Let Harley Walk You Through a Selection of His Adventures!
With so many new players venturing into the world of DCC RPG for the first time these days, Goodman Games is rolling out the red carpet to say “Welcome to the Band!”
We’ve recently posted welcome messages to all new players from the mastermind behind Dungeon Crawl Classics himself, Joseph Goodman, which is a great place to start and includes many resources for new players if you are totally fresh to the phenomenon that is DCC. And, as a great primer on the second-to-none community of awesome gamers that comprise ‘the Band’ – that is, all the terrific DCC fans from around the world – none other than Judge Brendan of the Road Crew shares just what makes the DCC community so special.
Today we are joined by writer and designer Harley Stroh, the inspired creator (or ingenious fiend!) behind many of DCC‘s most beloved adventure modules. Harley walks you through an introductory adventuring path that will take your group from level 0 to level 5 over the course of five modules (with a bonus sixth mentioned as a possibility of where to go next!).
Whether they are lost at sea — or upon a sea of phlogistan — or questing for gold, glory, or possibly, to break through the gates of death itself, Harley’s following five adventures will grow any fledgling group into a formidable band of campaigners, with more than enough daring accomplishments, harrowing tales, and fearsome battle-scars to last a lifetime!
Take it away, Harely:
All the adventures Harley mentioned can be found below, enough to transform your group from humble nobodies to powerful mid-level heroes:
Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
A Level 0 Adventure
Find out why this is among the most-celebrated adventures for DCC RPG!
Since time immemorial you and your people have toiled in the shadow of the cyclopean ruins. Of mysterious origins and the source of many a superstition, they have always been considered a secret best left unknown by the folk of your hamlet.
But now something stirs beneath the crumbling blocks. Beastmen howl in the night and your fellow villagers are snatched from their beds. With no heroes to defend you, who will rise to stand against the encircling darkness? The secrets of Chaos are yours to unearth, but at what cost to sanity or soul?
An introductory adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game, Sailors on the Starless Sea pits a mob of 0-level adventurers against the legacy of the Chaos Lords and their corrupted hordes. Delving beneath the crumbling ruins, the characters discover ancient crypts, a starless sea, and an ancient ziggurat, where death and treasure await in equal measure!
Dungeon Crawl Classics #66.5: Doom of the Savage Kings
A Level 1 Adventure
High above the windswept moors and darksome woods, the village of Hirot is under siege. Each night, as the sun sinks beneath the western mountains and the candles burn low, a devil-beast stalks the village streets, unleashing its savage fury on the living. From warlord to pauper, crone to child, no one is safe.
Defeating the immortal hound will require more than mere blades or even spells. To slay the beast, the characters must delve into the mysteries of the land and its Savage Kings. Only then, armed with relics forged from a bloody past, can the most cunning and courageous of adventurers challenge the hound of Hirot!
Dungeon Crawl Classics #78: Fate’s Fell Hand
A Level 2 Adventure for DCC RPG
Awash in a sea of phlogiston, three wizards battle for mastery of reality! But with each new day, all gains are lost and the game begins anew. It is up to the adventurers to upset this ancient balance, winning free of the shrinking demi-plane before all is reduced to the roiling stuff of raw Chaos!
Will you strike a bargain, swearing fealty to one of the fell masters? Or will you attempt to master your own fate, pitting your luck and skill against arcane foes? Whatever you decide, you must act quickly, for gray worms press in from all sides and time grows short!
An exploration-based adventure for 2nd level PCs, Fate’s Fell Hand challenges new and old players alike. Only the most cunning of PCs can hope to thwart the machinations of three dire wizards and escape Fate’s Fell Hand!
Dungeon Crawl Classics #70: Jewels of the Carnifex
A Level 3 Adventure for DCC RPG
At the end of a forgotten back alley, in the weird and otherworldly marketplace of faiths known as the Bazaar of the Gods, stands the ruins of a forgotten chapel. Once the cult of the Carnifex was celebrated throughout the City of a Thousand Gates. But a band of holy warriors rose against the cult of executioners and torturers, casting down her signs and scattering her devotees to the winds. The fate of the cthonic goddess, and – more importantly – her fabled jewels remains a mystery…until this night.
Set amid the sprawling decadence of Punjar, Jewels of the Carnifex offers low-level adventurers a chance to plumb the mysteries beneath the city’s soiled streets, explore forgotten crypts lavished with weird artifacts, and – for the quick and daring – claim the lost Jewels of the Carnifex!
Lost In The Briars:
BONUS ADVENTURE! This module also includes the bonus adventure Lost in the Briars, by Brendan LaSalle! It’s an exciting romp through the woods — woods controlled by an evil treant intent on completing a diabolic ritual!
Dungeon Crawl Classics #74: Blades Against Death
A Level 4 Adventure for DCC RPG
Punjar: wide-eyed madmen stalk the streets pronouncing the end of days, mail-clad priests crush the skulls of heathens underfoot, and timorous virgins are offered up in sacrifice within sooty temples. But even the greatest of shining temples and the strangest of mystery cults don’t dare to challenge the terrifying finality of death.
Until now. In Blades Against Death, the adventurers cross between the realms of the living and the dead, and wager their souls in a desperate bid to steal a soul from Death’s hoary grasp. To win over the God of Dooms, you must be the most daring, stalwart and cunning and – when all else fails – willing to test your blades against Death!
A mid-level adventure for the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role-Playing Game, Blades against Death offers characters a once in a lifetime escapade. Those that return from the Realms of the Dead will have earned the true title of Adventurer, while those that fail will spend eternity in Death’s service.
Abbot of the Woods:
BONUS ADVENTURE! Abbott of the Woods by Harley Stroh, as well as the four Tarot Card handouts now printed in full color.
Dungeon Crawl Classics #84: Peril On The Purple Planet – PDF
A Level 4 Adventure for DCC RPG
The Purple Planet: Where tribes of man-beasts wage an endless war beneath a dying sun. Where mighty death worms rule the wastes, befouled winds whistle through ancient crypts, and forests of fungi flourish in the weirdling light. Where ancient technologies offer life … or a quick death.
Bereft of patron, friend, or god, your survival depends on quick wits and a strong blade. Will you and your companions stand as conquerors atop this alien land? Or will you fall beneath the blast of an ink-black death ray, just another corpse left to litter the wastes of the Purple Planet?