Dungeon Crawl Classic RPG Blackmoor?

[Mythlym]

I know it's been a while but I thought I would give a update.

I played DCCRPG Blackmoor for a nice long while. It was wild and fun and filled with Blackmoor goodness but in the end it was killed by the stupid dice. What a silly reason to end a game and a first for me but the dice were so hard to come by and our work around for not having the dice blew chunks.

We kept losing dice (like we always do) and not being able to remain happy with the game.

So we moved on from DCCRPG and Blackmoor itself as a player took over and I got to saddle of to the table as a player.

I liked DCCRPG,even loved it at times but the dice issue is just a deal breaker.

I'm sure I will have to run again before too long( sadly I never get to play long) and Blackmoor will be back at our table but it will be a new game system. Either 5E D&D or 13th Age or heck even Classic D&D.....we will see.


One neat game fact for our DCCRPG game was that I had a pc wizard go crazy and fall under the sway of the EGG! He took out nine pc's before he was through and in the end got away! Tsan'Yogundahan lives in infamy forever more in our games! Long may he haunt the night! The one thing I will always steal from DCCRPG is that people can make pacts with the Egg,open,secret,in group or alone.

[finarvyn]

Sorry that the dice were a "deal breaker" and I agree that it's the first time I've ever heard that losing dice killed a campaign. hock:

If you have any notes or tweaks you did to the system to make it more Blackmoor, I'd love to hear about them.

[Havard]

Hey Mythlym! Good to see you here again! Sorry to hear that the game did not work out for you. In another forum I heard people suggest that the less common dice could be converted into a set bonus to a regular die.

One neat game fact for our DCCRPG game was that I had a pc wizard go crazy and fall under the sway of the EGG! He took out nine pc's before he was through and in the end got away! Tsan'Yogundahan lives in infamy forever more in our games! Long may he haunt the night! The one thing I will always steal from DCCRPG is that people can make pacts with the Egg,open,secret,in group or alone.

I love the idea of hidden PC pacts with the Egg. I'd love to hear more stories from your game!

If you have any notes or tweaks you did to the system to make it more Blackmoor, I'd love to hear about them.

+1

-Havard

[finarvyn]

The thing for me is that DCC has a different feel to it than many other RPGs, so a campaign run under that system could be very differnt in tone than one run under another rules set.

For example, the notion of a PC going crazy could be done in any rules set but is more likely in DCC where bad things tend to happen to spellcasters. That really shifts the whole feel of the setting from "generic fantasy" to more of a horror flavor. (Not to imply that Blackmoor is really "generic" you understand, as it has a mix of odd tech with traditional fantasy. Blackmoor doesn't really fit comfortably into a standard niche, IMO.)

Makes me wonder what other twists one could do with the Blackmoor setting and rules choice...

[Mythlym]

DM Burnout probably has just as much to do with the change of games as did the dice. In fact I just bought three more dice sets so.....when I am done playing and want to DM again,DCCRPG is back on the table.

Things I did in DCCRPG to give it a Blackmoor vibe.

