In the back of the rulebook was a completed sample level for the dungeons below Zenopus’ Tower, using a lettered key (rather than numbers), running from A to S2, with E denoting empty rooms, RT denoting Rat Tunnels, and neither P nor Q being used. The sample adventure still listed 18 separate areas to explore. This is significantly smaller than The Keep on the Borderlands, so we should be able to discuss the adventure in a single post.
Some Bookkeeping
First
I was sent a PM on Facebook, asking what level I would convert The Keep on the Borderlands for. It is my general position that I am converting material to place in a sandbox game, so the actual level doesn’t matter. The players decide when their characters tackle the material, not I. The same is true for the dungeons below Zenopus’ Tower – I am converting material which is present, without consideration of the PCs who might encounter it.
But, for a moment, let us consider otherwise. Let’s imagine that Wizards of the Coast, for some reason, hired me to do published DCC conversions of this material. In this case, the target level for The Keep on the Borderlands would be levels 1 to 3, acknowledging that the adventure has enough material in it to keep players occupied for more than a single level. The sample dungeon below Zenopus’ Tower would be pitched as a level 1 adventure, possibly with subsequent new material which pushed the bounds up several levels as the PCs delved deeper.
In general, if your conversion is close to the original, for modules in the D&D family, and especially adventures published during the TSR era, you can assume that DCC characters are roughly equivalent to twice the listed level. In this way, a module written for 1st-2nd level AD&D characters is appropriate for 1st level DCC characters, and a module for 14th level D&D characters converts well to 7th level DCC characters.
This is not a hard-and-fast rule – I have heard of both Steading of the Hill Giant Chief (AD&D level 9+) and Tomb of Horrors (AD&D level 10-14) being run as DCC funnels. DCC is infinitely malleable. Do whatever best matches the needs of your campaign and your players!
Exploring the Sample
Dungeon
The story of the dungeon is relatively generic, but also relatively flavorful. Dr. Holmes wrote that:
100 years ago the sorcerer Zenopus built a tower on the low hills overlooking Portown. The tower was close to the sea cliff west of the town and, appropriately, next door to the graveyard.
Rumor has it that the magician made extensive cellars and tunnels underneath the tower. The town is located on the ruins of a much older city of doubtful history and Zenopus was said to excavate in his cellars in search of ancient treasures.
Fifty years ago, on a cold wintry night, the wizard's tower was suddenly engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower. Needless to say the tower stood vacant for a while after this, but then the neighbors and the night watchmen complained that ghostly blue lights appeared in the windows at night, that ghastly screams could be heard emanating from the tower at all hours, and goblin figures could be seen dancing on the tower roof in the moonlight. Finally the authorities had a catapult rolled through the streets of the town and the tower was battered to rubble. This stopped the hauntings but the townsfolk continue to shun the ruins. The entrance to the old dungeons can be easily located as a flight of broad stone steps leading down into darkness, but the few adventurous souls who have descended into crypts below the ruin have either reported only empty stone corridors or have failed to return at all.
Other magic-users have moved into the town but the site of the old tower remains abandoned. Whispered tales are told of fabulous treasure and unspeakable monsters in the underground passages below the hilltop, and the story tellers are always careful to point out that the reputed dungeons lie in close proximity to the foundations of the older, prehuman city, to the graveyard, and to the sea.
Portown is a small but busy city linking the caravan routes from the south to the merchant ships that dare the pirate-infested waters of the Northern Sea. Humans and non-humans from all over the globe meet here. At the Green Dragon Inn, the players of the game gather their characters for an assault on the fabulous passages beneath the ruined Wizard's tower.
As with The Keep on the Borderlands, most of the creatures encountered in the dungeon – goblins, giant rats, skeletons, and the like, are already found in the DCC core rulebook. While these creatures require no actual work to convert, some of them – the goblins and the skeletons, for instance – do require some consideration from the judge to determine just who they are and why they are there. We also really want to think about how to make these monsters mysterious, or create variations especially in the un-dead encountered.
