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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea $6.99
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par James B. [Acheteur vérifié]
Date Ajoutée: 02/27/2022 20:20:44

A great introduction to Dungeon Crawl Classics as a game, this short adventure has everything DCC is about - lethal stakes and high weirdness. It's probably best run as intended, as a "funnel" for 0-level characters, but it also works just fine as a game for full-fledged player characters. The only complaint I have is that it's priced a bit high for such a short module.

Note the PDF version here is expanded slightly from the original print version, with an extra area ("The Summoning Pits").



Classement:
[4 sur 5 étoiles!]
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par Keith T. [Acheteur vérifié]
Date Ajoutée: 01/30/2022 19:50:38

The DCC engine is one which has helped me through the pandemic. Easy to teach and to play (with death begin so easy at the 0 level that it makes the pandemic appear mild). Coupled with another engine, DCC has kept us entertained when we leaving the home was not an option due to laws, or due to illness. This was the first module we played through and enjoyed. There have been others but there can only be one Sailrs on the Starless Sea. Black and white and olad school art defienitely make this a winner.



Classement:
[5 sur 5 étoiles!]
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par Gus L. [Acheteur vérifié]
Date Ajoutée: 11/11/2020 22:32:56

Sailors of the Starless Sea is one of the early DCC adventure and it captures the spirit of the game very well - a swords & sorcery 0-level funnel with dreadful man beasts and chaos gods all with the bright poppy gloss of DCC. A wonderful introduction to the DCC game and its aesthetic.



Classement:
[5 sur 5 étoiles!]
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par Jon S. [Acheteur vérifié]
Date Ajoutée: 05/02/2019 21:33:44

Bar none, the BEST DCC 0-level funnel. Very playable. I happened on to it, and have spent HOURS searching for it's equal!



Classement:
[5 sur 5 étoiles!]
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par Thilo G. [Testeur star]
Date Ajoutée: 08/20/2018 07:22:39

An Endzeitgeist.com review

This adventure clocks in at 24 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page advertisement, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 20 pages of content, so let’s take a look!

This review was requested by my patreons, to be undertaken at my leisure.

Now, if you’re playing DCC, chances are that you will be familiar with this adventure, and it being a classic funnel, it has kicked off countless campaigns – it was the first stand-alone adventure released for the system, after all. This is a pretty well-known adventure, but is it still holding up? Does it make sense today, and could it work in other contexts? We’ll see. Now, this is a funnel – that means it’s intended for 0-level characters. A lot of them. 10 – 15 are suggested, noting that typically, about half of them will survive. The module could be run as a level 1 or 2 adventure as well, though compared to most such DCC modules, it may be a bit easy for those levels. It may be – or it may not. You see, this module does a surprisingly good job at blending rules-relevant aspects and player-skill. While your characters can and will probably suffer a few casualties, their survival will be more contingent on the skill of the player than on the roll of the dice. I will highlight a few examples for this design-philosophy, which I btw. thoroughly enjoy.

Now, on a formal level, as pretty much all adventures in this series released for the DCC-rules, this is a beautiful book: The b/w-artworks are really neat, and the cartography depicts the main-module in a top-down style that is slightly tilted. The map of the bonus complex (see SPOILERS below) is delivered in an isometric perspective. All maps come with artworks and style galore. Thing is, I really wished we got a player-friendly key-less version of the maps, as the letters break immersion for me. Having the maps layered would have been another easy way to ensure that more groups get to see these gorgeous pieces, handing them out, piece by piece as the PCs explore. The module does come with copious amounts of read-aloud text that show the author’s talent for descriptive prose: The atmosphere evoked by these is compelling and captivating. The adventure comes with a handy encounter table that codifies the base module’s encounters by type and provides a handy summary for the judge. The module also includes a list of 10 different rumors pertaining the adventure-locale.

All right, this is as far as I can go without diving into SPOILERS. Potential players should jump ahead to the conclusion.

..

.

All right, only judges around? Great! So, in ages past, when the forces of Chaos (think of a more Warhammer-esque, nasty capital letters Chaos…) were more potent, they had champions – so-called Chaos Lords. Two particularly evil individuals, Felan and Molan, were such beings, but their wickedness did end, with one of them slain, and the other one retreating into Chaos itself, vowing to return once more. This foretold time has come, and the PCs are dumped right into it. As 0-level folks, they are assumed to be villagers and similarly unimpressive folks that respond to the recent abductions and raidings executed by beastmen from a nearby, ruined keep. This, thus is a combination of rescue mission and retribution, depending on your character’s motivations. These beastmen are btw. more versatile than the ones featured in the Warhammer universe: A table of 12 entries allow you to generate spontaneous and diverse looks for the beastmen, which may feature iridescent scales, weeping maggots, etc. – these are delightfully icky. Beastmen as a general notion, are assumed to have animal cunning, with only their leaders retaining a semblance of distinct personalities.

