Troll Lord Games

Hi there, guys. Zacharythefirst here, and this is my first foray onto the TLG boards. I've been buying the Gygaxian Fantasy books for a while now (I'm a compulsive worldbuilder!), but since I returned from my overseas stint with the USAF in places like Korea, Spain, and the Sandbox, I've been kicking around starting up a new campaign here in Indy (I'm running a Rifts campaign right now, which is a blast, but I wanted to try something rules-light fantasy, too), and have been wanting to try a newer, rules-light system for whatI had in mind.

So as I asked around a few message boards like TheRPGSite and RPGNet, I mentioned this is what I was looking for in a new system:

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1) Quick resolution. I love my Rolemaster, but don't want any charts for this puppy.

2) Allow for customized, detailed characters.

3) Fairly simple character generation, but detailed enough that characters can pick from a skills list and classes/professions to help speed things along.

4) Be fairly easy to handle ballpark conversions from d20 to this system.

Aside from this, I also wanted something that was an extremely low buy-in, times being a little tough right now. And on all these points (except perhaps the skills part of #3), Castles & Crusades was recommended more than any other game.

I used to run the (now-on-extended hiatus) RPG Blog, and have been around a lot of systems, but C&C is one game I never got around to trying. I've checked out the previews, I like what I see, and I plan on hanging around, learning a bit more as I can. I've heard you guys have a great, active, web community, so I'm looking forward to hanging out and making sure C&C is the right pick for this cash-strapped gamer.
Thanks for those of you who actually read through all that, and I'll see you on the boards!

-Zachary

Welcome to the madhouse. ^_^

And we can help with #3 too if you go to the downloads section on the main TLG site and check out Gary Gygax's Background skill system for his Yggsburgh setting.

More class customization methods will be offered in the Castle Keepers Guide when that comes out as well. ^_^
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"We'll go out through the kitchen!" Tanis Half-Elven

Peter Bradley

Hey, I will definitely check that out.

That's the other thing I like from what I've heard of C&C--the games doesn't break under houseruling--I've been told it's built for it.

Indeed it is! A detailed examination of the threads on the board will show you how much ... or little the game has been modified from one gaming group to the next.

Welcome to the Crusade!

Moriarty the Red
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"You face Death itself in the form of... 1d4 Tarrasques!"

Partner to Brave Halfling Publishing
http://www.arcanacreations.com

Hey ZTF, welcome to the Crusade. We'll try to answer any questions you may have.

R-
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Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

of your list the only thing you won't find in C&C is a skill system, the siege engine handles those well but there is no such thing as skills or nonweapon proficiencies, there is what you think is tied to a class and what is not.

Aside from the thing being dealt with more generic bases, aka level and class, it is fairly easy to plug and play a skill system, the D20 one could be perfectly fine, just take it, give each class a list and a number per level and go for it. The best part? You will not be using one table for each of them, like you do on D20, but use the Siege engine instead.

Everything else is core features of the C&C game.
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"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." - Attributed to Herman Melville.

Thanks to all for the kind welcomes! I'm interested to read a lot of the house rule threads, to see what folks are doing differently with C&C. Now just as soon as I can manage to get the wife to part with the checkbook...

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I used to run the (now-on-extended hiatus) RPG Blog

I used to visit your blog quite often, it was a good read!

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1) Quick resolution. I love my Rolemaster, but don't want any charts for this puppy.

I hardly need to use the books during play except for consulting spell descriptions.

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2) Allow for customized, detailed characters.

Detailed yes but not as customizable as 3E D&D characters.

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3) Fairly simple character generation, but detailed enough that characters can pick from a skills list and classes/professions to help speed things along.

Character generation is fast and simple but a skills list is not necessary due to the game's great SIEGE engine.

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4) Be fairly easy to handle ballpark conversions from d20 to this system.

Products of all editions of D&D can be converted to C&C pretty easily but there are a few exceptions.

