Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

DCC has inspired many folks to produce their own supplements and adventures for the game. This is the place for discussion of all 3PP products for DCC RPG.

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Maxwell Luther
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Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Maxwell Luther »

Hey folks. I was looking to get opinions on the Purple Duck adventures and the Crawl fanzine from a stylistic, artistic and useful stuff perspective. I'm debating getting both the bundles for those respective product lines, which seems a great deal if all the content is above average, so I'd like to know a bit more before buying the lot.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by funkaoshi »

I am a big fan of Crawl. The first 6 issues were really great.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Ravenheart87 »

Crawl is good. The Purple Duck adventures range from average to good, you will surely find something fitting for your taste.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Rick »

Echoing the praises for Crawl; It's as essential for the DCCRPG crowd as the Spellburn podcasts or the Crawler's Companion.

My group considers AL 1: Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror a favorite.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Maxwell Luther »

If Crawl is as essential as the Crawler's Companion, that would be high praise indeed, in my eyes.

From the looks of it, the Purple Duck adventures are shorter 'fill in' adventures, what in ACKS terms might be called Dynamic Lairs. Is that fairly accurate, because I could definitely use some of those?

And what are some other items you folks consider must have for DCC? And why?
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Raven_Crowking »

Rick wrote:My group considers AL 1: Bone Hoard of the Dancing Horror a favorite.
Thank you!
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Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by ragboy »

Maxwell Luther wrote:If Crawl is as essential as the Crawler's Companion, that would be high praise indeed, in my eyes.
CRAWL! is essential -- it gives you the fan perspective and some ideas on where to take your home game. You may not necessarily use what's there exactly as it appears, but it'll definitely give you some baselines to springboard your own creations (specifically new classes, a new patron, a pretty kick ass adventure, etc).
Maxwell Luther wrote:
From the looks of it, the Purple Duck adventures are shorter 'fill in' adventures, what in ACKS terms might be called Dynamic Lairs. Is that fairly accurate, because I could definitely use some of those?
The Purple Duck adventures are just as you describe -- short adventures (1 or 2 sessions) that you can drop in anywhere. But, that's where the distinction gets a little blurry. These adventures could have very lasting consequences on your campaign -- my players still carry around one of the candles from Bone Hoard. Still hunted because of events in the Waystation. Stars in Darkness is one of the best DCC adventures purely for the new spin it'll put on your elves (and the Luck mechanic, as a whole).

The CE series (which I haven't had the opportunity to introduce to the home game) is chock full of things you can either run as is, or rip out individually and plop right into whatever you are running. Those are meant to be fill-ins for the "quest for it" vibe that permeates DCC. And they are VERY good.
Maxwell Luther wrote: And what are some other items you folks consider must have for DCC? And why?
TLDR: Get all of it. You'll use it and never be sad again.

As far as supplement-type stuff: Angels, Daemons and Beings Between is a book chock full of patrons (13), and similar to the Purple Duck and Crawl stuff, if you don't use them whole cloth, there is a lot of material there that will springboard your own creations (full disclosure, I'm a co-author on that book). Critters, Creatures & Denizens (which I have not read) is a book chock full of monsters.

Other than that, adventures directly from Goodman are the gold standard, but the 3PP adventures are also very good. The game has drawn a strange vortex of creativity (I think it's because the game is rules light, but idea heavy) that seems to suck in my money every time something new comes out.

Short adventure alternative to Purple Duck: Appendix N adventures -- really good and run in a session and a half and In the Prison of the Squid Sorcerer (I'm the publisher and a contributor) has 12 short adventures/encounters to get something started (and maybe ended) in your home campaign.

For an adventure that's not your grandfather's fantasy (but your great grandfather's): Check out Transylvanian Adventures Winter Home -- badass gothic horror adventure that's kicking off a campaign book in that genre. Think: Hammer Horror. Think: The delight you'll have at the player's stricken faces.

Longer adventures (still low level): Purple Sorcerer (give Jon all your money), Thick Skull Adventures (Stephen, too).

For higher level stuff (other than those published by Goodman), Dragon's Hoard has two: Revelation of Mulmo (by Daniel Bishop) and Tomb of Curses (by me).

*whew!* I think that's it.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Maxwell Luther »

ragboy wrote:
CRAWL! is essential -- it gives you the fan perspective and some ideas on where to take your home game. You may not necessarily use what's there exactly as it appears, but it'll definitely give you some baselines to springboard your own creations (specifically new classes, a new patron, a pretty kick ass adventure, etc).
I'll admit I have a soft spot for fanzines, probably due to my nostalgia for the DIY attitude of the 70's and 80's (which is why I'm running DCC in the first place). And it's cheap enough ,so sold.

The Purple Duck adventures are just as you describe -- short adventures (1 or 2 sessions) that you can drop in anywhere. But, that's where the distinction gets a little blurry. These adventures could have very lasting consequences on your campaign -- my players still carry around one of the candles from Bone Hoard. Still hunted because of events in the Waystation. Stars in Darkness is one of the best DCC adventures purely for the new spin it'll put on your elves (and the Luck mechanic, as a whole).
Just what I'm looking for. As I get older and have less time, these are invaluable. It's nice to just create a sandbox and have a series of short adventures on file to plop down for random encounters to fill out the campaign. Sold.
The CE series (which I haven't had the opportunity to introduce to the home game) is chock full of things you can either run as is, or rip out individually and plop right into whatever you are running. Those are meant to be fill-ins for the "quest for it" vibe that permeates DCC. And they are VERY good.
CE Series?

