Hello everyone! Today we present a design diary by Bob Brinkman that discusses how Caverns of Thracia tells a story with its dungeon design. But first, a couple other short updates...
DCC Day is Saturday, July 20! Visit your participating FLGS for freebies and exclusives!
Live on Kickstarter now: a new DCC 0-level funnel for Weird Frontiers
Kickstarting Now: "Massacre Grounds" Weird West 0-Level Funnel
The DCC community is always creating something fun. If you're a fan of Weird Frontiers and other weird west settings, check out "Massacre Grounds," which is the first Kickstarter by Cranky Clydesdale Publishing. This DCC-compatible 0-level funnel sends the characters to Fort Righteous and the desert frontier...with many interesting personalities on the way. Learn more on Kickstarter!
All The Stretch Goal Art...as a GIF
Aaron Kreader did an amazing job illustrating all the stretch goals (which you can find under the Achievements tab)...then illustrating more of them once you cleared the first batch! Those illustrations tell a story. He's put together the GIF below that scrolls through all the stretch goal illustrations. Give it a sec to load then check it out...
And now let's hear some thoughts from Bob Brinkman, who led the DCC conversion of Caverns of Thracia, on how Caverns of Thracia tells a story with its dungeon design...
Design Diary: Storytelling Through Dungeon Design
By Bob Brinkman
I’ve always been a firm believer that exploring a dungeon can be just as fun as fighting through the creatures that inhabit it. There is an element of storytelling that goes into the creation of an adventure, and Caverns of Thracia is a master class in design. An adventure this large, with so much history crafted into it, could easily become overwhelmed with exposition for the judge. Indeed, often in similar adventures there are pages upon pages of background text to be read prior to their being run.
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Not so with Caverns of Thracia. Admittedly, there are introductory notes that give the judge a basic understanding of the world that the PCs are about to enter, but the majority of that history unfolds during play, allowing the judge an opportunity for discovery alongside their players. This isn’t merely a case of a multi-level dungeon, but one with multi-layered history ripe for investigation and discovery. Several times bits of history would dawn on me at the same time as my playtesters and we shared those singular experiences of discovery, like no other adventure I’ve run in 40+ years.
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Of course, there is more to Caverns of Thracia than its storied lore. The encounters run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime, from humorous, to abjectly terrifying. One moment, the party is locked in a life and death struggle with a long-imprisoned priest of a dark god; the next session, they are bartering with a gigantic gnome in order to be granted passage across his bridge. Flesh-eating lizardmen and matronly minotaur cows inhabit the caverns in a fashion that not only makes sense, but follows a logical progression versus the “funhouse” nature of many older adventures.
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As a judge, never knowing what the next session would bring was an absolute delight. There are so many places for a party to investigate, so many paths to follow, that each session brought something new and different… and the seemingly endless options kept the players guessing the entire time. The twists and turns of the cavern’s passages evoke a true sense of dread in the players, with there being little hint as to what might be around the next corner.Â
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When death struck the party, and it most certainly did, such moments carried an unusual level of gravitas. It often wasn’t merely a case of a single character falling in battle, but a character’s death coupled with a full-on rout due to being unprepared for what lay ahead.
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Caverns of Thracia is more than “an old school dungeon.” It harkens back to a time where playing through an adventure was just that: an adventure for both the character and their player. It is not enough to rely on your dice, here the creativity and quick wits of the players are put to the test alongside their paper & pencil surrogates. This an adventure to be experienced, not merely diced through.
That's right Adventurers, this year we've got 3 GREAT nominations at the Ennies:
+ BEST GAME: Outgunned
+ PRODUCT OF THE YEAR: Outgunned
+ FAN FAVORITE PUBLISHER: Two Little Mice (2LM)
If you want to support us, you can vote ONE (1 is the BEST vote) in any of this categories. It takes very little time, but it surely means the world to us <3
To celebrate this nominations, Daniela has made this very special artwork that will be featured in Outgunned Adventure. Enjoy it!
Since we've been quite for a couple of weeks, this seems the best moment to catch up with a LIVE STREAM!
We'll see you tomorrow, July 13th at 5pm CEST
Thank you for your suppor <3 We'll see you tomorrow!
Lots of news today: new add-ons, new poll, slipcase art sketch, new video. Let's start with the main takeaway: Â
"We're giving you backers what you want! Starting with the add-ons you asked for!"
Backers have been so enthusiastic about having a 5E version of Beneath the Isle of the Serpents, and a DCC version of Sacrificial Pyre of Thracia, that we have added these options as add-ons. Scott and Bob are hard at work on the conversions already. (Write faster, dammit!)
Now every rules set has every adventure option!
If you'd like to add them on, here are the links:
Click here to add the print+PDF 5E edition of Beneath the Isle of Serpents
Click here to add the print+PDF DCC edition of The Sacrificial Pyre of Thracia
What about the $600k stretch goals? The $600k stretch goal was the conversion of these adventures with a free PDF for all backers. That stays the same - every backer still gets the free PDF at $600k. We're just offering the print add-on option earlier.
Team Update
Team 5E remains slightly ahead in the rankings! We just posted a new trivia question about gladiators...you can vote below. Remember, the winning team wins something special at the end of the project. Take your educated guess now!
Slipcase Art
As you know, we recently unlocked the slipcase as a $15 add-on. It will feature new art by Doug Kovacs! Doug just sent in the rough sketch and it looks awesome.
Here's a preview. Please note: this is the rough black-and-white sketch of what will be a color painting. Obviously it's early in the process. If you're not familiar with the commercial art approval process, be aware that this sketch shows only "placement of elements" - the final version will be rendered in full color and will have a more "painterly feel."
