What is this?
An opportunity to play a role-playing game similar to old school d&d for a single 3 hour session, no commitment necessary beyond that. It's also an opportunity for me to try out a different system called Dungeon Crawl Classics. If/when this happens, we can decide to continue with this game or continue with other campaigns. All that stuff should be decided afterwards though.
Zero Level Funnel
A Zero Level Funnel is an optional mini-game in Dungeon Crawl Classics. The Funnel Adventure can be considered the final step in the character creation process. It's also a good way to learn the game. Each of you will be running four Zero Level characters at once. These characters are randomly created and will all come from the same village. The death rate is high in Funnel Adventures, so the general strategy is to protect the one character with the best stats. You want this character to survive the adventure in order to advance them to 1st level. In the unfortunate case that you lose all your characters, more random villagers will be provided.
Each character is rolled randomly; including ability scrores, equipment, and background (and more). There are 80 different backgrounds with 70% Human, 10% Dwarf, 10% Elf, 10% Halfling. The game mechanics are comparable to Basic D&D from the 1980s, but given updates and twists. This system is much simpler than 5th edition D&D, but with some significant differences. I will bring character sheets that are ready to be played. My guess is that going over your character sheets and the important game rules will take 10-20 minutes. Then we can start.
At the bottom is a sample 4 character player sheet. Plus a breakdown of the core mechanics.
Adventure Intro
Description Text from the Published Adventure
For long years, you labored in the fields like all the peasants, sweating hot and dirty in the summer, only to shiver under threadbare hides when winter came. This year’s harvest ended like all the rest, and autumn’s work was hard on Old Man Roberts. When you visited his bedside at the end, he spoke in labored breaths of constellations that hadn’t been seen since he was a young lad. The last time the Empty Star had risen in the sky, it was more than fifty winters past, he said. Under the light of that strange star a portal had opened by the old stone mounds. He’d seen jewels in there and fine steel spears and enameled armor, but he’d run when the iron men had attacked. Now, old and dying, he wishes he’d taken the chance on a life of adventure. The Empty Star is once more rising, and a young man with courage could be more than just another peasant – if only he’d take the chance Old Man Roberts hadn’t.
You, and a couple dozen of your closest friends, are taking that chance. You stand before the monolithic rocks of the old stone mounds, under the dark light of a starry sky. The Empty Star is clear and bright above you. Three of the large stone blocks lean haphazardly together to form an upright rectangular portal about the size of a man. They seem to be placed directly beneath the star’s path. As the Empty Star ascends to its brightest point, its light catches in the portal, and a shimmering stone lined corridor is visible through the stones, but only from one side of the opening. Grasping your pitchfork with white knuckles, you step into the starlit portal which was not there before today, thoughts of jewels and scorching wheat fields foremost in your
mind.
Core Game Mechanics and Sample Character Sheet
The Core Mechanics
The core mechanic in the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game is the d20 roll. You will frequently be asked to roll 1d20 and add or subtract modifiers. The goal is to roll high and beat a Difficulty Class (DC) or Armor Class (AC). A higher DC is more difficult to beat, and a better-armored creature has a higher AC. If you roll equal to or higher than the DC (or AC), you succeed. Otherwise, you fail. This is just like 5th Edition d&d
A roll of 1 is an automatic miss and often results in a fumbling failure of some kind. A roll of 20 is an automatic hit and often results in a critical success of some kind. There are extensive Fumble and Critical hit tables for when this happens. This is something unique to Dungeon Crawl Classics.
Sample Character Sheet
If I got this character sheet, I would probably go with the Guild Beggar as my main character to protect. Although the Gongfarmer looks good too. LUCK is a very important ability!
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