Troll Lord Games

I've noticed on this site that many people have gaming styles that lean towards: no rules 'on the fly' styles of play,

while those on many other sites prefer styles which are 'rules heavy' to the point that you have to roll a die to walk across the room.

I do enjoy narration and prose -and many players can attest to the fact that they 'feel there' when I GM (or whatever the term is).

Indeed, I am the narration/description 'king' in my gaming groups, and that's pretty much why I gravitated here: the higher the levels we attained in the d20 game, the more time I spent saying: "hit" "miss"..."hit again", etc. in a desperate attempt to keep things moving between rule searches, attacks of opportunity, etcetera, and etcetera.

But that said, I do like rules, and am not a fan of 'making up whatever because it makes the story line cool' GMing -I'm talking the other extreme here, and in no way am I putting this style down; I'm just stating a preference.

I guess my style of play is a bit different from others: I don't fudge rolls for example -not out of any concept of fairness, but rather because I like not knowing what will happen in the game myself: 'Will the party get away??? I hope so...No the troll heard them!" etc.

In fact I aways roll important checks in front my the groups, and they're on the edge of their seats when I do.

I'm personally not a fan of Dms who change situations on a whim, or kill off members of the party just to advance their story line etc. - growing up, I actually had a DM who routinely had unkillable NPCs...and at one point when my character was near death, I suddenly found a secret compartment in the hallway filled with potions of healing.

I dunno, I guess I like the thrill of not knowing how things will turn out, and if there is a dragon in my campagin, I'm the guy who rolls to see if it'll be asleep when the group gets there.

C&C is a very cool system in that it can be tailored to any style of play, and I like to think of it as a template in which I'm able to add logical rules as I see fit.

I'm also encouraging players to contribute rules, new classes or anything they'd like to see incorrporated into the game as well.

It's what 2nd edition 'could've been' for me I guess.

Anyhap, hats off to great fans who are always very helpful on this site; you've given great feedback, helped with rule ideas and questions, and at times pulled me back from 'over d20ing' everything.

C&C has really reopened the door of 'roleplaying enthusiasm' for me once again.

I'm truly hooked on the game and its community.

Me too. I just bought the books in January and got my D&D 3.5 group to start playing C&C 3 or 4 weeks ago. I actually bought them all a PHB so they didn't have anything to lose. We see a big difference in not having to dig through books every time someone does something a little outside the box. Combat is fast too. I CK the group and one of my players wanted his Assassin to drop from a ledge and use his Death Attack on an unsuspecting Goblin below. In D&D 3.5, it might have taken us 20 minutes to figure out the right feats, skills, modifiers, to apply to make that happen "by the book". The flow of the game is much better in my opinion.

At the heart of it all, we're all basically playing a game therefore we need rules in order to justify it's status as a game. However, for us who prefer to have story drive the game, it can be a major pitfall when one sees his CK or his own CK style become TOO MUCH a story telling session. The players can leave thinking they were jipped out of a fair chance at playing a game, and instead were force fed a story that they may or may not like. It's something that I try not to do but at the same time I feel as a CK I have every right to fudge things as needed - something that can be very difficult to do in D20.

I wouldn't hide a bunch of healing potions somewhere just when they needed it, but I would try to come up with different solutions for each scenario so as not to have a TPK. I do keep rolls secrative, mostly, but only for the mystery - that way the players simply do not know what is happening and are not concentrating on the 'numbers' but at what I described as the result of my rolls. It also... honestly... does allow me to fudge a roll or two when I feel it would help the story. For example... if I score a critical hit and I know that the player has only 2 HP Left, and no other player would be capable of defeating the enemy on their own... I fudge it. This is especially true if I've invested HOURS upon HOURS of game and prep time to come up with intricate plots and stories. I think the trick here is to get the players involved in the story telling process as much as possible. I have regular email exchanges with players in between sessions in where I ask about their characters feelings, past memories, needs, desires, etc... . I mix that with the current story and they love it when they see an element of their background or present life come into play in the game session. The rules just melt away afterwards and only become important in combat actually. In D20 I have had big problems with this type of style, as the focus was to much on the 'numbers'. Try as I would, I could never get them to focus on the story. C&C solved that problem.

Also, with C&C I don't worry about all the different ways to rule a scenario. If needed, I make it up, make a note of what I did, and move on. Later on, after the session, I'll analyse my decisions and if needed I'll explore better ways to resolve those situations, or just come on these boards and research. Try doing that with a D20 product and players with 10 D20 rule books in their possesion!

On my site I see many campaigns take place - mostly D20, and the focus is mostly on the leveling, optimizing and general ruling of each and every scenerio. However, even those with the rules heavy games do accomplish to role play - maybe not as much as in my group, but they do. It's all a different style and to each his/her own!

Everyone needs to find the balance that works for them. There are no wrong answers. ^_^
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"We'll go out through the kitchen!" Tanis Half-Elven

Peter Bradley

I still refer to the 3E books or SRD online when I want guidance for making a sensible ruling and to maintain consistancy.

Which is just another strength of C&C. Since its so compatible with 3E you can still use the details you want to without reverting to using the 3E rules set. Including on how to make DM calls, etc... that are talked about in the DMG and DMG2.

Which, according to my up and coming DM's in training (my kids), are actually very helpful things to read in order for them to understand how to make the judgement calls better.

Plus the 1E DMG has been very good, interesting, and helpful reads for my kids.

Since C&C is the "core" system, they get to easily use the best of all the D&D editions.

C&C is a great core system for so many reasons. Its why I stick with it.

slimykuotoan wrote:
I've noticed on this site that many people have gaming stiles that lean towards: no rules 'on the fly' styles of play...I do enjoy narration and prose...but that said, I do like rules, and am not a fan of 'making up whatever because it makes the story line cool' GMing...

Like you, my tastes run towards the "let the dice fall where they will" school of play (e.g. no fudging rolls, etc). Nevertheless, for me, it's important to draw a distinction between "making up whatever because it's cool narrative" and "allowing cool stuff to be attempted and playing off the narration" I'm a big fan of the second, but not a big fan of the first. There's also a disctinction that can be drawn between rules and rulings. IMO, many situations that arent already covered by the rules don't really need new rules that can be referenced -- they just need a ruling.

You're absolutely right about C&C being easy to tailor to various styles of play. I've mentioned, before, that it reminds me of OD&D (1974) -- not because of the rules, but because the way that different DMs (CKs) tweak it and make it their own.

Heh, I'm a "I don't care" CK. Players are responsible for their in-game actions, and I don't coddle them in the slightest. If you earn a death in my games, you die. I won't save you just because you've been playing for thirty years and that PC is your favorite. I also am a firm believer in rules... and that I can ignore them anytime I want, as long as the situation calls for it, and it makes "game sense." I'll fudge a roll or three sometimes, if I think it'll keep the game entertaining, and I always ask the players what they hope to get from the game.

Anyway, probably not as "narrative" as I'd like to be, but seeing as everything in the game is invented on the fly, I sometimes find it hard to go into great detail on anything specific... and it requires the players pay attention because I'll probably forget a name of a NPC or something else.

As a player, it depends on the CK...