Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG Core Rulebook - Hardcover Edition

I just wanted to give it 5 stars. Others have praised it with better detail, but here are the highlights:It's a complete game system which includes monsters.It's beautifully illustrated.It offers a robust magic system that is fantastic and terrifying.While striving for an old school feel, it provides innovations to game play that appeal to modern game design.It is under priced for what it provides.

DCC RPG has been my fantasy RPG of choice for a few years - for me it's the perfect blend of old school D&D flavour with funky new rules, just enough 'crunch' to make it interesting but nothing that slows down play which is usually fast paced fun! This softcover edition is great value to have at the table so I don't have to worry about beer or pizza stains!For the uninitiated DCC uses the it's own take on the classic seven old school D&D classes (Dwarves, Elves and Halflings being 'race as class') In DCC each class has it's unique flavour: Wizards, Elves and Clerics have access to DCC's fantastic magic system, Warriors and Dwarves use 'mighty deeds of arms' to show their combat prowess, giving both mechanical and narrative effect. Thieves and Halflings have unique abilities which supplement the fun 'Luck' mechanics. In addition a DCC campaign (or one shot adventure) can start at level '0' with each player running multiple peasants, farmers and vagabonds through a meat grinder or 'funnel' adventure to seperate the wheat from the chaff (or the luckty from the unlucky!) Great fun!

Great value for your money. This is a thick book. Highly recommend.

Awesome book, great content. Package was protected by cushioning and book shrink wrapped. Rule system is great for the beginner and the seasoned RPG enthusiast. Liked it so much I bought it twice

I first heard about DCC RPG by going to GaryCon and seeing the Goodman Games booth in the vendor room. It seemed to call to me, aesthetically this is everything I love about old RPGs: wicked art, and the joy of questing over the overly clinical gameplay of systems like Pathfinder. (I tried Pathfinder for one adventure and wasn't able to stay engaged with all the various tables and stats flying around. I think I get the appeal, but it wasn't for me.)Now, I have to admit that I have not yet sat down and actually played the game, but this is a product review for the Core Rulebook and not a review of DCC as a complete game. The book is excellent. Being such a weighty tome, even as a soft cover, means you get a lot of value. It really is everything one needs to start playing, unlike other systems which have separate volumes for players, DMs (here called simply "judges"), monsters, etc. The information is presented logically and the artwork helps to put one in the mindset of the general world and adventures DCC is designed for.One thing I like in particular is that the book comes right out at various times (in particular in regards to things like skills and spells) and says, "we do not have a specific rule or die chart for every situation, you are encouraged to make things up as you go along and to reward and punish players for the ways in which they venture." A good example of this is in "burning luck" which a player may do to improve their chances of getting a favorable die roll. Luck does not regenerate (with some exceptions) so burning it is a serious decision, however, the judge is empowered to grant restoration of luck by divine favor or other heroic happenstance. The same goes for 'leveling up' things like spell knowledge or other skills, sometimes it takes more than the XP "odometer" ticking over to the next level, and quests and items and NPCs are all vehicles for character growth in tangible ways beyond XP. This does require more imaginative work on the part of players AND judge, of course.DCC is not the most popular game system, but its reputation is growing, and the community has created a lot of handy tools if you need help or quick references. It's also a nice inspirational booster for DM's games judges using other systems: the reliance on chance and "weird dice" like D7s and D30s will get you thinking outside of the box of 'normal' RPGs.