Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game Quick Start Rules & Intro Adventure 2019

by Joseph Goodman, Doug Kovacs (cartographer), Jeff Dee (artist)

On one side are the DCC Quick Start Rules. This pared-down version of the Dungeon Crawl Classics rules are everything you need to get started with the game, and run your characters up to 2nd level. As with previous years, the spell mix is adjusted, so each year’s DCC Quick Start Rules is slightly different than the previous year.

The flip side of the book features a brand new adventure! Geas of the Star-Chons is an all-new level 1 Dungeon Crawl Classics adventure by Julian Bernick. The DCC Quick Start Rules also features the classic adventure, The Portal Under The Stars, so this book gives you two adventures to get things off to a great start.

Genres: Role Playing Games, Fantasy, Games

48 pages, Paperback

Published June 15, 2019

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, well-written QuickStart. I’m not sure if my few criticisms (such as the apparently backward values on the Fumble Table) are a result of the abridgment or if they’re also present in the full version. I’m also not sure what I think about the included Adventure Funnel: I’m still learning to appreciate those.

[Malum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm Thinking about running this soon, and this quick start has everything someone needs to get a feel for the game and play an adventure.

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a run of the mill pared down rules set. It does include two adventures which is a lovely touch.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid little set of OSR rules for dungeon crawling. A great deal of the content isn't included here so you'd need to get the full, 500+ page rulebook for it, but this is more than sufficient for a few oneshots. I had the fun of playing a level 0 funnel/meatgrinder earlier this month with some friends. Each of us had four level 0 characters and by the end, each of us was left with only one alive still -- after some people had to take one of the other player's remaining characters! So 16 of 20 characters died before the end of the first session (by design). Fun times, and the fights are quick and simple, even running for 20 characters.

The magic system reads like the big standout for me; all the varying crit/fumble tables for different spells is pretty cool, though at level 0 you don't even get into that. We're planning to continue with our survivors into a level 1 oneshot, and I look forward to seeing what adding classes to the mix does to the game dynamics.

I think the main thing I'd nitpick when it comes to the book (leaving aside annoying table placement choices in the layout) is the overly obsessive devotion to capturing the "oldschool" aspect of OSR, right down to the wording. Which means pretty much every pronoun referring to a player or character is "he/him/his". Between that and the typical skimpy/boobplate armour and sexy sorceress type depictions of so many of the female characters in the art, I can see this being a bit alienating to some players. It's not going to stop me playing it, by any means, but it's a little disappointing and would stop me from recommending it in some cases. Even if it's meant to be tongue in cheek, reproducing bad tropes without doing anything to actively comment on or deconstruct them isn't clever parody, it's just derivative.

The copy of this quick start I have was published (republished?) in 2017, so the fact that the author/design team doesn't appear to have considered using wording that doesn't make the default person a man is a little disappointing. You can do nostalgia and oldschool flavour for a system while still using basic principles of inclusive writing. There are so many TTRPGs out there that do this effortlessly, and they don't lose anything by it.

[Matthew J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are the same handy quick start rules you can get free on the Goodman Games website and that have come out for several Free RPG Days. This edition from 2019's Free RPG Day contains all the usual stuff, plus the adventure "Geas of the Star-Chons." Ostensibly for 4 to 6 1st level characters, I honestly don't see how it wouldn't result in a total party kill (TPK) every time. There are two different critters that by themselves seem likely to do a TPK, plus several other encounters that combined would likely kill off 4 to 6 characters. I've now played this as a solo, where my characters managed to skip about a third of the encounters and still nearly all died. And I've run it for 8 1st level characters (joined partway through by four 0 level characters). Even after toning down a few encounters, many characters were lost. Facing the Star-Chon as written seems almost certain to kill everyone. So, I halved its hitpoints and lowered its AC and it was still touch & go for the party.
Anyway, this is a fun game and the other scenario, "The Portal Under the Stars" is a great intro. I just think "Geas of the Star-Chons" needs work for 1st level characters if you want any of them to survive.