If you are a fan of D&D 5E you will want to take advantage of our Bundle of Holding while you still can! We've got the details below, but the offer ends soon so don't delay!
And the build-up to Bride of Cyclops Con continues with the release of the initial schedule for the event. Plus we'll be releasing the beta rules for Xcrawl Classics in time for the show!
We've also opened up pre-orders for The Goodman Games Yearbook #8: The Year That Shall Not Be Named, introduce a kickstarter for a Science-Wizard, remind you about the second episode of Danger Stranger, have a pair of Adventures in Fiction, and even start up a brand-new sticker design contest.
Let's get to it!
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BRIDE OF CYCLOPS IMPORTANT DATES |
Schedule of Important Dates:
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August 17: Event submission is now open – you may submit events that you would like to run as a judge in Bride of Cyclops Con! See Judge FYI below.
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September 4: Event schedule posted
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September 6: Badge sales start
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September 17: BoCC Event Pre-Registration for Volunteers and Judges
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September 20: Event registration opens
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October 14: Last day for ticket refunds. All tickets are final after this point.
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October 16: Bride of Cyclops Con begins at noon Eastern (16:00 UTC)!
Important links:
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EVENT CATALOG IS NOW LIVE! |
Bride of Cyclops Con is just a little over a month away, but you can start planning the games you want to play in TODAY!
NOTE: This is just the INITIAL schedule of events! Not only are there sure to be more games added to the schedule, but some of them might be shifted around due to conflicts. So keep your eyes on the schedule as it evolves.
Speaking of which, you can still submit your own events for Bride of Cyclops Con! We’re looking for all sorts of games for every system we publish material to support—from DCC RPG to D&D to Metamorphosis Alpha to Broncosaurus Rex, we want it all!
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XCRAWL CLASSICS BETA RULES COMING IN TIME FOR BRIDE OF CYCLOPS CON! |
Are you ready to sink your teeth into the all-new edition of Xcrawl Classics? Well, if you plan on taking part in Bride of Cyclops Con, we’ve got some fantastic news for you!
The beta-test rules for Xcrawl Classics will be out in time for Bride of Cyclops Con! Before the start of the con, you will be able to download the rules and be prepared to put your life on the line for the games!
Written by Brendan LaSalle, this edition of Xcrawl is completely compatible with the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role-Playing Game, and has in fact been rebuilt from the ground up to embody the DCC spirit. Featuring new cover art by Doug Kovacs, it will have the look and feel of DCC, with all the live-on-pay-per-view TV drama of the Xcrawl experience!
In Xcrawl, the players take the parts of superstar athletes taking their chances in a live-on-pay-per-view death sport, The Extreme Dungeon Crawl League—or as it is more popularly known, Xcrawl. The game is simple: the Dungeon Judge, or DJ, creates an artificial dungeon under controlled, but still potentially lethal, conditions. He designs the maze and stocks it with traps, secret doors, monsters, treasure, and prizes. The players must go through the dungeon and fulfill whatever conditions the DJ puts forth in order to win. These conditions usually include defeating all the monsters, finding keys or other hidden items, bypassing obstacles, rescuing “captives,” and the like. DJs have a great deal of leeway in creating their dungeon but most play fairly—DJs who make their dungeons too difficult, or too easy, do not get invited back.
Xcrawl is a sport and the challenges are created, but the danger is no the less real. If you die, you die. There are no second chances. Citizens of the North American Empire tune in every week to watch their favorite players get eaten, paralyzed, turned to stone, ripped apart… the nation’s hunger for blood and mayhem grows with every contest.
And you can look for the beta test rules to be out in time for Bride of Cyclops Con!
LET THE GAMES BEGIN!
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LAST CHANCE FOR FIFTH EDITION FANTASY BUNDLE OF HOLDING |
You might think that bag you’ve got can hold a lot of items, but we plan to push its capacity to the brink with this deal.
The brand new Goodman 5E Fantasy Bundle over at Bundle of Holding brings you the complete Fifth Edition Fantasy line of adventures. Written for character levels from 1 to 12 and playable in one or a few sessions, these 17 standalone modules fit easily into any ongoing campaign using the world’s most popular roleplaying game.
For just $12.95 you get all eight adventures in our Low-Level Collection (retail value $56) as DRM-free PDF ebooks, including three introductory modules for 1st-level parties (The Fey Sisters’ Fate, The Forgotten Hive, and Beneath the Keep); three for 3rd-level (Glitterdoom, The Cave of the Unknown, and The Pillars of Pelagia); and two 4th-level adventures (Raiders of the Lost Oasis and Mystery Under the Monastery).
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $25.84, you’ll level up and also get our entire High-Level Collection with nine more modules worth an additional $63, including three for 5th-level parties (War-Lock, The Castle in the Sky, and Secrets of Mistcutter Isle); a gauntlet of increasingly formidable challenges for 7th through 12th-level groups (Eye of the Leviathan, The Archmage’s Lost Hideaway, The Fallen Temple, The Drowning Caverns of the Fish God, and Into the Dragon’s Maw); plus a collection of smaller encounters for many levels, Fantastic Encounters.
