Troll Lord Games

Christina Stiles wrote:

Treebore wrote:I need to reread through your Spiros stuff. Bet there are things in there I'd like to see in C&C. I just haven't looked at it in so long I can't recall.

Also, any interest in planar material?

Yes please. With demons, devils, and stuff like that.

R-

Rigon wrote:

Christina Stiles wrote:

Treebore wrote:I need to reread through your Spiros stuff. Bet there are things in there I'd like to see in C&C. I just haven't looked at it in so long I can't recall.

Also, any interest in planar material?

Yes please. With demons, devils, and stuff like that.

R-

Sorry, didn't realize the Trolls had gotten around to getting to the planar baddies. But any planar material is good.

R-

I would like to see expansions and supplements to the rules. New spells, races, classes and monsters are good as are new treasures and magic items. I also like drop-in type settings like how Yggsburgh, the original Haunted Highlands and Points of Light were handled. I typically do not buy adventures as I would rather have building blocks for my campaign instead of adventures.

Perhaps a stupid question...yesterday I discovered the Crusaders Companion, which obviously has additional and new stuff for C&C in it. How "official" is this and if not "official" could a it be added to a project to make all or some of it "official"?

As far as I know it is not official. However, it remains one of the best examples of a fan production that C&C has. I have used some of the material in my games and keep it as a reference if I need an idea. I have kicked around having it personally printed out for myself but would love to see this in some form of print.

[Edit to add] The Crusader's Companion also illustrates what I want as far as system support goes in any game. Things that you can cherry-pick to add in as you see fit and not be considered essential or needed for the core game.

My experience is very similar to what some of the others posted. I got tired of 3.5, and 4e looked awful (to me), so I turned away from D&D in general. I had bought the C&C PHB in, probably, '06 and gave it a second look. I honestly hadn't looked at it when I bought it. What I found what spectacular. It reminded me of the old stuff, the stuff I started playing - BECMI, 1e, then 2nd Edition AD&D.

Julian Grimm wrote:It is more of a missing of the early days of the game when a lot more seemed to be going on. I look at the explosion of material from the OSR and sometimes wonder why the C&C community has not followed suit?

See, I think I missed this. There was a lot of activity, or so it seemed to me, but I think a lot of the "golden" era of fan-made ideas was passed. Not that it's not great now, and hasn't been since my arrival in C&C-land...it has been. I just think I missed the "flurry" of amazing ideas and the steady stream that comes now, while wonderful, just isn't quite the same. The wonder and excitement of new and exciting offerings, whether they be official or not is not new...just expected.

That last comment sounds bad, but I don't mean it to be. When I got into D&D, every trip to a Waldenbooks, B. Daltons, or the local shops in Central Florida (Coliseum of Comics, Enterprise 1701, Starbase K-7, and a host of others) was a flood of that "new and exciting" stuff that I think is relative (even if just a little) to the topic at hand. Sure it wasn't creative ideas posted on various forums or sites on the net. But it was ideas by publishers, put out for the game I loved. Even if it wasn't "new" - TSR products I had never laid eyes on, or the myriad of products of 3rd party suppliers (like Mayfair Games, for one) were a wonder to behold. But as I "caught up" to the new releases and started seeing most the of game's back catalog, I started losing that wonder. That's the closest thing I can relate to when comparing it to C&C, and the brief period of wonder I had with it. Earlier I had typed that C&C "reminded me of the old stuff" and that's what I had meant. I don't even know if I can call it a nostalgia period. But it was close, if it wasn't. I've got all the product released for C&C, almost ll the pdfs and fan offerings that were released over the years, so now the stuff that comes out seems but a trickle.

