Great interview. I especially liked this part:
The game obviously went past that but I think it could be boiled down to 64 pages, if published with less art, fewer spells, and only the core character-and-combat rules. By the time my son is ready to game, I’d like to have a 64-page “Father-Son” edition of DCC RPG that he can easily read and digest.
This is what I'm looking forward to and it really got me thinking (the gamer's curse, to always be thinking about new improvements).
I definitely think there's a niche for a Basic/Kids version of DCC. Since the feat-less, AoO-free hardcover rules are quite basic now (which mature players use as a template for choosing the complexity level of their campaign), the introductory rules could be the same as what we have now, just leaving off some of the parts that might bog down a 7-11 year old, like 0-level characters, the arcane classes and their spell tables. I think a good gamemaster could create years of incredible adventures for a party of warriors, thieves and dwarves such that they wouldn't miss being an elf or wizard. Personal bias confession: having to solve problems without a powerful animal companion or a dozen magical solutions at your beck and call is one of the challenges of this game I really admire.
Since the rules don't need to be changed, just pruned a little, I think the same book might be a better resource for non-roleplayers (or non-spellcasters) than the current tome which is bigger and heavier than my college corporate finance textbook. If I play a 1st level warrior or dwarf and it'll take perhaps 40-50 weeks of gameplay to reach level 4, I know I'd rather be carrying a nice light softcover book back and forth that whole time. Speaking of non-gamers, I'd like a Father-Son edition to have tons more gameplay advice and discussion on teamwork, ingenuity and lateral thinking... but perhaps that's just because I've recently read Finch's
Quick Primer for Old School Gaming, and it really appealed to me. I don't think any of the Basic D&D books from 1975-1989 ever had enough of this kind of material.