myself amazed that more mainstream systems have not tackled the very same issue as a standard rule as of yet. The magic section contains several d100 charts (I know, how long has it been since these were the standard for everything, mass nostalgia) handling magical effects, corruption results, costs of doing business with demons/devils, results of spell burns (a method for “saving” failed spells), and the most interesting chart of all, in my opinion, the Mercurial chart. Mercurial Magic, the concept that everything, and I do mean everything matters when it comes to magic, and therefore no two spellslingers could possibly be the same. The first born child of a hanged witch, child born as a rare comet reached the apex of the twilight sky, man subjected to blindness by looking into the well of the abyss….all of these people are special to the fabric of reality in a different way, and magic flows through them differently, as it should, hence the mercurial magic chart, to determine the different results of their spell castings. Just another concept of random weirdness to remind you that fantasy games are supposed to keep you on your toes, and never grow complacent.

And of course, it would be wrong of me to fail to mention that this system already has an immense amount of support material, not only int he form of adventures from Goodman Games, but from 3PP’s as well, and at least in my point of view, when you see a compatibility logo, it’s a good sign that a system is worth checking into, as it’s going to have new material and support from more than one source, which usually means there will be plenty of material for GM’s and players alike. For those who are missing a simpler time in gaming, when demons were demons, and the bad guys wore black, this game will feel like coming home. For those who are looking for an alternative to their current mainstream that will take them back to their childhood (or at least their older brother’s), then this game will be a lot like dropping by the neighbors for a fun night of hanging out…something different, but all together enjoyable and familiar.

The formatting is top notch, in that it makes you think you are reading a book from the 70′s. I found practically no typos or editing glitches, and in a book of this size, that’s saying something. The layout jumps from single to dual column throughout the book, with artwork both embedded and on splash pages. The artwork is B&W and all invokes the era of the 70′s when it comes to the style of art that was popular during that time period, I swear a few of these pieces would have worked as side murals for vans back in the day, right down to the shirtless muscled warrior with sideburns saving the day.

The rules are solid, and fun, which is an all important detail when it comes to a game system. They are simplistic enough that a group could learn the game quickly, but complex enough to make sure one does not feel like they are playing a stripped down game. The balance found there was a good one, and impressed me with how easy the rules felt to grasp, while still being subtly complex in their design.

Overall, this is an excellent product to add to a gaming shelf, both as an alternative game for a group, a new game for those groups disillusioned with their current game, a instant favorite for the old school crowd, or a great way for the younger generation to reconnect with the older generation of gamers on common ground at the gaming table. I can not recommend this book enough, it really was a blast to read and reconnect with my roots, and I urge you to pick up a copy for yourself.

Excellent production quality, and having followed the development of the game I can tell it's an original and inventive rediscovery of old-school tropes.

Pre-ordered it, got the advanced PDF download.

Love it! The best of both worlds - OLD school and D20. I would recommend it for a good old fashioned Hack & Slash Dungeon Crawl any day.

Simple character creation and advancement. A little more detailed with the magic system, but well worth it. And using the d3, d5, d7, d14, d16, d24, & d30 to spice up game play even more is novel. Over all, a straight forward RPG with minimal character details to help make game play go forward faster.