Gary Gygax played this game with his friends, and this game was named after his gaming society. Before he passed away, he was creating a world and this was the game he was writing for.
End of the story then, stop, we found our heir!
Well, yes and no. C&C is a more modern design, like an entirely new game design under the hood powering an AD&D emulation engine. The game started in 2004 and integrated a lot of the concepts we see in later games, such as ability-based saves and class abilities gained as you level. It is more of a D&D 3.5-based variant game that went off in its own direction and has been happy and prosperous in its space ever since. The list of RPGs and video game systems that came and went, and this game is still going strong, is pretty interesting:
- D&D 3.5
- D&D 4
- D&D 4: Essentials (a 4.5 version)
- soon, D&D 5 (if you can assume the new evolution is a 5.5)
- Pathfinder 1e
- ...a bunch of others...
- Nintendo DS, Wii, Wii U, 3DS
- XBox 360, XBox One, XBox 1X
- PS 3 and 4
- PSP and PS Vita
The video game consoles have very little to do with this list, but they are fun for perspective. We are going on 18 years with C&C, and not much has changed with core mechanics and rules. OSRIC started in 2006, so C&C predates the beginning of the OSR by two years. So really, it isn't OSR, and it is kind of its own game.
And while D&D keeps going through versions, this game remains (relatively) the same. I suppose since D&D is such a cultural touchstone it needs to rapidly change with the times, and you see that even today when they are releasing a new version mainly to change matters related to tone, presentation, and wording than any rules issues. But it is nice to get a new version of D&D without major rules changes since the last few times we did this everything changed drastically.
I consider Castles & Crusades an AD&D heir more than a B/X style game because it has more of the AD&D DNA in the game. To me, when it plays, it feels like pulp adventure style of AD&D. Under the hood, it is an entirely different game.
It's Not AD&D, but Any D&D
This is an odd entry on this list because this isn't AD&D, yet it can easily run any AD&D, D&D, 2E, 3E, B/X, or any module with OSR-style monsters and adventure. It is extremely rules-light, with a core mechanic based around ability saves that handles everything from saving throws, skill checks, class abilities, and anything else you can throw at it. Some call it a Rosetta-stone style of game, and that feels about right.
It is more of an "emulator system" honestly.
The game can play epic fantasy, dungeon crawling, grim and gritty, heroic questing, story gaming, pulp adventure, anime adventure, or tactical combat. Or all of them. It feels right for any of the D&D settings, from Mystara to Spelljammer. I could do Greyhawk with this easy, and all of the classic modules. I could do Forgotten Realms simply. Dragonlance? Dark Sun? D&D 4's Nerrath? Pathfinder's Golarion? My own world?
Yes to all of the above.
And they would feel right.
Historical settings? Greece, Viking, Egyptian, and more? Yes. You can even play them as their own worlds and not have to theme park them into a campaign setting.
Can it mod? It can mod. A steampunk Eberron? Spelljammer? Planescape? Black powder swashbuckling pirates? Weird West? Ancient horror?
Does it do optional skills and (feat-like) advantages? Yes.
Does it have sister games that cover pulp, modern, and sci-fi settings? Yes, mix and match.
This is a game that no matter how hard I try to make myself a fan of something else, always keeps coming back to me and inviting me in. It feels right. It is rules-light. It has all of the classes and powers I want. It does the adventure thing. The characters are index-card simple. The classes I like are there. The rules are open-ended and flexible.
But the Specifics?
This has the AD&D DNA. Magic resistance. The familiar monsters. The spells. The treasures. The exploration. The armor and weapon game. Saving throws. Spell components. Casting time. Multiclassing. Class selection. Hit die sizes. Simple characters that power up as they level.
What is it missing? Weapon damage versus sizes. Weapon speed. Weapon type and armor modifiers. Nonhuman level limits. The ability score charts. Fighter-specific ability bonuses. Exceptional strength. Product identity monsters (though porting in from 2e would not be difficult).
