Page 1 of 1
Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2019 10:50 pm
by Rob F
Hello All!!
First time post, new to the DCC community. So I've finally found some time over the holiday season to give the DCC RPG a whirl with my family. During the character creation process one of my kids rolled a 95 (Wainwright) and then to determine what was in his starting cart a 4. Which says - "your dead". What's funny about this is that as I was reading the rules I wasn't sure what this meant but thought, no worries, no one will ever roll a 95 and then a 4. Well my 7 year old did!! So does this mean he got himself killed before the adventure even began by getting pinned under his cart or is he pushing around dead bodies? I'm sure I can house rule this one but I'm just really curious about what the designers intent was when this option was added.
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:40 pm
by GnomeBoy
Ah... How do I break this to you...?
It's not "You're dead" -- it's "your dead"... As in the popular phrase "Bring out your dead!" (as popularly known from
Monty Python's Holy Grail).
His job is the collecting of dead bodies, particularly after a plague or calamity, to dispose of them "properly"...
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:50 pm
by Starbeard
Yep, your son received arguably one of the best available starting items with that roll. Who hasn't wished they had a spare body around when exploring a dungeon?
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 10:28 pm
by Rob F
GnomeBoy wrote: ↑Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:40 pm
Ah... How do I break this to you...?
It's not "You're dead" -- it's "your dead"... As in the popular phrase "Bring out your dead!" (as popularly known from
Monty Python's Holy Grail).
His job is the collecting of dead bodies, particularly after a plague or calamity, to dispose of them "properly"...
Thanks. He is super pumped that this is one of his characters! And.....back to English class I go..!
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:34 pm
by Judge_Yossarian
The wainright seems super OP when dealing with traps to be honest... The two groups who I've run through A Portal Under The Stars both largely survived through clever use of a cart full of rocks. Dead are like rocks, but more... flexible. Should be very useful, at least until they start to smell.
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 6:25 am
by Jim Skach
IMHO...
This:
Judge_Yossarian wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:34 pm
...clever use of a cart full of rocks.
Negates this:
Judge_Yossarian wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:34 pm
The wainright seems super OP when dealing with traps to be honest...
YMMV, etc...
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 6:48 am
by GnomeBoy
Jim's got it.
Who'd rather their players weren't clever?
This game is all about folks reaching for unforeseen solutions and oddball ideas -- goes a long way to making it fun.
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 5:01 pm
by Judge_Yossarian
Oh, of course it was fun for the players... but what about the poor judge who hardly got to kill anyone?
But of course you are both right, creative use of any of the starting occupations or trade goods is what it's all about and should be rewarded. I am sure when playing with kids they have no trouble doing that, OP should have a good time.
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Tue Jan 07, 2020 3:33 pm
by JoanofArc
I've rolled the exact same as your two sons. It was fun to have one of my 0-levels collect all the bodies throughout the funnel. That's all he did. At one point the judge said that the wagon was too heavy for the PC to pull/push and needed another PC's help. It didn't take much for another player to offer a PC up for that.
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 7:19 pm
by Starbeard
Judge_Yossarian wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:34 pm
The wainright seems super OP when dealing with traps to be honest... The two groups who I've run through A Portal Under The Stars both largely survived through clever use of a cart full of rocks. Dead are like rocks, but more... flexible. Should be very useful, at least until they start to smell.
I don't think I'd allow the cart into the Portal dungeon in the first place. There's no way it would fit through the 5' corridors or around corners, let alone squeeze through the narrower doorways.
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:34 pm
by Bobjester
Starbeard wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 7:19 pm
Judge_Yossarian wrote: ↑Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:34 pm
The wainright seems super OP when dealing with traps to be honest... The two groups who I've run through A Portal Under The Stars both largely survived through clever use of a cart full of rocks. Dead are like rocks, but more... flexible. Should be very useful, at least until they start to smell.
I don't think I'd allow the cart into the Portal dungeon in the first place. There's no way it would fit through the 5' corridors or around corners, let alone squeeze through the narrower doorways.
Why do the corridors always have to be 5' wide? Sure, most modern dungeons are on a 5' grid, but they used to be 10'.
Also, some carts are less than 5' wide, so they'd fit down most 5' wide corridors, even around corners, and some carts a little more than slightly bigger wheelbarrows. I don't see carts in a dungeon as a problem until you get to natural cavern terrain. That might be a little more bumpy and slow down the cart pusher a bit, but at least the passengers won't really mind too much.
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:56 pm
by Starbeard
In general I agree with absolutely all of that. This is really just a case of particulars for this situation:
- For Portal Under the Stars, I like keeping the map to the scale that's printed (1 square = 5'). It makes the place very cramped when you toss 12-20 nobodies into the funnel. I think it adds a nice layer to the puzzles if you force the players to bumble over each other to disastrous effect, unless they send forward only tiny groups at a time.
- I figure if you're a "wain" wright, you've got yourself a large farm cart, etymologically speaking. Something you can throw a harvest into and take to town, or load multiple barrels of hay into and move around the farm. I might ask the player to choose a size for the cart at creation, but if the contents are a pile of dead people, then I would rule that the cart is a pretty big one.
Re: Character creation - Wainwright (your dead)
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2020 1:37 pm
by Bobjester
Starbeard wrote: ↑Thu Jan 09, 2020 9:56 pm
In general I agree with absolutely all of that. This is really just a case of particulars for this situation:
- For Portal Under the Stars, I like keeping the map to the scale that's printed (1 square = 5'). It makes the place very cramped when you toss 12-20 nobodies into the funnel. I think it adds a nice layer to the puzzles if you force the players to bumble over each other to disastrous effect, unless they send forward only tiny groups at a time.
- I figure if you're a "wain" wright, you've got yourself a large farm cart, etymologically speaking. Something you can throw a harvest into and take to town, or load multiple barrels of hay into and move around the farm. I might ask the player to choose a size for the cart at creation, but if the contents are a pile of dead people, then I would rule that the cart is a pretty big one.
Very good points. Thanks for the clarification, and I find myself agreeing with you on these specifics.