My DCCRPG Stuff Index

That is DCCRPG is one of my all-time favourite RPGs is nothing new. Thanks to its wonderful melange of old and new d20 stuff I was able to recruit my current table, to keep this blog, and even publish stuff! (It also downed on me that this blog has ben going for almost 15 years… yeah, I’m feeling old.)
 
So here is (almost) everything that I wrote on this old blog for DCCRPG:
(fair warning, my English is not terribly good and in the old posts is even worse, sorry!)
 
OCCUPATIONS
A Small Bit Vicious Dog for DCCPRG – because gongfarmers would be at home in Warhammer Fantasy and one of my 0-level PCs really loved his (cruel) dog.
The "Complete" Gongfarmer's Handbook (or d10 uses for nightsoil) – the title is enough.
 
CLASSES
Animal-Variant God Seeking Glorious Purpose – the result of me watching too much Loki. I have no regrets!
Anti-Clerics – I never liked the official Cleric if you are not Lawful. This is a rather poor attempt to provide an alternative, inspired by the Warcraft movie (I was one of 1d4 people that liked it).
Berserker – enough said.
Crawling Ones – playing with a Worm-That-Walks.
Cyclops – inspired by the (eternally awesome) Krull movie.
DCC Human Classes for Sword & Sorcery – reskinning Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling to simulate Sword & Sorcery human classes. You can find a revised version into The Phlogiston Books Vol. II: The Stone Heir.
Frost One – I new class derived from my campaign permutations and inspired by a Fiend Folio monster.
On DCCRPG and Dwarves – variant Dwarven racial abilities (instead of every Dwarf smelling gems and gold).
On DCCRPG and Halflings – variant Halflings racial abilities. Technically, the Gollum class is a spiritual continuation of this post.
Races for DCC RPG! – where I try to add races (the 3 classical ones) as an additional step for character creation.
Sage – a new class based on AD&D’s NPC sage, Jack Vance’s Cudgel, and other random stuff.
Scout – a Thief variant for forester/scout/ranger-like characters.
Silent People – new class of owl-folk inspired by DCCRPG Empire of the East.
Thanagarian – yes, your pulp-style man/woman-bird class. Totally inspired by the old DC cartoons.
Tree-Men – the not-Ent class.
Twilight of Elves and Dwarves for DCC RPG – a Tolkien-like take on the Dwarf and Elf classes. You can find the idea better developed and expanded in Tales From The Smoking Wyrm #6 (for Dwarves), Tales From The Smoking Wyrm #8 (for Elves) and, if you really liked the idea, check Tales From The Smoking Wyrm #4 for the same treatment, but now with an entire new class (actually 3!) – Trolls.
Warrior Princess – the chainmail bikini class (a Warrior variant actually).
 
SPELLS & PATRONS
Chill Touch – my take on the spell.
Ekim’s Mystical Mask – idem.
I BECOME THE VOID! – a very weird wizard spell that temporary destroy the caster.
Khonshu, the Exiled Moon God – new Patron inspired by Moonknight.
Meddling with powers beyond your ken in DCC RPG – rulings for letting Wizards and Elves push the power (often at a step price).
Mercurial Magic for Elves – as title says. If you liked it, here are my Elven Corruption tables.
 
MONSTERS
I rolled my first (space) dragon – a completely random dragon I created for Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Peril On The Purple Planet.
Omoluzu, the Roof Demons – new monster (and curse) inspired by Marlon James’ awesome Black Leopard Red Wolf.
 
ADVENTURE STUFF
Blessings of the Flesh from the Cult of the Pit – bonus content for Dungeon Crawl Classics #68: The People of the Pit.
Hellish Pacts with the Hollow Man – bonus content for my favourite adventure – Dungeon Crawl Classics #66.5: Doom of the Savage Kings
Sandboxing in the Shores of Flesh – bonus content for my adventure Death Aquatic! available in the Gongfarmer Almanac 2018.
The Daemonic Tricks of Ssisssuraaaaggg – suggestions to spice one of the encounters in The Portal Under the Stars (found in the DCCRPG Core Rulebook)
The Thing From the Pit – a monster for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea.
The Tower of Visions – my (rather poor) attempt at doing a small dungeon adventure.
 
OTHER STUFF
DCCRPG and Arn, the Unlucky – a ruling to make a Warrior with REAL low Luck funny and dangerous (to himself and others). My table loved this one.
DCCRPG Discworld – ideas to run DCCRPG in the Disc.
Getting ideas from Birth Augurs – extrapolating backgrounds and even rules variant for the many birth augurs. I believe this piece went into a Gongfarmer Almanac. Anyhow, here are Part II and Part III.
House Rules of my DCC Campaign – the evolving rules of my campaign. You can see some further thoughts here – A Matter of Luck.
KILL BILBO – my insane Middle-Earth DCCRPG hack where you play with Orcs trying to find Bilbo and recover The One Ring.
On a DCC Lite – random thoughts on making a minimalist version closer to some OSR games.
On Magic, Corruption and Risks – not strictly DCCRPG but definitely inspired/pertinent.
On the vicissitudes of a Wizard in DCCRPG – the crazy life of one of my player’s Wizard PC.
Playing with Luck – variant Luck rules or ideas.
Raised Dead and Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG – how I let a cleric PC once use Divine Aid to raise dead a recently fallen PC (while still trying to keep the unique DCCRPG ethos).
Table of Fey Curses – a more d20-generic article but still useful for DCCRPG (I know because I use it a lot).

DCCRPG: Elven Corruption tables!

I love DCCRPG's Corruptions rules. However, like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) before that, I always felt that Elves deserved their own rules and tables. In my previous WFRP, I always liked to think that other races acquired corruption and mutations... but not Elves, these become more unearthly and daemon-like with every spell. I took a similar approach to DCCPRG and I hope you like it.

All DCCRPG's Corruption rules work as normal, except that you roll on the following tables:

Elven Minor Corruption

1 or lower - Sundered Spirit. If the character sees their reflection, they must pass a Luck check or lose their “elvenness”. They become mortal-like, losing Infravision and Heightened Senses (and being terribly mocked by other elves). If they fumble their Luck check, they become bent and monstrous, with coarse hair, mottled skin, sickly yellow eyes, and spindly limbs (yes, goblin- or orc-like). Either way, the condition lasts for one day.

2 - Oathbound. If the character breaks a promise or lies, they suffer 1 point of damage, and their discomfort and pain are visible to all witnesses.

3 - New vulnerability. Roll 1d4: (1) silver; (2) dead wood; (3) holy water and holy symbols (icon magic cast on the character always causes 1 point of damage); (4) hyperallergic to iron, suffering 1 point of damage per round of contact (but they can feel the presence of iron objects within 10 feet of them).

4 - The character’s shadow acts independently of their current physical form, often hinting at intentions the character harbours secretly in their heart.

