Tag Archives: Dungeon Crawl Classics

DCC RPG Actual Play Podcast Lives

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DCC RPG Rulebook Cover w-HeadphonesThe most frequently asked question I get at The Iron Tavern is whether I am going to finish releasing the remaining sessions of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Actual Play with Satan’s Glee Club. Embarrassingly the last release was Episode #22 back in early September. Time got away from me!

With a few days off over the holidays I decided to binge edit some audio to help sate some appetites for the conclusion of the series.

I did this for a couple of reasons, mainly, so that people wouldn’t be afraid to start listening again only to have a long lapse between episodes. The current lapse was long enough and I didn’t want that to happen again. As I type this every single remaining game tape has been edited and the associated blog post typed up and sitting in drafts.

There are eight more episodes remaining in the series (ending at Episode #30). Starting on Monday, January 5th I will be releasing one episode per week. So be prepared to get your fill of the antics of Satan’s Glee Club. There is some good stuff ahead! I found myself chuckling many times as I was listening to the audio during the edit process.

New Folks

Dungeon Crawl Classics has really seen an uptick in interested folks it seems over the past six months or so. So if you are late to the podcast, this is actually a good point to jump in. While it is in the closing portions of the campaign, the extended break in release schedule happened at a good point.

A short summary of current events in the campaign is in order (and perhaps even useful to long time listeners). Dandelion (an elf) had a child, Abishag, who was kidnapped by someone. The group suspects a wizardess they had done battle with in the past. With a previous assault on the tower less than successful, the group enlisted the help of the Great City’s Thieve’s Guild to gain access to Overlord’s stronghold. Leotah was known to make somewhat regular visits there and they suspected it would be easier to approach her there than at her own tower.

That is where the series picks up, with the group gaining escort through the sewers to the Overlord’s stronghold. There the group hopes to deal with the Overlord and exploit a possible weakness of Leotah to get Dandelion’s daughter returned to her.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming episodes as the roll out!

The Chained Coffin Unboxing

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The Chained Coffin was a Kickstarter Goodman Games ran to produce a boxed module set for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. That Kickstarter ended in early June and resulted in a boxed set containing The Chained Coffin module, a puzzle made of three spinning wheels, a gazetteer, and a couple of extra mini-adventures, and a mid-sized poster map.

There were also numerous stretch goals for this Kickstarter with some extras. These ranged from deals on existing modules, flasks, and more. I just checked and had gone in for the $30 backer level. It turned out to be an outstanding deal for me for the amount of material I received. This should easily be enough for me to base my next DCC campaign in this region.

There have been a few sightings of the boxed set arriving at various places in previous weeks. Mine arrived today!  What follows are some unboxing pictures as folks around the Internet wait for theirs to arrive!

Note: I have not included any pictures of the puzzle. I don’t want to spoil that for anybody, so you will have to take my word that it is cool and will be a great table prop! (too bad I will be running this online and not in a face-to-face game.)

 

 

Episode 22: Plotting and Planning

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Plotting and Planning’ is the 22nd episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

With supplies in-hand the party waits as Meffridus completes the complex ritual to bring Emirikol’s spirit back to physical form. The disgruntled wizard submits to lengthy interrogation, reluctant to assist the group with their plan. Learning what they can, the party sends a messenger to the Tower to possibly work out a deal. With unsatisfactory terms, the group changes tactics and seeks to make a deal with the Thieve’s Guild for a secret entrance into the Overlord’s stronghold. Successful, the group prepares for an assault on the Overlord’s Stronghold.

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Episode-22.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Episode 21: Getting the Gang Back Together

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Getting the Gang Back Together’ is the 21st episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

The seasoned adventurers return to the Great City from their respective journeys. Meeting at the Temple of the Moon the group makes plans for their next steps. The group seeks to make deals with the Thieve’s Guild and meet up with an old friend as they do so. With an arrangement in place, the crew seeks to gather the final component to bring Emirikol back from the dead.

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Episode-21.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

 

DCC Actual Play Podcast Meta

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DCC RPG Rulebook Cover w-HeadphonesAs I finish the final mixing of audio for Episode #21 of the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Actual Play podcast I felt the need for a “meta” post. This covers some of the behind the scenes thoughts that happen in the campaign that don’t get recorded and get discussed in our community group.

Regular listeners know the group put their high level characters on a bit of a hiatus and picked up some lower level guys in the town of Cillimar. Some stayed in the town, others went back to the Great City and some went off into the mountains to seek keys to unlock great power.

