The Dungeon Crawler Carl books are having a moment right now. Matt Dinniman’s popular LitRPG series is getting a TV show, a new line of toys, and now a couple of new tabletop offerings are on the docket. Renegade Game Studios just launched a new crowdfunding campaign for multiple Dungeon Crawler Carl tabletop games which has already raised well over $3.5 million in a single day. The initial funding goal was only $250,000.
You can find the campaign on Backerkit for all of the details about what’s included. And what’s included is two full tabletop games launching at the same time, both of which are fully licensed. The first is the Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG and the second is Dungeon Crawler Carl: Unstoppable, which is essentially a DCC version of Renegade Studios’ popular deckbuilding game. Pledge options range from $1 to $900 with the most expensive one letting you create a character for an official quest.
What Is the Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG?
The official Backerkit page calls the RPG a “full-skill based TTRPG set in the brutal, televised World Dungeon”. There will be 30+ playable races with a large variety of classes and subclasses to choose from. An official ‘How to Play’ guide is now up on YouTube that gives a full rundown of what to expect.
According to that guide, the RPG is heavily skills-based with “no limit to the types of skills players and GMs can design”. The skills come in four main categories:
- Attack Skills: Weapon aptitudes, tactics, and techniques.
- Spell Skills: Used by magic users by spending mana.
- Utility Skills: Govern interactions with other characters, crafting, and non-combat abilities
- Passive Skills: Always active and don’t require a skill check to activate.
Similar to Dungeons & Dragons gameplay, players will use a 20-sided die for various skill checks throughout the story. Only the players will be rolling dice, however, with GMs never touching the d20 at all.
The video goes into a lot further detail about gameplay, which is worth checking out if you’re looking for more information about what to expect.
When will it be released?
The campaign has just launched, so there’s still plenty of time to make a pledge before the May 15 end date. As for when you’ll actually get your hands on these tabletop games after you pledge, the campaign details mention a fulfillment date of late October 2026.
Jacob Kienlen is a Senior Audience Development Strategist and Writer for IGN. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he has considered the Northwest his home for his entire life. With a bachelor’s degree in communication and 10 years of professional writing experience, his expertise is spread across a variety of different pop culture topics — from TV series to books and the latest Pokémon games.