5 - Magic Eater: the character must feed on magic to survive. They must eat the flesh of a magical creature or a magic-touched plant or lose 1d3 Stamina. They can also drain one charge from a magical item they currently hold, drink a potion (without gaining its benefits), or even “devour” one of their spells (the spell becomes Lost). Magical creatures feel the character’s hunger and are usually hostile to the elf.

6 - Vulnerable to the Grotesque: if the character must interact (talk, touch, etc.) with the ugly, the monstrous, or the infirm (Judge’s call), they suffer 1 point of damage per minute. Attacking and killing such “unfortunate creatures” is OK.

7 - Voice affected. Roll 1d6: (1) voice sounds like one or more people talking at the same time; (2) clearly demonic-like, scaring small animals and children; (3) sounds like the last intelligent being the character killed (yes, it changes); (4) comes from a random place within 1d6 ft. of the character (if necessarily rolls 1d12 to ascertain direction); (5) unearthly beautiful, draws attention from other intelligent creatures when spoken; (6) character can only speak in whispers.

8 - Skin affected. Roll 1d5: (1) deadly cold and often with a white or bluish hue, will cause frostbite if touching another living creature for 1 minute or more (character gains +1 bonus against cold); (2) feverish hot with a red hue, often releasing tiny bits of steam when the character is nervous or tired; (3) vividly green, with the occasional vine or leaf growing on it; (4) bone white; (5) obsidian-like or purple.

9 - Hair affected. Roll 1d4: (1) hair turns bone white; (2) animates and moves on it own; (3) hair falls out completely; (4) grows as long as the character is tall and remains at that length even if cut (any hair cut quickly rots, turn to dust, evaporates into smoke etc.)

10+ - Character passes out. He is unconscious for 1d6 hours or until awakened by vigorous means.

Elven Major Corruption

1 or lower - Addicted to Magic. The character always awakes looking like an old, hollowed marionette or wooden sculpture, as if they were never alive. Their skin is cracked and dry, their movements are spasmodic and erratic, and their voice echoes as if nothing was inside them. They have a -4 penalty to Strength, Agility, and Personality. This situation remains until they cast their first spell. Each successful cast spell reduces that penalty by 1 (and can, actually, become a bonus, to a maximum of +2). The bonus lasts until the character rests, which then resets the original penalty.

2 - Prideful Magic. The character leeks power and magic around them. If they stay for more than one hour in the same area, things start to change to appear like the character. Usually this affects inanimate structures, like the floor and the walls. The first signs shows up in the floor, the wall, or ceiling. They look like an outline of character’s face or appearance. If the character sleeps or spend around 8 hours in the same area, their distorted will now shapes almost an entire duplicate of them somewhere. In a cave, this could result in a rough sculpture of the character growing out of a stalactite; in a forest this could be on the ground, in a tree, or even as ripples in a lake. The character leaves their mark where they pass. If they spend an entire day in roughly the same area, there is a 50% chance that a random elemental (DCCRPG p. 411) will appear with their appearance. Pride does not accept equality. The elemental will try to kill their “copy” (i.e., the character).

3 - Unmoored from Time. Crucial moments in the character’s life create time echoes or duplicates, showing other fates that the character might have attempted. These copies are ghost-like and ephemeral, usually disappearing in mere seconds, but they leave the character open to paradoxes. Every time the character spends Luck, they generate 1d3 time echoes. These copies don’t interfere with reality at all, disappearing in one round. However, if they are hit, attacked, or grappled (same AC as the character), the character suffers the same fate.

4 - Naturebound. The character only benefits from rest if touching “living” natural land. They will not recover damage, fatigue, or spells if within constructions or any kind of worked material (such as stone or wood).

5 - Aspected. The character’s general appearance, including skin tone, hair, and eyes, or maybe even clothes, crackle with energy of a type associated with the spells he most commonly casts. The energy could manifest as flames, lightning, cold waves etc. Even their other spells start to look like this main aspect.

6 - Fading. The character becomes bizarrely thin, tall (around 7 ft.), and frail. Their weight doesn’t change and may diminish a bit. The character seems “stretched” and unreal, as something that is slowly fading. Most Referee characters will forget about the character after they are gone or remember the encounter vaguely. The character gains +1 Die Step bonus for stealth checks but must spend 1 Luck point to be remembered by a Referee character.

7 - Demonic taint. Roll 1d3: (1) The character’s fingers elongate into claws, and he gains an attack for 1d6 damage; (2) the character’s feet transform into cloven hoofs; (3) the character’s legs become goat-like.

8 - The character’s skin constantly emits a silvery glow, as if reflecting strong moonlight. The character emits light in a 6 ft. radius. Stealth is hard for them (unless completely covered). The bonus is that any invisible creature within their aura is outlined. The character cannot become invisible.

9 - Horns grow on the character’s forehead. Roll 1d7: (1) goat-like; (2) bull-like; (3) antlers; (4) living wood, with thorns and vines; (5) small mithril horns (the character’s skeleton is now of mithril, granting them a +2 permanent bonus to Fort saves but making them a tempting target); (6) an alicorn grows on their forehead (it is valuable in many rituals but its removal will kill the character); (7) clearly demonic, glowing with runes (but might help the character get along with demons and cultists).

10+ - The character acquires a strong smell that can be easily identified within 30 ft. of them (but cannot be used to pinpoint their location). Roll 1d5: (1) cinnamon; (2) sulphur; (3) myrrh; (4) wet earth and rain; (5) the smell associated with the most tragic moment of a creature’s life. The character acquires empathic sensitivities and can “smell” the strongest emotion in a scene with a Luck check (if they fail, they also lose 1 Luck point).

Elven Greater Corruption

1 or lower - Soulless: The character is a mockery of an elf, with a dark void where their spirit should be. They exude an aura of wrongness that can chill the bones of the darkest assassin. They must always save to resist icon magic (even if beneficial). They are instantly taken by a Chaos or Daemonic Power (in the most spectacular faction) when either their hit points or Luck reach 0 (with as much collateral damage as the Judge likes). They can always use one of their Action Die to inflict a supernatural dread upon a target that can see them (Will save DC 15). Frightened creatures run away for one hour and if cornered fight at a -4 attack penalty. A target can only be affected once and this ability won’t work in demons, dragons, or the un-dead.

2 - Fated to Elfland. The character starts losing 1 permanent point of Luck per month. Once it reaches Luck 0, they can no longer resist the lure of Elfland and disappear from the world. A pact with a demon might save them from that (if that is worth it). While fated to Elfland, the character becomes immune to charms or illusions.

3 - Doomed. The character is considered to have Luck 0 for all purposes. If they want to use their Luck points, they must first Invoke Patron and ask for such (temporary) boon, after negotiating with their patron. Usually, a good pact would give them access to Luck points for 1d6 nights. On the bright side, they are immune to curses.