This offer also includes a discount code good (through October 31) for 20% off any purchase at the Goodman Games online store. Yeah, you read right. You get a BONUS discount for buying this deal!
ENDS SOON! ACT TODAY!
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NEW IN THE ONLINE STORE: PRE-ORDER GOODMAN GAMES YEARBOOK #8 |
It is The Year That Shall Not Be Named—but we’re still going to celebrate some things about it.
Like the books that came before it, this volume contains a wealth of new DCC RPG content, including new monster fumble tables and new mighty deed rules. There is an interview with TSR legend Russ Nicholson, a new mini-adventure, and pictures and photographs from this year – the year we want to forget but can’t help remembering.
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SUPPORT THE CRYPT OF THE SCIENCE-WIZARD DCC KICKSTARTER |
“Magic is just science that we don’t understand yet.” ― Arthur C. Clarke.
The folks at Skeeter Green Productions are bringing Crypt of the Science-Wizard to an all-new audience—the DCC/MCC crowd!
This isn’t JUST a conversion, though. Skeeter Green has brought in a couple of Dungeon Crawl Classics vets—Tim Deschene and Jim Wampler—to flesh out the adventure and fine-tune it for the DCC (or MCC!) crowd!
Here’s a description of the adventure from the Kickstarter:
This site-based module is designed to bring you back to the age of pulp adventure, where you can discover the secrets of the hidden tomb of an ancient wizard! Travel great distances to a remote location to unlock the mysteries sealed within an ancient tomb. What harrowing challenges are contained within? Only the bravest and quickest of wit shall survive!
The Crypt of the Science-Wizard is a difficult adventure requiring the players to think about their environment — and requiring the characters to be skilled and lucky. While this adventure is designed for 1st level characters, some of the encounters contained within are beyond typical entry-level characters. Strategy, insight, and puzzle-solving skills serve characters (and players!) better than combat prowess. Some good dice rolls certainly help as well…
Not only can you grab a PDF or softcover edition of this module through the Kickstarter, but there is also an option for a hardcover release! That’s right, you can put this adventure up on the shelf and read the spine. A rarity among adventures, and definitely worth note.
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And let’s touch back on something: this adventure is meant to be used with EITHER Dungeon Crawl Classics, OR Mutant Crawl Classics! The unique setting is perfect to be used with either game system, and rules are included for fitting it into either game system smoothly and easily.
The campaign for Crypt of the Science-Wizard is already funded, with a couple of stretch goals met, but there is plenty more that can be added! Some amazing goals are there, plus you can pledge at levels that will garner you some original artwork from the book.
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DANGER STRANGER RETURNS TO TWITCH THIS WEEKEND! |
Danger Stranger is back with their new episode this week, and it offers some DCC RPG goodness in a classic style. Here’s the plan…
A group of lovable idiots plays through all of the best adventures for Dungeon Crawl Classics and DCC-adjacent games that you’ve been thinking about buying. And you get to enjoy the ride.
Defenders of Kobold present Danger Stranger! A live play-through show airing this Saturday at 10:00 pm EST.
Hop in the van adventurer! IF YOU DARE!
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ANNOUNCING THE DCC STICKER DESIGN CONTEST |
Something sticky this way comes…
Who doesn’t love a great sticker? The DCC community certainly loves them. And with a creative community like ours, I bet there are some terrific sticker designs just waiting to be created. Therefore, we are happy to announce the DCC Sticker Design Contest! Are you creative enough to design a sticker than the fan community will vote as the BEST? The winning designs will be produced and given away for free by Goodman Games!
The contest runs until September 30. You have plenty of time. Start planning your designs now!
Here are the rules:
- You design the sticker. It can be in full-color or black-and-white. You can hand-draw it, or use graphic design tools. The total size must be 3”x3” or less. The shape can be square, rectangular, circular, oval, or any other shape, as long as no side measures greater than 3”. Kiss-cut stickers (which means custom shapes and even jagged edges) are acceptable.
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The sticker must include one of the following phrases: DCC, MCC, DCC RPG, MCC RPG, Dungeon Crawl Classics, or Mutant Crawl Classics.
- You can use special effects (i.e. foil printing, holographic printing, etc.). If you choose to do so, please include with your submission the URL of a sticker vendor who can create the exact effect you’d like. Keep in mind that voting will take place based on your illustrated design, not the finished sticker, so voting fans may not be able to fully grasp your vision for the finished sticker if you use special effects.
- Multiple submissions are acceptable (and even encouraged!).
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Email a JPEG of your design to info@goodman-games.com. If you’re using a special effect, you can also submit a modified JPEG digitally mocking up the effect.
