I've been asked this question a bit recently and decided it needed an answer. The answer isn't an obvious one.
Believe it or not, it's not for the art. I love the art, but that's not what makes the game so special.
It's not even for the awesome maps in the adventures, many of which I'd like to have in a "suitable for framing" print. I've said this part before, haven't I?
It's not the never ending spell charts. I'm not a lover of endless charts. Ever.
It certainly isn't because of a book suitable for stopping bullets and caving in heads. I prefer my gaming books thin and svelte.
Why do I like the DCC RPG despite the above?
Because it recaptures the magic and excitement from my early days of gaming, which isn't easy to do. Hell, if I knew how Goodman did it, I'd actually make some money off of my hobby ;)
Swords & Wizardry Complete captures the feel of how my group played AD&D in my high school and college years and fits like a prefect glove.
Dungeon Crawl Classics captures the magic I felt when first learning to play AD&D. DCC most certainly isn't AD&D and doesn't try to mirror the system, but somehow has found a way to extract the magic of those early days for me.
The DCC adventures keep that magic rolling, and I suspect they would keep much of that magic even were I to convert them to S&W.
Maybe I need to houserule a DCC / S&W Hybrid ;)
Hmm. DCC is similar in broad strokes, but you have to learn a new system, for all intents and purposes.
ReplyDeleteI love charts, but I find DCC's use of one chart per spell to be excessive. I think I'm going to write a blog post on why.
To follow up:
Deletehttp://initiativeone.blogspot.com/2013/06/dcc-rpg-charts-and-pareto-principle.html
Basically - I think most charts should be in the background, with a well-honed minority in "everyday" use. DCC RPG forces the opposite, with a lot of non-reusable charts in high use.