4 - Bestial Mien. The character gains canines, small claws, and their voice carries a growl. They scare animals as if they were predators. Divide the character’s hit points into 4 equal parts (any leftovers can go into the 4th part). When they reach ¾ of their total hit points, the character becomes visibly more bestial, gaining either scales or fur and acquiring a bent posture. They gain a bite natural attack of 1d10 and can track by smell. If they fall below ½ their total hit points, they gain claw attacks for 1d8 of damage (and one extra 1d14 Action Die to use only for one of such attacks) and +2 to AC. They cannot grasp normal weapons or manipulate objects. Their speech is barely intelligible and magic that requires verbal components has a 25% of fumble. If they fall to their last ¼ total hit points, they enter into a bestial fury, gaining +5 hit points and a +2 to all attacks, damage, and saving throws while in combat. They must succeed at a Will DC 10 to stop attacking and will attack allies if nothing else remains.

5 - Souldrinker. The character emanates a palpable aura of dread, the kind that kill plants and spoils food. They are considered unholy to Law and Neutral clerics. Every living creature that stays 1 minute or more within 6 ft. of them loses 1d4 hit points (and the character heals 1 hit point). Every time the character kills a living creature in melee they also heal 1 hit point. The character stops healing naturally.

6 - Corrupted Body. Odd or even: (Odd) your body is covered in bark or vines and you can sustain yourself with sunlight and water (but suffer double damage from fire); (Even) your body becomes cold and crystal-like, like ice, your face loses all features leaving only shinning cold eyes (you can still speak and hear normally), and your movements sound like crystal vibrating (you don’t need to eat anymore, is immune to cold, but suffer double damage from iron)

7 - Planar Instability. The character’s essence becomes alien to the material plane and they suffer planar instability, existing between here and there. If the character fumbles or rolls the best possible number in an Action Die, right after those consequences, they become incorporeal for 1d3 rounds. They can pass through walls and are vulnerable to magic attacks (and can affect corporeal targets with magic) but are otherwise impossible to affect the material plane. If they materialize inside anything solid, they must succeed at a Fort save DC 15 or suffer 6d6 points of damage (success means half damage).

8 - Obscure Geas. During your learnings, you might have committed yourself to unseen pacts and masters. Every time your cast Invoke Patron you must pass a Luck check. If you fail, you summon a random patron (Judges: use your favourite list, I know you have one). The entity briefly touches your mind and you must quickly negotiate some favour with it before rolling.

9 - Ironbound. Iron becomes a complete anathema to you. You suffer 1d6 points of damage by merely touching it. If you are hit by iron weapons increase the damage by 1d6. If you touch or were hit by iron you must spend 1 Luck or lose access to spellcasting for 1d3 rounds. Your magic can never affect iron. You can NEVER affect iron. For example, if something as small as an iron nail is placed over your palm, your hand instantly falls to the ground and you cannot move it (but you can cut your hand off to survive).

10+ - Servant of Chaos. The character’s forehead is branded with a symbol of Chaos, clearly marking their allegiance to the Eternal Struggle. Law and Neutral iconic magic used in the character is always considered a sinful use of divine power. Worse, the character is bound by old rules and cannot attack or otherwise hold a servant of Chaos unless they are attacked first.

Playing with Luck

One of the coolest rules of DCCRPG is, of course, Luck.

It is quite ironic that it was one of the first that I changed in my first long DCCRPG, which I ran for years, and I am tempted to return at some point. I loved how RPG campaigns become their own unique thing and that DCCPRG game is a fine example. By the end of it, we had played through a lot of modules, created our own adventures, and the party became considerably powerful, becoming movers and shakers in their little corner of the world (with the highest PCs around 5-6th level). By now I joke with the table that our game is “DCCRPG 2.5”. You can find a bit about those rules here and here (and yes, these are not the final rules, but they give you an idea of my insanity).

Alas, I digress (sorry, old habits… especially now that I am older). We are talking about Luck and love on how EASY it is hack rules and variants. DCC Lankhmar has some of my all-time favourites. Here are a few other ideas:

All or Nothing: one of my favourites. Once per game session, a PC can ask for “all or nothing” when burning Luck. Ask the player to choose heads or tails and toss a coin. If the PC wins, they gain double the amount of Luck burned. If they lose, the burned Luck goes to the Judge, and they don’t gain any benefit from it.

Bold Deeds: once per session, a PC can propose some wild stunt or deed. It must be something that excites everyone (particularly the Judge) and they CAN’T burn Luck on that action. It must be an action which requires one or more Action Dies to accomplish. It must have a serious consequence, complications, or a considerable DC (Judge’s call). It must follow the Rule of Cool. Each table will set its own rules. Personally, a warrior blindfolding themselves to fight a dragon sounds stupid to me, but the same warrior claiming that they will CLIMB the dragon and strike it in the head sounds AWESOME! (and deserves this rule). If they accomplish the action, grant them 1d3 Luck points.

Devil’s Bargain: when a PC fails a test, they can burn 1d3 points of Luck plus their character level to reroll the check. There is only one catch – if they miss the roll it is automatically considered a fumble (i.e. a natural 1). Each PC can only do this once per check. Yes, it isn’t worth it for high-level PCs.

Fighting in Spirit: totally stolen from 13th Age. If a PC is unconscious, paralyzed, or otherwise out of action, their player can still intervene in an encounter ONCE. Let them briefly narrate how the memory of their character or something that they did or said inspired one of their party allies to go beyond. The fallen PC can burn Luck to benefit their buddy, but they can only burn 1d7 points (to their limit of Luck). This helps players otherwise out of action keep their action in the game. Feel free to change the dice.

It is just a flesh wound: after suffering damage, if they are still alive, the PC can burn 1d3 Lucks to declare that the hit is a potential “flesh wound”. Ask the player to write down the amount of damage suffered. If they can catch their breath, even if just for one minute, half of the damage taken disappears (it was not serious, just bruises and cuts, etc.). Of course, if the damage was healed (such as by magic) before that then the Luck was spent for nothing. PCs can use this as often as they like, but each new attempt increases the cost of Luck points, following the Die Chain. Once everyone has an entire night of rest in a safe spot the Die Chain resets (this might be too much note-keeping for some tables).

Karma: the first time in an encounter that a PC fumbles or suffers a critical hit, if they survive, they regain 1 point of Luck. I like this rule because it means that even a failure has other interesting consequences.

The Eternal Struggle: this one highlights the eternal war between Law, Balance, and Chaos. The first time in an encounter that you kill a creature considered “unholy” to your alignment you regain 1 point of Luck (check DCCRPG p.32, “Unholy Creatures” in “The Gods of the Eternal Struggle” table). I think this brings the theme to the forefront, instead of just using Table 7-9 (DCCRPG p. 361).

