Hackles & Crusades? Castles & Crewmasters?

[Kersus]

So, I'm playing Castles & Crusades.... It's like learning AD&D all over again except I know AD&D and this feels foreign.

I already integrated my own fumble and critical table since I disliked the ones in the CKG.

I'm considering adding a 10hp kicker and making weapon damage exploding (using weapon damage from HM4e).

Possibly pushing Cleric spells to 2nd level while reducing the xp needed. Maybe let them keep the cantrips.

Get rid of the extra MU spells for stats and institute chance to learn.

All healing spells are exploding.

If that goes well, maybe adding threshold of pain and fatigue factor.... then armour hit points. Finally perhaps the % with each attribute while allowing potential increases when it seems appropriate. 1d4 here, 1d3 there.

Add a Pixie style playable race along with Aardvarkian. Perhaps split Humans into three races.

I wish the Player's Handbooks were smaller.

[Oedipussy Rex]

From what I've read, C&C is like what a 3e who never played AD&D thinks AD&D should be.

[Kersus]

Hahahaha... Yeah, you're pretty spot on with that remark. I do think it fits that bill far better than 5e which is still drowning in superhero fantasy.

I make no implication that I prefer or like C&C over OAD&D or similar games but certainly it was an improvement over 3e. What I do have is an investment in a Kickstarter that leaves me with books I should either sell or play, so I've chosen to play for awhile and see if we can learn to like this D20 style game that purports to be old-school in feel. It isn't, but perhaps I can fix it and feel like my investment isn't such a waste.

In the least, it should be easier to run Castle Zagyg than having to convert it into another system. I do actually quite like the new iteration of The Lost City of Gaxmoor.

If it wasn't for Gary Gygax, I never would have even looked at C&C. I only noticed it because the company putting out his Lejendary Adventure stuff did this silly D20 game on the side with some setting I could never get interested in. According to Chris Clark, the Trolls are nice guys however, when Chris wasn't with me, they weren't very friendly at all. They do work with Jim Ward, whom I like, despite him hitting on my girlfriend constantly.

[Lunamancer]

For what it's worth, and maybe you'll find some use in this...

I've done a lot of LA to D&D conversions, and now even the DJ stuff. My goal was (I've achieved it) to create a system agnostic "language" for statting things in a way that can be easily used with any RPG.

What I found in doing this is, honestly, I think you need to add (on average) 7 hit points to everything in D&D. Well, obviously you don't "need" to. But that's the difference between the D&D style where power differences are huge to the point of not really being credible, and something better suited to getting that high fantasy feel where the heroes are highly capable but still mortal.


So here's a tweak I've made to D&D.

At 1st level, everyone begins with their full Constitution score in hit points. Each time they level, they roll the full amount of hit dice indicated in the book (so upon achieving 3rd level, a fighter rolls 3d10). If the die roll is greater than the character's current hit points, then that's your new hit point total. Otherwise, you gain just one hit point.

For monsters, I roll an additional 2d6. So if I'm rolling up a typical orc (1 hit die), I'm rolling 2d6+1d8. If it's an ogre (4+1 HD) I'm rolling 2d6+4d8+1.


A couple things you might notice about this dynamic. It tilts the balance in favor of large numbers of weak creatures against small number of large creatures. And that works great with D&D because large mobs are still highly vulnerable to a well-placed fireball. On the other hand, regular orcs now have up to 20 hit points, meaning it's more likely one or two will survive the fireball. To me, it just makes things more interesting all around. I'd also do like Gary did with LA, for things like Ogres and Giants, allowing their attacks to hit multiple people at once. That will counterbalance the superior numbers advantage for those creatures that are supposed to be big and strong.


Oh, and while you're tweaking clerics, I strongly urge you to take another look at Priestcraeft castings in Dangerous Journeys, especially the General Tutelory Castings, for they are quite awesome. Guidance, Excommunication, and Anathema are some pretty neat powers. But the main thing is, they make Clerics seem more authentic, and not just game pieces that fill a niche. Here's how I'd adapt them for D&D

Rites (Clerics level 4+)
Minor Blessing (Clerics level 5+)
Consecration (Clerics level 6+)
Major Blessing (Clerics level 7+)
Guidance (Clerics level 8+)
Excommunication (Clerics level 9+)
Enter Sanctum (Clerics level 10+)
Anathema (Clerics level 11+)
Enter Deital Realm (Clerics level 12+)

[Kersus]

The idea of a hit point kicker like 7 or 2d6 or Constitution all sound great to me, especially when adding in exploding damage and critical hit tables. My current problem is that the twitter game (OSRIC) I'm about to run doesn't handle exploding dice automatically. Heck, if it could handle dice pools, we'd be playing sci-fi stuff.

Perhaps after we see how the game goes, maybe I'll switch over to Lejendary AsteRogues (despite my obsolete version of the rules) and run some Traveller Adventures with it.

DJ and LA have a lot to offer beyond playing them. As you say, there are lessons and ideas in there that can tweak most RPGs for the better.

[Kersus]

For the record we canned C&C. It wasn't enjoyed. That said, those who are trying to make 5e work might still enjoy C&C more. We just aren't likely to play it again and the books will take up space in my basement until they get ruined or I decide to sell them. It has a niche, but I can't see ever selecting it over BlueHolme, OSRIC, White Box FMAG or many others.