...

[MoxieFu]

The biggest thing that makes C&C what it is is called the SEIGE Engine and 5E doesn't use it. The SE is used in task resolution and you basically decide which ability scores are your "Prime" or primary ability scores. Your first one is determined by what class you chose, Fighter = Strengths for example. Non-Humans choose one more ability and Humans get two more for a total of three.

Also C&C does NOT use feats.

There are also several other smaller things where C&C is not like 1e or 3e. I suspect it was to avoid copyright issues, such as initiative and encumbrance.

As mentioned earlier one of the best things about it is that you can use just about anything from 0E to 3E with very simple conversion. It's very easy to convert "on the fly".

The other thing I like about it is that it is so easy to house-rule. The sub-systems in it are fairly simple so it's easy to tinker.

 

[BluSponge]

Right now, I'm leaning more towards the opinion that there's a good chance that Mike and Monte didn't copy/paste the mechanics from C&C (the whole integrity thing). I do suspect that there's a good chance that C&C played an influence in the way that D&Dn became designed.

I suspect that 1st and 2nd edition was a stronger influence than C&C, just as that was C&C's main influence. I can almost guarantee you that DDn won't lift the core mechanic from C&C. Rather, it will probably follow the standard 3e DC scheme for the most part. Remember that 4e did the whole "add your level" thing, too, so incorporating that into the mix for DDn makes sense.

I found a copy of the C&C Player's Handbook (or whatever it's called), and I'll take some time to look through it, as I suspect the more I learn about it then the more I'll get an idea of what D&Dn might look like.

I don't think that's a good plan –only because when the dust settles I think the system behind DDn will be much more "robust" than the one behind C&C. I just don't think the developers at WotC will be able to help themselves. There may be some overlap, but only because both games are drawing from the same source.

However, if the seminar transcripts are a good indication, and if the developers can resist their base urges, there might be quite a few DDn modules that can easily be lifted for C&C games. Not really sure about vice-versa.

Tom

 

[Remathilis]

Well, with the 'using the ability scores for most everything' that we're hearing from the last seminar, it sure sounds like they took a lot of inspiration from Castles & Crusades which makes me wonder why I should buy D&DN when I already have C&C?

Books that come out on time might be one reason...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Books that come out on time might be one reason...

You seem to have missed a whole year of people gnashing their teeth and rending their garments about WotC's failure to deliver on products.

Considering that Troll Lords is basically two guys working part-time, I'd say they have a pretty good track record.

 

[Remathilis]

You seem to have missed a whole year of people gnashing their teeth and rending their garments about WotC's failure to deliver on products.

Considering that Troll Lords is basically two guys working part-time, I'd say they have a pretty good track record.

Probably; I was a Paizo groupie for a few years there.

That said, I really applaud TLG for their effort, it still did me no favors keeping me waiting for the the dang Castle Keeper's Guide for like 3-4 years?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

They're greased lightning compared to Eden Studios, whose slow pace apparently cost them the Buffy and Angel licenses (which is a damned shame, since the Watcher sourcebook and other stuff in the molasses-slow pipeline sounded awesome).

I will say, though, that the only C&C book I really wanted -- Classic Monsters -- is actually coming out on schedule, so I could certainly be overlooking the slower-paced ones. (I'll also pick up Adventurers Backpack later this year, but the only other book I really want, the C&C edition of the Book of Familiars, doesn't appear to be coming any time soon.)

 

[mach1.9pants]

Well, with the 'using the ability scores for most everything' that we're hearing from the last seminar, it sure sounds like they took a lot of inspiration from Castles & Crusades which makes me wonder why I should buy D&DN when I already have C&C?

One core mechanic the same does not make an entire game. And it may well be quite different from CnC in execution.
However with add-on modules I think it will be the same as (and as different to) CnC as pretty much most central types of DnD e.g. official DnD versions as well as Pathfinder and Fantasy Craft and True20 etc etc.

 

[TarionzCousin]

They are nothing alike: D&D is two completely different letters than C&C.

 

[M.L. Martin]

That said, I really applaud TLG for their effort, it still did me no favors keeping me waiting for the the dang Castle Keeper's Guide for like 3-4 years?

In fairness, that got leaked long before the Trolls wanted to announce it.

On the main topic, I hope to see a strong family resemblance, but D&DN will probably not be quite so 1E in its aesthetic and philosophy. The CKG's ramblings on the importance of equipment left me cold, for example, and I hope D&DN places less emphasis on that.

 

[Gort]

God, I hope not. I intended to run some C&C last weekend from a friend's books, and after reading some of it I just got bogged down in some of the old stuff that D&D used to do that sucks:

Rolled hitpoints - Haha, your fighter has 4 HP and there's nothing you did wrong!

Rolled ability scores - Haha, you're half as good as other characters and there's nothing you did wrong!

Rolled hitpoints for monsters - WHY

Healing takes eighty-five weeks or someone must play a cleric - OH GOD MAKE IT STOP

Fighters have a total of about four class features and wizards can memorise 73 different spells at a time - Alright, I give in. Maybe 1st ed wasn't all that good after all.