DCCRPG Discworld

One of my (many) flaws is that I never read Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. I’m working on my defects (some of them at least…) and I finally read The Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic, the first 2 books of the series. Let me be more precise: I read The Colour of Magic more than 15 years ago, but I read a translation. You CANNOT read translated Pratchett! Why? All the spirit and the fun of it are gone. It is like, I don’t know, like reading the translated Qur'an, or the translated Lusíadas, or basically trying to understand 99,99% of Japanese anime puns without a basic notion of kanji… you lose something if you translate it! Anyhow, I’m now reading 100% English Pratchett (or whatever you folks call this language). And my first thought was (or course!): “this would be very fun at my DCCRPG table!” Why? Well, DCCRPG already has a cool gonzo aspect. Ironically, most products and people that I know try to tone it down… well, it's time to tone it UP!

Warning: Like previous heresies on this blog, I’m pretending to write about adapting a media to a particular tabletop RPG, having read just a small part of it (there are... what?... some 40 books in Discworld?). So, yessir, I’m probably presuming some things wrong. That is why this is a hobby and not (thankfully) a business.

So, if you are creating a DCCRPG Discworld game, use all the Core Rulebook rules, except for the following:

Talkers Go First!: I’m pretty sure this rule is from a Doctor Who RPG. I love it and it shows up from time to time in my blog hacks! Basically, if combats break out, any player character (and only PCs) who wants to talk can do it before the violence begins. They get only one shot at it and they must spend all their Action Die (if any) on social/charisma (i.e. Personality) skill checks (intimidation, diplomacy, lies….) or just pure roleplay (my favourite approach). If your table likes to roll Personality checks, consider that every PC in DCCRPG Discworld is trained in such checks (i.e., they roll a 1d20 instead of 1d10 when trying to avoid a fight). They only get ONE ROUND to do it (I know that rounds in DCCRPG last 10 seconds, but I like to give each player around 30 seconds of pure roleplaying if they are in for it). If more than one PC wants to give it a try, let them go from lowest to highest Personality (so that the most charismatic PC can see other errors and correct them). They can attempt nothing else! No moves, no free/limited actions, no preparing/drawing/aiming, and no activation/charge of any spell or power. Basically, if any PC wants to try to chat with the monsters, LET THEM GO FOR IT! Which brings me to the second rule…

Reaction Rolls: C’mon! This is one of D&D’s best (and often ignored) rules! NEVER start a Discworld encounter with the idea that the monsters/oppositions will simply try to attack the PCs. That is so boring. Use your favourite D&D edition, OSE, or even more complicated charts. My point here is that we (unfortunately) got used to the idea of entering into a room and fighting monsters (nothing wrong with that). Things are not so simple here, because this is DCCRPG Discworld. All those orcs in the 4 x 4 room? Yes, they are probably guarding a pie. Of course, it is a (man-flesh) pie that they want to share with you! (How you deal with that is not my problem!). Reaction tables break the game’s traditional expectations, surprise players (and the judge), encourage roleplaying, and may promote the kind of absurdity that is 100% Pratchettian! Use it!

Of course, the above rules are all targeted toward avoiding combat. Why should we avoid combat? Well…

Fighting is Dangerous! Fighting is a horrible idea most of the time because, well, you can die on it. It is chaotic, rarely “glorious”. Forget those cool pictures of Heroes standing over piles of vanquished enemies… if they are lucky, they are probably as battered and hurt as those enemies… if not, they are probably as “vanquished”.

Fighting is very unpredictable in DCCRPG Discworld. Every time someone rolls 1 Action Die to attempt any violent action (like attacking), their general Fumble Range increases by +1 (it goes from 1 to 1-2). This is for EVERY Action Die, so if you roll 2 attacks, the first attack has a Fumble Range of 1-2 and the second of 1-3.

A PC’s Fumble Range keeps going up until a Fumble is triggered. When that happens, the judge rolls a d10 (or a d6 if they are mean). The result is deducted from their current Fumble Range (minimum is still 1).

The idea is that the longer the fight goes on, the more dangerous it gets. That is why you should (1) avoid it, (2) end it as quickly if unavoidable, and (3) use sneaky tactics to do so.

Heroes, particularly most Warriors, are too stupid to realize this rule (although some of the Disc’s greatest Heroes, like Cohen the Barbarian, are aware of it and will fight dirty to end the conflict as quick as possible).

Because combat is dangerous, any character in DCCRPG Discworld can withdraw from combat by using 1 Action Die. This action DOES NOT trigger any free attacks (again: the idea is that running is good here!). This also implies that the judge is free to set all kinds of unfair encounters against the PCs. They either must fight dirty (or run!).

Variant: Fighting is Dangerous FOR EVERYONE! If keeping the Fumble Range of every PC and NPC is too much work (it sounds so), instead of it, the judge should track a universal Fumble Bonus to affects everyone. When the first attack is made in an encounter, the Fumble Bonus is +0 (i.e. follow the normal rules). Every other attack roll after that increases it by +1, no matter if it is made by a PC or NPC. When a Fumble happens, the Fumble Bonus is not reset by 1d6 (minimum +0). If this is too much metagame, the judge can use a middle ground - each PC tracks their own Fumble Range, and the judge uses a universal Fumble Bonus just for the NPCs.

Fighting is NOT worth it! Fighting is not only dangerous but also dumb. If all the party did in one encounter was fight, they wouldn’t gain XP. NEVER! They only get XP if they get the treasure (or if they get directions to the treasure). If this happens, then the judge should reward XP normally.

Why are you looking at me like that? It says on the cover: “You are no hero…”. That works double for Discworld!

Warriors & Thieves: In DCCRPG Discworld, all PCs are Humans (I’m still going through the books… I might come back later for a Dwarf/Gnome, Troll or Elf class). This means that they are all Warriors, Thieves, or Wizards. I will talk more about Wizards later. For now, let's focus on Warriors and Thieves.

Thieves: The normal DCCRPG Thief is already the perfect Discworld class. Play it by the normal rules.

Warriors: Warriors have just one extra rule. When creating your Warrior, the PC can choose to sacrifice Intelligence and Personality points to increase Strength and Stamina. 3 points of Personality or 3 points of Intelligence buy either 1 point of Strength or Stamina. You must do this exchange in “blocks” of 3. You can’t, for example, take 2 points from Intelligence and 1 from Personality to increase Strength by 1. The minimum Intelligence and Personality are 3 (and, indeed, most “Heroes” of the Disc are often incapable of thinking at all, or of building complex sentences… like those that require 3 or more words). If you are all in for some dramatic roleplay, you can allow Intelligence and Personality to go down to 2 and use these REALLY low Intelligence and Personality rules from my previous KILL BILBO! DCCRPG. Go ahead, I can assure you the Tolkien Estate won’t charge.

Magic on the Discworld: Unlike most DCCRPG settings, the Discworld is bursting with magic! The entire Disc is overcharged with octarine radiance. This means that spellcasting is theoretically easier here. By “easy”, I mean charging up magic energy is easier… controlling it is another matter.