Now, while these beings constitute the primary antagonists of the module, they are not the only foes encountered, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The PCs may approach the keep from a variety of directions, which all carry their own dangers, and it is here that we already see the design paradigm I mentioned in action: Scaling a ruined wall’s slope can trigger an avalanche of rubble that can be lethal at this level, and that destroys equipment. Noticing that, well, scaling a steep slope of rubble may be dangerous can help here. The check is so low that succeeding it is all but guaranteed if the PCs just think. There also is a massive sinkhole, but approaching it may have the PCs tumble to a horrid fate – 500 ft. below, as the area seems to be hollow. The attention to detail here is impressive – the pdf even accounts for the unlikely case that PCs could have 500 ft. of rope! (Yeah, super-unlikely, but still – it’s nice to see this go above and beyond!) The extraction of PCs and approaching the sinkhole safely is noted as well as splaying out on the ground – mind you, this is not a dickish save or die: It does come with a creepy premonition warning the PCs!

In a way, this adventure, from the get-go, teaches by virtue of its design: PCs approaching the keep from the front will have to deal with rather dangerous vine horrors, basically corpses animated by corrupt vines; these things are actually more deadly than beastmen, so avoiding them, may be wise. In the best tradition of old-school modules, two threats are tied to curiosity and greed: Interacting with the Well of Souls can result in death or corruption, introducing the PCs to the potency of such decisions. The tomb of one of the Chaos Lords would be another such example: Lighted by an unearthly glow emitted from the ice covering all and exceedingly cold, the tomb offers treasure, yes. But the tomb is warded by 4 banes – which double as curses that the judge can later use for additional complications and as segues into other modules. Ideas regarding their use are provided. Still, this aspect of the module is completely optional, but that may not be evident.

This would be as well a chance as any to note how clever the adventure deals with magic: Exploring the charnel ruins, where the forces of Law locked in chaos cultists and had them burn. There is a darkened tar ooze that is a deadly foe, but with smart observations, the ooze may not need to be fought at all – smart players can find here an item that constitutes one of the solutions of the perhaps most deadly encounter herein. Placating the ooze is btw. something that smart players can extrapolate from the area and its description. Now, the regular “boss” of the keep level would be a beastman champion with some footsoldiers added, and, depending on how much you want the PCs to explore, you can disperse the villagers to be saved accordingly.

This ties in with the fully mapped “bonus content” additional dungeon included here. At the end of the module, there is an extra mini-dungeon, the “Summoning Pits.” This bonus module is rather creepy and slightly more deadly than the regular complex: These pits are the origin of the vine horrors noted before, and the place does contain a truly deadly and dangerous weapon – the Fiend Blade, which can provide power, but also corrupt and may even help casting some spells…but it does demand a price: It needs to be mentally battered into submission, requiring difficult Personality checks to use to its full capacity…or alternatively, a cost. Note that the danger this blade poses is clearly shown, and once more, the PC’s greed is what may be their undoing, for entering the circle that seals the blade may be rather deadly. Now, I mentioned the vine horrors – the PCs can find a rather twisted scene of these, seemingly locked in place, in the process of providing a human sacrifice. Serving the plant-entity known as the Slow God, they are executing a super-slow sacrifice, as the entity, curious about the concept of worship, dips its toes into the concepts. The Slow God can provide unique boons to brave adventurers, but it may also well lose themselves to its glacially-slow, alien thought-processes. Now, tinkering with the Slow God’s vine horrors may well be one of the most deadly encounters in the module, so once more, we have a sensible risk-reward ration here.

I really enjoy this bonus dungeon, and it may well work as a nice stand-alone scenario for conventions etc. Considering how challenging this one is, it is smart that it’s an optional sub-level, though one with massive benefits. You can completely ignore it – which is a plus or downside, depending on how you look at it. The main adventure’s text does not note the access points to the adventure, and as such, this is truly an optional bonus content. Now, personally, I think it would have been nice to see the main module text modified to acknowledge the existence of this content, but oh well.

