Making Monsters for DCC

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Raven_Crowking
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Making Monsters for DCC

Post by Raven_Crowking »

A blog post that some might find useful.

https://ravencrowking.blogspot.com/2018 ... crawl.html
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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Turelus
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Re: Making Monsters for DCC

Post by Turelus »

Only a few months late but wanted to say thanks for linking to the write up as it was inspiring to read.

I am currently trying to convert Barrowmaze to DCC and trying to figure out the best way to go with getting Labyrinth Lord stats over to DCC in an interesting way. One thing I didn't notice in your blog post (and hopefully didn't just miss it) was how you gauge the saves characters would make against monster abilities.

In my rough workings for the conversions I am doing I went with a rule of thumb of "DC = 10+HD" then tweaking from there, however that did end up with some pretty worrying numbers. Such as a Basilisk with a DC16 gaze attack, which when comparing to DCC characters even at a "balanced" level would be pretty tough to pass.
I could also just be overthinking and trying to balance things too much as a carry over from other systems.
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Raven_Crowking
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Re: Making Monsters for DCC

Post by Raven_Crowking »

Turelus wrote:Only a few months late but wanted to say thanks for linking to the write up as it was inspiring to read.
You're welcome!

Okay, then, conversions. Here are a couple of posts that you might find useful:

https://ravencrowking.blogspot.com/2013 ... o-dcc.html

https://ravencrowking.blogspot.com/2016 ... ntain.html

For saves, use the "average man" standard, where the average man is a schlub in a 0-level funnel:

DC 5: The character succeeds 80% of the time.
DC 10: The character succeeds 55% of the time.
DC 15: The character succeeds 30% of the time.
DC 20: The character succeeds 5% of the time.

Assuming that a natural 20 always succeeds, DCs over 20 represent cases where even a more powerful being has a reduced chance of success. A character with a +2 bonus to Fort saves has a 15% chance of making DC 20, but only a 5% chance of making DC 22....the same as the peasant.

In general, if a failed save results in killing the character outright, or removing them from play, a lower save DC is often appropriate.

If a failed save results in a change to the status quo that promotes more interesting play, a higher save DC is often appropriate.

IOW, the DC reflects, in part, whether or not you want the save to succeed or fail more often. If you have a way to telegraph the effect, and the level of danger, a high DC can also increase table tension. If there is a way to avoid having to make the save, or to alter the odds of the roll, so much the better.

Remember that save bonuses in DCC don't inflate like they do in some games - a 10th level warrior has a +6 bonus to Fort saves, and nothing else that high. It is barely possible to get up to +12 with an 18 Stamina, an 18 starting Luck, and the right birth augur. The odds are good that you will never see such a thing fairly rolled. You don't have to make save DCs excessive to make them work.
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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Raven_Crowking
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Re: Making Monsters for DCC

Post by Raven_Crowking »

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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Turelus
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Re: Making Monsters for DCC

Post by Turelus »

Thanks, really appreciate the feedback. I've spent the last month Google searching for information on monster creation and conversion but the information is scarce and often very old (There is a Barrowmaze thread on these boards but bumping a six year old thread is probably not wise).

The first link I've read over before as your blog comes up a lot in Google searches so I've been stalking it and trying to absorb as much information as I can from it. The second link I had somehow missed but looks great, thanks. It will really help being able to look at some direct conversions and understand some of the process others have used.

My current plan is to go down the list of enemies from Barrowmaze and get basic stats on paper using the Quick Monster Stats PDF, then reparse it tweaking values and using Monster Alphabet and my own ideas to add the "weird" to each one (changing stats to reflect that if it improves the design).

As your second link mentioned Labyrinth Lord specifically, do you have any advice on converting damage dice, or just what you'd mentioned in your first link about checking the weapons list?
As I noticed when converting a Skeleton from LL to DCC using the Quick Monster Stats PDF you end up with a Skeleton which has more HP, better saves and damage than a Skeleton listed in the DCC Rulebook. Skeletons in LL doing 1d6 claw attacks vs DDC skeletons doing 1d3.

I understand all the concepts of OSR systems and especially DCC not requiring perfect stats and systems, but am one of those people who gets really restless when something doesn't have a reason or system. I'm hoping that as I do more of the conversions I'll feel a little more comfortable with just throwing some stats at something and not having my fussy brain trigger because it might not be "right".

Thanks for the follow up link, added to my GoogleDoc with all my workings on.
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Raven_Crowking
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Re: Making Monsters for DCC

Post by Raven_Crowking »

What you really want to do is avoid making combat into a slog. Sure, you can up the hit points of everything, but in most cases I either keep the same hit points (AD&D or earlier, or their OSR emulators) or reduce them (3e and later) so that the game doesn't grind to a halt.

As far as damage goes:

1d4 is a club or dagger.
1d6 is a short sword.
1d8 is significant - a longsword or a spear.
1d10 is the best normal human weapon.

Use that as a base, add mods for size or Strength, and consider throwing in 1d5 or 1d7 (because they are cool!).

Here is a Reddit thread where I convert a couple of foes from 3e to DCC, giving you both the original description and my revision:

https://www.reddit.com/r/dccrpg/comment ... wking_ama/

Not quite the same as Labyrinth Lord, but you get the idea.
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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Raven_Crowking
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Re: Making Monsters for DCC

Post by Raven_Crowking »

The "Monster Extractor" series is another really good resource for conversions. The un-dead extractor may be particularly useful in your case.

https://dcctreasures.blogspot.com/search?q=extractor
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: Making Monsters for DCC

Post by GnomeBoy »

Raven_Crowking wrote:The "Monster Extractor" series is another really good resource for conversions. The un-dead extractor may be particularly useful in your case.

https://dcctreasures.blogspot.com/search?q=extractor
The five Monster Extractors are truly genius — perhaps even better than the entire DCC game itself! :shock:

I also had a lot of fun writing them, even despite my intensely humble nature. :mrgreen: :wink:
...
Gnome Boy • DCC playtester @ DDC 35 Feb '11. • Beta DL 2111, 7AM PT, 8 June 11.
Playing RPGs since '77 • Quasi-occasional member of the Legion of 8th-Level Fighters.

Link: Here Be 100+ DCC Monsters

bygrinstow.com - The Home of Inner Ham
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Turelus
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Re: Making Monsters for DCC

Post by Turelus »

Thanks again! Five new additions to my ever growing folder of material.
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