You're no Hero. You destroy heroes. You are the bane of adventurers and those who seek fortune and glory in dungeons and ruins.
Dungeon Dwelling Creatures is a Dungeon Crawl Classics-compatible RPG in which you take on the role of a monster.
Dungeon Dwelling Creatures is a Dungeon Crawl Classics compatible tabletop role-playing game created by Rugby-Melee Games in association with LongCon Press, in which you take on the role of a monster. This is not a simple reskin of the DCC system but all-new races with a unique feel. These rules can be used on their own or utilized with the rules found in the Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC) RPG.
Inside the 8.5" x 11" B&W book, you will find over 200 pages of material. You will find 8 unique race classes, a new stat that replaces luck called vile, new spells for the Fiend and Hag, and psychic powers for the Toag, rules for running a Dungeon Dwelling Creatures session using existing DCC-compatible modules or making your own unique campaign, new foes for fighting, and an introductory adventure.
The Dark Master (Joseph Goodman) has granted permission to reprint certain rules within Dungeon Dwelling Creatures - specifically the monsters' critical hit tables that are used for the race classes in Dungeon Dwelling Creatures. To play, you will only need the Dungeon Dwelling Creatures rulebook, dice, paper, and pencils.
Dungeon Dwelling Creatures is the idea of John Watson and Eddie Bartlett. John has worked on numerous RPGs to include the DCC-compatible system Weird Frontiers. In the DCC community, he is best known for the Weird Frontiers Compatible Adventure Hell Train. Eddie has written numerous DCC-compatible products, but is best known for the Mutant Crawl Classics Adventure Carnage in the Casino and the Mutant Crawl Classics/Weird Frontiers/Umerica Compatible Adventure Met Yer Maker. Both John and Eddie recently (Q1 2025) worked on the DCC-compatible zine, the Wanting Wizard.
John and Eddie have done the majority of the writing for Dungeon Dwelling Creatures, but other authors have contributed. They include "Weird Uncle" Brendan LaSalle, "The Dark Marshal" David Baity, Levi Combs, Stefan Surratt, Louie Hoefer, Aaron Burkett, Matt Gullett, Matt De Micco, Ian Rucker, Sgt. Dave, and more.
For both editions of the book (hardback and limited leatherette), we have commissioned the talented Sgt. Dave for the cover art. You can find more of Sgt. Dave's artwork here.
Additionally, we have ensured that excellent artwork is found throughout the book, not only from Sgt. Dave, but from the talented Nick Tofani and Dax Hamon.
An orc war party by Nick Tofani & Creatures vs Adventurers by Dax Hamon
Though all the needed art has been commissioned and completed, additional funds raised via Backerkit will be used to commission more art for the final book.
Details for each of the race classes for Dungeon Dwelling Creatures are below. Additional monsters will become available as we reach additional stretch goals.
Dybbuk – A vengeful spirit that inhabits corpses. Each new body it possesses takes on the powers of the corpse, wearing it like a glove.
Fiend – A cunning demon who wields profane magic. It thrives on those who worship it, using their blood to empower its spells. As the fiend grows in power, it takes on more powerful forms.
Goblins – A group of tricksters that wreak havoc wherever they go. Though small in stature, these vicious monsters rarely travel alone and recruit new members with ease.
Grafted – Created by powerful wizards, the grafted are a collection of different body parts, meaning that no two are the same. They can harvest the body parts of fallen foes to enhance their abilities.
Hag – These fae-like creatures wield powerful magic, but unlike wizards and elves, they flourish with the more corruption they take on. They are also masters of creating familiars to do their bidding and protect them while they practice their rituals.
Orc – An orc is a powerful foe in its own right, growing angrier with each blow it suffers and causing more damage in turn. However, when more than one orc joins another in battle, they work each other into a frenzy, causing even more havoc!
Toag – Also known as luck-eaters, these creatures are the bane of adventurers. They consume the luck of their foes and use this energy to power their psychic abilities.
Wendigo – Cursed undead creatures that crave flesh. The wendigo wear little to no armor and rely on their claws and teeth to destroy their foes. When consuming flesh, they can restore their vitality.
Dungeon Dwelling Creatures is a DCC-compatible system that incorporates some rule changes.
Monsters do not have luck. They have vile. Vile is used similarly to luck, but with one main difference: the player may only spend vile on a roll that is not their own, to give that roll a penalty per point of vile spent. Each of the races has a unique way of recovering vile and gains a bonus to certain abilities based on the stat.
Critical hit charts are another change. While the same charts used in DCC for demons & devils, undead, and monsters remain, we have made some changes to ease play.
Dybbuks, having the ability to possess a recently deceased corpse, come with a bit of complexity. To ease this for both the Judge and players, we have created basic stats for likely corpses that are to be encountered.
Monster tokens are the final main change in Dungeon Dwelling Creatures. Monster tokens are a rare resource that monster players can earn. If a player has a monster token, they may spend it at any moment to make anyone, including their character or the Judge, reroll an entire roll. Once spent, the monster token is permanently given to the Judge, who will award it to a player in the future. There is a limited number of monster tokens in the world, so players should be careful when they spend them! They are typically only awarded at special events or by Judges who are lucky enough to have them.
Many different monsters can use magic. Among them are Fiends who use magic similar to Clerics, but with hellish influences. Hags also wield magic similar to Wizards and Elves, but with their own twisted, corrupt versions.
Additional spells from levels 1st to 5th are within the pages of Dungeon Dwelling Creatures, themed for the Fiend and Hag, respectively. Fiend magic is based on fire, demons, possession, and pacts with foolish mortals. Hag magic is powered by corruption and focuses on illusions, enchantment, and charm.
