OSR Castles&Crusades Interview

[Jahydin]

Ultimately, I can't think of anything that C&C does that isn't done better by 5E. (And I'm not a 5E mega-fan.) If I consider 5E to be "mid" but still with better production values, editing, more streamlined play - ultimately, what am I saying about C&C?

Too funny, I actually switched over to C&C because I burned out of 5e. For me, C&C has better designed classes (especially Ranger), better combat math (since it's just AD&D numbers), and way better treasure write ups (gold cost, XP value, and what level to give it out at).

@GothmogIV
Always nice to hear the Trolls talk. C&C is still one of my favorite games to talk about, but I personally stopped playing when the "Reforged" editions came out because not only did they hard pivot from emulating AD&D, but they showed no interest cleaning up/updating their rules and adventurers. Now if I'm going to C&C, I'd probably use Chris Perkin's version, AD&D 3E (can be found on the Dragonsfoot forums).

For fun though, one of my last tweaks was to allow Fighters an extra Weapon Specializations equal to their Int Bonus.

 

[GothmogIV]

I thought the Reforged editions just stripped out the OGL stuff (I don't have them, so I'm not sure how they differ)?

 

[...m...]

...i don't play C+C but i do enjoy their worldbuilding; i collect all the aihrde books and i have most of their fifth-edition modules, which i can trivially run under any 5e variant of choice...

...i appreciate that the troll lords are out there doing their thing with a sustaining audience, but as others have noted, they're perennially just a strong editor + art (including layout) budget away from broad production appeal, so their books have to be read with a forgiving eye...their new trade dress looks fantastic, it's just between the covers that their budget shows its garage-operation roots...

...at a certain level, though, that earnest sincerity is part of their charm...

 

[Retreater]

Too funny, I actually switched over to C&C because I burned out of 5e. For me, C&C has better designed classes (especially Ranger), better combat math (since it's just AD&D numbers), and way better treasure write ups (gold cost, XP value, and what level to give it out at).

I'm not trying to disagree with you, because this is clearly a subjective point, but I'm curious why you say AD&D has better combat math.
Most people say that the old style games are great because they don't care about balance. So I'm wondering what you like about the math when it doesn't seem to be a goal of older style games?