Well, we know that the goblins were seen dancing on the tower roof in the moonlight before the tower was destroyed, so we could certainly characterize them with some form of moon worship. If you have Sisters of the Moon Furnace (from the Goodman Games 2017 Gen Con Program Book) and/or Moon-Slaves of the Cannibal Kingdom you could probably tie lore from those adventures into these goblins. They could have been servants of Zenopus, creatures which came up from below, or new residents to the Tower and dungeons following Zenopus’ apparent death. Going with the moon connection, I would make them new residents. This also allows a larger goblin enclave to be located outside the dungeons themselves.
The various human characters in the dungeon (magic-user, fighters, and pirates) can all be created quickly and easily either from modifying the examples on pages 432-434 of the core rulebook, or by using the upper level character generator from Purple Sorcerer. Keeping in mind the general 2-to-1 rule for converting levels, the 4th level magic-user in Holmes’ dungeon would be a 2nd level DCC wizard – and one which must have access to the charm person spell! Alternatively, pirate statistics could be gleaned from Tower of the Black Pearl (itself a conversion from 3e).
Dealing With
Statblocks
When you get this early in the game’s history, there are no statblocks. Instead, you have something like this:
There is a giant crab concealed under the sand on the south beach. It will attack anything that moves on either beach. It runs 60 feet in 1 turn, in armor class 3 (plate mail), and takes 2 hit dice (8 hit points). It strikes with its giant claws one at a time as fast as a man.
Let’s consider what that might look like in DCC terms:
Init: The crab is described as striking “as fast as a man”, so it is neither exceptionally fast or slow in that regard. I would say +0 is appropriate.
Atk: The crab attacks with giant claws. We’re not really sure how big this crab is, but I am thinking that 1d6 damage is probably appropriate, with a +1 bonus to hit. This is based on it being a 2 Hit Die creature that I am picturing as about the size of a Galapagos tortoise.
AC: Original D&D, and by extension the Holmes edit, uses descending AC, whereas DCC uses ascending. The easiest conversion is 20 subtract the given AC, which grants an AC of 17. We are told that the creature’s AC is equal to plate mail, which grants a +8 bonus in DCC, for AC 18. Either is fine, but PCs are a bit more powerful in DCC, so I am going to choose to go with AC 18.
HD: The creature is described as having 2 Hit Dice. I started with this version of the game, and I think that monster Hit Dice were 8-sided (“For each monster listed we give the move in feet per turn and the hit dice, which indicates how tough the creature is and how many experience points it is going to be worth” isn’t so helpful here, and as a quick search of the book didn’t answer it, I am going with my gut). 2d8 seems reasonable for Hit Dice to me, remembering how our average rutabaga farmer has 1d4.
Hp: The original creature had 8 hp. Because of the Deed Die, a DCC warrior has a slightly higher damage output at 1st level (2 hp average) than in original D&D. I am going to increase our crab’s hit points to 10 as a result. This isn’t entirely necessary; 8 hp would work very well, and would still have the 1-3 hits (average 2) that the original version set up.
MV: The crab is said to move 60’ a turn, which makes it seem fast until you realize that humans move at 120’ per turn in this version of the game. We will give this crab a 20’ speed. We could add a swim speed if we wanted, but we don’t need to.
Act: Does “It strikes with its giant claws one at a time as fast as a man” mean that it attacks with one claw each round, or that the claws are each separate attacks which take place in the same round? Left without a clear answer, I will go the way that makes the crab more dangerous in combat and give it 2d20 for Action Dice.
SP: There are no special abilities described here, but we should always keep in mind what might be cool…and also that special abilities don’t have to favor the monster. In this case, I think we should add a vulnerability to being flipped on its back. If flipped on its back (Mighty Deed 3+), the crab has a reduced AC 14 and cannot attack until it spends an action on a successful DC 10 Reflex save to right itself again.
SV: The shell is likely to help with Fort saves, so I am going to give the crab Fort +4 (half its armor bonus). It doesn’t seem very fast or agile, so Ref +0. As a crab, it has no great intellect or sense of self. I give it Will -2.
AL: The crab is obviously N.
Crit: Following the table on page 385 of the core rulebook, we get a result of M/1d8.
