Latest Dungeon Crawler Carl Release Is A Complete Disaster: "Half-Baked And Incomplete"

Published Nov 11, 2026, 7:53 AM EST Nicholas Becher is a gaming journalist with an MFA in Creative Writing from FAU. With extensive experience playing video games, he covers all forms of gaming content at Screen Rant, from breaking news to the latest fan theories. Most-played games range from Clair Obscur to Civ to Elden Ring to Halo 2 and beyond. Dungeon Crawler Carl's stratospheric success hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows, and its latest major release has actually been a complete disaster so far. Fans are quickly learning that the once niche self-published LitRPG's growth into the mainstream comes with some major downsides, despite the books themselves being more popular than they've ever been ahead of the highly anticipated release of Book 9. While the community has already been a bit peeved off at the low-quality merchandise and cash-grab products from the franchise, such as Borant's official trading cards, there's a far more concerning issue with the franchise's official debut in the tabletop space. Namely, the Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG has apparently started arriving to players who supported the game's crowdfunding campaign, and it's safe to say reception has been lackluster at best. On top of shipments being delayed or hitting retailers ahead of backers, fans are starting to realize the game itself was not ready for launch, calling it "half-baked and incomplete" (via Reddit). The backlash is laid out in a lengthy Reddit post titled "Just stop defending Renegade," where user judoguy13 argues that the tabletop adaptation lacks some of the most fundamental rules needed to create original adventures. Apparently, the problem isn't simply a lack of additional content, but that numerous mechanics are referenced throughout the rulebook without being properly explained, leaving players and GMs to figure things out themselves. The original poster and other commenters highlight several glaring issues with the Dungeon Crawler Carl RPG, including: Missing charm mechanics: "There are NO SPELLS with the Charm keyword," despite numerous enemies having resistance to charm effects. Incomplete class spellcasting: "where is the list of my class spells? Oh, there aren't any," the OP writes, questioning how class-specific casting penalties are supposed to work. Lack of guild rules: "The word Guild is in the rulebook 61 times, YET NO RULES ON GUILDS," despite certain character classes receiving benefits involving guild training. Missing everyday mechanics: Another commenter points to "no rules on what gold is for or what sort of shops players can expect," alongside complaints about incomplete loot box, pet, and personal space systems. Beyond the missing mechanics, the community has also taken issue with the rulebook's organization. Despite running approximately 600 pages, critics argue that roughly half the book is dedicated to prewritten adventures, leaving insufficient space for essential gameplay systems. Enemy statistics are reportedly scattered throughout these adventures, while the index makes finding specific information unnecessarily difficult. This is particularly frustrating for fans who wanted to create their own versions of the World Dungeon instead of simply revisiting locations and encounters from Matt Dinniman's novels (a major draw for many backers to the crowdfunding campaign). Several commenters argue that too much attention was given to recreating Carl and Donut's adventures, with barely any support for building original characters, classes, and custom encounters. Ace Books Perhaps most concerning is that the game appears to be rushed through development. One commenter, Joe_Spazz, argues that the community would have gladly waited longer for a polished release. The original poster goes further, suggesting that another year of development and independent play-testing could have highlighted many of these problems before publication, but Renegade shipped without ensuring a quality gameplay experience to capitalize on the 2026 holiday season. It's worth noting that not everyone agrees that the game is a complete disappointment. Some players report enjoying their campaigns despite the missing rules, praising the setting and underlying mechanics. However, even some of these more positive responses acknowledge that game masters are being forced to improvise solutions. Meanwhile, Renegade has acknowledged frustration surrounding backers receiving their actual shipments and retail availability, and has apologized for its handling of fulfillment, although it maintains that deliveries remain within the original schedule, targeting the week of November 23. The RPG Rulebook and several other products are currently up for pre-order, though it's likely fans will be thinking twice about pre-ordering if they take into account backers' early feedback. For many disappointed backers, however, the bigger question is whether Renegade will address the rulebook itself. Some are already calling for revised rules and replacement copies, arguing that fans shouldn't be doing the work for the company, especially after raising over $13 million in the most-funded gaming campaign in BackerKit history. All told, it's a pretty upsetting situation given the love and enthusiasm for Matt Dinniman's Dungeon Crawler Carl universe, and it's unclear what the future holds for the RPG after such an underwhelming launch. Dungeon Crawler Carl Publisher(s) Penguin Random House Publication Date September 21, 2020 Number of Pages 444 ISBN# 979-8688591507