Going from 5E to DCC - what should I know?

VacuumJockey · November 13, 2019, 05:17:45 PM

Looking for random practical advice and/or just alternative angles - I've played and GM'ed D&D5E, and a smidgen of SW, for the past couple of years. Our 5E games are hardcore combat optimization exercises; even the magic items are distributed according to how they will benefit The Party most. Our games are not quite struggle sessions, but it does take a bit of fun out of it.

But now I'm finally going to run some DCC, and I'm hoping to take the campaign in a more loose, bullshit-around-the-table direction. I intend to use a city setting for ease of having people/new characters dropping in and out, and I'll probably start out with the funnel in the book.

So - anything to add?

Ratman_tf · November 13, 2019, 05:53:43 PM

Wow. That's quite a shift in gears.
Embrace the chaos! There's a lot of randomness to DCC. I'd reccomend Sailors on the Starless Sea instead of the funnel in the book, but the one in the book should suffice.

Keep the pressure on the characters! After the funnel, I got lazy. The characters should be spending luck every adventure.
Which brings me to an important point. Decide how you're going to deal with characters spending luck points. Rogues and halflings technically regain spent luck, which means they can quickly gain more Luck than the other classes.
If I was doing to GM DCC again, I'd seperate the Luck stat from Luck points, and make it so that characters can't have more luck points than their luck stat.

Simlasa · November 13, 2019, 07:28:19 PM

Quote from: VacuumJockey;1113820Looking for random practical advice and/or just alternative angles - I've played and GM'ed D&D5E, and a smidgen of SW, for the past couple of years. Our 5E games are hardcore combat optimization exercises; even the magic items are distributed according to how they will benefit The Party most. Our games are not quite struggle sessions, but it does take a bit of fun out of it.

I'd think that would be the biggest change in mindset for all involved. DCC doesn't support the 'character build' mini-game at all. Which is a big part of why I enjoy it.

I like the funnel in the corebook as a means to move the PCs to a different environment/setting... there is no telling where/when they'll be once they exit that hyperspatial realm... so I'd be inclined to hold off on it and maybe toughen it up a bit for when such a transition is desirable. 'Sailors' is great, though it gets pretty tough at the end. I've read somewhere that it might be good to treat everything up to the monolith as 'funnel'... then go on as newly minted lvl1 heroes.

VacuumJockey · November 13, 2019, 07:28:31 PM

That is exactly what I am looking for, Ratman! Randomness and chaos, yes please!

I understand that there's an alternate Luck rule in the Lankhmar set, but while we're learning the DCC rules I guess we'll be OK. Once I get some experience with DCC, I'll start houseruling if needed. I'll check out Sailors, as it seems a very well regarded adventure.

VacuumJockey · November 13, 2019, 07:33:36 PM

Quote from: Simlasa;1113830I'd think that would be the biggest change in mindset for all involved. DCC doesn't support the 'character build' mini-game at all. Which is a big part of why I enjoy it.

I am very much looking for a change of pace, so that sounds just fine to me.

Brad · November 13, 2019, 08:25:23 PM

Really encourage the players to cast a lot of spells. Trick them into doing it then laugh when they mutate into creatures of chaos.

dkabq · November 13, 2019, 09:54:41 PM

PCs will die. Best to have each player have multiple PCs. I ran multiple funnels to start my campaign to load my players up.

Simlasa · November 14, 2019, 02:21:19 AM

Quote from: Brad;1113836Really encourage the players to cast a lot of spells. Trick them into doing it then laugh when they mutate into creatures of chaos.

In all the games of DCC I've played, I've only seen a few serious instances of misfires... one took out a fellow PC, another led to a PC being eaten by his Patron. It's kind of disappointing that there haven't been any mutations.
It's actually been rolling really HIGH on the spell table that has come closest to full TPKs.

VacuumJockey · November 14, 2019, 07:47:46 AM

How easy is it to convert to DCC from other systems? I really enjoy the Hydra Collective stuff, but I find that converting it to 5E is a slow and imprecise process.

RPGPundit · November 20, 2019, 06:57:38 AM

Embrace the Chaos is certainly good advice, but more than that make sure that the chaos FITS your game setting. That is to say, the world you play in needs to be a world that explains and accommodates the chaos.

Also, check out my various "gonzo" supplements in the RPGPundit Presents series. They are all derived from my DCC campaign.

dkabq · November 20, 2019, 07:46:04 AM

I have found that converting material (3E, S&W, etc.) to DCC is relatively straight-forward. Here is a link to sheet that I have found to be very helpful as a starting point.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2qlP_VOf718LTFEc05ZVlpIU0U/edit

RPGPundit · November 25, 2019, 07:23:16 AM

I typically just wing it.