The first consequence of the Disc’s ludicrous amount of mana is that Wizards ignore Corruption, Lost, and Failure results. Life is good, no?

Unless dealing with the Dungeon Dimensions (or trying to cheat Death), there are no Corruption effects, as the excess magic energy discharges itself around the Wizard instead of focusing on their body and soul. Mechanically, this works very much like increasing the Fumble Range in combats. Let's give it a fanciful name (Wizards love that): Octarine Overcharge!

The Octarine Overcharge (a.k.a. the O.O. Coefficient, the Infinitum Dictum, or “the Rule of 8”) is represented by a Mana Level stat. Every character in Discworld has a Mana Level of 1 (and it is usually only dangerous for Wizards). If any character rolls equal to or less than their Mana Level while spellcasting (or reading from a scroll/spellbook, etc.), they trigger an Octarine Overcharge! If they don’t trigger it, then their Mana Level increases by 1 merely for the attempt.

Remember that mana permeates the Disc and that it has a natural tendency to build up in areas around spellcasting? Well, if a character is in an encounter where magic (i.e. a spell) happens, their Mana Level automatically increases by 1 merely by witnessing someone else spellcasting. The octarine radiance just taints everyone around and starts building up a charge! This means that an encounter with two or more spellcasting Wizards can quickly build up enough to trigger an Octarine Overcharge.

While Wizards in the Disc ignore the Lost/Failure result, every time they roll it they increase their Mana Levels (and of those of every other character in the encounter) not by 1 but by 1d6. If they are in a REALLY strong magic field (as set by the judge), then maybe a Failure/Lost result increases the local Mana Levels by 1d8 or even 1d10! For example, Wizards holding the Octavo would probably roll 1d10 for a Failure/Lost result.

The worst happens when an Octarine Overcharge itself is triggered! Spells run out of control as they feed on the surplus of octarine. This is represented by a series of Spell Misfires rolls that impact all characters in the encounter! The number of Misfires is found out by taking the highest Mana Level among the characters (PCs and NPCs), dividing it by 5 (rounding up), and adding +1 for every Wizard. So, if a fight between the PCs (3 Thieves, 1 Warrior, and 1 Wizard) and 3 students of the Unseen Academy (3 NPC Wizards), triggers an Octarine Overchange, then the judge must first check for Mana Levels. Probably all the Thieves and Warriors will have 1 (or a bit more, as they probably witnessed some spellcasting). Let's say the PC Wizard has a Mana Level of 8, and the 3 NPCs have Mana Levels of 5, 4, and 4. That means you pick the highest Manal Level of 8 and divide it by 5 (rounding up), which equals 2. Now you add +1 per Wizard (+4), for a total of 6. So the judge will randomly choose 6 spells to Misfire (it is always nice to let the players roll those Misfires). If there are not enough spells around, the judge is free to randomly roll a new spell and let it Misfire.

In rare cases, if the Octarine Overcharge happens in a place suffused with magic, such as the Octavo Chamber or the temple of Bel-Shamharoth, then a trigger also can cause a Phlogiston Disturbance (usually this disturbance will affect only Wizards, but some results will be bad news for everyone else). Judge’s call.

How do Mana Levels go down? There are at least 3 options. The first is by triggering Octarine Overcharge (not recommended). All the victims of the Overcharge set their Mana Level back to 1. Another option is to avoid being closer to spellcasting for at least 8 hours (one night of sleep). This reduces the Mana Level by 1d6 (minimum 1). Finally, if a Wizard roll a Failure/Lost result, instead of increasing the Mana Level by 1d6, the Wizard can decide to forget the spell, also suffering 1d6 points of Intelligence Ability Loss. The amount of Ability Loss suffered is also deducted from their Mana Level (minimum 1) and the spell is Lost until it can be memorized again.

One final rule: every time a caster Spellburns, they automatically increase their Mana Level by 2d6 or the amount of Spellburn damage, whichever is LOWER.

Wizards: Ah, Wizards. Those dudes (and dudettes) are special… I mean, “special” as a living radioactive battery is special in the sense that it should be avoided by all sane people. Here are new rules for creating Wizards.

First, they can burn 3 points of Strength, Stamina, or Personality to increase their Intelligence by 1 point (following similar rules as Warriors).

Second, I can’t say why but I feel that the Spell Stipulation rules from DCC Lankhmar have a more “Discwordly” feel than Mercurial Magic, so feel free to use them.

Third, Wizards in the Disc can see the magical part of the light spectrum: Octarine, the 8^th Colour. This is basically an innate form of detect magic. Wizards can ask for Ability Skill checks to see the local amount of magic, to assess the Mana Levels of other characters, and to see if an item or creature has “excessive Octarine” (i.e. if it is magical). They still can’t identify magic items. Obfuscate magic (DCCRPG Core Rulebook p. 152) can fool this sense.

Wizards & Death (with a capital “D”): Wizards have some metaphysical privileges in the Disc. The most (in)famous one is that Death itself will come to claim their souls when their time is due (other PCs will be taken by randomly assigned and invisible psychopomps of lower rank). This means that Wizards have special Luck rules, some advantages, and disadvantages.

First, every time a Wizard suffers damage, they can decide to have it taken either from their current Hit Points (like everyone else) or from the current Luck points. One or the other. They are sneaky coward bastards that seem particularly afraid of dying (I mean, more than the usual for people of the Disc…).

Second, the previous rule might sound fun, but it exists because Wizards are instantly visited by Death itself if their hit points or Luck points reach 0. They can’t use the Bleeding Out and Recovering the Body rules (DCCRPG Rulebook p. 93).

Third, they can TRY to avoid that grisly fate, but it is not easy. They have basically two options: either somehow convince Death that it is not their time yet or they can desperately draw power from the Dungeon Dimensions to escape.

Out-talking Death of “deathing” you: this is really hard. The PC has two options. The first one is a desperate Personality check with a DC of 20. If they pass, they pose some argument to Death regarding the current chain of events and how it was somehow and unfortunately premature. Death is not happy about that, but it can’t change the rules. The PC survives with 1 hit point if their friends can reach their body. HOWEVER, they are groggy for the next hour (-4 penalty to all rolls) and sustain a permanent injury of some kind, reflected as a permanent -1 penalty to Strength, Agility, or Stamina (determined randomly). After this episode, they are followed by a lesser death, which will constantly annoy and scare them at the worst moments, merely by “checking in” to see if it is the time “to call the Boss in”. This psychopomp presence means that the Judge can trigger 1 Fumble once per game session on the poor (but deserving) Wizard. The Fumble is not an automatic failure, but an extra effect of the Wizard’s otherwise normal check (so yes, it is possible to get 2 Fumbles if the Wizard also rolls a 1). The Wizard CANNOT out-talk Death a second time.