Now, where was I? Oh, yes – having defeated the first beastman champion, the PCs can make their way into the bowels of the earth, where perceptive PCs will be able to notice two mosaics, which have been provided as a gorgeous handout. These handouts are important, for they contain clues that are potentially crucial for the PC’s survival. In these darkened halls, smart PCs that do a thorough job exploring may find a potent magical item, the band of fire, which can well spell the difference between life and death. The climax of the module deals with the subterranean shores of the eponymous starless sea: On it, the PCs can see a dragon boat awaiting, and clever characters may also deduce the magical means by which it may be called to the shore, for the waters are dangerous and home to an entity known as the Chaos Leviathan, a horrid, tentacle monstrosity far beyond the PC’s capabilities to best. The gigantic thing may be driven off by super lucky groups, but it also represents more of a puzzle than an actual combat challenge. If the players have been attentive, they may well have an idea on how to placate the leviathan – and while sacrifice is one possibility, it’s certainly not the only one. Tricking the leviathan is also an option, though one that can add further danger and a sense of frantic nature to the already challenging finale.

On an island in the starless sea, there lies a ziggurat, where beastmen are in the process of sacrificing villagers, throwing them into the magical forge crucible that is intended to reunite the body and mind of a vanquished chaos lord. Here, player smarts once more may make the difference between success and failure: Using robes of fallen chaos priests or sneaking are probably preferable, considering that there are quite a lot of beastmen attending the ceremony. This crowd of beastmen also acts as a unique terrain hazard of sorts, with PCs caught in their hands inexorably being moved towards the horrid fate of the sacrifice.

In order to come out on top here, the PCs will have to stop the shaman of the beast-men, and also get a chance to defeat the as of yet unstable form of the chaos lord – the skulls of challengers to the title of the chaos lord, which some PCs may have picked up, represent a potent weapon here, flaring with hatred. Defeating the as of yet weak form of the chaos lord with have pretty epic and cataclysmic repercussions, requiring that the PCs make haste to avoid annihilation, as the cave risks collapse. In the time-honored tradition of adventurers, they should run and get what they can – but tarrying may well see the PCs killed…once more, risk and reward.

Conclusion:

Editing and formatting are top-notch, I noticed no issues on a formal or rules-language level. The layout adheres to a 2-column b/w-standard and fits a surprising amount of content into its pages. The b/w-artworks are great, and the module’s cartography, as noted, is inspired, offering a top-down look of the keep and main complex, an isometric perspective for the bonus complex. The pdf comes with basic bookmarks for the headers, but not for individual rooms.

Harley Stroh’s “Sailors on the Starless Sea” is a fantastic adventure in the best sense. It is very dangerous, but never in an unfair way. The adventure manages to transport the notions of a thoroughly magical world without requiring the meta-concerns of RPG-systems: There is method and an internal logic to how magic works within the game; players that think are rewarded, whereas approaching this with solely a rollplaying attitude will result in pain galore. I love this, as the adventure teaches being methodical and consequently rewards players ability over that of the PCs, making this an all out fun module to play. Compared with MANY “first” adventures for systems out there, this is a phenomenal achievement and clearly highlights the strength of the aesthetics of both DCC and its aesthetics. Now yes, I could complain about the fact that integration of the second printing bonus dungeon could be smoother, but that may well be a feature for you. Similarly, the lack of player-friendly versions of the amazing maps DCC modules tend to have galls me to no end, but the atmosphere and epic climax of this complex, the expert prose and fantastic execution make it all but impossible to rate this any other way than 5 stars + seal of approval. This is a great adventure, and one that holds up very well to this date. Much like “Doom of the Savage Kings”, this is good enough to get it even if you’re not playing DCC. Yes, that good.

Endzeitgeist out.



Classement:
[5 sur 5 étoiles!]
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par Megan R. [Testeur star]
Date Ajoutée: 04/16/2018 07:35:54

Designed for a party of 15 0th-level characters (with the anticipation that each player has three characters), this adventure sees this motely horde of novice adventurers attempting to stem a plague of abductions that has recently blighted a village. For best effect, as this is supposed to be a starting adventure, this village is home to most or not all party members, thus they have a vested interest in its wellbeing. Some of those abducted may be friends or family...

There's a brief outline of how the adventure is intended to play out and a fair bit of background for the GM explaining how the situation came to be, and who is responsible. The adventure itself begins with a ruined keep that looms over the village from a nearby hilltop. There are plenty of rumours, and the first task facing our heroes is to decide which are fact and which are fiction. Each player can roll a D10 against a table of rumours, but there are no hints as to their veracity - they will have to make their own minds up. Naturally, the rumours offer valuable clues, but the fake ones can also lure foolish characters to their doom!

