I am playing with the idea of running a DCC game here. I am wondering though, how would you handle the funnel system and how do you not make it first come first served?
Someone, please?
I'm not sure what you mean by funnel system (sorry).
As for not making it first-come, first-served, generally you can post a recruitment thread and state how long you'll take applications. Then just read them over and pick which applications you like best.
The problem with DCC is that you are supposed to have all players start with an number of level 0 townsfolk and let the first dungeon sort them out. This is called the funnel.
Ah. I think I actually played this in RL. I ended up with a gloriously stupid mushroom farmer. Had an absolute blast, though we didn't even finish the first "dungeon."
I think my feeling would be I'd not have an open recruitment for this type of game but rather invite a few people I knew were good role-players.
DCC requires a particular kind of silly mindset, in my experience. I think I'd get people to post a sort of 'recruitment alias' including half a dozen level zero PCs (or however many you decide is right). In DCC you dont really need lots of room for stats/backgrounds etcetera, that can be fleshed out later once you've completed the funnel.
Then I'd run them through the funnel and, once they know who they're actual (ie surviving) PC is, get them to create a new alias with that PC's details.
I dont think you need to adopt a first-come-first-served approach necessarily. However, the criteria for selection is obviously not going to be based on the PC - since neither the player nor DM knows who the PC is going to be at the start of the game. Rather it would be based on frequency of posting, past history, lottery or whatever else you deemed suitable.
Alternatively, you could skip the funnel and get people to roll up 1st level PCs (with some stat generation system or other) but I think that takes an essential characteristic of DCC away. It's a feature of the system choosing whether you aim to keep your character with an 18 and two 4s or whether you go for the one with straight 14s - I think a DCC game without that would lose a lot of its charm.