A few questions

[goodmangames]

Apologies if I missed a couple questions -- feel free to "bump" me to answer anything I missed. Catching the last couple ones her:

Not wanting to start another thread, and not even sure if I've asked this (that's old age for you), do we have a general release date?

April-ish. The book layout is actually complete right now. We're reading and re-reading to catch typos. Just finished the cover layout and am trading feedback with Doug on a few final things. I'm also waiting on a few final pieces of art. I am tempted to commission a couple more to fill in a few final pieces of white space. It would only take a week or so more...

How many spells will the wizard/cleric have, are we talking ad&d, basic, or something in between?

The core book includes 109 wizard spells, including the 15 patron spells and 8 tables of invoke patron for various patrons. (Wow...I hadn't counted until now...no wonder the book is so long!)

And there are 36 cleric spells. Clerics have a lot more flexibility in their use of magic due to their abilities (divine aid, lay on hands, and turning) so they have correspondingly fewer spells.

[Thane]

April-ish!

Great news!

[Thane]

From the DCC starter adventure, page 10: "Observant characters (DC 12 Intelligence check) notice many
fine scorch marks on the marble floor..."

I would just let the characters notice this, if the players state they are closely inspecting the floor.

I would not let the characters notice this, if the players state they are just glancing at the floor - I'd make them roll.

I would not let the characters notice this, if the players state they are just walking through the room.

That's how I'd do it.

[Thane]

The Infernal Crucible of Sezrekan the Mad

Possible Spoiler Alert
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On page 13, we're told one of pcs has to remain inside for the others to get out, but we are not told why or how this is supposed to occur. Am I missing something?

[Harley Stroh]

On page 13, we're told one of pcs has to remain inside for the others to get out, but we are not told why or how this is supposed to occur. Am I missing something?

Not missing so much as lack of clarity on the part of the author. Let me see if I can make amends.

Elzemon has worked out a way to transfer his imprisonment to another being, using the warded and weird laboratory as the material component for the transference. However the transference isn't immediate; it takes an hour to transpire.

Once the initial runes are set off, every living thing entering the complex is trapped within as the spell "cooks up" over the course of an hour. At the end of that hour, the spell reaches its boiling point, and previously trapped creatures can simply exit via the laboratory's entrance ... except for the very last living creature. This poor soul is trapped for eternity.

I hope this helps! Let me know if it still isn't clear.

//H

[Thane]

On page 13, we're told one of pcs has to remain inside for the others to get out, but we are not told why or how this is supposed to occur. Am I missing something?

Not missing so much as lack of clarity on the part of the author. Let me see if I can make amends.

Elzemon has worked out a way to transfer his imprisonment to another being, using the warded and weird laboratory as the material component for the transference. However the transference isn't immediate; it takes an hour to transpire.

Once the initial runes are set off, every living thing entering the complex is trapped within as the spell "cooks up" over the course of an hour. At the end of that hour, the spell reaches its boiling point, and previously trapped creatures can simply exit via the laboratory's entrance ... except for the very last living creature. This poor soul is trapped for eternity.

I hope this helps! Let me know if it still isn't clear.

//H

That resolves the issue for me

Thank you

[Thane]

Probably a daft question but...

What happens when you finish an adventure, one with 0 level characters, and there are still two or three characters left per player?

Do they go on another one until each player is left with just the one character?

[Ravenheart87]

Probably a daft question but...

What happens when you finish an adventure, one with 0 level characters, and there are still two or three characters left per player?

Do they go on another one until each player is left with just the one character?

I say it's up to the referee and his campaign. Someone lets the players choose only one, others let them run multiple characters.

[Thac0]

Generally I like to make sure everyone has roughly the same number of characters in play. So I let them pick the one they want to play and bank the rest. If we're playing with henchmen, I'd allow them to bring in those banked characters if they wish.

It's rare for me to allow more than one character per player, but I like to play with 8+ players at the table, so it would get pretty chaotic if everyone had 2-3 characters.

Sometimes I steal extra characters from a player that doesn't need them. I never take their favorite one or two, but it makes npc generation easier sometimes. And it's always fun to run into an old party member who went rogue because the party denied him his "fair share" of the spoils on their first adventure. ^-^

[reverenddak]

There's nothing wrong with a player having more than one character, especially if they're still 0-level. It's really up to everyone at the table to determine what's fair, and what's not. Everyone had an equal opportunity with multiple 0-level characters, so it's not exactly fair to punish someone who managed to have more than one survive, but at the same time if they were being stingy with their actions, i.e. not putting them in a fair amount of danger, then it's time for rocks to fall and characters to die. You could also divide XP by players instead of characters...

Also keep in mind there is nothing wrong with having a broad range of character levels among players either. Since there is an emphasis on random "challenge" or encounter "levels", it doesn't matter if one player has 2 or 3 0-level characters and another has a 3rd-level character in the same party, it makes for a much more interesting and challenging game.

[Thane]

Is there advice for this in the main rule book?

[reverenddak]

Is there advice for this in the main rule book?

Not really, just if the Player has more than 2 characters, to roll one initiative for them all, using the highest agility of the bunch. If the Player has only tow, to use individual initiative for each.

My advice is to let the group decide what's best. PC deaths will happen, as it should, so new characters can start at 0, or the same as the lowest, whatever. I've been letting the Player decide how they want to introduce their new characters. They would make 3 or 4 0-level characters, and play them. Or advance one of them to the lowest level in the party. It's really no different in any other game, it's on you how to introduce new characters and at what level. No one way fits every group. DCC RPG really recognizes that no group plays the same.

