The Dungeon Crawl Classics system: An acid trip in TTRPG form.

Published in 2012 by Goodman Games, Dungeon Crawl Classics is a mishmash love letter to all things pulpy or gonzo. The names of Robert E Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Fritz Leiber and Jack Vance were probably chanted over a bubbling cauldron in the middle of a summoning circle as this game was being concocted. 

 

Weighing in at a chunky 504 pages this heavy tome covers character creation, skills, equipment, combat, magic, spells, (both taking up a sizeable portion of the book) a section for judges and a solid monster list. 

It plays as an amalgamation of old and new, every session will leave the group with memorable story after story. Rather than go further into the book (because honestly other writers have done so already at greater and far better lengths) I'm going to share some of my tables stories with you.

The last villager alive using his body and soul to fuel a fireball spell cast from an ancient ring to destroy the chaos lord terrorizing the town. The spell erupting from his now withered husk of a hand and diving into the lord's single eye. The ensuing explosion engulfing the golden ziggurat on which they both stood.

The two villagers (Hork and Buk) desperately pushing the sword blade down on the neck of the great ape Uth'loxx the many armed. Uth'loxx using one of said arms to whip Hork across the room before another villager would run up to jump down on the blade ending the ape once and for all.

The party stooping and entering into the glimmering red crystal cave. Vermillion shades bouncing off nooks and crannies as the party investigate the mummified remains of a cross legged monk holding what seems to be a blood red wand.

Two wizards making complex hand gestures locked in a mental fight as a brutal melee erupts around them. Beams and streams of pure arcane and chaos melting the surrounding environment, magical molten slag sizzling on the ground. In and instant both wizards are teleported into a giant nostril for a fraction of a second before one erupts into a multicolored spray.

These stories were in the first couple of games I ran and my party still talks about them to this day. The system is rules light and easy to use, the artwork alone is worthy of being a coffee table book. 

 

Buy this game system it is worth every single dollar.