We're quite happy with the placement of elements shown here and look forward to Doug's final color version!
Doug Kovacs' rough sketch of the slipcase art
Click here to upgrade your print pledge to include a slipcase!
Bob Brinkman Talks Caverns of Thracia
In case you missed it - here is a recent YouTube video of Bob discussing Caverns of Thracia!
Support DCC Third-Party Publishers! The Cursed Valley of Brennen-Keen
There's always an exciting DCC Kickstarter running. (And sometimes two...or three!) Canthon Games is publishing a DCC adventure inspired by real-life events: the emergence of trillions of cicadas coming this summer! "The Cursed Valley of Brennen-Keen" is a 0-level funnel from the infested mind of the Bug Professor. You can learn more here!
Check it out now on Kickstarter!
Now let's get to the latest trivia question. In keeping with the Grecian theme of Caverns of Thracia, try your hands at this trivia...
P.S. Anyone else see the new trailer for Gladiator II?
We are very close to having something for you all to try out. We just sent the latest playtest packet to our contract and volunteer testers, and they’ve already started pounding on it. If things go well, we think this will be the packet that goes to Patrons in July sometime and if that goes well, that packet will be what we send to you in August. As the MCDM Team is out of office at GenCon at the start of August, so we expect to deliver the packet a few weeks after we return. This makes it so that the packet can include the encounter that the folks at GenCon will be playing! Exciting!
That packet you get will still be a playtest packet. You folks are going to have tons of feedback! But, as you know, the stuff we send you will be “close to final.” Meaning we still expect to make changes, things like balance changes, language changes as we learn how clear our text is, etc.
You folks have been super patient so far, we’ve been VERY hard at work, we hired more designers and a new producer (Gertz! From the first ever stream we did!) and now things are happening both very quickly, and in a very organized fashion.Â
You know our philosophy; the backers are paying for the polished, finished product. So we want to make sure the first Backer Packet is stable, and represents what we believe in. If you want to know more about the internal development process, there’s our Patreon which has tons of juicy updates including a new 2,000 word post about our setting, but you don’t need to worry about that, you can just come by James’ weekly dev stream and ask whatever’s on your mind.
I also recommend you come by the Discord and ask how things are going in the #mcdm_RPG_discussion channel where you’ll see some of our playtester coordinators, or their players, talking about how the game plays and feels right now.Â
But the message is—things are getting done, tons of stuff is in and working, and we think you’ll have the first Backer Packet in just over a month! Wooo!
Thanks for your patience and support, The MCDM Team
We’ve been quiet in the Shadow, but busy in the Actuality. Here’s what we’ve been working on:
Black Cubes Start Their Journey to Our Shores
We’ve received and reviewed first-off-the-press samples of the Black Cube. This elegant, yet complex, receptacle has undergone the rigors of testing for containment and quality by our diligent Makers. We’re thrilled with the production. The Black Cubes will now travel across the seas of uncertainty to arrive in our warehouses where fulfillment will begin. It will still take some time, but assuming no unfortunate turns of the Sooth Deck, we should be fulfilling this summer!
Open Box to review the Invisible Sun Black Cube print
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The Wellspring
After diligent research, revisions, cross-checks and experimentation, The Wellspring has been made real. We’re in the last stages of editing and after that our Weavers (read: graphic design team) will start laying out the book. The Wellspring is designed to both allow newvislae to set foot in the Actuality with confidence, and for existing vislae to rekindle the love for magic and the tales it can tell.
With The Wellspring also come some gems rescued from the Actuality. These props will provide vislae with valuable links to the stories and magic available from The Wellspring.
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Until We Can Escape Shadow Once More...
Want to escape Shadow faster? Why not step through The Anywhere Door; your support will help us build an amazing community on Moonbeam. It's crowdfunding right now!
Only $1.5k until VOIDSTREAM is FUNDED-- and then we can get to the *real* business of hitting our stretch goals together. For now, we are pleased to announce our first stretch goal:
BEHOLD: BE/HOLD!
WHEN WE HIT $15K
The Panicsonic™ cassette tape gets a B-side, baby!Â
WHO IS BE/HOLD?
BE/HOLD: Analog horror calls for an analog composer. Photo credit: Collin McClutchy
Brooklyn-based composer and musician Collin McClutchy has created atmospheric, electrifying soundtracks forGodspeed, Space Cowboy!,Orbital Blues, and Project ECCO, just to name a few. We are excited to apply his terrifying talents to our tantalizing toolset.Â
SPEAKING OF MUSIC: AN INTERVIEW
We'll be sitting down with two musicians in a very special edition of STREAMING INTO THE VOID this week-- Be/Holdand (drumroll, please)- DISASTERPEACE(It Follows; Bodies, Bodies, Bodies; Marcel the Shell; Hyper Light Drifter) to discuss composing music for horrifying stories. We are open-mouthed screaming at the opportunity. STAY TUNED.Â
Richard Vreeland, aka Disasterpeace. Photo credit: Los Angeles Times
Thank you for supporting VOIDSTREAM and for cheering us on. We are very excited for the grim offerings that lay ahead. Until then,
Team 5E is in the lead! The answer to the most recent question was The Balkan Mountains. The latest team trivia results are under the Trivia Challenge tab above. A new trivia question is posted - which team will take the lead??
Remember, the winning team will get something special at the end of the campaign! You have to win to find out what!
We are working on our stretch goals and will update with our first soon. Please keep sharing the campaign with your friends so we can get ahead and stay ahead to unlock more great bonus content for the book!