The high level characters at the time had just come off a beating at the tower of Leotah. She had laid a gauntlet of sorts for them as a defensive measure. A measure that took its toll on the characters who ran it (Episode #15 if you are curious).

It was around this time they decided to get some downtime in Cillimar and take some new characters, lower level characters out for a spin. The next several podcast releases focused on those new lower level characters. A good time was had, but after awhile the players began to miss their higher level characters.

There was much discussion in our private community group and the decision was made to return to the high level characters. There were several plot hooks that were unanswered and as the time passed (real time) with the lower level group, the gang wanted to make a return to the Great City.

We’ve experimented a lot in this campaign with introducing new characters. I piloted a ‘cut-scene funnel’, i.e. running a funnel adventure with a whole new set of characters who could later join the main group as replacements. The trial in Cillimar was another such experiment.

With the decision made to go back to the main, high level characters I believe we have reached the closing phases of the campaign as a whole. There are several major plot elements to resolve, some of which continue to unfold in the as of yet released episodes.

In either case, the soon to be released Episode #21 marks the return to the characters affectionately known as Satan’s Glee Club.

Review: The God-Seed Awakens

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The God-Seed Awakens CoverAuthor:  Paul Wolfe
Publisher:  Mystic Bull Games
Art: Doug Kovacs (cover), David Fisher, Jason Sholtis, Mario Torres, Jr.
Price: PDF $8.99 or Print $15.00 – RPG Now
Pages: 53

The Basics

The God-Seed Awakens is the newest adventure from Mystic Bull Games, written by Paul Wolfe for the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG system. The adventure is intended for four to six 3rd level characters.

The cover is graced with the wonderful artwork of Doug Kovacs. The interior has pieces from David Fisher, Jason Sholtis, and Mario Torres, Jr. This review is based on both the Print and PDF versions of the adventure.

A living seed has found its way here from a distant world. A seed from a world-spanning tree where its roots made their way deep to the underworld and branches to the sky above. With the growth of the world-tree unstopped it managed to breach the confines of reality and find ways to other worlds. Two of the creatures from the seed have begun to raise forces from this world to further their own interests.

The backdrop of this adventure is an area around Mount Welwood. A judge can easily drop this area into their existing campaign world or download a hex-map from the Mystic Bull website for new campaigns. Several rumors (including a rumor table!) and hooks are included in the adventure to help a judge spur the characters to action!

In addition to the adventure a full patron write-up is included, new spells, new magic items, and many new monsters.

The artwork is liberally spread throughout the adventure. When one faces lots of new creatures, the accompanying artwork is a very useful tool for the judge to help describe the creatures to their players.

The included maps are clean and cover the cave system within Mount Welwood and the Seed of the Worldbreaker.

My Thoughts

Mystic Bull Games went all out with the cover on this one! Awesome art by Doug Kovacs. I saw the original to this one at Gary Con when Doug had it with him. It looked great then and it looks great on the actual printed module. The beast on the front with the eyes and mouth of a starfield is an excellent touch. And something about the cultists on the ledge really appeals to me.

As I noted earlier in the review, the module has a good amount of art throughout. While helping avoid any “walls of text” the art is a boon to judges in describing the new creatures the characters will encounter in this module. A definite plus.

The module hits the DCC “feel” by having a dimension traveling tree spreading its seed to other worlds. Couple the very premise with the vast array of atypical creatures and a DCC judge is sure to keep his players on their toes. The beauty of it all is the hooks start with things such as glowing spiders, raggedly dressed people preaching of a new god, and such. Then the characters will find themselves at odds with the creatures of the god-seed. I really like the more “typical” setup that really leads to anything but “typical”!

I also like that a full patron write-up is included for Shaloth. My players have the tendency to pick patrons from various modules I run. Some only have the patron and no write-up to go with them. The full write-up for Shaloth would be of great aid should a character choose this patron. Or if I wanted to borrow it for my campaign even without running the module.

Wrap Up

The God-Seed Awakens is great add to the DCC judge’s bag of tricks. With the ease of dropping it into an existing campaign and the plethora of items to borrow for an existing campaign the latest release from Mystic Bull Games is sure to find some use.