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I also wanted something that was an extremely low buy-in

With C&C, you get a complete fantasy RPG contained in two $20 books.

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That's the other thing I like from what I've heard of C&C--the games doesn't break under houseruling--I've been told it's built for it.

I can confirm that...
I join the others in welcoming you to the Crusade!
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"Abandon the search for Truth; settle for a good fantasy." author unknown
My C&C Page
My House Rules v8

zacharythefirst wrote:
Hey, I will definitely check that out.

That's the other thing I like from what I've heard of C&C--the games doesn't break under houseruling--I've been told it's built for it.

Indeed it is. You can add any number of subsystems to your heart's desire. While technically C&C's SIEGE engine is built to where you don't need a skill system, you can add one easily with minimal adjustment. You could add non-weapon proficiencies, Castle Zagyg's skill system, or 3e's skills and feats without too much trouble.

To me, C&C's adaptive design is one of its greatest selling points. You can make the game yours, and not worry about rules lawyers.

And it's definitely easy on the wallet. You can get the C&C PHB for $20.
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Trampas Whiteman
---DragonHelm--->
Dragonlance Nexus

So, here's the big question--for a guy who usually runs pretty extensive campaigns, how vital is Monsters & Treasures? I notice there's a M&T preview which is nice, but over a longer period of time, is this definitely something I'd want? I'm all about being easy on the GM (as long as it's me!).

The M&T is a much simpler monster book than you are used to, the monster entries on it are short on mechanics and larger on description and abilities. If you have any other D&D Monster book you can use that and convert things as you go (and use the creatures) there is not even a need to write down what you convert, it calls for your thoughts at the time.

But overall in C&C the attack roll for all creatures is given by its HD, then it has prime categories, some are mental, others physical, others are both and some have none. That is about the core of the monsters in C&C, making one is fast, simple and easy enough.

And the Xp entry for each monster is given with a base xp and a plus for each hp the creature has, so a 3 hp gnoll is not anywhere the same as a 35 hp gnoll.

I bought the PHB first and felt no real need for M&T but I ended up purchasing it, the system is made of both books and I wanted to see the whole thing. AD&D 2nd edition monsters are almost plug and play, reverse Thac0 and AC and you are done.

And let me add I too read your RPGBlog now and then, a job well done. As for house rules, Metathiax there is king among all, he runs a heavily modified C&C system, but since he uses the core (the SIEGE engine), it is still the same.
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"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." - Attributed to Herman Melville.

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So, here's the big question--for a guy who usually runs pretty extensive campaigns, how vital is Monsters & Treasures? I notice there's a M&T preview which is nice, but over a longer period of time, is this definitely something I'd want? I'm all about being easy on the GM (as long as it's me!).

Vital? Not very, if you have plenty of D&D pre-3.0 monster book (pre-AD&D 2e, even better). As Nifelhein said, very plug & play. On the other hand, I consider M&T indispensible. Besides that it uses the same rules as the PHB, and requires zero conversion (as opposed to "near-zero"), it helps me keep "in theme." It's also a good book in its own right, and would be a great addition to even a well stocked library.

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1) Quick resolution. I love my Rolemaster, but don't want any charts for this puppy.

This you'll find in spades. If you're going to house rule stuff (and you may, but don't have to), make sure you don't lose this. As it seems to be your priority, I know that some house rules proposed here will slow things down. Just something to keep in mind.

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2) Allow for customized, detailed characters.

Actually, C&C is weak in this department, if by "customized" you mean from a rules point-of-view. For instance, from a pure rules perspective, the only difference between RAW Fighters is their choice of Primes (other than Strength) and their choice of specialized weapon. Both those choices are made at first level, and from there on out "all fighters are the same."