- Deadline for submissions is September 30.
- Goodman Games will select 3 finalists (or maybe more if the designs are really cool). The finalists will be announced in the days leading up to Bride of Cyclops Con.
- Once the finalists are selected, the general public will be able to select the winner via online voting. This will take place over Bride of Cyclops Con.
- The winning sticker design will get produced en masse. The creator will get a big stack, and we’ll also distribute them for free on the Goodman Games online store (probably free with any purchase).
- The winner will also receive a $100 gift certificate to the Goodman Games online store, and maybe something else cool.
Get your designs ready! The contest has begun! And we’ll find a winner at Bride of Cyclops Con!
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ADVENTURES IN FICTION: EDGAR RICE BURROUGHS
by Terry Olson
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September 1 is the birthday of Edgar Rice Burroughs, affectionately called “ERB.” Although he’s best known for his Barsoom/Mars, Tarzan, Pellucidar, and Venus series, he wrote many other works, including historical novels and westerns. It’s beyond the scope of this article to reveal just how influential ERB has been to science fiction, fantasy, gaming, and all the sub-genres therein. A brief survey of the DCC RPG repertoire reveals numerous applications of his ideas. Even the core rulebook for DCC RPG has stats for four-armed white ape-men, a nod to Barsoom’s white apes. The debt we owe him is immeasurable! For an excellent overview of the Barsoom/Mars series, please read James Maliszewski’s Why You Should Read the Barsoom Novels.
It’s interesting that ERB didn’t initially anticipate his eventual popularity. Allegedly fearing for his reputation, his first Mars story was published under the pseudonym “Normal Bean,” which the typesetter erroneously changed to “Norman Bean.” Encouraged by readers’ enthusiasm, he dropped the alias after his first novel...
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APPENDIX N ARCHAEOLOGY: HAROLD LAMB
by Howard Andrew Jones
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Much as I’d like to hope that Gary Gygax read Harold Lamb, he’s unlikely to have found his way to any of Lamb’s most influential work. It’s not that Lamb wasn’t in print. From the 1940s on, his histories and biographies were a mainstay on library shelves, and many modern libraries retain his books to this day. But as fine as they are – and some of them are very fine indeed – Lamb’s histories and biographies weren’t the texts that were important to Appendix N. Those are his earlier fiction works, crafted for the pulp magazine Adventure (one of the finest and most respected of the pulp magazines). Unfortunately most of those tales were out of print for eighty or ninety years.
In the early decades of the last century, the pulps were an entertainment mainstay, and vast numbers of periodicals were to be found on the corner newsstands. They were the television of their day, and readers could stop in for the newest collection of whatever genre they most enjoyed, be it detective stories, or romance, or air ace tales, or westerns, or even that Weird Tales thing. Most of the pulp magazines came out at least once a month. Adventure, which usually featured a couple of short novels and a bevy of shorter work, sometimes appeared three times every single month...
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NEW IN THE ONLINE STORE: RABID DOGS DCC ZINE |
There’s a new dog on the block, and he’s barking for attention!
Rabid Dogs is the first publication from Breaker Press Games for the DCC RPG system, and it’s a great leap from the starting blocks. With equal mix of fantasy and musical influences, it gives a nice new perspective to add to your campaign.
Let’s check it out!
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Rabid Dogs Zine is packed full of DCC RPG compatible content!
I Hate Work – A modified Occupation Table that removes all of the race-specific occupations, adds in a number of working dogs, and a couple of fresh trades.
Equal People… Demihumans and Mixed Race Player Characters – Unrestricted by traditions put forth by authors of the past, you should be the class and race you most connect with, and will have the most fun playing. Here’s how to do that with DCC.
I’m an Outsider… The Outlier Character Class – The ranger concept just doesn’t fit with the “you’re no hero” ethos of DCC, and admittedly, I had a middle school obsession with the bandit character class for AD&D re-published in Best of Dragon Vol. 4. The Outlier mashes up these two concepts into something uniquely DCC.
I Wanna Be Your Dog… The Canine Character Class – What happens when the party’s shepherd dies and their herding dog becomes the heart of the party? Well, you probably should just let them be the fuzzy antihero they were destined to be.
Road to Ruin… Two Roadside Encounters – A mysterious roadside statue and a philosophical wanderer.
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FREE DCC RPG QUICK START RULES! |
Psst. Come here. We want to tell you something…
Did you know you can get the DCC RPG Quick Start Rules for free?
That’s right, you can! If you’re new to the game and want to learn more—or a diehard fan who wants to share the game with your friends—you can do so!
The DCC RPG Quick Start Rules are 44 pages of instant fun, that let anyone build characters and play all the way up to level 2! Plus, we include classic funnel “The Portal Under The Stars” to give you a great adventure to start your DCC experience!
Share the love! Share the rules! Discover Dungeon Crawl Classics today and begin a new game with friends!
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