The Case For Castles & Crusades

zacharythefirst · Post by **zacharythefirst** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:41 am

Hey all,

This is a little something I posted to my blog, explaining why I've chosen C&C. I thought it might be helpful to those on the fence about C&C, so I'm reposting it here (here's the original link, for those interested):
The Case For Castles & Crusades
(Zack comes clean about his new game of choice).

I'm a vagabond, a wanderer of tabletop gaming. From my early forays in Palladium Fantasy and hideously houseruled 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons games to my appreciation of Risus, Two-Fisted Tales, Epic Roleplaying, Rolemaster, Traveller, Rifts, and everything in-between, I have played and ran a tremendously large number of roleplaying games.

I've tried Troll Lord Games' Castles & Crusades before, had my Castle Keeper Screen signed by Gary Gygax himself in 2007. And though the sessions and demos I ran were fun, there was always something else to try. And being an ENnies judge for 2008 also ensured my free time to dedicate to any single game was severely lacking.

But in now coming back to it, and in loving both the exciting modern products out there and the original and homages to an earlier time in gaming, I have found Castles & Crusades to be so much of what I've been looking for. Very few times (I can count them on one hand) has a game purely "clicked" for me. As in I got it--I got the feel, the system, the direction. And that's what happened when I took my C&C Players Handbook in hand (and screen) once more. What did it? I don't know--a desired refinement of how I run my games, an re-examination for what I want out of my hobby, whatever. But I did want to share just a little of why I am so absolutely, genuinely, enthusiastically pleased with Castles & Crusades:
Bridging A Gap: I have friends who were weaned on the older editions of D&D, and those who have played nothing but 3rd Edition. Castles & Crusades allows me to sell elements of both those experiences, giving us a common meeting ground and a larger player base from which to draw. Its familiar to veterans, and easily picked up by novices.
Time: Plain and simple. Look, I have a wife, 2 kids and 1 on the way, and a lot more responsibility than Young Zack ever did. C&C's system, the SIEGE Engine, is so simple that it usually takes all of 3-5 minutes for gamers to get the gist of it. I want to be able to use all the resources I've built up over the years, run a game that encourages active, fast, inspiring GM (CK) rulings, not pace-killing rules lookup. I want low prep time, employing notes and material I already have. I'm ready to get back to the basics, and get down to gaming in a faster and leaner fashion.
A Place To Build Upon: Castles & Crusades is a framework. It isn't a toolbox so much as a sturdy workbench. This is seriously one of the most easily-houseruled games I have ever seen. You want skills, feats, some new magic system? Want to use THAC0? Have some insane d20 rule you plug into every game you play? Castles & Crusades not only allows you to plug those items in, its modularity will make it easy to do so. We are talking compatibility not only with the various prior editions and the d20 crowd, but efforts like Basic Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, Mazes & Minotaurs, Fight On!, True 20, Paizo's and Adventure Games Publishing's docket of releases, and more. Hey, I have something from Iron Gauntlets I might throw in there. Or I can do nothing, and be just fine that way. There's just too much goodness out there that I may wish to look to for inspiration, and Castles & Crusades promises the integration of that goodness, easy-like. It's a baseline for it all.
A Style I Want: I don't want hours spent on hair-splitting character builds. I don't want reams of special powers for each player. I don't want skills and rigid, mutiple modifiers to get in the way of player initiative and creativity. I want me as a GM (CK) and my players to remember when we made rulings, not remained bogged down in rules. This ties into time constraints, but I want a fast-play, unified mechanic. I want the standard tropes and hallmarks of our shared hobby heritage there, unwarped. I want strong character archetypes. I want player backgrounds to matter in the course of play. I want so much of what has made the Old School Renaissance of gaming so inspiring to me and others. Of course, many of these lie at the feet of each Game Master/Castle Keeper, and can happen in any game. But its still good to have an RPG that's on your side about it.
A Company I Can Support: Troll Lord Games has never been anything but fantastic in our business dealings. The books are affordable. Their fan support online has been helpful and inspiring. When I was still in the military, Troll Lord contributed to a care package that was sent to a buddy of mine, and he was absolutely thrilled. It meant a lot to him, and by extension, to me. Their support of my friends and I in a tough, sometimes unpopular, unfashionable conflict will not be easily forgotten.

There is also the fact that Troll Lord Games was the last company Gary Gygax himself chose to be involved with. People can knock me for being overly sentimental and say that shouldn't matter for what game I'm playing, but that does carry some water with me. More importantly, I feel like Troll Lord is run by people who understand the innate and unique appeal of Gygaxian fantasy. They have the enthusiasm and heart I look for in a gaming company.