But on the other hand, the rules are so lightweight and unrestrictive that you can really, really customize your character from a roleplaying point of view. There's nothing in the rules which prevents you from playing that Fighter however you want, and the choice in Primes really allows for customizing a "character concept" and then roleplaying the heck out of it. Many PC's might be tempted to Prime ST and either DX or CN (or both, if human), and playing it all hack & slash, but you really don't have to. Take IN prime and use tactics and strategy to defeat more numerous foes. Take CH prime and attract lots of followers. Really play to that DX prime if you take it, and swing from chandeliers and fight while balancing on a tightrope.

I've found that D&D 3.x allows for customization at the rules level, but this straight-jackets you at the roleplaying level. C&C doesn't get in your way like that.

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3) Fairly simple character generation, but detailed enough that characters can pick from a skills list and classes/professions to help speed things along.

CharGen is very simple. As others have mentioned, check out the Options & Skills rule supplement from the Troll's site. It's very qood. You can also tack on skill systems from other D&D editions or non-D&D games, but I strongly advice you re-read my response to #2 above and get some playtest under your belt before doing so.

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4) Be fairly easy to handle ballpark conversions from d20 to this system.

Hmm. Honestly not sure about this one. Actual "conversion" I think might be hard. On the other hand, CharGen is so fast and simple that it's probably easy to take a "monster and/or character concept" and stat it up quickly. If you're looking for inspiration from your d20 products, I think you'll be very satisfied. If you're looking for a strict & straight conversion that works every time (or even more than 1/2 the time), you could be disappointed.

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All told I'm not sure C&C is what you think you're looking for. On the other hand, it may be the game you've always wanted but didn't realize, and I know for darn sure it's the most fun I've had as a PC or DM in many years.

Welcome to the Crusade, and good luck.
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Check out my Iron C&C House Rules: The Tombs of Akrasia

The only reason I would think the M&T is in any way vital is to see how they adapted 3E magic items, such as the vorpal and sharpness weapons, wounding, and dragonslayer and such.

If you have not bought into 3E much or at all then you can easily use the 1E and 2E monsters and magic items and spells. I pretty much use it all interchangeably.

Like the differences between each editions spells, unless very different in power, I present as different effects due to different appraoches in researching them, etc....

I'll post my full house rules. My house rules have one primary goal, to have happy players. So I make a couple of major assumptions about players. One big one is that most players HATE playing PC's with lousy stats. The second big one is that players hate their PC's dying. So those are my two biggest considerations when I develop my house rules. So keep that in mind when you read them and ask yourself, "Why the heck did he do that?"

I am still looking at adding more house rules, but mostly in just tweaking classes to be more likeable by players. Like recently I have been trading posts with several other board members about modifying the fighter class, as an example.

Anyways, here are my house rules. The non-mechanic related rules, such as stat increasing and God Calls, are rules I have been using for over 10 years.

"Basics:

Character Generation.

Stats:

Generate as you desire. Stats do not have a HUGE impact in C&C, so if you want to cheat and give yourself straight 18's, go ahead.

My prefered method is still generous. IT is roll 4d6 for each attribute. Re-roll all 1's and 2's until you see none. Add up the 3 highest numbers. Arrange stats as desired for the class you wish to play. Then add and subtract racial modifiers, if any.

Now would probably be aq good time for me to let you know that I have down times in my campaigns. I will have years pass in the campaign where you do nothing but live normally. During this time, you can use my house rule for increasing stats through exercise or study.

Here is how it works, numbers are kind of arbitrary, so deal with it or don't use this rule.

You will have to declare you are dedicating one whole month, 8 hours a day, 6 days a week (one day of rest is allowed), to attempt increasing a specific ability score. Say Strength will be our example. You will spend a whole month sweating and lifting weights. At the end of the month you get to roll. The TN is the score you are trying to achieve. Which can only be one point higher than the score you currently have. Say it is a 15 that you have. This means you are going for a 16 and that is your target number (TN). So you roll. You fail. So your out 200 GP (100 GP for each "+" of the attribute you are trying to achieve, 50 GP when there is no bonus, or it is a "-") and have not achieved an increase.

