DCC Day: Dungeon Denziens

Arguably, the Dungeon Denizens (and the upcoming second volume in this series) are the more "DCC" of bestiaries for the system. The monster stats in these books are more in line with the main DCC rulebook, and there is a clear difference between the "soldier monsters" that are filler and the more boss-like creatures. This book, along with the core DCC rulebook, provides a wealth of monsters for the system, making the game feel complete and well-rounded.

DCC is often more like 3.5E than B/X, but the 3.5E values are frequently out of control, with high-end AC values in the 40-50 range, and hit points in the hundreds. So things are never a straight one-to-one conversion. There is a DCC way of converting a monster, and the main book's dragons and giants hit all the right notes.

There are plenty of "strange monsters" in the Dungeon Denizens book, and all the creatures seem to have a unique DCC twist upon them. There are also some 'old standbys' in here, like giant beetles, owlbears, giant lizards, and cockatrices. It's nice to see these back, and I would love to see more of the old standbys return to the game. Maybe in future volumes.

DCC is divided into several factions, each with its own distinct direction.

• There is a classic DCC crowd that primarily adheres to the core rulebook.
• Some people use DCC as a replacement for 3.5E.
• This is where you replace the monsters with the Aquilae versions, or not.
• Some try to rebuild the core setting of DCC into something inspired by the game.
• Tales from the Fallen Empire, Pax Lexque, etc.
• Some use DCC as a universal system.
• Comic Crawl Classics, Star Crawl, MCC, XCC, Weird Frontiers, etc.

There is an overlap in many areas, and everything co-exists and works well together.

Overall, DCC needs more strange monster books, with a few entries covering some of the classics. This is strongly recommended, and can be considered one of the "core books" of DCC.