Castles & Crusades: Converting a campaign?

[Captain Howdy]

I am going to be DMing a fresh campaign in a couple months, as my group will our year long Shackled City campaign. I am going to be running a more old school style game, set in the Wilderlands. I have been looking at Castles and Crusades, and I am interested in using that rules set for the campaign, but I have some worries.

I haven't read any of the rules in depth, but I hear that converting any edition of D&D to C&C is pretty simple. Is this true? I have a bunch of adventures that I plan on running, and I don't have a lot of time to convert them all to a new rules set unless it will be quick. How easy is it to convert monsters/NPCs, combat rules, and traps from 3.5 to C&C? Also, if it is as easy to convert old editions of D&D, does that mean that I will be possible to use old adventures in the campaign? Say for example, running Tomb of Abysthor (3ed) and follow it with something older like Against the Giants, and have it be seamless...

The low price of the books is really begging me to buy them, but my FLGS doesn't have any copies to look through, and I want to be sure I can use the system.

So, how practical would it be to convert a ton of adventures (including Rappan Athuk, which is a beast) from D&D 3.5 to C&C? Also, all but one of my players has never played another system besides d20 D&D. Will it be hard to learn C&C, or is it similar enough that they shouldn't have trouble?

 

[VorpalBunny]

I haven't read any of the rules in depth, but I hear that converting any edition of D&D to C&C is pretty simple. Is this true? I have a bunch of adventures that I plan on running, and I don't have a lot of time to convert them all to a new rules set unless it will be quick. How easy is it to convert monsters/NPCs, combat rules, and traps from 3.5 to C&C?

Converting from 3.5 to C&C is slightly more difficult the from 1st edition to C&C but it's still pretty easy. Just drop the skills & feats, if there's armor involved change the AC to reflect C&C's armor bonuses, change any attribute bonuses/penalties (if needed) and determine the prime attribute(s).

Also, if it is as easy to convert old editions of D&D, does that mean that I will be possible to use old adventures in the campaign? Say for example, running Tomb of Abysthor (3ed) and follow it with something older like Against the Giants, and have it be seamless...

When I bought the C&C PHB I ran Village of Hommlet as a play test with 3 minutes preparation - and it was great.

So, how practical would it be to convert a ton of adventures (including Rappan Athuk, which is a beast) from D&D 3.5 to C&C? Also, all but one of my players has never played another system besides d20 D&D. Will it be hard to learn C&C, or is it similar enough that they shouldn't have trouble?

Like I said, 3.5 to C&C takes a bit more work than AD&D to C&C, but it's definitely doable. If your player is familiar with d20, it should be a breeze to pick up C&C.

 

[radferth]

Converting d20 to C&C would be just a bit easier than converting d20 to 1st ed, as C&C has a built-in challenge level dynamic that makes the DC conversion easier. The conversion only gets complicated if you want to convert an NPC or monster that has special d20 abilities (like some AoO thing), and you want to keep that special ability when you bring the creature to C&C. As long as you just convert guys to their C&C conterparts (e.g. 4th level d20 fighter becomes a 4th level C&C fighter) rather than trying to bring over all the feats and such, it works just fine.

 

[Treebore]

Its easy enough that after you do a few you'll do the rest in your head (unless you have serious problems with basic math).

Check out cncplayer.net

Plus we'll be happy to give you any extra help and advice at the forums linked to the Trolls website.

 

[RFisher]

My groups have always done conversion on-the-fly between any systems without much difficulty. Just look up the stats for the same--or similar--monster in the new system's books. Or find something vaguely similar & make minor adjustments. Or just make up all the numbers (as you start to become more conversant with the new system).

One of the big advantages of this is that you can also adjust on-the-fly. If you do it all up front & then, after a couple of encounters, discover you conversion methodology was slightly wonky, you may have to ignore a lot of work you've done.

But, while on-the-fly has worked for myself & the other GMs I've played with, it may not work for you. YMMV.

With C&C it's all about the challenge level. Pick a "threat level" for the region/dungeon level & use that as your default challenge level for most rolls. Adjust up or down a point or two occasionally depending upon the situation & just to keep things interesting. (Heck, you can use this to wing a whole adventure w/o converting from a module.)

Also, if you're converting from d20 to C&C, I'd advise not trying to convert every skill check. Many things that a d20 module will call for a skill check on don't really warrant a roll, because the chance of failure (or success) shouldn't really be so great. It makes some sense to have more rolls in d20 because you want the players to feel like the ranks they put in their skills were worth while. In a system like C&C that doesn't have all those skills, though, just rule it a success or failure as appropriate & keep the game moving.

For me, e.g., this is especially true of Search checks. Unless something has been intentionally well hidden, any search should find it.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Everyone else has already answered you, so I won't repeat it all, other than to say that I agree that conversion is simple, and that RFisher gives some great advice. (Incidentally, check out his web-site about classic D&D -- much of what he says, there, applies to C&C, too.) Going from 3E to C&C, there might be a tendency for you to import 3E-isms into the game; my advice is to exercise restraint on that, and give the system a chance before doing any major tinkering. IMO, C&C is as its best when you embrace its design philosophy (on the other hand, "the rules are your servant, not your master" is part of that philosophy).

Lastly, I just wanted to say that I think a C&C Wilderlands campaign including elements like Tomb of Abysthor, Against the Giants, and Rappan Athuk sounds like mega-fun.

 

[Captain Howdy]

Thanks guys. I am going to go ahead and pick up the books. You convinced me (along with other factors such as Zygag and the upcoming Wilderlands supplements). Hopefully it works out. I am looking forward to playing a simpler game.

Lastly, I just wanted to say that I think a C&C Wilderlands campaign including elements like Tomb of Abysthor, Against the Giants, and Rappan Athuk sounds like mega-fun.

Thanks! Hopefully my players think so, too.

 

[Dragonhelm]

I don't have much to add beyond the above. I used a slightly modified C&C system for my game and did some conversions on the fly from a d20 module, and it worked nicely.

One thing I did to balance things out was to cut down on the attacks of the bad guys/monsters to a number similar to what C&C has. I was worried about the difference in power level at first, but it turned out to be okay.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Thanks guys. I am going to go ahead and pick up the books. You convinced me (along with other factors such as Zygag and the upcoming Wilderlands supplements). Hopefully it works out. I am looking forward to playing a simpler game.

If you haven't already, make sure you swing by the Troll Lord forums; there's also some good C&C discussion over at the Dragonsfoot forums.

I have Castle Zagyg Vol 1: Yggsburgh, which is excellent. I'm looking forward to the release of the first boxed set, which will detail the upper ruins of Castle Zagyg, and the first few dungeon levels. The Troll Lords just announced a release date of August 2007.

 

[Treebore]

Yep, and they better be on time with this one.