1-Egg of Coot is a Patron.
2-Coot was discovered to be a plan of existence,much like D&D's Far Realm.
3-Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor a constant threat and place of weirdness that if the players ignored for long,grew and exploded with dangerous weird consequences. Three Orc invasions,one rampaging Steam-powered Dragongolem,Sir Fang and the Knights of Vile,100 gnomes,The Goblin King(David Bowie type magical Goblin King who escaped Blackmoor and know leads all of the Goblins from his new Throne of Night).
4-Used Blackmoor organizations like the cabal for player type guilds. Tried to involve the pc's in guild interactions but frankly failed at this.
5- The players(all but one notable case) all hero worshiped Uther. He was shown to be a true valiant king who inspired loyalty even fromt he few Elves and Dwarves in the party.
6-Used Guns only in very very rare instances (treat as magic items) but Steam-powered contraptions as more prevalent. The Dwarven Iron Knights(basicaly steam/magic powered Mech's) that the Lord of the Mines used to break the fourth siege of Blackmoor was the biggest example of Blackmoor Tech. The party did find a ancient Dwarven Tank at one point but they promptly ignored it.
7-The Cube of Coot was the largest single villain in the game(other than a single pc) a distant relation to the Egg,the Cube was shockingly strange and vile and sought to open the connection between Blackmoor and Coot and invade with the Army of Madness. He was defeated in the end and killed but it was revealed that that was his very plan from the beginning and that with his death the way to Blackmoor lay open. Nothing happened however so it was generally decided that it didn't work.
8-oh! All Beholders come from Coot! They found that out from there brief visit.
9-The Temple of the Frog was awesome but everyone died,less awesome. Never reached the level of cool I was shooting for and everyone stayed away.
10-Arcane Warriors -I made up the class for DCCRPG but none ever used it. Had several npc's that used it but none went very far.
11-The Dragon Knights didn't make much impact despite my attempts.
12-I had the Elven lands political intrigue thing kicked into high gear but the pc's mostly ignored it. Oh sure they got involved a little from time to time but only dipped a toe or two in really.
13-The whole spell foci thing backfired the friggin one time I got a Wizard to take the bait and due to one set of bad rolls he died very explosively,the party refused to take advantage of Blackmoors (Dragonstones). ok after looking at it from a ways off I can now see that I went to far into making it dangerous and otherworldly as well as I put too many limits on it for fear of overpowering it. Live and learn,in the future I will revisit this and make it better.
14-The Comeback Inn was a HUGE hit! Everyone loved it. Dave, The Deadly Darling of Arn was a huge hit as a old retired adventurer who bought the Inn and helped out the pc's for a fee every now and again.
15-Ash Goblins scared the crap out of the pc's! Thay really just did not expect Strong Deadly Goblins. The pc's tried to hunt ALL the Ash Goblins down until it was revealed there were thousands. Then they tried to call in a orbital strike in the form of the Battle of Ash Hill,the highest level full party wipe in our DCCRPG game, 7th level. That's like a full company of 14th level characters and several dozen henchmen all died. Only afterwards was it revealed that one of the pc's was a traitor and had organized the whole thing to weaken Blackmoor. That player character was then abandoned as a pc and became a npc,the player rolling up a new character with the rest of the party. This went VERY well,shockingly so in fact as I was VERY hesitant to let PVP into our games. In the past it has always lead to hard feelings and strife....something our games could do without. I guess we are all older and wiser than in our younger days because it went over great and everyone was ok with it. Perhaps it helped that that player went on to lose two more characters to that dastardly new npc!



Well it's late,im off to bed! Happy Blackmoor Dreams Gents!

[Havard]

Mythlym,
these ideas are awesome! Some really caught my interest:

1-Egg of Coot is a Patron.

We've talked about this before, but still a really good idea. I like making the Egg more than just a background villain.

2-Coot was discovered to be a plan of existence,much like D&D's Far Realm.

This is really interesting.

3-Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor a constant threat and place of weirdness that if the players ignored for long,grew and exploded with dangerous weird consequences. Three Orc invasions,one rampaging Steam-powered Dragongolem,Sir Fang and the Knights of Vile,100 gnomes,The Goblin King(David Bowie type magical Goblin King who escaped Blackmoor and know leads all of the Goblins from his new Throne of Night).

Okay so many things I like here. The Goblin King/Jareth concept is awesome. I am stealing that. Throne of Night is a cool name too.
Overall, I like the idea of the Blackmoor Dungeon being a place that should not be left to its own.

4-Used Blackmoor organizations like the cabal for player type guilds. Tried to involve the pc's in guild interactions but frankly failed at this.

I am looking at new ways to make use of these as well. Some of the organizations might need an overhaul.

6-Used Guns only in very very rare instances (treat as magic items) but Steam-powered contraptions as more prevalent. The Dwarven Iron Knights(basicaly steam/magic powered Mech's) that the Lord of the Mines used to break the fourth siege of Blackmoor was the biggest example of Blackmoor Tech. The party did find a ancient Dwarven Tank at one point but they promptly ignored it.

Interestingly I used a similar concept as your Dwarven Iron Knights, although mine were more golems than mechs. Still, cool to see our ways of thinking run along similar lines.

7-The Cube of Coot was the largest single villain in the game(other than a single pc) a distant relation to the Egg,the Cube was shockingly strange and vile and sought to open the connection between Blackmoor and Coot and invade with the Army of Madness. He was defeated in the end and killed but it was revealed that that was his very plan from the beginning and that with his death the way to Blackmoor lay open. Nothing happened however so it was generally decided that it didn't work.

