Quickstarts I Like: Dungeon Crawl Classics

I think of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Quick Start Rules as the modern day gaming equivalent of the Basic D&D boxed sets of old.  Well almost.

You see, the core rules for Dungeon Crawl Classics are massive.  Over 500 pages!  That can be intimidating!!!  The Quick Start is 52 pages, including the covers.

So, what do you get in these 52 pages?  Well, as I mentioned, it reminds me a bit of on of the Basic boxed sets.  You get the 52 page booklet which covers character generation for your 0 level mooks who will die by the dozens.  (There is also an excellent online generator at Purple Sorcerer Games if you don't want to do it manually.)  It also covers the first two levels of character advancement including how experience points work. A list of appropriate level spell.  A list of weapons, armor and equipment. And two adventures.  A 0-1 level funnel and a 1st level adventure.  (So everything you need to get you up and running and playing for a while without having to invest in the full ruleset.  

So what are the downsides?  Obviously, you do get all of the rules or details you would get with the full ruleset.  One example is supernatural patrons.  Wizards get their magic from supernatural patrons such as demons or elementals.  This isn't covered in the Quick Start.

Another thing to be aware of is that there are a couple of different versions of the Quick Start.  There is a free version on the Goodman Games website.  This version has one adventure though, the funnel, and is 44 pages.  Before I discovered it I had purchased my copy at DriveThru and it is the version that has 52 pages and two adventures.

Whichever version you get I really think it's worth a look if you have even a passing interest in DCC.  Particularly since there is a free version.  I had kind of dismissed DCC until I read the Quick Start.  Reading it prompted me to buy the full rulebook.

Edit:

It turns out Goodman Games has several variations of the Quick Start on sale.  Each has two adventures but the second adventure varies.

Quickstarts I Like: OneDice Quickstart

Quickstart or jumpstart, call it what you like.  These truncated rule-sets serve the purpose of introducing players to a game, usually for free or at a minimal cost.  Some do this more effectively than others.  I want to do a couple of posts about quickstarts that I like and the reasons I like them.  Ones that I liked so much that I acquired the full game as a result.

I'll start with OneDice Quickstart.  I have written about the OneDice system before but I'll do a brief recap.  It's a simple system that  uses 1d6.  Yes, it still bugs me a bit that they call it OneDICE.  But, oh well.

Characters have three abilities, Strong, Clever and Quick.  Three derived stats, Health, Defense and Move.  And then you have some skills.  Pretty quick and easy.

The basic system is ability + skill + die roll vs. target number.

The book itself is 42 pages overall with 27 of them being character creation and rules and the rest divided between two adventures.  The first is a GM run fantasy adventure and the second is a programmed SF adventure for a single character.

So, why do I like this quickstart?  There are a couple of reasons.

The quickstart has the complete character creation system.  It only leaves out rules for character advancement.  There are a lot of quickstarts that come with pregens and that's it.  I think that getting a taste of the character generation process is an important way to get to know the game.

The two adventures really give you a chance to see how the game plays.  The solo adventure allows you to do this even if you can't round anyone else up to play.  It also shows how it can work with different genres.  The adventures do highlight different aspects of the game.  Playing through the solo adventure, for example, taught me that combat can be deadly.

And I did pick up the full game, OneDice Universal, after reading the quickstart.  I've also picked up several of the genre books also, including Pulp, Science Fiction, Steam Punk and several more. What's beautiful about the genre books is that each includes the full rules suitably modified for the genre.  If you are only interested in OneDice Fantasy, for example, that is the only book you would ever have to buy.

So, if you have any interest in the OneDice system at all, pick up the free quickstart.