I've never been a one-game, one-system guy. There are too many great games out there I want to run--Epic, Rifts, Traveller, we aren't through yet. One day, I will again get to run In Harm's Way. And Castles & Crusades is ok with that. I know its there, willing to undertake any sort of tweaks or mods I might find in my travels. But I do know what game I'm coming home to. Castles & Crusades is my choice going forward to take advantage of the Old School Renaissance (heck, its my staging area for it), to keep that link going to a wider pool of players, and to maximize the time I have for quality, generation-spanning fun. That's why I'm on board with Castles & Crusades as my fantasy D&D cousin of choice. And together I see us, my friends, and eventually perhaps our kids having great adventures...
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csperkins1970 · Post by **csperkins1970** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 12:20 pm

Great write-up... and it expresses my sentiments perfectly.

Sadly I haven't been able to inspire many players to shift to C&C, since they are caught up in the "illusion of choice" that 3rd edition offers.

Aladar · Post by **Aladar** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:23 pm

Nice write up zacharythefirst.

csperkins1970,

Have you tried Omote's house rules for skills & feats? Your players might come over to C&C with these added in.
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Omote · Post by **Omote** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:24 pm

Well said, all around. It should be part of the testimonials page for sure.

-O
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zacharythefirst · Post by **zacharythefirst** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:32 pm

Thanks, guys!
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Luther · Post by **Luther** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:33 pm

No argument here. It nicely sums up my love of the system as well. I have to add that in the last couple of years I've thinned out my RPG horde...er, library considerably, due to the standard responsibilities of my age group and the knowledge that I will never have the time to play all of those games. I now have one system for each genre I like, some of which are general historical periods, like Agon and Xin for Greek and Chinese Mythic, and a lot of which are based on favourite books in my library like Amber, Call of Cthulhu and James Bond. And most of those are unlikely to be played anytime soon, but they are a part of my collection.

C&C holds the place for my Pulp Sword & Sorcery fix and unlike the other games, is one I play regularly. I actually sold all of my 3e stuff to make room for it, since so much of my pre-3e stuff works better and the 3e books were superflous. And this is not going to change at any point in the near future. Even if Troll Lords went bust tomorrow (god forbid), I'm set for gaming material for the rest of me and my children's lives. My kids will learn to RP from C&C lke I did from the Moldvay Basic rules using the same adventure, KotB.

By the way, I love your blog. You fixed the place up nice. So many people jsut slap a few random pics up and start blathering but yours is neat and tidy with a very pleasing and coherent use of graphics. As a web designer I say 'Bravo!'
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zacharythefirst · Post by **zacharythefirst** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:42 pm

That's a nice compliment, Luther! Thank you very much! I try to keep things neat and tidy--I have a few feeds I need to clear up and whatnot, but I try to keep it useful and readable.
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DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:08 pm

Nice work on the write-up. Very well written and far superior to my C&C is mo betta argument.

serleran · Post by **serleran** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:27 pm

Always a pleasure to read why someone enjoys something, especially when done with literacy. Glad you like the game.

papercut · Post by **papercut** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:38 pm

serleran wrote:
Always a pleasure to read why someone enjoys something, especially when done with literacy. Glad you like the game.

Always a pleasure to see Serl back on the boards!
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Post by **Breakdaddy** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:49 pm

DangerDwarf wrote:
Nice work on the write-up. Very well written and far superior to my C&C is mo betta argument.

Of course, you've since JUMPED SHIP and gone all 4e on us, you sorry piece of [prison guard].

Sure, I am horseing around again. WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE EH?!?!?!?1/1/1/1slash???1one!!!??

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:08 pm

I got 4e in my Haunted Highlands! Ewwwwwww.

Post by **Breakdaddy** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:52 pm

DangerDwarf wrote:
I got 4e in my Haunted Highlands! Ewwwwwww.

Word.

DangerDwarf · Post by **DangerDwarf** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 7:02 pm

After stumbling across this, I'm also fairly convinced you were at least part of 4e's playtesting phase BD.

So quit frontin'

Maliki · Post by **Maliki** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:02 pm

Nice write up.
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Rigon · Post by **Rigon** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:12 am

DangerDwarf wrote:
Nice work on the write-up. Very well written and far superior to my C&C is mo betta argument.

That arguement always works for me.
By the way, excellent write-up.

R-
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The Book of the Mind

Post by **Breakdaddy** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:08 pm

DangerDwarf wrote:
After stumbling across this, I'm also fairly convinced you were at least part of 4e's playtesting phase BD.

So quit frontin'

DUDE! THey told me they would shred that with EXTREME PREJUDICE. Those lying....

ThrorII · Post by **ThrorII** » Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:14 pm

DangerDwarf wrote:
Nice work on the write-up. Very well written and far superior to my C&C is mo betta argument.

Completely off topic, but this reminds me of a restaraunt in Los Angeles, "Mo Betta Meaty Meat Burger", near the fairfax district.