Castles and Crusades

[cailano]

15 hours ago, DoNotFearToTread said:

 

@cailano C&C is pretty niche on here so it's nice to have a thread about it, too. Thanks for opening this up. Looking forward to seeing your game start up sometime.

I've gotten frustrated trying to get it running. The C&C system is solid and seems like it would be easy to play. The Aihrde setting has been difficult to get my head around. I love the mythology, but the playable material is often buried inside multiple pages of text. The Troll Lords would be wise to bring in some design and editing talent.

And it's rough because I can see the love that went into Aihrde and really all the C&C material. Any interactions I've had with the Troll Lord crew have been positive. I really want to like it.

[Malkavian Grin]

4 hours ago, cailano said:

I've gotten frustrated trying to get it running. The C&C system is solid and seems like it would be easy to play. The Aihrde setting has been difficult to get my head around. I love the mythology, but the playable material is often buried inside multiple pages of text. The Troll Lords would be wise to bring in some design and editing talent.

And it's rough because I can see the love that went into Aihrde and really all the C&C material. Any interactions I've had with the Troll Lord crew have been positive. I really want to like it.

Oof. You never want to spend your time fighting with the source material to figure out where setting ends and play begins.

[cailano]

Doing some thread necromancy here because I think we have a couple of new C&C players here on the Weave and because I've gone back to Castles and Crusades yet again. I just really like the system and want to run it.

I'm not going to use Aihrde, though. Not unless they do a heavy re-write of the setting and use a better format.

I don't think I want to do a pure sandbox game, either. Although I'm always open to players going off the rails.

But I have an idea for an Adventure-Path-style game that seems like a lot of fun and has enough depth to give C&C a good long trial. Maybe 1st to 10th level.

It's still very much a WIP but I've got it on the back burner, simmering away.

[Neopopulas]

C&C really does look like it could be fun

[Saberfan]

Castles and Crusades is probably my favorite OSR-adjacent system and finding another fan of it is a treat. The system manages to hit that sweet spot in the nostalgia center of my brain dedicated to old-school D&D. The water color and pen-and-ink art styles, more concise rules inspired by the old classics, and retro design choices for it's adventures all bring me back to simpler days.

[cailano]

There I was earlier today, perusing my gaming shelf, when I stumbled on this AP that I've never had a chance to run.

Saga of the Dragon Cult is an old Adventure Path from the Dungeon Crawl Classics line, back when they were writing modules for 3.5. It's exactly the kind of stuff they were known for at the time. These days, DCC is all about Appendix N, and their adventures can be a little gonzo, but back in their 3.5 days, they wrote challenging adventure modules inspired by old-school D&D.

And this one is about as classic as you get. You've got your cult, your dungeons, your evil wizards, your forces of Chaos rising in the background, and even a red dragon to battle at the end.

I think this might be what I run for Castles and Crusades. I'll have to convert it, but I'm looking it over now, and it doesn't seem too hard. Mostly, it's just using the C&C version of monsters in the module and advancing the PCs a little faster than that system normally intends. That's okay, though. I usually speed up advancement for PbP games.

Goodman Games has some of the best adventure writers in the business. This could be a good one.

[cailano]

After digging deeper into Saga of the Dragon Cult, I think we have a winner. I've started work on the campaign, but I won't open up recruiting until my Web of All-Torment one-shot is closer to wrapping up.

More Castles and Crusades coming soon!

[Malkavian Grin]

Woo!

That is all.

[cailano]

@Malkavian Grin I saved your sweet character sheet template from the other C&C game I was thinking about, but somehow the formatting got all messed up. Do you have a cleaner copy?

You can see the way the template looks here: https://www.myth-weavers.com/index.php?/topic/11779-character-sheet-template/

[Malkavian Grin]

11 minutes ago, cailano said:

Do you have a cleaner copy?

I'll do you one better and give you an updated one that's a touch better after having actually made a character in it.

I'll get that posted for you tomorrow.

[cailano]

1 hour ago, Malkavian Grin said:

I'll do you one better and give you an updated one that's a touch better after having actually made a character in it.

I'll get that posted for you tomorrow.

You, as they say, rock.

[GreyJaeger]

If you don't mind cailano, I'm going to use your thread.

 

So I am wanting to try my hand at running C&C, and I want to gauge interest.

 

I am thinking of a limited campaign set in Sterich during the invasion of Geoff and Sterich during the GreyHawk Wars. The real hook is not just that the PCs get themselves out of Sterich, but also to lead as many people to safety as well. So I see not only combat encounters to be resolved, but also social and political challenges to be resolved.

 

Thoughts?

[Lando The Archmagi]

On 10/27/2023 at 12:56 PM, cailano said:

But I have an idea for an Adventure-Path-style game that seems like a lot of fun and has enough depth to give C&C a good long trial. Maybe 1st to 10th level.

It's still very much a WIP but I've got it on the back burner, simmering away.

I've experience GMing multiple C&C campaigns in Aihrde and Greyhawk. If you need help/advice or a player let me know. I've also run games for TLG for Gary Con and elsewhere. I'm helping with their Endless Worlds program for cons and eventually expanded beyond it.

[Lando The Archmagi]

27 minutes ago, GreyJaeger said:

I am thinking of a limited campaign set in Sterich during the invasion of Geoff and Sterich during the GreyHawk Wars. The real hook is not just that the PCs get themselves out of Sterich, but also to lead as many people to safety as well. So I see not only combat encounters to be resolved, but also social and political challenges to be resolved.

Are you going to involve the giants, drow or some other enemy? I'm actually running G1-3 Against The Giants using C&C for virtual Gary Con 2024. I run 2 C&C Greyhawk campaigns currently, although, I'm not using Geoff for either.

[GreyJaeger]

Yes to the giants, no to the drow. But I am not planning on doing Against the Giants.