Demons and devils? In an expansion book.
All the best gods from the Deities and Demigods book? In the setting guides.
Powerful monsters on the level of AD&D 2e, and even more so. Some demon lords have a flat 85% magic resistance. Wake up the fighters, party balance is a must.
The stuff the game is missing is admittedly minor limits and charts, and some of it feels like the rules cruft they tossed out when unifying the system. All the good stuff is in here, the stuff that says "AD&D" to me. What is missing is not really missed.
Saving throws for different conditions have all been moved under ability score saves. I don't really mind that.
And there are improvements like combat maneuvers and a whole bunch of optional rules in the Castle Keeper's Guide. Play as a monster race. Make your own. Create spells. Expand the game. Port in whatever you want.
Almost everything else, the classes, the spells, leveling, treasure, monsters, dungeon strategies, the turn to turn tactical choices - feels the same. But the core task, action, and save resolution mechanics are different. No saving throw tables. No charts of thief abilities. If there was a chart for an ability or percentage chance, it was replaced by the core mechanic.
Why You Shouldn't Play This
Honestly? You are a fan of the low-level AD&D mechanics, don't play this. If you like those numbers, those charts, that crunch - then stay away. This is nothing like the low-level AD&D game, and it is nothing like it. The only thing similar is the hit point mechanics and ability scores, and everything other rule has been reworked and rebuilt for pulp adventure-style play.
If you like those ability score charts, they are gone. The weapon speed thing in 2e is gone. The product identity monsters are gone, but they are not hard to port in. The huge monster stat blocks are gone. Seriously, a lot of the stuff they ended up removing anyways in 5E was removed here as well.
If you min-max combat strategies based on the AD&D math and are a fan of the numbers you won't be happy here. Also, some people have problems with the "primary and secondary" attribute system, where your target number for saves and ability score rolls depending on your choices here. If you like straight d20 ability score checks this is not your game.
The primary and secondary attribute system is a core of game balance here, and it encapsulates a lot of concepts of skills and feats and abstracts them into your ability scores. Climbing? DEX. Lockpicking? DEX, and thieves add level since this is a class ability. Knowing magic runes? INT, and mages add level because this is something they would know. Fighters don't. Target number? Is your ability score primary or secondary? Do you add your level? What is the difficulty? Done. Roll.
For some, the saves and unified system may be too simplistic. At mid-level secondary scores can be hard to save against or make, but there is a level bonus to these checks if the roll does not step on another class ability (lockpicking, etc.). Just don't wipe this out all the time with the difficulty applied to the roll, "Oh, you are level 11, add 11 to your roll and beat an 18! I know that is like 7+ cool! Oh, wait, the difficulty is, umm, 11! Roll an 18 please!"
There are times I feel the target numbers here are a bit harsh, especially at low-level. With a straight 3d6 ability score character your will be trying to roll 18+ to make an ability check. That is just a 15% chance of success and that is a bit harsh. Adding your level to the roll makes things better as you increase in skill, but at low levels, the game can seem brutal.
Also, it seems strange that you would roll your ability scores, and need an extra primary/secondary system on top of that to say how REALLY good a score is. To me, I am still on the fence here. An 18 ability score should be an 18; not a secondary at 18 with a +3 mod or a primary at 12 with a +3 mod.
What you are really saying with a primary is "in the invisible skill system of this game I have a lot of skills in this area."
The rules in the first part of the book say difficulty starts at zero, so it only gets harder. But, in the back part of the Player's Manual in the CK section, they mention "negative" challenge levels, which means there can be bonuses added to the roll. Throw bonuses at your players and don't let those 18 target numbers ruin your game, especially at low levels. Before I knew this I was about ready to give up on C&C, it just felt too harsh compared to B/X.
The game also suggests keeping the "modified" target number a secret. They know they have a 12 or 18 base, but players never know the actual number they need to beat.
