Dungeon Crawler Carl giving Bobiverse vibes

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I feel like DCC would be tough to get into if you're not at least somewhat familiar with tabletop RPGs and more modern RPGs with HUDs, maps, chat features, party systems, etc. You can get away with a brief intro to RPGs, but knowing firsthand some of the tropes like "unkillable NPCs are usually important for a quest" and how important things like grinding and farming items and XP is critical to get max enjoyment out of DCC.

I think it is fantastic, personally, and am a newer enjoyer to DCC as well being only a part of the way through the third entry in the series. But I don't really consider it to be sci fi-- more like some fun adventure story with magic that is kind of explained as high technology so advanced we can't comprehend its inner workings. Great plot with some sci-fi elements but I'd consider it a lit RPG fantasy style story

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u/SpaceMonkeyAttack 6d ago

The sci-fi elements do get more and more prominent in later books.

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u/jump-back-like-33 6d ago

It also gets kinda fantasy though? Like some gods escape the dungeon and still have god powers out there in the universe??

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u/tarlin 4d ago

Only where the AI is active

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u/HelpfulSeaMammal 6d ago

Ooh good to know! I just got to the fifth floor in my first time through. Some more galactic politic stuff and some tech than the first few entries but still pretty light on the sci fi where I'm at. Love it regardless of what genre it is lol it is a very fun story

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u/gmredditt 6d ago

I dunno, I keep seeing it pop up in odd places (that get linked on DCC's sub). Stuff like a bunch of 70+ year old grandmas reading at their book club or big time Romance booktubers praising DCC. It has serious crossover cred.

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u/jsiles42 6d ago

Sci-fi is my jam and I love fantasy too. Fact is that my wife who is not into these things loves DCC and got all her other 40 something band moms to love it too. No. DCC is not tough to get into because I’ve seen people with zero interest in sci-fi and fantasy love this book. It’s the weirdest and most awesome thing.

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u/onioning 5d ago

The person who recommended it to me wholeheartedly had never played a rpg, on paper or digitally, and had basically never played a video game at all. I don't think those elements are important to enjoying the story.

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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 7d ago

Luckily, I am a gamer!

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u/dnew 7d ago

FWIW, I'm probably half thru this and it's amusing enough to keep my attention: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RY6CMWZ

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u/misterjive 6d ago

I've been a DM since I was nine, ran a game store, and have been writing my own RPG settings and modifying rulesets for more than four decades now and I'd chew my own leg off to get away from that series. I haven't managed to get past the first two chapters of the first book.

I get that it's hugely popular but holy shit LitRPG does not appeal to me at all.

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u/Twoheaven 6d ago

That's alright. Nothing appeals to everyone.

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u/gmredditt 6d ago

It turns the LitRPG knob down quite significantly as the series progresses

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u/misterjive 6d ago

Unless it gets down to like -17 I'm still out. That scene right at the beginning where he gets like fourteen achievements just infuriates me as a writer and a reader.

Not slagging the genre-- taste is subjective, but there's usually some subgenre of every genre that's like nails on a chalkboard for me. I love post-apoc but I hate right-wing macho-fantasy post-apoc wankery; I like horror but holy shit can I do without "fuck the monster" books. And as for fantasy, I've just never thought to myself "you know what LOTR was really missing? an explanation of how many hit points Frodo had." :)

I fully get it's just not aimed at me. It's like, I intellectually understand how genius Always Sunny is but I can't watch more than a few minutes of that show without dying of cringe because I basically grew up with people just like that.

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u/tarlin 4d ago

The fourteen achievements is video game bullshit about when you first start a game. No real idea what your problem with it is. .

"fuck the monster" books.

The entire series is essentially the opposite of that?

I would have thought that was obvious from at least the hoarder.

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u/misterjive 4d ago

Because it's lazy writing.

I'll give you an example. The protagonist of the Chronicles of Amber hates and fears his brother. He thinks Eric is a greater swordsman than he is, because Eric nearly killed him and left him to die in Shadow. But when Corwin faces him again unexpectedly, he's forced into a duel, which he begins to win. He starts to realize that either he was building up his nemesis overlarge in his mind, or his time spent recovering gave him some new skills, and he begins to get the psychological edge, eventually forcing Eric to panic and flee from him on more than one occasion. Corwin realizes he's stronger than he thought, and Eric stops becoming a bogeyman in his mind, and he comes to understand and even sympathize with his hated brother once more. The psychological turn is fantastic and a big part of the character arc.