Toags drain the luck of their foes and use this to fuel their psychic abilities. Unlike the Hag or the Fiend, a Toag does not roll to manifest one of their powers. Instead, they spend the luck they have drained to fuel their powers. The more luck they spend, the stronger the power becomes. All original powers are included for the Toag in the core book.
Dice: We are working with Impact Miniatures to get official full sets of funky dice made. The promos will be available soon, and we will provide an update once we have the physical dice in hand. A sample image is below.
Dice Tray: Do you have trouble finding the right-sided funky die? Well, we have a solution for you to find the right die to slay adventurers. With a Dungeon Dwelling Creatures-branded dice tray, you'll be able to find the right dice quickly!
T-Shirts: Official Dungeon Dwelling Creatures t-shirts will be available. Available in a variety of colors, sizes, and with the option of race-specific shirts.
Adventures: We have numerous adventures at a discounted price from various DCC-compatible games.
US $5,000 - VTT TOKENS: Congrats! We hit our first stretch goal! At this level, we unlock virtual tabletop tokens.
US $7,000 - BOOKMARKS: Dax Hamon has designed a physical bookmark that will be included in physical backer shipments.
US $10,000 - SATIN BOOKMARKS: Satin bookmarks will be included in all physical copies of the core book.
US $12,000 - NEW HAG CORRUPTION CHART BY LEVI COMBS: At this level, Levi Combs will create a new Hag corruption chart to add more flavor to Hags!
Levi Combs is an award-winning publisher and established game designer. Additionally, he is the owner of Planet X Games. Levi is best known for many DCC-combatable products, including An Occurrence at Howling Crater and Jungle Tomb of the Mummy Bride.
US $15,000 - MIGHTY CRUSADERS BY SEAN OWEN ROBERSON: At this level, Sean has agreed to write up a rival group of adventurers called the Mighty Crusaders. The Mighty Crusaders are artifact hunters who have their sights set on the same treasure as the monsters! PDF only.
Sean is the co-owner of Palladium Books. He is best known for his work on the epic RIFTS setting and system and Savage RIFTS. He has written numerous titles for Palladium Books, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, and other systems and settings.
US $17,000 - MORE VTT TOKENS: At this level, all backers will receive virtual tabletop tokens for adventures that invade their dungeons.
US $20,000 - FREE CREATURES DIE: All physical backers will receive a Dungeon Dwelling Creatures custom d6.
US $22,000 - ART BY KEELAN HALVORSEN: At this stretch goal, we will commission the talented Keelan Halvorsen to make a full page of black and white art that will be featured in the book.
Keelan is an experienced artist with numerous artworks featured in tabletop roleplaying games over the years. You can find more of his incredible artwork here.
US $25,000 - ANOTHER ADVENTURE: At this level, an original Dungeon Dwelling Creatures adventure, Through Time, will be included in all versions of the book.
US $27,000 - VIRTUAL BATTLE MAP: At this level, a virtual battle map for the Through Time adventure is unlocked.
US $30,000 - A NEW CLASS BY BRENDAN LASALLE: Crazy Uncle Brendan has agreed to provide a new class, the Swarm Tribe. The Swarm Tribe class represents several different species of tiny humanoids that band together and act in unison. These tiny folk live, work, and fight so closely with one another that they effectively act as a superorganism.
Brendan LaSalle is a writer for Goodman Games, best known for his thrilling Xcrawl DCC-compatible system and setting. He has written numerous adventures for Goodman Games and is also the head of the Road Crew!
US $32,000 - DUNGEON DWELLING CREATURES STICKERS: Backers will receive Dungeon Dwelling Creatures stickers!
US $35,000 - NEW FOES BY STEFAN SURRATT: At this level, Stefan Surratt has agreed to write at least 2 new foes that will be included in all versions of the book!
Stefan Surratt is the Goodie Award-winning author and game designer of numerous DCC-compatible titles to include Elf-land: Beyond the fields we know and the soon-to-be-released mega adventure, the Conquest of Chaos!
US $37,000 - ORCS!!!: We will include an additional adventure PDF - Naked and Afraid, an all Orcs adventure by Frank Bidwell!
US $40,000 - DIGITAL JUDGE'S SCREEN INSERTS: At this level, we will provide a PDF of Judge's screen inserts!
US $43,000 - THE VATICUS OF PHYSICKER QUAYLE BY GREG GORDEN: At this level, Greg has agreed to write a short dungeon called the Vaticus of Physicker Quayle! PDF only.
Greg Gorden is a veteran game designer who has worked for companies like TSR, Wizards of the Coast, West End Games, and FASA. Greg has worked on a significant number of titles, including TORG and Castle Greyhawk.
US $45,000 - CUSTOM CHARACTER SHEETS FOR EACH CLASS: Though we will already be providing free PDFs of the base character sheet to everyone, at this level, Dax Hamon will create a character sheet for each race class.
US $50,000 - CHOOSE YOUR MONSTER: At this level, we will allow backers to vote on one of three different monsters that we will develop into a race class.
The core book is 80% written, and we have an equal amount of the art already completed. We will need to include all the eligible stretch goals in the final copy of the book, after the crowdfunding has concluded, order some extra art, and then we'll get it off to the printers.
We've already secured an excellent printer for both the hardback and limited edition (leatherette) copies of the book. Physical fulfillment will be completed no later than Q1 of 2027.
All PDFs will be fulfilled through DriveThruRPG and will arrive as soon as we add the final touches.