Put a curve on those saves and difficulty checks, and let the players' bonus be linear, and you will always keep them feeling like heroes, and having a slight chance of failure. Better yet, if they are so high level they would make all their saves and checks anyways, set a failure chance, like Palladium's 4 or less, and call that the floor for this dungeon. Or be like Index Card RPG and set a difficulty per room for everything in there, "This room is a 6! Don't care what is in there, locks, traps, perception rolls, charisma checks, it is a 6!"
That abstraction layer of the attribute system removes a lot of bookkeeping, entire skill lists, and tons of special rules for every potential action. If you like huge skill lists and modifiers to actions, you won't like this game.
IP Free, Original Inspirations
This has that "rules-light plus story-focused" feeling that 5E has, but it feels more like AD&D 1e and 2e than 5E's mix of D&D 3 thru 5's characters, cosmology, and world-building. There is a clear difference between the D&D Wizards built and the D&D Old-TSR built. The Wizards' version of D&D is heavily influenced by Magic: The Gathering, pop culture, anime, D&D IP, and Hollywood. The Old-TSR version is more rooted in Tolkien, Howard, Lovecraft, Leiber, the Bible, Mythology, and the greats of Appendix N.
The Wizards' version starts where the Old-TSR version left off, but you notice that more and more of the product identity and custom trademarked pantheons of Wizards' D&D take bigger roles in the world than the Appendix N inspirations. We noticed this shift in D&D 4 when the game became almost entirely about the conflicts between the major trademarked D&D IP powers that be, and the old game where your cleric could worship Zeus or Odin in some generic fantasy world went away. Even the major bad guys were all product identity monsters, such as beholders, mind flayers, and the other copyrighted IP of Wizards.
You can strip out all of the Wizards' IP in D&D 5, but it is a lot of work and you are changing a lot of the rules and character creation - which makes things hard for new players. We played D&D 4 and I feel this was the best time we had with that lore, and I am not really interested in going back to the Wizards' IP that much anymore these days, and having all of this newer material taking the spotlight.
I still like the Wizards' IP and world-building, and if I want to play it I will play 5E since it is so closely tied to that material. But if I want a game free from that, where I can return to the original inspirations and make my own lore, I will choose something else and not have to change things as much.
Why Play This Over AD&D 2e?
Maybe you want a simple game with unified mechanics. Maybe you are not a fan of the endless ability score charts with all sorts of modifiers here and there. Maybe you just want to focus on the story and adventure and not the rules.
This can be very story-focused, just like a 5E, since it has ability saves that do about anything. If you like the feeling of AD&D, but do not like all the endless rules for minutia, this is a great game. C&C does have this B/X level of simplicity to it, you have a core mechanic, and it handles almost everything. Combat is the familiar AC roll high of 3rd Edition plus. No THAC0.
There was a reason this game captured Gary Gygax's heart. Maybe as he got older he wanted something simple that felt familiar. Something with fewer rules where he could tell his stories. I can't speak for him, but I can see the influences and comfortable manners this game would have for him.
When we are young, we overcomplicate things. We want the charts and tables. We obsess over statistics. We believe that more detail makes a better game and story.
As we get older our tastes begin to change. We care less about the details and more about the stories and characters. We don't care how we get there, only that we do. We want to experience life, and we don't really care about the little things. We want to see the grand vistas, the mountain slopes, remote islands, beautiful beaches, grand works of architecture, meet someone famous, go somewhere we have never seen before, and check off another experience on our bucket lists.
We don't care about the little details anymore.
All those charts and lists of modifiers were cool back in the day, and they made us feel like we knew something and we were important. But not today. We don't need them or want them.
If a simple system works, we use it.
If it has the same feeling with ten times less frustration, that is great.
Just get me there and let me enjoy the moment.
If we already know how to use it, what our choices are, and how the world works - all the better. We are not relearning something as we get older. We are done fiddling with things. We just want it to work.
And this works.
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