[Thane]

How much do mithril armour and weapons cost for elves if they need to replace them? I couldn't find any info for them in the equipment chapter.

[arcadayn]

Yeah, the mithril thing kind of throws me off as well. I ran into this issue with the beta when one of the 0 level PCs started with a chunk of mithril. How rare is it? I mean, if every armored elf has to be equipped in mithril, it can't be that rare.

[abk108]

Yeah, the mithril thing kind of throws me off as well. I ran into this issue with the beta when one of the 0 level PCs started with a chunk of mithril. How rare is it? I mean, if every armored elf has to be equipped in mithril, it can't be that rare.

I don't like the mithril thing really. I'd like mithril equipment to be the "WOW!" piece of equipment every elf hopes he finds sooner or later. Giving it away for free at level 1, just doesn't work for me.

Anyway, back to your post, Arcadayn, it really depends on
1) how many elves are present in your campaign
2) how many elves are present in the particular region where the action is taking place

example : Elves are just 5% of the overall population of the world. In the particular region, however, they are prevalent with 75%. Mithril would not be precious or uncommon in that region. However if you travel outside, you'd be probably be gazed upon with envy for your shiny mail.

[Thane]

Problem you have, is if you refuse Elves to begin with mithril, you are subjecting them to the iron penalty of 1hp per day.

Looks like it's a choice of either giving them the mithril by default, and therefore 'cheapening' mithril, or refusing them mithril and hitting them with a 1hp penalty every 24 hours.

[shadewest]

Elves are allowed to purchase 1weapon and 1suit of armor at no additional cost only at first level. After that, it's a matter of finding some in loot ,or doing a great service to the elves, or finding a smith who knows how to work the mithril you found, etc.

[Thane]

Elves are allowed to purchase 1weapon and 1suit of armor at no additional cost only at first level. After that, it's a matter of finding some in loot ,or doing a great service to the elves, or finding a smith who knows how to work the mithril you found, etc.

True, but it feels wrong.

I may just disallow the entire elves/mithril/damage thing altogether. Give them some other perk.

[shadewest]

The spell volume bothered me at first, too. The beta didn't have elves getting a fourth spell until third level, and going up for there. That might work for you if the power advantage is your concern.

[Thane]

The spell volume bothered me at first, too. The beta didn't have elves getting a fourth spell until third level, and going up for there. That might work for you if the power advantage is your concern.

What also compensates is that every spell has the chance of being cast repeatedly without it getting wiped. That potentially giving the caster an unlimited supply of magical power.

[Harley Stroh]

In playtests, I've found elves to be humbled by armor penalties in a lovely, lovely way. I actually had a 3 hp elf stripping before going into combat so that he didn't take the armor penalty to his spellcasting. Armor + Spells may look sexy on paper, but it is challenging to pull off with a high degree of success, and if you do go with the combo, you tend to lose your spells really quickly. I encourage folks to give it a try ... it works.

To the mithril question. I can definitely see how it strikes folks as odd, especially given the last 20 years of D&D. Speaking only to my own experience I encourage folks to consider the "mithril economy" question through the lens of an Appendix N, pre-D&D vision of the Elf. This isn't Dragolance's "elven smith living next door," but rather Lord Dunsany's / Moorcock's otherworldly outsider. This strange exile is showing up with some gear from his homeland, and is burned by the merest touch of your native metals.

So, in my mind, it isn't cheapened so much because it is the last physical reminder of all that the PC has lost: culture, homeland, kith and kin. It's valuable, not because it is mithril, but because – to the PC – it means so much more.

//H

[Raven_Crowking]

In playtests, I've found elves to be humbled by armor penalties in a lovely, lovely way. I actually had a 3 hp elf stripping before going into combat so that he didn't take the armor penalty to his spellcasting. Armor + Spells may look sexy on paper, but it is challenging to pull off with a high degree of success, and if you do go with the combo, you tend to lose your spells really quickly. I encourage folks to give it a try ... it works.

To the mithril question. I can definitely see how it strikes folks as odd, especially given the last 20 years of D&D. Speaking only to my own experience I encourage folks to consider the "mithril economy" question through the lens of an Appendix N, pre-D&D vision of the Elf. This isn't Dragolance's "elven smith living next door," but rather Lord Dunsany's / Moorcock's otherworldly outsider. This strange exile is showing up with some gear from his homeland, and is burned by the merest touch of your native metals.

So, in my mind, it isn't cheapened so much because it is the last physical reminder of all that the PC has lost: culture, homeland, kith and kin. It's valuable, not because it is mithril, but because – to the PC – it means so much more.

//H

Good post.

[Karaptis]

Elves from 1st ed on were the munchkin race of choice. It's good to see them on equal footing for once.

[reverenddak]

Elves from 1st ed on were the munchkin race of choice. It's good to see them on equal footing for once.

Haha, yeah. Probably why I loved them when I was a kid, and hate them so much now (at least the modern D&D versions.)

[Talath]

Dragolance's

This innocuous typo makes me think there should be a derp version of the old TSR settings.

Grurhurk
Furgawdden Rurms
Burthweight
Derp Surrrn
Rurvenlurft
Kar-Rar Turd
Mazturkee
Larkmurgh
Jackarturrrr
Plainscoop

And so on