TLDR: Get all of it. You'll use it and never be sad again.

As far as supplement-type stuff: Angels, Daemons and Beings Between is a book chock full of patrons (13), and similar to the Purple Duck and Crawl stuff, if you don't use them whole cloth, there is a lot of material there that will springboard your own creations (full disclosure, I'm a co-author on that book). Critters, Creatures & Denizens (which I have not read) is a book chock full of monsters.
That comes in the Purple Duck bundle, so I'll be getting that. I was wondering about it, though.
Other than that, adventures directly from Goodman are the gold standard, but the 3PP adventures are also very good. The game has drawn a strange vortex of creativity (I think it's because the game is rules light, but idea heavy) that seems to suck in my money every time something new comes out.
I have several of the DCC adventures already and plan to own them all. And this is the first time I've bought pre-made adventures in a VERY long time. The last time was the first three WotC 3E adventures and the third one convinced me never to do that again. Before that, the 80's were the last time I bought pre-published adventures, and most of those were in Dragon and White Dwarf.

I find it very heartening to hear that the new 3PP adventures are bringing back the style and substance of the old school for DCC.
Short adventure alternative to Purple Duck: Appendix N adventures -- really good and run in a session and a half and In the Prison of the Squid Sorcerer (I'm the publisher and a contributor) has 12 short adventures/encounters to get something started (and maybe ended) in your home campaign.
Looked at the Appendix N bundle, read the reviews and am thinking about that as well. We certainly are spoiled for choice!
For an adventure that's not your grandfather's fantasy (but your great grandfather's): Check out Transylvanian Adventures Winter Home -- badass gothic horror adventure that's kicking off a campaign book in that genre. Think: Hammer Horror. Think: The delight you'll have at the player's stricken faces.

Longer adventures (still low level): Purple Sorcerer (give Jon all your money), Thick Skull Adventures (Stephen, too).

For higher level stuff (other than those published by Goodman), Dragon's Hoard has two: Revelation of Mulmo (by Daniel Bishop) and Tomb of Curses (by me).

*whew!* I think that's it.
Very, very helpful (except where my wallet is concerned)! Thank you very much!
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Raven_Crowking »

Maxwell Luther wrote:CE Series?
Campaign Element.

http://www.goodman-games.com/forums/vie ... 70&t=44764
SoBH pbp:

Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Rick »

A couple more that I find a boatload of value in. Note that they're both system neutral, but (imo) they go w/ DCCRPG like swords do with sorcery.

The Dungeon Alphabet: http://www.goodman-games.com/4385preview.html

The Random Esoteric Creature Generator http://www.goodman-games.com/4375preview.html
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Raven_Crowking »

Rick wrote:A couple more that I find a boatload of value in. Note that they're both system neutral, but (imo) they go w/ DCCRPG like swords do with sorcery.

The Dungeon Alphabet: http://www.goodman-games.com/4385preview.html

The Random Esoteric Creature Generator http://www.goodman-games.com/4375preview.html
+4d24
SoBH pbp:

Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Maxwell Luther »

Rick wrote:A couple more that I find a boatload of value in. Note that they're both system neutral, but (imo) they go w/ DCCRPG like swords do with sorcery.

The Dungeon Alphabet: http://www.goodman-games.com/4385preview.html

The Random Esoteric Creature Generator http://www.goodman-games.com/4375preview.html
Bought the former with DCC. The latter looks very interesting...
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Skars »

I have enjoyed the d30 DM companion as well if we are branching outside into the OSR third party realm of Dungeon Alphabet and Random Esoteric Creatures :)

Like you, I love 'zines. Crawl! basically sealed the deal for me when deciding to try out DCC RPG. I had a few of the goodman modules from the early d20 days but I was in a heavy wargame/boardgame cycle (being an "Omni-gamer" I go through cycles of attention to different types of tabletop games) before I hefted this tome onto the gamestore counter. Since then, it has been a really fun ride with my very own article in Crawl! #7 and getting a chance to playtest oodles of 3PP material like the items mentioned from Purple Duck.

All I can say is a ton of enthusiasm and creativity are going into a bunch of these products with plenty more on deck. Dive in!
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Karaptis »

Sorry Harley and Michael, not that your modules suck, but RC is my favorite adventure writer so far in DCC. Goodman better franchise that guy! Not to mention that patron book.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Raven_Crowking »

You are too kind.
SoBH pbp:

Cathbad the Meek (herbalist Wizard 1): AC 9; 4 hp; S 7, A 7, St 10, P 17, I 13, L 8; Neutral; Club, herbs, 50' rope, 50 cp; -1 to melee attack rolls. Hideous scar.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Maxwell Luther »

I bought the Crawl Bundle and Esoteric Creature Generator and both were well worth it. The new Crawl character classes are already being used and I'm looking at the Creature Generator as a source for creating alien flora and fauna for the first few Void hunters adventures.

I've currently got the the Purple Duck bundles in my purchase cue, awaiting funds. I plan to use them as Dynamic Lairs for my current DCC sandbox campaign.

This game has the most talented 3PP producers of any I've ever seen.
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by cthulhudarren »

RC won't be my favorite until he releases the Shanthopal city/setting!
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Re: Purple Duck Adventures and Crawl Fanzine...

Post by Karaptis »

I already showed my hand but Cthulhudarren has a point. You should do a setting.
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