The first thing the party will have to decide is how they will approach the keep. Each route, and there are several, has its own dangers, and has a detailed description along with the particular challenges appropriate to it... and then there's the wandering monster table, on which each area features as well! Depending on the route chosen, there is the possibility of a spot of tomb-robbing, but beware: items taken from there are cursed! Although sample curses are provided, the GM is encouraged to make up his own based on whatever he's got planned for the campaign to come.

Once inside, each area comes with a graphic and atmospheric description along with notes about who (or what) is there to fight and what loot is available. Much is not obvious and will have to be searched out... and of course there's still those wandering monsters who may choose to happen by at an inopertune moment. The 'keep' portion ends with the discovery of stairs leading downwards...

As you can imagine, there is more to explore below. There the source of the evil awaits. Lucky, organised and courageous parties might be able to deal with it, maybe even keep their minds intact. Some of the abducted villagers are here in chains, and may be rescued - if any player has lost all their characters, they made a ready source of replacements, else all they want to do is flee for their homes.

The whole adventure is well-resourced with clear maps, a couple of player handouts and excellent descriptions coupled with notes on what's to find and what's to kill in each place the party goes, along with plenty of opportunities signposted for GMs to add clues to further adventures of their own making. An excellent introductory adventure to start a new campaign in the spirit of this game.



Classement:
[5 sur 5 étoiles!]
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par Alexander R. [Acheteur vérifié]
Date Ajoutée: 01/01/2018 20:15:19

This adventure rocks my socks.

If you're looking for a pulpy, gorey, almost-everybody-dies type adventure. Look no further. Sailors on the Starless Sea makes use of DCC intriguing "character funnel" by making your players the angry mob out to rescue their captured townsfolk from the forboding castle.

I have a bunch of friends who are horror nerds and this game really appealed to them. The crazy 70s pulp vibe bleeds through with Kovacs' art and Stroh's flavor text here. Each encounter is more like a fantasy grindhouse movie than the last.

I'm definitely going to check out more of Stroh's stuff for DCC.



Classement:
[5 sur 5 étoiles!]
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par Dan C. [Acheteur vérifié]
Date Ajoutée: 09/30/2014 22:46:29

Possibly the coolest low-level modules I've read. The Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG has each player create a few 0-level PCs a piece and the few characters that survive the first module become classed characters; 'Starless Sea' really captures that desperation, with a mob of villagers besieging a ruinous keep purely to prevent its inhabitants from further preying upon their families. There are no heroes in town--the villagers must make due themselves. And by the end of the module, after losing a few peasants in striking and memorable ways, each player may be lucky enough to emerge with true hero to call his own.

The opponents and the general feel of the module is VERY Appendix N / Michael Moorcock / Warhammer Chaos / Lovecraft. The enemy has its own motiviations and is working towards certain goals, so if the peasants fail, the world will be worse off for it. 'Starless' is a dungeon crawl, and for those who are quick to dismiss crawls as boring or too straightforward (which was me until recently!), it's great to see how such a relatively simple RPG style can have so much depth and flavor. 'Starless' is no railroad, either: the players can approach the problems at the keep in whichever way they can imagine. The module rewards clever decisions and otherwise chews through peasants without mercy.

The writing and layout are excellent, and the artwork really captures the mood and excitement of the story. Would, I'd imagine, convert with relative ease to other systems.



Classement:
[5 sur 5 étoiles!]
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par Steven T. [Acheteur vérifié]
Date Ajoutée: 09/14/2013 04:35:26

This adventure is a great starting point for any DCC RPG game night or full throttle campaign. Its well written (I read it cover to cover like a comic book it was awesome) and fantastically illustrated. The storyline is simple and straight forward which leaves room for the GM to ad-lib and embellish the plot as they see fit. It really exemplifies what DCC RPG is all about, good, simple, dungeon crawling fun. I highly recommend any of their products.



Classement:
[5 sur 5 étoiles!]
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Dungeon Crawl Classics #67: Sailors on the Starless Sea
Editeur: Goodman Games
par Vance R. [Acheteur vérifié]
Date Ajoutée: 05/03/2013 12:43:23

One of the most unique things about Dungeon Crawl Classics is the character funnel. Run a bunch of 0 level nobodies through the meat grinder and see who comes out on top. This adventure is a great example of how to write an adventure for just that purpose.



Classement:
[5 sur 5 étoiles!]
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