Now if you quit, we are done until the next time, or if you switch to try another stat. Now, if you work on the same stat for continuous months at a time, you get to add a +1 to your next roll for each consecutive month, after the first, you work towards improving that specific stat.

So if you continue with strength for the next month you get a +1 to your next roll. So now it is roll 1d20+1 to try for that 16. If it takes you 5 months of effort you will have a +4 on the roll.

So far the longest a player has ever taken to get a increase to 16 has been 10 months (10 rolls), then when they finally made it they rolled a 19, with no need for any of the accumulated modifiers.

Game Play:

Something I call "Feat like Actions".

In reality this is when you want to attempt something the base rules don't cover. Such as many feats seen in the 3E D&D rules set.

Typically you declare you want to attempt to perform an "extra" kind of action. Such as attempt an extra normal attack, or your opponent goes down and you want to try and attack the target to your left the same round (called a Cleave in 3E). Then I tell you the TN, which is typically TN 12+ the HD of the creature against whom you are attacking. You roll the d20 and try to beat the TN, adjusting with your class level only. No magic bonuses or stat bonuses help you. Pure class level only.

If you succeed, you get to make an extra attack roll, if you fail your turn is over.

Sometimes you might convince me to allow you more than one such roll in a given round. Give me good reasoning that I can agree with, and I am likely to say yes.

Typicaly, if you pull off an extra attack roll, and that attack takes down your opponent I will likely let you attempt the cleave like action against the next enemy, if its HD are the same as or lower than the opponent you just defeated.

Remember, you roll to see if you can even make the attempt. If that roll succeeds, then you get to roll again to see if you actually pull it off.

Yes, I intentionally make it require so much extra rolling. This is to discourage players from using it ALL the time. I want to see it used in tough fights. Fights where you need that something "extra" to go your way to win the day. If your worried about you and the party surviving the fight, start requesting such rolls.

If the fight seems to be going your way, don't request the rolls, it slows things down for no good reason other than "just because".

Skills:

If it makes sense for your character to have such a skill, and you write up a character background giving details as to why they have it, then your character has the skill.

Perhaps the best way for you to know what skills you have is to use the 3E skills lists. Look at the class that most closely matches your characters class (very easy in most cases). Whatever is listed for that class you have as a skill. The only limits I care about is in Knowledge, Craft, and Profession. You can have a skill in each of these categories. Just one. You can have an additional skill in each of these categories for each bonus you have to your INT.

It only works this way at character creation. In play you can spend down time learning skills instead of increasing stats, with very similiar rules.

Called Shots:

I do not like to use called shots. So I won't. Unless you do. Then it will become a free for all. It is likely your PC will end up dead.

Luck points:

I give you luck points to use to achieve a given goal. Say your currently heading to clear out a steading of hill giants. Your pool of luck points is refreshed for working towards this goal. So any time you use a luck point until you successfully clear out and achieve the goal, your luck points do not refresh.

How many luck points do you have? 1+ your Character level.

What can you use them for? To re-roll any roll you make for YOUR character. One time per roll, only. IF, you fail a save versus a spell that kills you, you can permanently burn a luck point to not die. Some fluke of luck puts you at deaths door instead. You can do the same when an attack does enough to kill you. Burn a luck point to reduce the damage by enough to put you at deaths door instead.

Otherwise you die, and if your party lives reincarnation or being raised from the dead may allow you to live once again.

Going negative HP:

I do not do the -10 HP thing, unless your CON SUCKS!! If your CON is higher than 10, that is how negative you can go without dying. If you have a CON modifier, you add that to your CON score. So, for example, if you have an 18 CON (+3 modifier), you can go -21 without dying (18+3). If your CON is lower than 10, then I'm nice and 10 is your default, minus your negative CON modifier only. So if your Con is 8, you subtract the (-1) from 10, so you are at deaths door at -9, rather than (-7).

If CON is your Prime, you automatically stabilize and stop losing HP when you go negative.

