Castles & Crusades: The Moment I Almost Gave Up

So I created my first Castles & Crusades character, and I had this overwhelming feeling of disappointment. I almost went back to Labyrinth Lord or Old School Essentials. This is going to be a tough article, so hold on tight.

I get this is a heavily-modified 3E version that has that AD&D feeling. I understand the SIEGE Engine. The character creation is straightforward, sort of like a modified B/X with light Pathfinder-style class abilities. In all honesty, I would love to see a few more class abilities as we level. And I know I am creating a level one character, and they are supposed to suck.

The SIEGE Engine and the concept of Primary and Secondary abilities did not feel great to me.

I made a human, did my straight 3d6 rolls, had a few +1 modifiers here and there, and picked my class ability as a primary (cleric, wisdom), and two others since humans get an extra. Three of my target numbers were 12, and three were 18. In a way, three of my ability scores felt like they sucked so bad I would rarely make checks or ability saves with them.

And there was not really anything I could do. Even leveling up would let me add my level there to the roll, but they would still suck. So if my cleric ever wanted to dodge a trap, her pitiful 13 DEX would only ever give her a +1 modifier to that sucky 18 target number.

In B/X, if I wanted to make ability score rolls, I would not be so punished. DEX check to avoid a trap? Roll d20 under DEX! Even at a -4 penalty, she would not be as punished as this current 18+ roll.

Honestly, I did not see the point. Yes, there are plenty of saves in B/X that are in this horrid 18+ range, but to put ability scores on there as well seemed overly punishing. And to make that a permanent character feature seemed like there was little hope of ever making it any better.

Honestly, I was like, "Why do I learn a new system? Why not just use B/X? My ability score checks are better there and I am not mucking around with a bolted-on check system."

I was ready to give up.

I am reevaluating the game and taking a look for alternatives. I may mod the game just to salvage things, perhaps introduce a feat system to let me take levels of specialized feats, such as quickness (+2 on DEX rolls) or something like that to fix my feelings about the issue. Secondary stats are tough to live with, even with a human, and they feel like things that don't really get better.

Other than that, it is a wonderful game.