I’m thrilled that so many judges and players in the DCC community continue to find great value in the free tools. Whether it's the character generators (40,000,000+ peasants created, from over 60 community-driven campaign occupation sources!), The Crawler's Companion dice-rolling and reference app, The Sorcerer's Grimoire, our custom spellbook utility, or one of the easy to use demon, dragon, or magic sword generators, each tool has been built with the simple purpose of making it easier for everyone to enjoy the Dungeon Crawl Classics Role-Playing Game!
This year we're keeping things fairly simple: the drive is now running for two and a half days five and a half days (I've extended the deadline since Facebook's wall of crap has made it hard for many backers to see announcements about the drive!), and the prizes have been streamlined to make it a bit easier for me to manage. Thanks so much for your support of the Free Tools!
Time Remaining in the 2025 Drive
Why We Have a Yearly Fundraiser
The tools are free, and will always be free. But there are a number of expenses associated with creating, maintaining, testing, publishing, and hosting the free tools, including server costs, development fees, the need for new hardware, mobile devices for testing, and various software expenses. These would be challenging for me to cover, but the incredible generosity that the DCC community demonstrates during our annual drives continues to meet all these needs, and more!
The specific funding and development goals for 2025 remain quite simple. In a nutshell:
- Level 1 ($1000) will cover basic server costs, development fees, and other expenses
- Level 2 ($3000) will provide funds for needed hardware/device purchases (primarily a new iPad Pro which I use for most development tasks, since it eases working with the nerve damage in my hands)
- Level 3 ($4000+) will help purchase a backup m4 Mac mini. Funds beyond these levels will also be used to beef up the main server, maybe pick up an Android testing device, help me invest as much time as possible on the tools, and perhaps pay for some moving expenses since we've just got a new house and (egad) we'll be moving in a couple weeks - Yikes, I'm too old for this crap! ;)
Giving
To participate in this year's drive, just click on the PayPal button below, and give in any amount you can. You can receive cool rewards! (To get your prizes just provide your preferences in the form at the bottom of the page. To streamline things, I'll send out the PDF adventure codes at the end of the drive in one rush. Thank you!)
Prizes!
- If you donate any amount you'll receive a PDF of our inaugural adventure Perils of the Sunken City!
- If you donate $10 or more you'll receive a second adventure PDF of your choice!
- If you donate $40 or more you'll receive the entire Purple Sorcerer library of PDFs! (If you already have one or more of the adventures, I'm happy to send the codes to a friend!)
We're keeping things intentionally simple this year for additional prizes. Each of the following will be randomly distributed at the end of the drive:
- NEW! The Dark Master and Goodman Games has now offered FIVE PDF packages of the XCrawl Classics Rulebook, along with the first six adventures!
- The amazing David Baity has offered FIVE Digital Catalogs of Weird Frontiers!
- The remarkable Daniel Bishop has offered FIVE pdfs of the Cyclopedia of Common Animals.
- The delightful Gage Berry has added FIVE PDF copies of his BIG SWORD: Graves and Groves zine!
2025 Development Goals
Development this year is going to continue to focus on maintaining and refining the existing tools, while also working on long-in-the-works projects as I am able with my health constraints. These include:
- Additional language support in the character generators
- Upper level support for Mutant Crawl Classics
- Upper level support for Dying Earth
- Upper level support for XCrawl Classics
Your Info
Thank You
The incredible support of the DCC community makes this all possible. Thanks to each and every one of you who supports the free Purple Sorcerer Games tools!
Note: Since the DCC community is so dispersed nowadays, please share the drive in your favorite online haunts to get the word out, and if you’d like to donate something to the prize pool, please let me know: it would be most gratefully welcomed.
If you want a blurb, here you go:
Do you play Dungeon Crawl Classics and use the free Purple Sorcerer tools to streamline your session prep? For the next three days you can help support server, development, and hardware expenses, and get cool adventures, and possibly some fun additional prizes. Please support the 2025 Free Tools Pledge Drive! Https://purplesorcerer.com/pledge
The Tools in Action
It's always a thrill to see the tools at a table where everyone is having a great time. A few years back I whipped together a quick slideshow of images posted in the previous month to the DCC Rocks Facebook group, showing off the tools in action!
(If anyone needs an image removed, just let me know!)