Totally stealing the Cube of Coot thing. Although I am wondering if it could be turned into some Hellrazer-ish artifact? Army of Madness is another cool name. Loving it! What were they like?

8-oh! All Beholders come from Coot! They found that out from there brief visit.

Makes sense. And gives Coot a more defined image.

14-The Comeback Inn was a HUGE hit! Everyone loved it. Dave, The Deadly Darling of Arn was a huge hit as a old retired adventurer who bought the Inn and helped out the pc's for a fee every now and again.

Nice Arneson tribute there

15-Ash Goblins scared the crap out of the pc's! Thay really just did not expect Strong Deadly Goblins. The pc's tried to hunt ALL the Ash Goblins down until it was revealed there were thousands. Then they tried to call in a orbital strike in the form of the Battle of Ash Hill,the highest level full party wipe in our DCCRPG game, 7th level. That's like a full company of 14th level characters and several dozen henchmen all died.

The battle sounds really epic! I'd love to hear more about how you handled the Ash Goblins. In some of the information leaked about the never published Age of the Wolf it seemed like the Ash Goblins may have been supposed to be fleshed out more there.

Only afterwards was it revealed that one of the pc's was a traitor and had organized the whole thing to weaken Blackmoor. That player character was then abandoned as a pc and became a npc,the player rolling up a new character with the rest of the party. This went VERY well,shockingly so in fact as I was VERY hesitant to let PVP into our games. In the past it has always lead to hard feelings and strife....something our games could do without. I guess we are all older and wiser than in our younger days because it went over great and everyone was ok with it. Perhaps it helped that that player went on to lose two more characters to that dastardly new npc!

I have had mixed experiences with this myself. In some cases it has worked well, while in others it has been a disaster. But more experienced/mature players surely helps.

-Havard

[Mythlym]

I like the idea of the Blackmoor Dungeon being a place that should not be left to its own.

It is rather arbitrary but if three adventurers passed without them steeping foot inside Blackmoor dungeons I hit them with something big coming out. One time I had nothing planned and it wasn't the best time for some huge event so I just had 100 gnomes (from Kryn) wander out. The pc's saw the guard dealing with it and they let it be but there was a significant amount of increased shenanigans for a while after that. Once they found a panicked court wizard trying to explain to the king just how close they had all come to having entire planet devastated by a tragic event when several (cursed) gnomes tried to activate a plan shifting devise while simultaneously opening a rift into the positive material plan.

It was a bit of a joke on my part having to do with the whole destroyed blackmoor thing but none got it but myself.

Totally stealing the Cube of Coot thing. Although I am wondering if it could be turned into some Hellrazer-ish artifact? Army of Madness is another cool name. Loving it! What were they like?

They were D&D Modrons that had gone insane and worshiped the Cube of Coot as a God.They had been trapped in Coot for 400 years. Long enough to drive anything insane i guess!

The battle sounds really epic! I'd love to hear more about how you handled the Ash Goblins. In some of the information leaked about the never published Age of the Wolf it seemed like the Ash Goblins may have been supposed to be fleshed out more there.

The Ash Goblins were the elite shock troops of the newly risen Goblin King(a powerful wizard as well). There were also thousands of goblin regulars that made up the bulk of the army with Ogres,Bugbears,Hobgoblins and several two headed trolls. Also since this was DCCRPG none of those are straight out of any book. For instance my Ogres all had a huge eye set mid chest,no head and long greasy hair like Bigfoot. Frankly most of that sort of thing was just for looks though. They were Ogres in every other since of it.

The fight went splendidly for the pc's with a few exceptions. In fact it went so well they grew rather worried and sent out scouts. They discovered a nearby hilltop that was being used as a base by the Goblin King and the bulk of the army still in reserve. Casks of some foil fuel were being gathered at the hilltop by the goblins so the party decided that a small attack might just be able to get to the Goblin King and kill him. So the party sent there men to guard the Kings flank(where they were supposed to be stationed) and went off by themselves to kill the goblin King.

A hour later they discovered it was all a trap,they had been betrayed,they had all been killed and the Goblins rolled up Uthers entire left side and almost lost the King Himself.Only a small band of 0 level conscripted farmers managed to save the King. Home made character funnel- Hold the Line!