The roleplaying option: Instead of all the shenanigans above, the PC get 1 minute to talk astrally with Death and convince Him/It. This is represented by the PC telling the table a joke. If most people laugh, congratulations, you dirty bastard, you’re back. Better yet, no lesser psychopomp follows you (as Death kind of warms up to your PC). Otherwise, you are dead. (Only use this option if the table loves this type of roleplaying/metagame stuff).

Invoking Powers from the Dungeon Dimensions: instead of letting Death grab them, the PC in act of desperation pulls energy from those non-Euclidian, dreaded, and tentacled-obsessed planes. The PC must roll a Spellcasting check (accounting for Mana Level and all) against a DC of 25. They can try to Spellburn but all the Spellburn damage is PERMANENT. If they succeed, they manage to summon something or concoct a pact to escape their fate. Death is NOT HAPPY. The PC’s Luck is reduced permanently by half. They also gain a major corruption from their contact with those “Things”. This can only be attempted ONCE. For a second shot at this, they must find a Dungeon Dimension patron, bond their souls to it… and probably become an NPC, but that is for the table to decide.

…I think I’m forgetting something: Oh yeah, Clerics! I don’t think there are Clerics (such as in DCCRPG) in the Discworld. The gods of the Discworld are potent entities, but no true Cleric would have the courage to admit that they follow one of those divinities (c’mon, they are famous for throwing rocks and breaking atheists’ windows).

Deities in the Discworld are still important as they are the PCs’ best source of recovering Luck. If a PC is chosen by a god and performs well (good luck), they might get 1-3 Luck points back for performing quests and specific tasks for their god.

So, yeah, for now, no Clerics. This means the following:

It was just a flesh wound: Like in DCC Lankhmar, during combat, the PC can spend 1 Luck to instantly roll recover 1 class hit dice (plus Stamina mod) of damage. They cannot attempt any other action that round (except running!). They can only do this once per combat.

Taking a breather: If the party can spend 1 turn (10 minutes) resting, drinking water, and maybe having a snack after a combat, they recover 1 hit dice of damage (plus Stamina, if positive). They can’t recover more than they suffered in the last encounter, of course. They can always take this breather after every combat, but the judge is encouraged to roll a random encounter if this is abused (or to reduce any Luck award, as the PC’s god will complain about their constant delays).

That is all Folks!

I hope you enjoyed this small hack (and I hope this is playable, as I haven’t tested it yet). If I keep reading Discworld, I’ll probably at some point create some new classes for it: I would love some kind of Troll class, but my goal right now is a Tourist class! 

Knockback rules from TOR 1st to d20 games

Quick post!

I’ve been running the One Ring 1^st Edition for almost 2 years now. The campaign so far is a mix of Gareth Hanrahan’s amazing Darkening of the Mirkwood campaign with (also his) Tales from the Wilderland’s six scenarios. The combination (of course) is natural and the campaign already captivated my players.

Anyway, this post is just to share the one rule from The One Ring 1st that both I and my players keep forgetting but which I believe would be a cool addition to any d20 Fantasy game -  D&D, 13^th Age, Pathfinder, OSE, B/X whatever – the Knockback rule.

Basically, when you’re hit you can choose to lose your next action and fall prone to reduce all damage just taken by half (rounding up).

Would this work smoothly on B/X, DCC RPG, OSE, and older versions of the game (even D&D 3^rd)?

Definitely yes!

What that also works on 13^th Age, Pathfinder 2E, D&D 5E? Well, despite loving those systems, I haven’t narrated them much so…

13^th Age – OK, as far as I’m aware there is no prone condition here. So, my first reaction would be that if any PC invoked the Knockback rule, the Escalation Die doesn’t go up that round (unless if stolen by the enemies).

Pathfinder 2E – Invoking the Knockback rule requires spending 1 Hero Point.

D&D 5E – Besides all the usual disadvantages (no pun intended) that you have for being Prone, AFTER you get up, you will have Disadvantage until the end of your next turn.

The Gollum class for DCC RPG

 Around two years ago I wrote new classes for Halflings on DCCRPG. The reason for that was the same one for when I created new types of dwarves (in the olde days of ye blogue, when my English was a lot worse). In both stances, I was motivated by the fact that I had more than one of my players using Dwarves and Halflings in our DCC RPG campaign and I wanted to provide some variety. Fast-forward to the present, I was talking with my gaming table, and the topic of Halflings came back… and I realized I still haven’t made my “Gollum” class (OK, at the time it was a joke but…. Why not?).

A Gollum class you ask? Since when the Gollum became a gollum? Well, technically since the first edition of D&D was released in 74. Since Monsters & Treasure we had pegasuses, medusas, minotaurs etc. All plurals, not unique monster (in fact, it is funny how later, in the AD&D 2^nd historical “green sourcebooks”, those monsters became unique again). The thing is: there is precedent for my madness!

The Gollum class represents ideally a corrupted or evil form of Halfling, but it could also represent some form of goblin, gully/degenerated dwarf, demodand, ratfolk, mutant, or even one of Dunsany’s gnoles (basically, just remove swimming and/or change it to something that fits your concept better).

The Gollum Class

Start with the Halfling class, but remove Good Luck Charm, Slow, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Training. Keep Small.

Your Hit Dice is a d8 (Gollums are tiny but tough).

Your Weapon Training include just clubs, knives, stones, and other primitive stuff. Armors are useless as they will hinder all your abilities.

Infravision: Gollums can see in the dark up to 60’.

Bestial: Gollums fight more like animals than humanoids. They have an extra Action Die (AD) which is -1 Die Step lower than their main one. This extra AD can be used only to grapple, bite, choke, or escape (see Slippery for the last one).

Grapple: Gollums grappling double their basic Attack modifier. They still follow all the grapple rules normally (DCCRPG p. 96), except that size modifiers are not used. Instead of that, if a creature is bigger than the gollum, a successful grapple check means that the gollum can climb it and cling to it. While clinging to a bigger target, the Gollum gains an AC bonus equal to its level against any physical attack (including from the grappled creature). The gollum can use their extra AD to automatically bite the target (roll just to check for a Critical Hit or Fumble) for 1d4 damage (if a critical is rolled, treat the gollum as a monster of same level and roll on table M at p. 392). The gollum can also use their extra AD to choke the target (if they can grapple its neck, what usually limits this to human-sized or smaller foes). Each round of choking forces the target to make a Fort save DC 10 or suffer a cumulative -1 Die step penalty on all actions. The DC increases by 1d4 per continuous round and 3 failures drop the target uncounscious.