Diplomacy, bartering, negotiating, intimidating, etc... You will have to roleplay, not just roll. I will still make a roll, but I will adjust the TN by how good (or bad) your role play is. If your new to playing RPG's I will cut you some slack. Plus if you are new and impress me I'll give you an even better modifier.

Classes not in the PH.

Right now I only have one character class that is not in the PH in my game. That is the Runemark, which is kind of a wizard, but does have significant differences.

If there is something you would like to play that isn't do able with the classes, let me know. There may be something in the the C&C Net Book of Classes that I will allow, or we can discuss writing up a tailored class.

Druids: I allow an alternative for your totem shape in C&C. Elementals. You chose one elemental type at 6th, then you can chose the others at 8th, 10th, and 12th. Your level is equal to HD in the M&T. So when you are 7th to 15th you get the damage, etc... of the elemental in the M&T. For all intents and purposes you are the elemental. Duration is 10 minutes per level. For normal animal totems as well as elemental versions. If you take the elemental route you can choose only elemental forms. If you go the animal totem route, you can only chose animals.

Items worn are absorbed into your body, if you have one, such as earth elemental or an animal form. If your form does not have a solid body (air, fire , water), or is too small to contain the items easily, they fall to the ground when you change shape. Things such as rings and necklaces/amulets will stay on your new form and function, if it has a body. Air, Fire, and water elementals do NOT have solid bodies, so ALL items will fall to the ground.

Polymorphing, self or other. When you memorize the spell, you memorize it for one living shape only.The shape is decided upon at the time it is memorized, not cast.However, the magic of the spell also has all worn items "absorbed" into the new form, somehow. If I deem it is sensible that a ring, amulet, and even boots if you take a bi-pedal form, should still work for you, then I will allow them to continue working. Even armor, if your polymorphing into an orc, to infiltrate an orc tribe or encampment. Because of this "limitation" I am putting on this spell, it is now a level lower than what is in the books. If you want a spell that works like as written in the books, you must research it, in game, and it will be one level higher than it is in the books.

Spell Resistance: When you roll to overcome SR you get to add your INT bonus, or WIS bonus, dependent on if you are a arcane or divine caster. The nature of the SR itself does not matter, just the "school" of casting you belong to. Unless I write up a monster that it does matter for.

Also, as a general rule, that supercedes what is in the books, when it actually conflicts, SR will NOT work against spells that summon something into being. For examples, Web, Wall of Force, Wall of Stone, Wall of Air, Blade Barrier, Monsters, etc... It will work against spells made of Illusion, Fireballs, lighting bolts, all mind effecting spells, etc...

God Calls.

Gods are real in my games. They may even have a vested interest in your character, for reasons you may or (probably) may not know about.

So to "reflect" this, I allow God Calls. These are the last ditch, "Please, my deity, save my butt!" pleas for your god to save you. They might actually do it in my games. IT is represented by a percentile roll. You have a 1% chance per level of your plea being answered. If you are a divine type of class (typically Clerics, Druids, and Paladins) you have an additional 5% bonus to this chance.

Now if you role play a character well, as being very devoted to your deity, then I may give you a bonus to your next god call for such things, for specific things you do to show this devotion.

The most common has been to donate a lot of gold to your church. Donating 10% of your wealth is kind of the expected standard. So that will get you nothing. However, if you donate 20%, that exceeds 5,000 GP at any one time, I will give you a 1% bonus. The more you donate, the more bonuses I will give you.

You can also do things like start and fund a hospice in your deities name, or build and see to the maintenance of a shrine in a new area likely to attract new worshippers, or to provide a place of worship for worshippers that already live in that area. These will get you even better bonuses.

However, once you attempt a God Call, successfully or not, your chance goes back to your base chance.

You may make a god call any time you like, for any reason. however, the only times I will roll is when your characters life is on the line.

Even though you may play very devoutly, donated a lot of money, built several shrines and hospices, etc... Your deity may slap a Geas on you in exchange for answering your plea. Especially if it involved saving party members that don't worship your deity.

A good way to know what to expect with a God Call, is to think of it as a Wish being granted. One specifically aimed at saving you and your friends.

Alterations to existing classes:

So far I have changed the Ranger and Paladin, plus the Druid as I covered earlier.

Paladin: At 9th level the Paladin receives the ability to Smite Evil, once per day. In my game you can choose to keep it that way, getting an additional use per day every 2 levels thereafter. Or, you can choose to select a specific group or race known to be evil, and get your CHA bonus to hit them, and a +1 to Damage for every level of Paladin. Which would start at +9 to Damage. You get this every time you know you are fighting a enemy belonging to the group or race you chose. Notice I said you must KNOW that they are your chosen enemy.

You will be able to select and additional "enemy" for this power every 2 levels from now on as well.

Ranger:

You get to choose an additional "Favored Enemy" every 3 levels after 6th. So at 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th level you can select another humanoid or Giant Race as a "Favored Enemy". Maybe even something else, if the campaigns story line justifies it, and I agree that it makes sense.

Humanoids:

I define "humanoids" as any race of creature that was not classified as "demi-human" in 2E. Meaning elves, humans, dwarves, halflings, gomes, etc.. are not humanoids for purposes of the Rangers class abilities. UNLESS, they are a member of some group that is an enemy of the Rangers civilization, such as the forces of Unklar in my Erde campaign world would qualify.

I am also considering additional house rules on Monks, Fighters, and Barbarians. I may also alter spell lists, particularly for the Druid and Illusionist. I am also thinking of improving the BtH of the Thief and Assassin.

Assassin, a Assassin can make a "Feat Like Action" roll to make their first attack versus an opponent a "Death Attack", without 3 rounds of study. Plus it must still be a surprise/unexpected attack. "

In my current game I have increased the BtH of the Thief, but I haven't used it as a house rule yet, because I am waiting to see how the BtH effects the play of the Thief until the campaign ends. Plus the Thief has it as a unique ability right now. So it is character specific. It is helping me to decide how I want to have it as a permanent house rule, though.

Actually this sounds excellent. I don't want the rules to define and straightjacket my gaming, but I don't want some totally loosey-goosey freeform business.

I've got my Rifts campaign tomorrow night, and I'm going to show them the PHB demo to see what they think. Any other handouts/downloads you think they'd get a kick out of?

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how vital is Monsters & Treasures?

It might not be vital if you own similar books of the various editions of D&D but, as far as I'm concerned, I certainly wouldn't consider running a C&C campaign without M&T. 8)

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As for house rules, Metathiax there is king among all, he runs a heavily modified C&C system, but since he uses the core (the SIEGE engine), it is still the same.

Thanks for mentioning my stuff but my house rules are dwarfed by csperkin's work which is almost a new game in itself. He's just more discreet about it...
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"Abandon the search for Truth; settle for a good fantasy." author unknown
My C&C Page
My House Rules v8

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Actually this sounds excellent. I don't want the rules to define and straightjacket my gaming, but I don't want some totally loosey-goosey freeform business.

I think C&C fits the bill perfectly. 8)

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I've got my Rifts campaign tomorrow night

I know it's kind of off-topic but how do you keep your Rifts campaign from spiralling out of control? I've played this game in my youth and my campaigns always ended up being a mess. Talk about balance issues... I liked the setting though.
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"Abandon the search for Truth; settle for a good fantasy." author unknown
My C&C Page
My House Rules v8

The Foreword from the PHB sold the book for me, completely. Oh and I know perkins work, but then he gave it a new name, but it is true, he also uses the same core.

Thre is no limit to how many variations on C&C we see around.

8)
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"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." - Attributed to Herman Melville.

RIFTS had to be balanced by you, the GM. You had to tweak classes a bit, and only let classes/races of close to the same power level adventure together. I don't remember what else I did.

