Castles and Crusades started in 2004, back in the D&D 3.0 days. This is one of the first OSR games, though the mechanics are a more modernized system called the Siege Engine (similar to the D&D 3.x DC system, but this basically fixes DCs at 12 or 18, and gives the referee leeway on additional difficulty and which DRMs apply), and it retains the traditional AC combat system. It dispenses with the OSR saving throws, and the 3.x fort/ref/will saves, and uses ability-based saves instead. D&D 5 borrowed the concept of ability-based saves, so if you are coming from 5E you will recognize that right away.
It is funny how D&D 4 borrowed a lot from Iron Heroes and went in a different direction, and then the designers at Wizards course-corrected and made a game more like this. You can't and shouldn't really say "stole from" since that is a negative and encourages flaming and system wars, which are lame. All games are cool. Lots of games share mechanics. We don't flame Sorry because Monopoly also uses dice for movement. It is what it is. D&D 5 does things in a cool and different way. C&C did some things earlier.
The game sticks close to the AD&D core. It is kept very rules-light with lots of optional extras in the Castle Keepers Guide, including higher-level play and heroic characters. The classes are mechanically different, some play more OSR, while others play more modernized. All rolls are still handled by the game's core mechanics, so there are no "1-2 on a d6 skill rolls" or large percentage tables of thief abilities.
It features some legendary designers and is named after the legendary Castles and Crusades Society, the gaming society founded by Gary Gygax. The game definitely has pedigree and also some serious design credentials behind it.
What is This?
It is a unique and cool game that sits on the crossroads between OSR and D&D5. It can be played as a compromise game between OSR and 5E players, and everyone will find something they like. The game is deadly, but there is no "death at zero hp." The game has that AD&D old-school feel without all the complexity. There is no THAC0 or support for alternate AC systems, or compatibility notations such as AC 5 [14]. This is a roll-high system with unified mechanics.
This is not D&D 3.5 or Pathfinder 1e. The fiddly and complicated feat and interrupt-based mechanics, complex character builds, and weight of the system have been completely torn out. Though to be fair, if you want feats, they are reworked and presented as an optional advantage system in the referee's book. So now the game plays more like Pathfinder, and those players can come in and feel at home.
There is a little Tunnels and Trolls in here with those ability based skill rolls and saves. In T&T you make a 2nd level STR save, and in C&C you make a STR check at a DC of 12/18 with your ability score mod, optional level mod if your class helps, and a difficulty set by the referee. Every score matters and can be checked, saved against, or used in the game. The ability scores and classes replace skills, though there is an optional background skill system in the referee's book. This core-concept I love.
The art is gorgeous. The printing is great quality. The core books are full color pieces of art.
This game feels like the coolest thing to come out of the D&D 3.0 era, it cut its own path, stayed true to itself and fans, and has been doing its own thing ever since.
B/X Compatibility?
This isn't B/X, but you can play B/X with it. A lot of B/X material is very compatible. If you had a module designed for another system, such as Barrowmaze, simply keep 90% of the content the same but use C&C monster statistics - or convert on the fly if need be. You can do the same with AD&D modules, or even 5E adventures if you want to.
If B/X is like the Linux/Unix of the OSR world, C&C is sort of like the Wine emulation layer that lets you play Windows games on Linux (if Wine existed in a perfect world, but to be fair it is getting really good). If there is something in another system you really like (D&D 5, Pathfinder 1/2, B/X, T&T, AD&D) you will find something similar here either as a core rule or option.
I have not seen a game that hits the middle-ground so solidly with a unified mechanic such as this one.
Old School Flavor
The game keeps the classic alignment system, and maintains the law-chaos and good-evil paradigms. It feels like a natural evolution of AD&D to me into the modern day, more so than D&D 3.5 or Labyrinth Lord (which feels like a B/X AD&D emulator). If you do not care for OSR mechanics but want the OSR feel and flavor, this works very well.
Also I feel like I could run an evil campaign like we used to do from time to time in AD&D and not have the game tell us we are playing it the wrong way. Those typically ended in Shakespearian tragedy as evil was finally punished, and the evil PCs fell one by one as the forces of good rallied (or bigger evil betrayed them). That is also cool. Those were fun games, sort of a puritanical lesson in "crime does not pay" like a gangster movie. You gotta have that tragic ending for an evil game because it is so satisfying and classic Hollywood.