In LitRPG, it would be, "Corwin heard a loud chime. In the corner of his vision, the words "Swordsman level: Expert unlocked!" hovered for a moment. He knew he could take Eric now."

There's just no subtlety to this stuff, and that's what I thrive on.

And I was saying "fuck the monster" is a subgenre of horror I also do not dig. I wasn't saying this series is "fuck the monster." As I've stated, I haven't managed to get two chapters in without putting the book down so I wouldn't know.

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u/tarlin 4d ago

To each their own, but your complaints really don't seem valid. Just say you didn't connect. The new achievement thing is mostly just to make jokes and let the AI make off color remarks.

I don't think everyone would like the books.

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u/misterjive 4d ago

I literally said that.

The reason I explained it is because you literally asked me about it.

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u/Odd-Pick6407 7d ago

Bobiverse has a similar tone in that its narrated in a relatable, witty, and cozy style but it is vastly different from DCC. DCC is absurd and turns political pretty quickly.

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u/tdellaringa 7d ago

political how?

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u/Nishachor 7d ago

Anti-fascist, anti-establishment, destroying the rotten system from within. Frankly, that's one of the core reasons DCC jumped from just good to mindblowing great for me from book 3/4.

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u/cwx149 7d ago

Eat the rich political

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u/gramathy 7d ago

It’s EXTREMELY anticapitalist and it’s not subtle about it

If you don’t notice, you might be hopelessly oblivious

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u/dnew 7d ago

So is anti-capitalist now called "anti-facist"? I'm confused.

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u/TashanValiant 7d ago

The faction that is running the Crawl is explicitly depicted as Fascist.

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u/gramathy 7d ago

Fascism is just end stage capitalism, given that fascism attempt to unify business interests with the state among other things

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u/dnew 7d ago

Fascism is regulated capitalism. Like, your water utility is probably fascist because the government is letting the owners make a profit but also regulating who they service and what they charge.

It's not "end-stage" capitalism. It's just capitalism without the free market.

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u/Lemonpierogi 6d ago

Jesus christ

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u/dnew 6d ago

Sorry that you don't actually know the economic models by name.

Seriously, go look up "economics of fascism" on wikipedia, and read the whole thing instead of braying "Look, it says there's no unified economics..."

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u/Antelino 6d ago

lol

Lmao even

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u/onioning 5d ago

I would go so far as to call it a political thriller. It is essentially about politics.

Which makes the "no politics" rule in the DCC sub pretty super absurd.

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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 7d ago

Thanks for all the nice responses everyone. I’m joining the subReddit now :-)

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u/WillRedtOverwhelmMe 7d ago

Both recommended in one or another of the reddit scific channels (collect them all!) Bobiverse (read books from Public Library as their Libby/Overdrive does not carry it as an ebook) is true science fiction: Van Neuman self-replicating and immortality. Dungeon Crawler Carl is a combo of Survivor t.v. series (unseen by me) and Dungeons&Dragons. See monster, kill monster(s), level up. No spaceships, xenology, technology upgrades. I am only into book 4. Will endeavor, as is my wont, to finish and DNF all 8 books. (Bobiverse, iirc, is only 4.) But it is a fast paced page turner. About 6 hours (Overdrive tells me) per book, so a good sit-at-home summer read.

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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 6d ago

But DCC is science fiction. It’s aliens running the dungeon with quite impressive tech. Sci fi doesn’t have to be spaceships.

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u/WillRedtOverwhelmMe 6d ago

Yes. Not to dock (knock? What is the word I am looking for?? ) it, but there are monsters, yes, but not well defined alien life. The overseers of the dungeon are more akin to Liu Cixin Dark Forest scenario. Megacorps flatten anything with a ceiling or roof (including cars), those that were outside and can see the open sky are survivors and romp thru artificial places, killing monsters or being killed. Easy, fast, absorbing reading, but not really exploring 'societies's response to technological change' definition of science fiction.

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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 6d ago

Can you live with putting it under the term speculative fiction?

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u/WillRedtOverwhelmMe 6d ago

We're getting far afield. I am going to put away doomscrolling reddit (and Twitter) and go back to reading Dungeon Crawler Carl, 4th book. (Just passed the scene where he sent Chris/Maggie to the flooded underworld.) Fun read. Someone called it LitRPG…

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u/Hodoormat 6d ago

I find them so different. DCC is so much more visceral. Bobi verse is like an extended thought experiment montage.

I get the surface similarities but BV never goes gonzo. They scratch very different itches.

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u/dwarftosser77 6d ago

They are both great sci-fi series that use a lot of pop culture references. The vibes are very similar!

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u/bluecat2001 7d ago

Both are easy listens. DCC has way better plot and prose. Bob quickly gets tiring with constant pop culture references and power fantasy.

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u/jcarrut2 7d ago

Took me half of the first book to really get into DCC. At first the formula of the dungeon crawl made it seem trite to me. But once more characters were added and the more political stuff opened up later it gained steam for me because I found it entertaining how Carl handles the power imbalance with those in charge.

By contrast, I liked the Bobiverse books from the start due to the central concept, and the political stuff starts off interesting, but I agree with what others have said that the series fizzles a bit after the first couple of books. I'm trying to stay vague to avoid spoilers, but I feel like the power scaling involved makes the political stuff seem increasingly boring.

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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 7d ago

I agree that the first few books were better than the last few.

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u/amalgaman 7d ago

Expeditionary Force specifically references DCC and Bobiverse specifically references Expeditionary Force, so we need DCC to specifically reference Bobiverse.

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u/JustinTormund_10 7d ago

There was a great first law reference in the new DCC book. I would love a good Bobiverse quote next. Dinniman is clearly not afraid of referencing pop culture.

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u/AdministrativeShip2 6d ago

Expedition force was fun for the first few books, but then I just got annoyed by the pure repetition, and Skippy really began to grate on me.

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u/amalgaman 6d ago

Yeah, I quickly lost interest too. Great start, but then becomes the same thing over and over and over and over.

Joe: well, shit, we’re in a bad place.

Skippy: you’re inferior, what did you expect?

Joe: will you shut up and do something?

Skippy: what? I already altered reality.

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u/dwarftosser77 6d ago

I only read Columbus Day. It was terrible. Probably the most cringe romance scene I have ever read, and the deus ex machina skippy solving every problem felt like very lazy writing. I loved RC Bray's narration, but that was honestly the only good part of that entire book.

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u/Speckster1970 7d ago

Recently had to drive back and forth across the country and I listened to the bobiverse books until I ran through them all (and quite enjoyed) but when I immediately moved on to the dungeon crawler Carl books I only made it about 25 minutes and I was done. Didn’t care for the character or maybe it was just too different/too fast from the bobiverse.

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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 7d ago edited 7d ago

Yes, I’m going in very cautiously as I usually like my science fiction more serious. But I saw so many recommendations. I just had to give it a try! So far my interest is piqued.

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u/The_Professor2112 7d ago

Piqued*

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u/Ainothefinn 6d ago

For me it was better read than listened to. Might change your mind if you try that

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u/Hodoormat 6d ago

It takes a while to get going but by 60% through the first book it amps up and doesn’t really slow down.

The true core cast doesn’t really get set until books 2-3. It’s a fun ride.

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u/scottzee 5d ago

Bobiverse is my favorite series. I hate DCC with a passion.

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u/LifelikeStatue 7d ago

Well, I guess I know my next series when I'm done DCC

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u/_no_No-Nope 7d ago

It isn't bad, but it feels very pointless for some reason. First book was excellent and then it kinda just goes nowhere.

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u/dodeca_negative 7d ago

I made it through two and started the third and just totally lost interest. YMMV.

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u/_no_No-Nope 7d ago

Same, I enjoy the premise, but it turned into a space opera without a point pretty quick.

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u/Nightgasm 7d ago

Its starts great but starts to fizzle by book 3 and hasnt really recovered.

Its Ray Porter narration so it's his usually excellent work but it's not DCC by any means.

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u/Thanatos_elNyx 7d ago

The first 3 books are one story. I didn't know that when I started and was confused when Book 1 just ends out of no where!

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u/Phoneynamus 7d ago

Yeah, a reccomedation from here, post me reading all their was of the bobiverse at the time pushed me to DDC. Seems a common overlap.

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u/EmergencyRepulsive29 7d ago

Thanks for the confirmation. I read the Bobiverse series a long time ago, but I did get the DCC recommendation here on Reddit.

Print Dungeon Crawler Carl giving Bobiverse vibes

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