I may have never felt the nostalgia of "how it used to be" with C&C versus "how it is now." I'm going to sound like a crotchety old b@stard (though I don't think I'm that old...or crotchety! ) but I think the internet has a lot to do with it. It does for me, I can that that much. I know the releases long before they're out. Usually, pretty in-depth information, too, about a product. The OSR, while I love, is sixty-seven (that's a made up number) ways to do the same thing...more or less. I think the over-exposure and the in-depth previews and reviews and talk about products take a bit away from the actual product. Again, for me. Now for JG, he seems to be missing the creative soup that used to be around here and the ideas that were tossed around during those times. I don't know, maybe I'm missing the mark of that JG is talking about. But, at the very least, this thread has stirred these thoughts in me. In the end, I think there has been - was - an explosion of releases for C&C, fan made and otherwise. As far as the OSR goes, when there's a plethora of variations, which means a quite a few games under the "OSR umbrella" it's definitely a loud and noticeable explosion. C&C is one game, and it's explosion isn't (wasn't?) as loud, in comparison. But it was profound.

Lord Dynel wrote: The OSR, while I love, is sixty-seven (that's a made up number) ways to do the same thing...more or less. I think the over-exposure and the in-depth previews and reviews and talk about products take a bit away from the actual product. Again, for me. Now for JG, he seems to be missing the creative soup that used to be around here and the ideas that were tossed around during those times. I don't know, maybe I'm missing the mark of that JG is talking about. But, at the very least, this thread has stirred these thoughts in me. In the end, I think there has been - was - an explosion of releases for C&C, fan made and otherwise. As far as the OSR goes, when there's a plethora of variations, which means a quite a few games under the "OSR umbrella" it's definitely a loud and noticeable explosion. C&C is one game, and it's explosion isn't (wasn't?) as loud, in comparison. But it was profound.

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head. I miss the 'soup' of creativity and ideas we bounced off of each other. It seemed that this kept us well energized and kept the creative loop going. I would love to see us return to the activity we once had and expand not only C&C but the community. If you look at the list I have been keeping (here) you can see what there was in the early days of the game. The sad thing is that there were many more C&C based sites that are now long gone that had a wondrous amount of material that is now lost to the ether. While it is usual that fan-creators will move on to new systems there has not been a replacement of those that have moved on and it is concerning to me.

Now, I will admit that I have been struggling creatively. I have let myself get distracted more times than not and taken up ideas and not seen them through ( I explain that here.); I have decided that this has to change and am working toward that. I also feel that if I am having this problem others may be too and we could help each other move from being frustrated spectators to active creators.

Again, this may all be a nostalgia thing and this thread is my way of dealing with it. If it is, then it will pass on. However, the more we have talked the more I have felt something needs to be done and the only thing I can do now is to get writing.

JG, I get where your coming from. When I first joined the Crusade back in '05 or so, there was this rush of creativity going on and it was great. But as time wore on, especially for me, I added all they things I wanted to my game, so the creativity slowed down. Now, I'm like you, I have projects that I've started and never finished or I have ideas crawling around my head that I never get down on paper. I just don't seem to have the time or energy that I would like to devote to writing.

R-

I think my creativity for C&C is all done. I have C&C right where I want it, doing what I want it to do. Sure, I run into small problems like lousy spell descriptions, but my real creativity goes into prepping things like my upcoming Traveller game, or the C&C scenario I ran last week at a Con, and despite being a very simple scenario, I got ovations from the players because it was still great fun. Then there is the painting I need to do on my Reaper Bones, planning out what other things I am going to use at the next convention, or putting together maps I need for my online game. Simply put, I don't have any room for more C&C creativity, I am using it all up in other RPG's and ways.

So maybe the real issue is more about creative juices being consumed by other projects?

Treebore wrote:
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So maybe the real issue is more about creative juices being consumed by other projects?

Or in my case, time ... I want to game, I want to put my ideas for my home brew, I want to be creative, but real life gets into the way. Wood to cut split & stack, heater to rewire, soccer games to go to, classes to teach etc etc etc.

Back in the day when I was active, I was single/recently married, had free time (outside of deployments etc, & even then lots of time to set think & type as I wasn't going on missions, but doing HQ deployment work), and even when I had my first daughter she was a bump of flesh and didn't have school/soccer/church things to do. With that I could be active and creative ...