DCC to run Frog God Stuff

[Eponymous]

So is it worth using DCC to run my Frog God stuff or do I just do it in SW? What things should I look out for prepare for if suing DCC to do oldshool modules as written?

[finarvyn]

You really could go either way with this. Frog God Games products are designed for old school D&D and the clones, so S&W is a natural fit. On the other hand, DCC works well (in my opinion) side-by-side with a lot of old school products as well.

A couple of thoughts in semi-random order:

(1) In order to get the full DCC RPG experience, you ought to check out at least one official DCC RPG module. That way you can get a good feel for how DCC adventures vary from D&D/S&W adventures. The DCC modules are well written overall, and they don't tend to emphasize traditional monsters.

(2) I have found that I don't need to do much to "convert" monsters from one system to another. I tend to run them as they are and not sweat the details. Of course, in my OD&D games I routinely grab monsters from OD&D, the AD&D Monster Manual, C&C's Monsters & Treasures, the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, or whatever book I have handy. I figure that it a particular batch of orcs is unnaturally strong or weak compared to other batches, it just keeps my players on their toes.

(3) I have found that one DCC character level seems to be equivalent to two D&D/S&W levels, so if you have a Frog God module designed for 10th level S&W characters you might try 5th level DCC characters.

(4) The biggest difference (in my opinion) between S&W and DCC RPG is the spellcasting system, so you want to be familar with how that works. Depending upon your players and their style of play, you may have to deal with more or fewer spells cast at the critters.

Hope that helps!

[GnomeBoy]

Not sure how much experience you have with DCC, so take these thoughts with a grain of salt.

Fin covers things pretty well up there, but here're a couple more things to ponder:

• If you're going for a campaign, or at least a vague, campaign-ish feel, consider picking one monster in each module you run to make the same race. DCC emphasizes unique monsters, and that's great for avoiding the "ah, yes, another Beholder" effect. Having a recurring monstrous race in the campaign suits the feel of Appendix N source material well. Pages 379-180 have way to make a unique humanoid race that'd come in handy for this.

• Don't be surprised when magic or Deeds seem to throw what you thought was going to be a tough encounter right out the window. If it's down to smart play, it's good. If it's down to a series of rock solid die rolls, it's good. If it's down to the wrong level module for the level of the characters, adjust as needed, but don't over-adjust. Sometimes things like that happen, and it's the natural course of DCC to have runs of awesome results for the players' side. The dice will swing your way in good time. And if it's the reverse situation, rolling in the open for attack rolls and stuff like that will make it okay ("I'm not out to get you — you saw me roll those 20s!").

• You may or may not want to adjust treasure, based on your preferences and taste. That could mean lowering the number of gold pieces, or switching in silver where the module says 'gold'. Or it could mean instead of 1000 gp in coins there's a single, massive gem worth 1000 gp. That becomes a plot point, if you want it to be (small settlements aren't going to be able to 'make change', it may be highly prized and sought after by powerful people, with the right knowledge you can awaken the magic within it, etc.).