Corrupted: Gollums see everything inverted. Ugliness is beauty and anything beautiful is ugly. There are very few things more horrendous to gollums than elves and fey. The judge is free to use this as a descriptive device when telling what gollums see. Civilization for them is horrible and barbary is great. Weirdly, for gollums a comfy bed is a nightmare, and a bare rock is luxury. In mechanical terms, the judge is free to “invert DCs”. For example, resting in an inn would require perhaps a Stamina, Intelligence, or anything like a “survival” check for gollums (probably with a DC around 10-15). Meanwhile, they could sleep in a bare cave or hot desert like they are at home. Gollums require 3x less food than humans (and yes, the more raw and disgusting the food  the better). They are immune to diseases and can choose to lose 1d6 points of Luck to avoid any Corruption (if they don’t have enough Luck points, they suffer the Corruption normally).

Crawling Critters: Gollums can use the Halfling’s Sneak & Hide bonus to backstab, climb sheer surfaces, sneak silently, hide in shadows, and swim like a fish! The last one is a new skill check that allows gollums to swim really well (automatic for easy currents and lakes, DC 5 for most rivers and seas, DC 10 for heavy currents and stormy seas, DC 20 for impossible stuff live maelstroms and waterfalls) and hold their breaths (as a bonus to Stamina checks, the DCC RPG p. 412 on water elementals).

Miserable: Gollums are cursed and corrupt creatures, at the best pitiable and most of the time just hated. This is represented by “inverted Luck”. Roll Luck normally, however, invert the modifier’ signal. Example: a gollum with Luck 7 has a +1 modifier actually and one with Luck 18 suffers a -3 modifier. Therefore, the unluckier the gollum the more tenacious they are (this is usually represented by their Birth Augur bonus). Luck points remain the same. Like Halflings, Gollums recover each night a number of Luck points equal to their level. Finally, gollums are immune to curses (they are already cursed but see Precious Trinket).

Precious Trinket: Gollums are savage creatures that don’t pay attention to mundane stuff. They can only carry 1 item + an extra item per level. However, they can carry one additional item if they declare it as their “Precious Trinket”. As long as they have their Precious Trinket, 1 Luck point spent gives them a +3 bonus. When they lose their trinket, they can choose to go into a murderous rage or they MUST use all actions to recover it. If a trinket is broken or definitely lost, the gollum loses all Luck points until the end of the adventure (when, if they want, they can declare a new trinket). Gollums under a murderous rage must attack all enemies on sight and never retreat, but they gain a Mighty Deed of Arms die like a Warrior of the same level.

Slippery: Gollums can use their extra AD to escape without suffering an attack (see Withdrawal on p. 95).

The Invisible Blade, a Fighter Kit for AD&D 2nd

The Invisible Blade prestige class first showed up on the Dragon Magazine #303 and later was updated to the Complete Warrior sourcebook for D&D 3.5. However, my favourite version remained the one designed by the author - Kolja Raven-Liquette – on his website (which is no longer available, unfortunately). The entire idea of a warrior specialized with daggers or knives is an awesome concept that I always wanted to use in my D&D games.

Oh, the crazy days of 3.5... call it a guilty pleasure but I miss them.

Almost 2 years ago, my table decided to return to an AD&D 2nd RAW game. We started the adventure within the Forgotten Realms Revised Boxed Set – Beneath the Twisted Tower. We just finished that adventure last Sunday and the campaign so far has been a blast. While we started with the intent of playing RAW that didn’t last long (which I find completely natural in RPGs). However, we were very specific with some rules. In particular, we always rolled 3d6 in order. As a result, most characters didn’t have attribute bonuses to their PCs. One player in particular decided to create a half-elf fighter and, after some reading, decided that the best option for his character would be to specialize in daggers. After 3 levels of grueling dungeon-crawl, his dagger-throwing and dual-wielding fighter was doing considerable damage. By that time we started slowly incorporating rules form the Complete Fighter’s Handbook and Combat & Tactics and soon we realized that daggers have lost their mechanical potential (in part because we also used a variant Extraordinary Strength rule from the Dragonsfoot forum designed by the user Matthew-). While I love all the many rules and options of AD&D 2nd, I also must admit that the original system (just from the Core Books) is a lot more simple and deadly than I imagined. I loved it, particularly how bonus to attack, damage, and AC are all very rare if you roll straight 3d6 in order. It is a very different way of playing AD&D for me (because when we were younger we would always roll a bunch of uber-powerful PCs). I will keep AD&D 2nd in mind for more minimal and bonus-avert games in the future. It is in fact an interesting sweet spot: lots of options and, if properly approached, not much power-creep. Anyway, as usual, I am digressing...

The first campaign setting that I bought!

Both the player of the half-elf fighter and I loved the idea of the character using daggers. It was his signature weapon after all. So, I decided to adapt the idea (not the rules) of the Invisible Blade to an AD&D 2nd Fighter Kit. Here are the results after a few months of playtesting.

The Invisible Blade (Fighter Kit)

Seen as daredevils or maniacs, invisible blades are fighters that eschew heavy armor and shield, trusting only on their reflexes and sharp daggers (or knives, katars, dirks, stilettos, kukris etc.). They enjoy the thrill of combat, to live on the edge, daring the gods to bring about their doom. The fact that many invisible blades fight a smile on their faces doesn’t help their reputation.

As a Fighter Kit, Invisibles Blades use the same THAC0, Hit Dice, and experience table as a Fighter.

Requirements: Str 9, Dex 13, Char 13

Alignments: any non-Lawful

Allowed Armor: Only leather. They don’t use shields.

Allowed Weapons: Only small blades (either piercing or slashing ones).

Weapon Proficiency: Invisible Blades must specialize in a small blade of some kind.

Non-Weapon Proficiency: Invisibles Blades can buy any proficiency from the Warrior and Rogue groups.

Benefits: all the benefits below presume an Invisible Blade with the right weapon and armor combination.

1. Amazing Speed: -3 bonus to Initiative or one Speed Category faster (if using Combat & Tactics).

2. Snake Lunge: the first time that any intelligent humanoid enemy faces an Invisible Blade they are susceptible to a deadly and sudden lunge that often catches them by surprise. This only works once with each enemy and any other adversary who saw the movement or heard about it won’t fall for the trick. In game terms, the Invisible Blade provokes a surprise roll (roll a 1d10 and 1-3 is a surprise). If the lunge hits, treat the Invisible Blade as a backstabbing thief of the same level.

3. Flying Death: at the beginning of any combat encounter, before both sides engage in melee, a non-surprised Invisible Blade can throw a small blade if he was carrying one before the encounter started (this works similar to the official rule that allow archers with a knocked arrow to shoot before initiative).

4. Daring Die and Daring Points: Invisible Blades’ panache and sheer insanity in battle, as well as their amazing reflexes, are not represented by modifiers to Armor Class but by a pool of Daring Points. Daring Points work like Hit Points in that if an Invisible Blade is hit, they can decide to lose the former instead of the latter. Daring Die are like Hit Dice but generate only Daring Points. The idea is that, unlike AC, which is a static number, Daring goes down with combat. An Invisible Blade’s Daring Die (DD) is a 1d4 and they gain one per level. Therefore, for example, a 3^rd level Invisible Blade has 3d10 HD and 3d4 DD. Daring Points don’t work against surprise attacks or attacks that the Invisible Blade cannot perceive. They can’t be healed in any way. If an attack brings the Invisible Blade to 0 or lower hit points, they fall, no matter how many Daring Points they have. After combat, if an Invisible Blade can clean their blades and catch their breath (1 turn or 10 minutes), they can reroll their DD. If the amount is higher than their current total of Daring Points, then they can use the higher amount. Daring Points do not count as hit points for any purposes and an conflicts with the current rules will be adjudicated by the DM.