If you want demons and devils, they are done very nicely in a separate book called "Tome of the Unclean." This keeps them out of the main game for people who don't want them, and devotes and entire book to them so they are done right. Again, this checks one of my boxes and does it in a very cool and flavor-filled sourcebook that adds to the fun.
...vs. Basic Fantasy?
The game is actually similar in spirit to Basic Fantasy. It is a rework and reengineering of AD&D to be more along that rule-light framework, where Basic Fantasy rewords B/X. If you play Basic Fantasy you will probably feel right at home once you realize the Siege Engine replaces the "leveled saves" of that game and a lot stays the same. Very highly compatible in terms of feeling and design.
...vs. Dungeon Crawl Classics?
Okay, this I feel is a Street Fighter moment. And this one is going to be a good fight where I root for both sides. The truth is they don't have to fight and these two games are both winners on my shelf and table.
The games are similar in that they take an OSR base and take it in a new direction without care for numerical compatibility and one-for-one rules replacement. Where DCC has more of a gonzo Heavy Metal feeling of wild and deadly fantasy, C&C has that classic AD&D feeling. I could see myself playing both at the same time and both qualify as top-shelf games currently.
DCC unifies the DC mechanic around a floating DC and variable dice sizes based on difficulty. Since there are two variables to manage (DC and die size) creating task difficulty can be a little difficult since both sides float. DCC also uses fort/ref/will saves.
C&C fixes the DC at two values, puts a little yes/no variability into the allowed bonus in regards to class, adds the ability score modifier, and floats only one side - the challenge level (which raises the target number). One side floats so this is a faster and easier system to adjudicate. Also there are no additional recorded saves.
DCC allows for rolls that you can put a lot of "English" on with rules like spellburn, so wildly high rolls can happen even at low levels. C&C follows the more traditional feeling and balance to classes.
Where DCC replaced my complete Pathfinder 1e collection, I can see C&C becoming my OSR game of choice. It would replace many of my B/X games because it hits the same AD&D feeling while unifying the mechanics. Since I am not tied to the B/X mechanics, if a game hits the feeling with a simpler system and unified mechanics, I am there.
Both are incredible games and they share that "common starting point, but different direction" feeling. Honestly I love games that do this since I have enough B/X games as it is, and at this point I am looking for new and different things. Where C&C has the traditional feeling, DCC has that anything goes feeling. Both are very cool.
...vs. B/X?
If you care more about B/X compatibility, there are too many games out there to choose from. Old School Essentials, Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, and many others. If you absolutely need B/X mechanics, play a B/X set of rules.
It is funny, I see a lot of people playing the original print on demand AD&D and B/X games that are officially released and foregoing the more modern alternatives. I love the old games, I own them and grew up with them, but at this point I want to support the indie creators who are innovating and reinventing the genre.
Also, with my current collection of B/X I have everything I need. The only thing I am looking forward to is the forthcoming Old School Essentials demons book they promised.
Also, most all of my B/X adventures and sourcebooks are usable with C&C, so I don't really lose anything and I can keep buying and investing in the indies that make non-rules B/X adventures and settings.
So really, the feelings of both B/X and C&C are the same, they just get there in different ways.
The In the Middle Everything Replacement
D&D 4's Nerrath? The original gray-box Forgotten Realms? Mystara? Your own world? Classic Greyhawk? Pathfinder's Golarion? I can see playing all of them in C&C with a few tweaks here and there. The game feels like what came before but modernizes and streamlines the mechanics.
They even have their own setting of Aihrde with looks like a fun and deep world to explore.
I rarely find games I instantly fall in love with and feel they are a classic, and this one has slipped under my radar for far too long. I ask myself, why did I dismiss this for so long? Maybe it was because I thought once I had B/X I had it all, or that newer games such as Pathfinder 2 were better because of the new and shiny factor. I simply didn't "need" a game that did things a different way than what I was used to, and I feared it would end up in a box.
This game does not feel that way.
It is one I wished me and my brother would have checked out sooner, because this is what we would have chose to settle down on and play for our main campaign. I really can't tell you how good that feels. This would have been the one.
More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment