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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnSnow" data-source="post: 2412208" data-attributes="member: 32164">And that, boys and girls, is why it's dangerous to houserule in extra skills...:\ I'm going to post the same comment here I posted in the Dancey thread, cuz I think it's relevant.I REALLY wanted to like Castles & Crusades, because the prep time for 3e is daunting for me as well, and I sort of miss that "1st Edition Feel." However, as both a player and a DM, I find C&C to be "incomplete." I guess this comes down to personality types. I prefer giving detailed descriptions of things that I know about. Let me make the point by way of an example.As an improv actor at the Ren Faire, I have to "extemporize" things ALL the time. If I have to make something up out of whole cloth, I stink at it. But give me something to hang my creativity on and I can be really creative. I grant this is just me. I have friends who are perfectly good at coming up with bits out of thin air. Not all of them are as good at incorporating new things as I am, but that's why we work well together.For me and my form of creativity, the 3e rules provide the "hooks" I need for MY form of creativity. By contrast, the C&C (and 1e AD&D) ones fall short. However, I'm terribly frustrated by all the "balancing" and "stacking" issues - I've mentioned I hate the 3e magic system, right?That's why I'm looking forward to Iron Heroes. I know Mearls has addressed the spell system and "magic items as power-ups" issues. The Feat Mastery System and the skill groups should make feat and skill selection a lot more straight-forward. And some of the things he's added to the game are about giving people (both players and GMs) more "hooks" of the kind I like to have. That all sounds like it will really appeal to me. Of course, for those who prefer making things up with less guidance, it's probably not the system for them.So that's what it really comes down to - personal preference. Some of us like extra rules to spark our creativity, and others find those rules inhibiting. Now I don't know why people can't just ignore rules they don't like, but that may be me. Maybe the issue is that too many of the 3e rules seem "central" to the system, so people feel uneasy about taking them out. If there's a message there for the 4e design team, it appears to be "give us more 'behind the curtain' blurbs so we know what effect our changes will have on the game." The release of Unearthed Arcana was a real good step in this direction, IMO. For example, tell us what effect removing skills has on the power of rogues in the game, or what effect giving characters max ranks in all their class skills has, and so forth.But that's just my opinion.</blockquote>

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