5. Make them Bleed!: any small bladed weapon in the hands of an Invisible Blade increases the die damage by one step. For example, daggers (usually 1d4 against medium targets) cause 1d6 points of the damage in the hands on one of those maniacs.

Disadvantages:

1. Invisible Blades are limited to leather armor and cannot use any type of shield, as detailed above. They can only use magical weapons for which they are specialized.

2. If their reputation is known, Invisible Blades suffer a -3 reaction penalty from Lawful authorities and in most civilized realms or cities (although they do fare well within areas dominated by Thieves Guilds).

3. Invisible Blades crave danger and risk. This trait should be roleplayed by Invisible Blades PCs and usually result in them targeting the biggest or stronger enemy in battle or attempting crazy stunts. DMs should reward extra XP for those attempts if successful (for example, perhaps granting +15% over the amount that the defeated enemy would concede). DMs whose desire a more rules-heavy limitation can use the following: while an Invisible Blade has at least 1 Daring Point, they must roll equal or below their lowest stat between Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. If they fail this check, they will refuse healing (i.e. if healed by forced with magic they must resist the spell with a saving throw).

Quick & Dirty versions for other d20s!

These are really “quick and dirty” as I haven’t pondered much about them, so be warned…

OD&D (the true and only one, from 74!) and clones: keep this as simple as possible. Limit the armor and weapons and just use Daring Die and Daring Points to make it different from a normal fighter. I am curious to see how this “ablative pool” of hit points interacts with the normal hit points (which are already heavily abstracted in OD&D).

OSE or B/X D&D or similar editions/clones: use the kit basically as written as a modified Fighter class. Ignore ability requirements and proficiency entries. Considering the most often those versions of D&D use a simpler initiative system, I would also remove Amazing Speed. Otherwise, it is worth a shot to see how this would play. It can be easily reskinned for a duelist or pirate (PCs who don’t use heavy armor). 

DCC RPG: one of my all-time favourite d20s. The Warrior and Thief are both already perfect takes on the Invisible Blade IMHO. However, if you must, try this hack: make a Warrior but restrict his armor to leather and his weapons to small blades, as per the kit. Reduce his hit dice to d8. Let him recover Luck as a Thief or Halfling. Now bump his Deed Dice by 1 dice step (i.e. it start as a d4 instead of d3, reaching d10+5 at 10^th level) and bump the weapon damage also by 1 step (i.e. daggers do 1d6). There is a catch here: the Deed Dice ONLY WORKS with small blade weapons. For the “ablative pool” of hit points (Daring Points) I will give you 2 options. Option 1: use Luck. An Invisible Blade can reduce any damage taken by their Luck. Easy to remember. Option 2 (my favourite but it requires playtesting): during the first round of combat roll only (if not surprise) roll Deed Dice as a free action and gains a number of temporary hit points equal to the result. During later rounds, each time you attempt a Mighty Deed of Arms, you can decide before or after the roll to add the Deed Die result to your pool of temporary hit points. If you do this, you can’t execute a different maneuver or otherwise add the Deed Die to your damage rolls. If those temporary hit points are spent, you have “run out of panache” for that battle and can’t use this trick anymore. After the last round of combat, your temporary hit points are gone.

A matter of Luck

Luck is one of my favourite aspects of DCC RPG and it comes from a long tradition in TTRPGs (such as from the good old Fighting Fantasy games). That said, I have one little problem with the Luck rules as stated in the DCC RPG Core Rulebook: the whiff factor. Let me try to explain this better.

I like rules that move the session forward, particularly those that make the players hold their breath before rolling the die. In certain ways, this is how I see the themes of luck, chance, fate, and doom. I remember this particularly from the classic D6 System (of Star Wars), which its Wild Dice, Force points, and Character Points. I would like that same feeling in DCC RPG when PCs spend Luck.

Actually, this topic came to my mind because what usually happened at my table is that players would roll their die and then I would ask if they were happy with the result or would like to spend Luck. And here we have two “difficult schools”. The “first school” is that of the “transparent Judge”, who lets the PCs know all the DCs and necessary stats. So, if you like to tell your players a check’s DC before they roll, then the player would just do some math after the roll and decide if spending Luck is worth it. However, if you follow the “second school” (the “secret Judge”) then that means that you do not reveal DCs (perhaps just communicating to the players that one action is difficult, easy, practically impossible, etc.), which means that PCs don’t know how much Luck they have to spend to succeed. The first school turns Luck into a matter of mathematics; the second school is a shot in the dark, which usually results in considerable frustration for players. After all, they are spending a resource for maybe no result. To make matters worse, most Judges of DCC RPG that I know (including me) use a “mixed school”: they reveal the DCs for skill checks, but not monsters' stats (such as their AC). In the end, the result is the same: either the players are doing math between rolls or spending Luck blindly.

OK, so I decided to change that. What I’ve been doing for almost two years is this: each time a PC burns Luck, they can only burn 1 point at a time. Each point of Luck is either a +1d4 or +1d6. We usually prefer 1d6s because we love to roll them, but some tables might prefer 1d4s. Why might some prefer a 1d4? Because the die explodes. That means that if roll the maximum number, you get to roll a new die and add the result (and if the second die explodes too you keep rolling).

My players so far are loving this house rule. Why?

1) It speeds up our table dynamics. I usually like to tell the skills checks DCs but not monster stats. So most of the time (with skills checks) they know right away if they want to risk burning Luck. And if they do, they don’t have to think about how much they spend: they just burn 1 Luck and roll +1d6.

2) It is clearly a risk mechanic. The idea that you know that you die might not explode works better for my players than burning blindly “X points of Luck” and feeling that it was for nothing. There is still a chance that they will burn Luck and not get enough points, but they feel the risk here is more “honest”.

3) When the dice explode, the entire table cheers! They love it! (Particularly in spellcasting checks and damage rolls).

How about Thief PCs? When they burn Luck, I let them roll +1d6 plus the Luck Die indicated by their level. Just the 1d6 can explode. So, a 1st level Thief burning 1 Luck gains +1d6+1d3.

Halfling PCs? They roll +2d6 and pick the best die.

This house role of course is not perfect (and it requires adjustments when using optional Luck rules, such as Fleeting Luck, or classes such as those from DCC RPG Dying Earth). That said, so far it has worked really well at my tables and we are not thinking on changing it for time being.