Castles & Crusades

[Nilbog]

Hi

Its coming up to my D&D Groups 15th year of gaming together, so as a one off I wanted to get away from our current game (4e) and run something a bit more old school.

I was considering going back to 2nd edition but then Castles and crusades caught my eye, I just have a few questions about it, I hope some of you knowledgeable guys might be able to help out.

1) Miniatures and grids - I want to get away from this, our group enjoys it, but for a change I want to go to a strong narrative combat style with little or no reliance on miniatures, can this be done easily with C&C?

2) Products - What would I need to get up and running? the core rulebook is a given, however I have a lot of old edition products, monster manuals etc how easy are these converted to C&C, if at all? (also magic items, do i need to pick the C&C magic item book)

3) DM Prep time - Sadly i don't have as much free time as I did 15 years ago (oh for those care free college days!) So how is the prep time for C&C, am I looking at 3.5e levels of NPC statting or is it very much a case of 'its flexible'

Thank you for your time

 

[kitcik]

Hi

Its coming up to my D&D Groups 15th year of gaming together, so as a one off I wanted to get away from our current game (4e) and run something a bit more old school.

I was considering going back to 2nd edition but then Castles and crusades caught my eye, I just have a few questions about it, I hope some of you knowledgeable guys might be able to help out.

1) Miniatures and grids - I want to get away from this, our group enjoys it, but for a change I want to go to a strong narrative combat style with little or no reliance on miniatures, can this be done easily with C&C?

2) Products - What would I need to get up and running? the core rulebook is a given, however I have a lot of old edition products, monster manuals etc how easy are these converted to C&C, if at all? (also magic items, do i need to pick the C&C magic item book)

3) DM Prep time - Sadly i don't have as much free time as I did 15 years ago (oh for those care free college days!) So how is the prep time for C&C, am I looking at 3.5e levels of NPC statting or is it very much a case of 'its flexible'

Thank you for your time

I played in a game run by Steve C at LGGV IV, and I can say that we had no minis and as far as prep, it seemed a lot like 1E (very flexible).

I loved it.

However, I am playing 3e/3.5 right now, so have never picked up more than the PH and am not sure what all you'd need.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

1) Miniatures and grids - I want to get away from this, our group enjoys it, but for a change I want to go to a strong narrative combat style with little or no reliance on miniatures, can this be done easily with C&C?

Miniatures are completely unnecessary. You can still use them to do things like illustrate marching order, etc. or ditch them entirely.

2) Products - What would I need to get up and running? the core rulebook is a given, however I have a lot of old edition products, monster manuals etc how easy are these converted to C&C, if at all? (also magic items, do i need to pick the C&C magic item book)

The PHB is literally all you need. Anything from OD&D through 3E can be converted on the fly. Everything per-4E is incredibly compatible with C&C.

3) DM Prep time - Sadly i don't have as much free time as I did 15 years ago (oh for those care free college days!) So how is the prep time for C&C, am I looking at 3.5e levels of NPC statting or is it very much a case of 'its flexible'

Prep time is so short, you'll think you're doing it wrong. Even if your group does nothing but fight NPCs with PC classes, prep time is much, much shorter than 3E (which is why my group is converting).

 

[zepherusbane]

I've not heard of Castles & Crusades, perhaps I should look into it if it's so easy to prep for.

 

[Li Shenron]

Sorry Nilbog to step into your thread... I am interested too!

Everything per-4E is incredibly compatible with C&C.

Does it mean for instance that you can use a published AD&D or 3e adventure more or less on the fly, just ignoring stats that don't apply?

Is it possible to use 3e characters (i.e. 3e classes, races, feats, skills, spells... I don't mean all of them, I guess e.g. many feats would just not be applicable) but C&C combat rules (are they simplified)?

I wonder because I love 3e characters as PC and I do not mind their complexity (after all, you normally only design your PC once), but I would like to try low-complexity for actually running the game and designing NPCs.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Armor class is ascending, so you'd need to flip it for pre-3E monsters, but yes, otherwise, any adventure can be used. Some stats -- no one has skills, for instance, but use a 5E-style/SWSE-style system where your stats and class cover those -- can be ignored, but otherwise, the monster stats work fine as-is.

Of course, if you have Monsters & Treasure and the upcoming Classic Monsters, you can also use the C&C stats. Between those two books, you'll have 90+ percent of the 1E Monster Manual, Fiend Folio and Monster Manual II covered, by my reckoning. But you don't NEED it. In fact, if you're buying the forthcoming 1E reprints by WotC -- or have access to the originals -- there's a good argument to be made for just using those books instead.

A 3E character will function differently on the player's side, but can work alongside Castles & Crusades characters pretty well. The only wrinkle is that feats don't exist in C&C and it's got more of an old school "well, try it and see" approach, rather than how many 3E/4E players play, where only what's listed on their sheet is doable. A C&C wizard can attempt to open a lock -- he likely will be lousy at it, but he doesn't need a special skill to try, or even to succeed. So some feats might need to be tossed out or redone by the DM -- or just turned into a bonus to succeed on something any player could try anyway.

(And despite not having skills, you can customize your characters a fair bit using the Prime system C&C uses instead of skill points. You can have a charismatic fighter, a nimble wizard or a wise barbarian, with all that entails.)

If you've ever played 1E/2E, you have a good idea of how C&C works, just with a d20 engine dropped inside and some cleaning up of the rules (a universal mechanic, ascending armor class, etc.).

 

[kitsune9]

Hi

1) Miniatures and grids -

2) Products -

3) DM Prep time -

1. You won't need them unless you want to. There are no rules that requires a tactical representation.

2. Conversion is easy though 3e monsters convert more easily (get rid of all the stuff that C&C doesn't use like feats).

3. This is kind of subjective because I think in any edition at lower levels, prep time is fairly quick. It's only if you want to have more elaborate plot lines or run certain editions at higher levels where the disparity grows. In short, prep time should be a breeze if all you're doing is creating a dungeon, add monsters and treasure and then you're done.

My preferred system is Pathfinder, but C&C is definitely my favorite retroclone. It has a great 1st edition feel using a 3e ruleset. The art and layout is evocative of that feel too.

 

[Li Shenron]

If you've ever played 1E/2E, you have a good idea of how C&C works, just with a d20 engine dropped inside and some cleaning up of the rules (a universal mechanic, ascending armor class, etc.).

How about combat, how is it similar/different to 3e?

 

[Weregrognard]

1. Miniatures - Yes, completely optional!

2. Products -

Free!: Quick start rules

Bare minimum: Player's Handbook + 0e-3e monster book (and/or other books)

Complete game: Player's Handbook + Monsters & Treasure

Deluxe game: Player's Handbook, Monster's & Treasure, Castle Keeper's Guide

3. DM Prep time - Quick, easy, like pre-2000 editions.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

How about combat, how is it similar/different to 3e?

Much simpler. No attacks of opportunity, although most of the other stuff available in 3E -- tripping, disarming, etc. -- can be done in C&C.

The nice thing about C&C is that if you want to add complexity to it -- say you REALLY like some third party's 3E grappling rules -- you can add it in very easily. (Like a 5E "tactical combat module" system, I guess.)

But by default, it's dialed down very basic.