Colossus, Arise!

DCC #76: Colossus, Arise!, is by Harley Stroh and published by Goodman Games. In this adventure, 8^th level PCs are pitted against the 300-foot-tall cadaver of a Chaos Titan. The adventure promises to offer “many opportunities for a quick and inglorious death” while bringing PCs “back to the start of their careers, where the difference between life and death can hang on a clever decision or the throw of a die.”

We didn’t have 8^th level PCs hanging around in my campaign, so we made some. Really, I should have waited for Colossus, Arise! to be worked organically into ongoing play, but there are limitations to my patience. The adventure rocked!

Starting this adventure, the PCs are literally sneaking through a lost city in the desert inhabited by an army of giants. If you have not read the entry for giants in the Cyclopedia of Creatures in the core rulebook, go ahead and do so. Take a gander at what giants do for critical hits. Then be afraid. Be very afraid.

Now, here’s the weird thing. When I ran this, my players were not so very afraid. They took to the adventure like they were invincible. And, seemingly, they were, despite every die roll occurring in the open. And there is a real chance for some really serious action to go down here. Multiple chances for critical hits from giants. A 300-foot un-dead Chaos Titan making wildly random attacks. Strange magics. The brain on the module’s cover. Protected by Fate and the blessing of the Dice Gods, my players sailed right through it.

And this is the really great part about Dungeon Crawl Classics: They loved it anyway. They knew that the dice were with them. They knew that things might have worked out otherwise (but how far otherwise they never learned).

I think I might dust this one off for another run.

Giants stalk the shifting sands as the lost city of Stylos awakens from its deathless slumber. The Fourth Age of Man is at hand! All that stands between the gigantic hordes of Stylos and their conquest of the world is your band of adventurers. Sinister traps, implacable foes, and the crushing tread of the dread Colossus all lurk within these pages, eager to test the courage and cunning of even the most accomplished adventurers.