Metathiax wrote:
I know it's kind of off-topic but how do you keep your Rifts campaign from spiralling out of control? I've played this game in my youth and my campaigns always ended up being a mess. Talk about balance issues... I liked the setting though.

Treebore wrote:
RIFTS had to be balanced by you, the GM. You had to tweak classes a bit, and only let classes/races of close to the same power level adventure together. I don't remember what else I did.

Wow, sounds like 3e D&D!

zacharythefirst wrote:
Actually this sounds excellent. I don't want the rules to define and straightjacket my gaming, but I don't want some totally loosey-goosey freeform business.

And I want chocolate cake with zero calories; but as in most things, you have to decide for yourself how to balance the tradeoffs.
I'm glad you think this amount of rules is "just right" for you. It sure is for me. Let us know how your sessions go, and stick around!
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Check out my Iron C&C House Rules: The Tombs of Akrasia

Metathiax wrote:
I know it's kind of off-topic but how do you keep your Rifts campaign from spiralling out of control? I've played this game in my youth and my campaigns always ended up being a mess. Talk about balance issues... I liked the setting though.

Without completely derailing the thread, my personal style is to a) give players the moon, but make them shoot for the stars (there's always someone with a bigger, badder mech or gun or spell out there), and b) just be a GM and make sure every player gets his face time. That 30-foot robot can't go everywhere a human can, and my wussy human rogue scholar can get into Coalition territory just fine--your tweaked out Troll Necromancer, on the other hand, will have some issues. I believe in a GM, not a system, controlling the game. Everyone has their role and niche--the GM just has to control without railroading and help them play into that.

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I believe in a GM, not a system, controlling the game.

We have a winner! Welcome to the Crusades! This system was written with you, you specifically, in mind.
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Check out my Iron C&C House Rules: The Tombs of Akrasia

Well, reading through these threads and a few more reviews convinced me--I placed the order for C&C with my FLGS today! Really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy! Thanks to everyone for their repsonses!

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I believe in a GM, not a system, controlling the game.

We have a winner! Welcome to the Crusades! This system was written with you, you specifically, in mind

I can't agree more!
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"And so I am become a knight of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows!" - Mark Twain

Forgive all spelling errors.

Knight Errant & Humble C&C Society Contributor
C&C Society

Treebore wrote:
RIFTS had to be balanced by you, the GM. You had to tweak classes a bit, and only let classes/races of close to the same power level adventure together. I don't remember what else I did.

Agreed. When starting a RIFTS campaign, the best move you can make is to describe to the players the basic premise of your campaign, and then let them know what is not possible. For example, if your were to run a coalition, squad based campaign, most likely you wouldn't have crazy-ass RCCs running around in the squad.

Lots of GM oversight is needed in a RIFTS campaign. One way to do this is simply NOT use all of the books in the setting. Why in the hell would Oni Assassins from RIFTS JAPAN be in RIFTS CANADA anyways?

I've run 2 RIFTS campaigns that both lasted over a year's worth of weekly play. These are some tips to keep your RIFTS games successful.

Sorry about the divergence from C&C talk. I don;t often get to rample about RIFTS. Excuse me.

....................................................Omote

FPQ
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> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

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"We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." - Attributed to Herman Melville.

zacharythefirst wrote:
Well, reading through these threads and a few more reviews convinced me--I placed the order for C&C with my FLGS today! Really looking forward to getting my hands on a copy! Thanks to everyone for their repsonses!

Awesome! And hopefully, the store will restock it to have on the shelves for more to see!
You know where to go when you have questions and or ideas.

Metathiax wrote:
Thanks for mentioning my stuff but my house rules are dwarfed by csperkin's work which is almost a new game in itself. He's just more discreet about it...

Thanks for the nod in my direction! It reminds me to get off of my butt and get back to working on my Unearthed Arcana and giant Monster Manual supplements.