Gorgon Crawl Classics

Before I got into Elric or the Gray Mouser, well before Tolkien, and long before I was into D&D, I was into Greek Mythology. The Chicagoland UHF station I grew up with would play old Hecules movies on the odd weekend, and Clash of the Titans seemed to be on constant ration on HBO. Books from the school library and Time/Life helped feed the love of heroes and monsters.

In the past couple of months, I’ve had weird bits of synchronicity with heroic Greek myth. The new version Agon came out in print, Blood of Zeus dropped on Netflix, a new season of Great Greek Myths came to Prime, and Eldritch Fields started actual play posts of Mazes & Minotaurs.

So now I’m primed for some heroic Greek gaming! I know there are several “mythic Greece” RPGs out there, but I’ve never had a chance to play any of them. I read thru both Agon and Mazes & Minotaurs (again), but then I thought to myself “You know what would be an interesting system to use for some mytho-heroic gaming? Dungeon Crawl Classics!”

And so…

 

GORGON CRAWL CLASSICS!

Gorgon Crawl Classics is a DCC setting I’m low-key working on while I finish up other projects. I’m not sure what the final form will take: zine, full book, or just dead on the vine. My plan for now is to have fun writing stuff for it and run some test games at on-line conventions and for friends. Here’s the outline of things I have (thus far) planned. 

High Concept: RPG adventuring in mythic Greece and the Mediterranean Sea. DCC-style “gonzo” flavored. Heavily inspired by peplum movies and Harryhausen monsters. 

Cool Game Stuff > Movies > Mythology > History

I actually liked this movie!

Features

Hubris: a mechanic much like Fleeting Luck or Mojo. You add bonuses to your roll but risk getting smote down by the fickle gods.

Heroic Origins: replacing both the 0-level funnel and birth augers.

Supernatural Patrons: Prometheus, Orpheus, and Circe

New Classes: Olympian (unarmed strong-man warrior), Nymph, Satyr, and Minotaur.

Modular Armor: Mix-and-match what your warrior is kitted out with.

Inspirational Movies

Jason and the Argonauts

Hercules in the Haunted World

Hercules Against the Moon Men

Medusa Against the Son of Hercules

Lou Ferrigno’s Hercules

Clash of the Titans

Immortals

Blood of Zeus

 

Hell yeah, Herc! Crawl thru that dungeon... classically!

I’m excited about this idea, and I’ll be sure to share content on the blog here!