How DCC protects against railroading
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 3:14 pm
I posted about DCC here around the time it came out and blogged about it for a bit (Three Things I love about DCC and some reviews). I chose DCC for my wargamey sandbox DCC-in-the-Wilderlands campaign which I've been running for eight years (150+ sessions and 80+ casualties, half of which are from funnels).
For many years, I played and ran campaigns which were on railroad tracks. This approach enables foreshadowing, dramatic reveals, awesome set pieces and more and I had many a great time.
For about a decade though, I've been rocking to the thrill of danger and unpredictability -- with DCC providing the backbone. You know what I'm talking about: creative Mighty Deeds of Arms, brutal critical hits, and the glorious spell tables.
I knew I had to suppress a long-standing habit of fudging, pulling my punches, and steering adventures. The spell tables in particular proved invaluable: Extreme results mean that the Judge can occasionally kiss his adventure goodbye -- and that's a good thing! For instance, a bunch of 1st-level PCs blew through the first couple of levels of Dyson's Delve after summoning a pair of 8 HD cave bears via animal summoning. A quarter of a mini-campaign in one evening!
Joe also provides plenty of good advice (e.g. "Always roll your dice in public.") and having plenty of adventure modules on hand to stock one's sandbox also helps: If I have put my heart into designing an adventure myself, I have a harder time letting go and allowing the dice and the players' choices to circumvent encounters, kill off major NPCs, and so on.
I modelled my campaign after Ben Robbins' West Marches and also soaked up a ton of advice on the (defunct) Story-Games forum. A lot of that is making its way into Muster: a friendly primer for old school dungeoneering, a crowdfunding project which I'm recommending in this thread. Promoting it (purely as a backer) has brought me to this forum again after so many years.
Anyway, what are your stories of DCC's rules truly wreaking havoc with an adventure?
For many years, I played and ran campaigns which were on railroad tracks. This approach enables foreshadowing, dramatic reveals, awesome set pieces and more and I had many a great time.
For about a decade though, I've been rocking to the thrill of danger and unpredictability -- with DCC providing the backbone. You know what I'm talking about: creative Mighty Deeds of Arms, brutal critical hits, and the glorious spell tables.
I knew I had to suppress a long-standing habit of fudging, pulling my punches, and steering adventures. The spell tables in particular proved invaluable: Extreme results mean that the Judge can occasionally kiss his adventure goodbye -- and that's a good thing! For instance, a bunch of 1st-level PCs blew through the first couple of levels of Dyson's Delve after summoning a pair of 8 HD cave bears via animal summoning. A quarter of a mini-campaign in one evening!
Joe also provides plenty of good advice (e.g. "Always roll your dice in public.") and having plenty of adventure modules on hand to stock one's sandbox also helps: If I have put my heart into designing an adventure myself, I have a harder time letting go and allowing the dice and the players' choices to circumvent encounters, kill off major NPCs, and so on.
I modelled my campaign after Ben Robbins' West Marches and also soaked up a ton of advice on the (defunct) Story-Games forum. A lot of that is making its way into Muster: a friendly primer for old school dungeoneering, a crowdfunding project which I'm recommending in this thread. Promoting it (purely as a backer) has brought me to this forum again after so many years.
Anyway, what are your stories of DCC's rules truly wreaking havoc with an adventure?