Why You Should Try Castles & Crusades
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- Castels and Crusades is a role playing game that uses a unified D20 game mechanic but emulates 1st & 2nd edition D&D. I've been playing it for a while, and I'll tell you what I think.
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I started playing C&C shortly after D&D3e was released. I took one look at all the skills and was pretty sure as a DM, I wasn't interested in the addition book keeping that would be required. I was introducing new players to TTRPG and as my favourite edition was 1st ed AD&D. But those books weren't be produced anymore and there just weren't any availablke in the used market. I was also looking for rules that would use ascending AC, as I saw that as the one disconnect with which new players might have difficulty in a game where high rolls where better in all other areas. My old players weren't interested in 3e either and I can't remember how I came across C&C, but it was what we settled on.
Well, I've been playing it ever since and haven't looked back once. All the extra time not fiddling with skills, feats and other time sinks got translated into building my own world and a history to go with it. Now, I'm back to introducing more people, especially youngsters, to my favourite hobby. After only a handful of sessions, they have totally abandoned 5e and it's overly complex systems and overwhelming selection of options for C&C. I couldn't be happier.
Some caveats:
- those players who like to min/max their characters, likely won't enjoy the limited number of options. The Castle Keepers, as pointed out, has loads of ideas.
- your default mode should be to roleplay. If players are having difficulty figuring out what to do because they can't find it on their character sheet, I've been known to tell them to place their charsheets face down tell how they would roleplay situations and also combat. When they see how flexible we can both be, using the system to define our rolls, that seems to become a tipping point where they start to buy into C&C AND the concept of what roleplaying is vs. what a tactical board game is. They suddenl;y get very creative!
- as Castle Keeper/DM *your* creativity will be challenged too! The Siege Engine allows you tonnes of freedom for your adjudicating pleasure. You don't have to have in depth knowledge of all those feats, all those skills etc. Instead, make a reasonable judgement on how to make it happen and roll like a champ!. Players aren't afraid of hard challenges and you shouldn't be either.
Thanks for your video. C&C has been around for a long time and I don't think it gets nearly the attention it deserves! Cheers!
Thank you for such an insightful comment! I've only played C&C for 10-12 sessions, so I'm not expert, but I can see the advantages you're talking about with just that limited experience.
Always nice to see folks discover/ rediscover C&C. It's incredible how many hundreds of RPG rulesets have been developed over the decades.
It's a testament to the general love of RPG games out there. And C&C is a great example of the long standing support the folks at Troll Lord Games have given the hobby.
C&C is great because it gives the CK the latitude to make decisions on the fly, and trusts them enough to not try and constrain them with rules for everything. This shows in the skill checks, where unless it is spelled out in the class description it is up to the player to figure out a way forward, and the CK to adjudicate the results. Maybe in the oft mentioned river crossing scenario a wizard is trying to cross, but knows he doesn't have the strength to just power across, so he asks questions about the surroundings and tries to use his intelligence score as a means of solving the problem i.e. is there a spot where the current slows, or maybe enough driftwood for a raft, etc. It's not strength is the only was across, and the swims skill the only way to adjudicate the success....
Exactly! You let the players consider the situation, just as they would if they were there on the ground, then come up with a strategy that utilizes their capabilities.
I started with B/X in 1981 and then into AD&D. I never really played later editions, but when I discovered C&C in 2016, it quickly be came my favorite of the newer games and has pretty much stayed there. The main reason is that it requires the fewest house rules to run how I like it.
It does work very well RAW. In my online game they have some house rules,, but only a few.
thanks for the full review, KR. I hear you talking about it and it's good to get the details
It's only 12 minutes: tons of stuff (including another book!) that I left out. But I feel like if you think 1st/2nd/siege engine you get the drift.
The genius of this system is that the difficulty level is sort of pre-calculated, which removes some of the guesswork for the GM. In addition, you can use the environment to determine the Challenge Level. For example: in a level 1 dungeon, all locked doors are at CL 1. Same for traps, etc. And if you have absolutely no idea, roll a d6! 😃
More great tips. Thank you!
I am starting a C&C campaign soon. I really love the game for the old school "be creative and figure something out" rather than a skill for everything, with some even confusing to players in when they are used (Looking at you, 5e).
C&C is a great game made by a great group of people.
Thanks for a video that reminds me why I got excited about C&C when I first discovered it!!
So glad you enjoyed it! And you're right: the Troll Lord folks are very nice.
My three favorite editions of D&D are 2nd, the RC, and Castles & Crusades.
I've had great times on all three of those editions!
Hey i just found your channel and this was a great video! Good job man I've heard of castles and crusades but never had the chance to really learn it. It seems simple i might pick it someday.
Glad you found my channel! C&C is old school, so the classes don't have as many options, but it does move quickly!
Very nice review, easy listen for 12minutes.
Even with my old gaming group playing a mix match Wotc3e, when in doubt for CR.
Roll under corelated ability score.
As for setting mini campaign use of magic, that is something to debate or argue over.
Glad you enjoyed it. I was tempted to go very detailed in my analysis, as I did with the Rules Cyclopedia. But you still miss stuff or misspeak, and I felt like if I just gave an introductory view those interested could get the books and read for themselves.
The optional rules like sieges and economics may be useful for creating a world to play in between various places, but the math itself sounds a bit closer to a mental excel sheet than I would like. Still sounds worthy a skim through (again, I think I have skimmed C&C a few times in the past and bounced)
It's not as hard as other systems, and once you wrap your mind around it things move quickly. But you do have to think things through, especially in determining challenge levels.
This sounds awesome! I feel like I missed the initial greatness of the early additions. This could be a nice happy medium to out something similar. Do the books have the sweet black and white artwork of the D&D books or are they more modern?
It's more modern. My favorite art is in the Rules Cyclopedia.
the early printings have a lot of B&W art, the newer printings are full color. All the same mechanical workings, with minor changes to a few classes, encumbrance, etc.
@MitchellClements-kv3in Thanks for the info. I only have the 8th printing.
I bought castles and crusades. I was excited for it after reading the introduction. Then I looked at the classes and lost interest.
That's the thing about the older style systems: the PC stat blocks are either pretty simply or absurdly detailed.
If I see classes now I get depressed, why I decided to make "starting occupations" for those that want a quick build. After making an they're free to get any skills, or items they want, can become a mage tank, magic swords man, or beast master, with whatever skills the player thinks they should have.
@TeresaBlocker-zm7bj Is this for Castles and Crusades?
@@DDHomebrew no I made my own "system", but was mainly agreeing with going class-less.
@@TeresaBlocker-zm7bj Got it.