DCC vs 5e

Larsdangly · September 06, 2014, 12:54:15 PM

Yeah, when D&D got assimilated by the Borg the hobby underwent a transition that can't be undone. It used to be that cool, gonzo ideas and freaky art could be found in both insider and outsider games, and the borders between styles of games were vague. Now there is this sharp divide between corporate games, with their glossy artwork and douche-y writing and lame packaged settings, and the indie games that let it rip. 5E can take all the ideas it wants from the smaller games, but it can't shake the nasty funk of The Man.

LibraryLass · September 06, 2014, 02:31:27 PM

Quote from: JRR;785376DCC in spades. It at least resembles D&D.

More than the thing that actually is D&D?

DCC does have the advantage of not having two months to kill until the DMG becomes available, if you find the aesthetic to your tastes.

YourSwordisMine · September 06, 2014, 02:34:23 PM

Quote from: Larsdangly;7853965E maintains the scent of corporate sleeze given off by all WoC products.

That must be what my PHB smells like then.

RunningLaser · September 06, 2014, 04:41:54 PM

I had the DCC rpg for a bit- the biggest hurdle I had was reading the pages. The text went straight into the page's gutter, making reading a chore.

Simlasa · September 06, 2014, 05:31:09 PM

Quote from: Larsdangly;7854045E can take all the ideas it wants from the smaller games, but it can't shake the nasty funk of The Man.

I think that will always be an issue for me. It's just a preference I have for that DIY end of the pool... could be anything. I try not to eat at chain restaurants, I prefer smaller indie movies and 'auteur' films, college radio stations, music that isn't Top 40... Youtube channels over most mainstream TV.
It seems to me that as soon as things get too 'professional' and start involving more money, more people sticking their noses in... and content generally gets watered down in favor of pleasing a wider audience.
Even at the micro-niche level of RPGs, 5e has that air of wanting to be a bit 'all things for all people' while DCC and LotFP definitely do not.

I guess that's a 'bad attitude' but it keeps things interesting.

LordVreeg · September 06, 2014, 05:41:01 PM

Quote from: The Butcher;785373This is how I see it:

I'd use D&D 5e for a game that feels like post-Dragonlance, middle-to-new-school D&D. Forgotten Realms, Eberron, your favorite TSR AD&D 2e-era setting or Paizo adventure path, or that homebrew setting you came up with when D&D 3.0e came out and you returned to D&D after years of playing White Wolf or GURPS or whatever.

I'd use DCC for super-gonzo, old-schooler-than-old-school D&D from TSR, Judges Guild and the OSR. The first D&D setting you created, Greyhawk with the 1982 World of Greyhawk book, the First Fantasy Campaign, your favorite TSR or Judges Guild module, Anomalous Subsurface Environment, Vornheim, Dwimmermount, Rob's Majestic Wilderlands and Blackmarsh, Aos' Metal Earth, Jack Shear's World Between, VectorSigma's Wampus Country and of course, the very evocatively named and illustrated adventures from Goodman Games.

Amazing.
Matching system to setting and game style. what a thought.

Tommy Brownell · September 06, 2014, 06:06:48 PM

Quote from: Marleycat;785340I lean to 5e because it's far more familiar to me but the spells/corruption of DCC is so Mage the Awakening 2e to me....there HAS to be a way to steal that for my future 5e game.

I'm doing 5e RAW at first...but I do so love the DCC magic system...

The Butcher · September 06, 2014, 06:25:03 PM

Quote from: LordVreeg;785484Amazing.
Matching system to setting and game style. what a thought.

Yeah, I know, super original. It's not like anyone else here has ever stated a setting design rule about calibrating system to setting expectations and/or vice-versa.

Zak S · September 06, 2014, 06:37:40 PM

Quote from: The Butcher;785373This is how I see it:

I'd use D&D 5e for a game that feels like post-Dragonlance, middle-to-new-school D&D. Forgotten Realms, Eberron, your favorite TSR AD&D 2e-era setting or Paizo adventure path, or that homebrew setting you came up with when D&D 3.0e came out and you returned to D&D after years of playing White Wolf or GURPS or whatever.