Episode 20: Regrouping

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Regrouping’ is the twentieth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

With near devastating casualties on the last folks the party sent to Castle Whiterock it is time to recruit some new ones for another push into the castle. Regrouping in Cillamar the group sets out again to root the monks out of the ruins. A perilous climb up the tower high above the ruins grants the party egress into the castle via a different route. That path is not without hazard however…

 

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Episode-20.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

 

 

Episode 18: The Replacements

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘The Replacements’ is the eighteenth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

The green group of adventurers begins their exploration of Castle Whiterock at the behest of the seasoned party. Talking their way in, they do their best to poke around the ruins of the castle while under the watchful eye of the order of monks. Put to work helping excavate ruins within the remains of the castle reveals things are not the way seem!

Meta Note: The players decided to use some lower level characters to explore Castle Whiterock under the direction of the higher level characters. 

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Episode-18.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.

Chained Coffin Kickstarter

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Chained Coffin CoverMany of my readers have likely already seen the news about the most recent Goodman Games Kickstarter for the Chained Coffin. As some Kickstarters do, this was taken off and quickly grown to be more than just some perks for the Chained Coffin adventure and is becoming its own entity. This is important and the thing folks (DCC fans and campaign setting fans) need to take note of.

But first, for those that don’t know about the Kickstarter I will highlight a few of the initial selling points. If you already know all of these, don’t leave just yet – skip down to the Boxed Set section.

Chained Coffin Kickstarter

So – the Chained Coffin kickstarter was initially to raise some funds for a cool prop. A spinning wheel puzzle. The adventure is already written and coming out regardless of Kickstarter success. But the original $4,000 goal was to get a spinning wheel puzzle made of cardstock. A pretty cool player handout!

But then the stretch goals started.First it was some additional sourcebook material for the area, then it was more random encounter tables. Shudder Mountains where the adventure takes place is a decent sized area. Then it was some more player handouts with Doug Kovacs art.

As those stretch goals have been met, things began to transform from adventure to gazetteer style stretch goals. Digest sized pages to letter sized pages, and more to further detail the Shudder Mountains. Higher levels include an 11×17 poster and the top stretch goal is an actual full-color box set!

All of this for picking up the $30 Silver Foil limited edition version of the module.

Boxed Set Mini-Campaign Setting

Folks – this Kickstarter has turned into a boxed set mini-campaign setting. Not only that, but at a price point that is pretty darn incredible if the stretch goals are hit.

As a host of Spellburn we get a lot of email asking about campaign settings. Is there anything out there for people? What campaign setting do I use for my actual play? The questions pop up on forums and social media networks all the time.

Here is your chance to show Goodman Games a mini-campaign setting is what you want. Because if this Kickstarter hits the goal of $36,000 that is pretty much what you’ll be getting.

Current players of DCC know the game has a regional feel to it. It doesn’t work under the assumption of needing a continent spanning area, a region can be the start to a very long running game. The Shudder Mountains is this regional setting.

More Kickstarter Info

Goodman Games has provided several ways to help them meet this goal. $30 gets you the silver foil limited edition. There is also a limited edition gold foil for $60. They are also selling print modules at a discount, so increase your pledge and help fill out your DCC adventure collection while helping to get us to that $36,000 stretch goal.

Now some links in case you want more info.

The Kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1409961192/dungeon-crawl-classics-the-chained-coffin

Spellburn Talks to Michael Curtis About The Kickstarter and The Chained Coffin

http://spellburn.com/2014/05/12/episode-22-kickstarting-a-chained-coffin/

Michael Curtis’ Blog – Your Fantasy Appalachia Campaign in a Box

http://poleandrope.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-chained-coffin-kickstarter-or-your.html

Episode 17: Settling In

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dcc_rpg_cover_small‘Settling In’ is the seventeenth episode of a Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG actual play podcast. Additional information can be found at http://irontavern.com/podcast.

Session Synopsis

The adventurers awake in the town of Cillamar at the Inn of the Slumbering Drake. Baptist scours the town for a suitable location for a possible barber shop business, while Meffridus passes the challenge at the library and secures access to a private study.

The focus turns to Umberwood’s Coffins as they seek to learn about its possible involvement with Leotah or her agents. The group also learns of a monk order reestablishing themselves out at Castle Whiterock in an attempt to rediscover the Halls of Forgotten Lore. A second group of adventurers are utilized to check out the Castle.

Back in town the gang is up to their old tricks as they “talk” to an Umberwood Coffin’s employee at the local pub.

Meta Note: The players decided to use some lower level characters to explore Castle Whiterock under the direction of the higher level characters. 

Download Link: http://irontavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Episode-17.mp3

Credits

Intro and outro music is ‘Wrecking Ball’ from 137 from http://music.mevio.com.