Put altogether, our DCC giant crab statblock looks like this:
Giant Crab: Init +0; Atk giant claw +1 melee (1d6); AC 18; HD 2d8; hp 10; MV 20’; Act 2d20; SP If flipped on its back (Mighty Deed 3+), the crab has a reduced AC 14 and cannot attack until it spends an action on a successful DC 10 Reflex save to right itself again; SV Fort +4, Ref +0, Will -2; AL N; Crit M/1d8.
As another example of statblock conversion, consider Lemunda the Lovely in Area M. She is described thusly:
Lemunda is a good fighter in her own right and carries a concealed dagger in her girdle, but right now she is bound and gagged. She is lying in the bottom of the second boat, not the one occupied by the pirates. Her family would be very grateful to get her back.
Lemunda the Lovely:
S10 I14 W12 C15 D12 C17 Level 2, Hit Dice 2
If we consider that a 2nd level fighter in D&D is roughly equivalent to a 1st level DCC warrior, we can jump into the Purple Sorcerer Upper Level Character Generator to determine her full stats. Strength (10) and Intelligence (14) translate directly. Wisdom (12) and Charisma (17) are averaged for Personality (round up to 15). Constitution (15) becomes Stamina. Dexterity (12) becomes Agility. We roll 3d6 for Luck and get an 8. Well, she has been captured by pirates, so that is at least a little unlucky!
No matter what occupation comes up, we are going to replace it with Noble because the text tells us that Lemunda’s “father is a powerful lord in the city above”. I also decided that Lemunda should be Lawful based on context. We know that she is armed with a dagger hidden in her belt (which is the meaning of “girdle” in this context if you are confused as I was at 13 reading this for the first time).
Using the generator, we are able to plug these stats in to create:
Lawful Warrior (1st level)
Occupation: Noble (changed from Jester)
Strength: 10 (0)
Agility: 12 (0)
Stamina: 15 (+1)
Personality: 15 (+1)
Intelligence: 14 (+1)
Luck: 8 (-1)
HP: 7; Speed: 30; Init: 1
Ref: 1; Fort: 2; Will: 0
Base Attack Mod: d3
Attack Dice: 1d20; Crit Die/Table: 1d12/III
Main Weapon: Dagger melee d3 (dmg 1d4+deed)
Secondary Weapon:
AC: (10) (Unarmored (+0) Check penalty (0) Fumble die (d4))
Lucky sign: Resisted temptation (Willpower saving throws) (-1)
Languages: Common, Bugbear
Warrior trait: Lucky weapon - choose one weapon that you apply your luck mod to
Or, in a more regular statblock format:
Lemunda the Lovely (level 1 warrior): Init +1; Atk dagger +1d3 melee (1d4+Deed Die); AC 10; HD 1d12+3; hp 7; MV 30’; Act 1d20; SP Deed Die (1d3), unlucky weapon; SV Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +0; AL L; Crit III/1d12. Str 10, Agi 12, Sta 15 (+1), Per 15 (+1), Int 14 (+1), Luck 8 (-1).
A Note on Area RT
RT— Rat tunnels. They are only 3 feet in diameter, round and dug through the soft earth of the cemetery. A man could crawl through them, but it should be hard for him to fight (a -2 from his attack die roll). A halfling or dwarf would be at no particular disadvantage. Every 100 feet there is a 50% chance of meeting a rat, every 200 feet a 50% chance of coming on 5 gold pieces. The tunnels form an endless maze and there is no end to the rats. The tunnels intersect the dungeons at the northernmost corridor and at room N. Rats are described under room N
It’s pretty hard not to read this as an homage to The Graveyard Rats by Henry Kuttner (and given a film adaptation in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities.
DCC judges may wish to use the dice chain to penalize humans fighting here (-1d for attack rolls, damage, and spell checks), with a 50% chance of meeting 1d3 giant rats every 6 rounds, and a 50% chance of finding 1d5 gp every 200’. Getting lost is easy – an Intelligence check is required to find one’s way out (DC 10 + 1 for every 200’ travelled in the maze); halflings gain a +1d bonus and dwarves gain a +2d bonus to this check. The judge should allow lost characters to eventually emerge at some other point connected to the rat tunnels if they survive. This may include new areas devised by the judge, graves or charnel pits in the Portown cemetery, and/or lower dungeon levels.
Next: Basic D&D: Palace of the Silver Princess.
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