I'd use DCC for super-gonzo, old-schooler-than-old-school D&D from TSR, Judges Guild and the OSR. The first D&D setting you created, Greyhawk with the 1982 World of Greyhawk book, the First Fantasy Campaign, your favorite TSR or Judges Guild module, Anomalous Subsurface Environment, Vornheim, Dwimmermount, Rob's Majestic Wilderlands and Blackmarsh, Aos' Metal Earth, Jack Shear's World Between, VectorSigma's Wampus Country and of course, the very evocatively named and illustrated adventures from Goodman Games.

I'd do the opposite.

I find the weirdness of DCC stacks with local weirdness so much that fights involving DCC people take 2-3 times as long because everybody has a spell or patron bond or deed or corruption they gotta factor in to half the rolls. So if I had a vanilla setting I'd add DCC for flavor and if I had a weird setting I'd use 5e (which I am). 5e's (like most D&Ds) is pretty flexible.

The Butcher · September 06, 2014, 06:49:49 PM

Quote from: Zak S;785502I'd do the opposite.

I find the weirdness of DCC stacks with local weirdness so much that fights involving DCC people take 2-3 times as long because everybody has a spell or patron bond or deed or corruption they gotta factor in to half the rolls. So if I had a vanilla setting I'd add DCC for flavor and if I had a weird setting I'd use 5e (which I am). 5e's (like most D&Ds) is pretty flexible.

That's an intriguing thought, but isn't a world ruled by DCC's weirdness-generating logic bound not to stay "vanilla" for long? I mean, it's kind of hard to rendezvous with Elminster (or whoever your Merlin/Gandalf stand-in might be) by the hearth of a cozy Dalelands tavern when he's got cloven hooves and scaly skin and tentacles coming out of his chin.

Zak S · September 06, 2014, 06:57:51 PM

Quote from: The Butcher;785504That's an intriguing thought, but isn't a world ruled by DCC's weirdness-generating logic bound not to stay "vanilla" for long? I mean, it's kind of hard to rendezvous with Elminster (or whoever your Merlin/Gandalf stand-in might be) by the hearth of a cozy Dalelands tavern when he's got cloven hooves and scaly skin and tentacles coming out of his chin.

Which is fun to watch happen.

I mean if you want vanilla vanilla vanilla then, yeah, don't play DCC at all.

Arkansan · September 06, 2014, 08:36:56 PM

Quote from: The Butcher;785504That's an intriguing thought, but isn't a world ruled by DCC's weirdness-generating logic bound not to stay "vanilla" for long? I mean, it's kind of hard to rendezvous with Elminster (or whoever your Merlin/Gandalf stand-in might be) by the hearth of a cozy Dalelands tavern when he's got cloven hooves and scaly skin and tentacles coming out of his chin.

That would be about the only way Elminsters mary sue ass would be interesting at this point.

Skyrock · September 06, 2014, 08:45:37 PM

Elminster spouting tentacles from his ass!?

For when is that game being scheduled, and are there still spots in it? Calling dibs on the rogue who pops out of the shadows, points fingers at him and says "Haha!".

VectorSigma · September 06, 2014, 08:59:29 PM

Quote from: The Butcher;785373I'd use DCC for ... VectorSigma's Wampus Country

Interesting that you say that, as I'm considering using 5e for my next Wampus Country campaign.

I like both DCC and 5e. 5e has a certain neutrality to it - or rather, the implicit assumptions are so de rigeur that it doesn't _seem_ to have assumptions, if that makes any sense; while DCC has its own voice which is awesome but unavoidable. "Let's play DCC, but without the gonzo" is a goofy thing to say, right? There's also that (possibly unfair) perception-baggage that DCC is great for one-shots but not great for campaign play.

LibraryLass · September 06, 2014, 09:37:03 PM

Quote from: Simlasa;785480I think that will always be an issue for me. It's just a preference I have for that DIY end of the pool... could be anything. I try not to eat at chain restaurants, I prefer smaller indie movies and 'auteur' films, college radio stations, music that isn't Top 40... Youtube channels over most mainstream TV.
It seems to me that as soon as things get too 'professional' and start involving more money, more people sticking their noses in... and content generally gets watered down in favor of pleasing a wider audience.
Even at the micro-niche level of RPGs, 5e has that air of wanting to be a bit 'all things for all people' while DCC and LotFP definitely do not.

I guess that's a 'bad attitude' but it keeps things interesting.

So you're a hipster, then.