For some time now, Humble Bundle has been putting together massive bundles of Goodman Games’ Dungeon Crawl Classics and Dungeons & Dragons 5e books, letting you pick up an entire library of years’ worth of adventuring for a fraction of the normal price. They’re brilliant, and we’ve covered a lot of them – but this one is special. Offering $870 worth of books and maps for 40 bucks (95% discount, math fans) is par for the course here – but this bundle has just a little bit more sparkle.
That’s because the headline products in the mix are two beloved, vintage dungeons, both originally written by the legendary Jennell Jaquays and published by Judges Guild in 1979. In both cases, the Humble Bundle includes both of Goodman Games’ modern revivals of the dungeon: the D&D 5e version, and the port for Goodman’s own popular OSR (old school revival) RPG system, Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC).
Caverns of Thracia is an enormous, six level, 150+ encounter megadungeon that promises a year’s worth of gameplay, taking your party from 1st to 10th level (or levels one to five in DCC) – and the vibes are just unspeakably good. Just read this excerpt from its description, via Humble:
“Born in the forgotten chambers and caverns of age-lost Thracia rises a formidable foe, the Minotaur King, along with his host of dogfolk, gnolls, lizardfolk and others. Some say Death itself lingers in the Caverns of Thracia, ready to claim any who stumble on its unholy chapel.”
Sorry, Wizards of the Coast – but you just don’t make ’em like they used to.
Hellpits of Nightfang, also by the incomparable Jaquays (though originally written for Chaosium’s RuneQuest rather than D&D) is closer to the the adventure concepts modern players may be more used to. A town is being terrorized by “nocturnal attacks” from an unseen evil they call the Nightfang, and your party of 9th level heroes (5th level in the DCC version) have to investigate three local sinkholes – charmingly named “Hellpits” – to track down the “ferocious vampire” lurking within the lost hero’s tomb beneath, and stake the bastard for good.
Like a lot of Goodman’s revamped classic adventures, these books are oozing with the high concept fantastical heroics, campy aesthetics, and terrifyingly lethal enemies that characterize the OSR scene – and remember, it’s not just those two dungeons you’re getting for your 40 bucks here.
This bundle also packs in over 50 other items, including:
- 12 more DCC adventure books.
- Six more 5e conversion adventure books.
- Two different versions of the DCC core rulebook (one with an alt art cover).
- Four source books, content collections, and anthologies.
- A stack of Goodman Games annuals and Gen Con program guides, with original art in.
- A handful of map packs, token packs, and other goodies.
It’s a banging deal, a prodigious library upgrade for any OSR fellow traveller, and – of course – because it’s a Humble Bundle, a share of the profits goes to a charity: in this case the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
You’ll already have heard of Make A Wish, it funds and organises fantastic experiences for children going through serious, life threatening illnesses. It’s a good cause, and a good reason to go for this excellent bundle if you’re on the fence.
Personally, my experience with OSR is limited to a few dips into the Borg-Verse, but the more I look at Goodman’s old school D&D re-releases, and indeed DCC itself, the more tempted I get to give it a go. If you’ve already played any of these classic adventures (in their Goodman forms, or in Jaquays’ original versions for D&D or RuneQuest) come join the free Wargamer Discord community and tell me more about them! I would genuinely LOVE to hear your tales of adventure.
Source: Wargamer
