Goodman Games

I just ran Sailors Starless Sea with a couple friends. We've only played D&D before, wow what a great game DCC is. We were dying laughing during some parts of the game. Anyways on to a couple questions I had:

1. How long is a round? In the tomb it mentions every round you have to make saving throws, I just did one move/one action, is there an official amount of time?
2. Can a Level 0 use a weapon that they didn't start with. Say a Level 0 starts with a dagger, can they use a bow if they find one?
3. Can Level 0s spend luck to add to a roll?
4. What if a character needs to succeed on a DC15 skill check and they roll an 11 with modifier, would you ever tell them the DC so they could spend the appropriate luck if they wanted to?

Thanks!

1. A round is 10 seconds.
2. Yes, but the weapon is considered untrained and attacks with 1d16 instead of 1d20.
3. Yes, let them spend Luck.
4. I tell them the DC so they can decide if it's worth it.

JRedmond wrote:I just ran Sailors Starless Sea with a couple friends. We've only played D&D before, wow what a great game DCC is. We were dying laughing during some parts of the game. Anyways on to a couple questions I had:

1. How long is a round? In the tomb it mentions every round you have to make saving throws, I just did one move/one action, is there an official amount of time?

Approx. 10 seconds. See page 76, Time Keeping

JRedmond wrote:2. Can a Level 0 use a weapon that they didn't start with. Say a Level 0 starts with a dagger, can they use a bow if they find one?

Yes, and the normal penalty is waived for zeroes. See page 24, Weapon Training
Generally, using a weapon without training imposes an attack penalty. However, this penalty is waived for 0-level characters. It is assumed that their naturally poor combat abilities reflect equal incompetence with the martial use of all weapons. (Not to mention that in playtests, applying the attack penalty increases the 0-level death rate to absurd proportions.)

JRedmond wrote:3. Can Level 0s spend luck to add to a roll?

Definitely. Often their survival depends on it.

JRedmond wrote:4. What if a character needs to succeed on a DC15 skill check and they roll an 11 with modifier, would you ever tell them the DC so they could spend the appropriate luck if they wanted to?

Me, yes. With new players I will spell it out, with others I am more likely just to give them a hint.

JRedmond wrote:Thanks!

No prob, Welcome!

JRedmond wrote:2. Can a Level 0 use a weapon that they didn't start with. Say a Level 0 starts with a dagger, can they use a bow if they find one?

Going over this ground again, just to be super-clear about it:

Zeroes can use any weapons they come across, without penalty (though a Judge could rule that a ballista doesn't count, I suppose). They are proficient with the last weapon they used before hitting Level 1. So if their starting weapon is a dagger, but they took up a sword to deal with a monster and that's when they got enough XP to hit 1st Level, it's the sword proficiency that carries over into 1st.

And just to give a little flavor to the conversation....

I don't tell them the DC or the AC or whatever is they are trying roll above. I make them burn a point of luck, then I tell them if they succeed...and if not, if they'd like to burn more luck.

OK...so I'll give them a bit of information subtextually - body language, inflection of voice, etc...but not much...