Giving C&C another look

[tankschmidt]

To my mind, C&C is kind of a via media of D&D. It's the middle road, from which you can easily pull in elements from various editions, house rule and tweak, et cetera. I think that's a huge strength, and also the reason it seems to draw fire from both ends of the "D&D spectrum" (i.e. many old-school fans find it too much like 3E, and many 3E fans find it too much like earlier editions). I think it's an excellent choice for situations like Reynard's, where you have some players who aren't comfortable going with AD&D, but are willing to give C&C a try. And it's a good fit for anyone else that likes the "via media" position of the system, on its own merits.

That's an interesting point. Let me add that in addition to being a middle ground between AD&D and D&D 3.x, I think C&C also fills a niche between the simplicity of Classic (Moldvay or Mentzer) D&D and the greater options available in AD&D. You get a two-tiered alignment system, race separate from class, material components to spells, and AD&D-style hit dice, but you avoid so much of the rules and the tables found in AD&D that in practice the game runs at a pace closer to that of Classic D&D. Of course, that just might be my experience.

 

[Dragonhelm]

To my mind, C&C is kind of a via media of D&D. It's the middle road, from which you can easily pull in elements from various editions, house rule and tweak, et cetera. I think that's a huge strength, and also the reason it seems to draw fire from both ends of the "D&D spectrum" (i.e. many old-school fans find it too much like 3E, and many 3E fans find it too much like earlier editions).

This is, IMO, one of C&C's greatest strengths, and one that many C&C fans don't utilize as often as they should. C&C should be the middle ground where D&D fans from all ends of the spectrum can meet up. It's a system that, while complete, lends well to using elements from various other editions of D&D. So, for example, if you want to use the equipment from the 2e Arms & Equipment guide alongside 3e's skills and feats, no problem.

Of course, any edition of D&D can be houseruled. I just think C&C lends itself to house ruling a little better than most. One's mileage may vary, of course.

There are some C&C fans who hold onto the idea that C&C is strictly an old-school game. While it can certainly be used as such, I again see this as a great middle ground. If, for example, you want to play Eberron but you want to simplify things a bit, C&C would work just fine.

C&C is a great middle ground not only for combat, but also for conversions. An AD&D module can be run by making conversions on the fly. Spells from 3e can convert easily.

And so on and so forth. Please note that I'm not saying that C&C is the only system that lends itself to conversions. One can convert to any system they like. I just find it to be a nice playground where my old school and my new school can get together and have some fun.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

This is, IMO, one of C&C's greatest strengths, and one that many C&C fans don't utilize as often as they should. C&C should be the middle ground where D&D fans from all ends of the spectrum can meet up. It's a system that, while complete, lends well to using elements from various other editions of D&D. So, for example, if you want to use the equipment from the 2e Arms & Equipment guide alongside 3e's skills and feats, no problem.

Of course, any edition of D&D can be houseruled. I just think C&C lends itself to house ruling a little better than most. One's mileage may vary, of course.

There are some C&C fans who hold onto the idea that C&C is strictly an old-school game. While it can certainly be used as such, I again see this as a great middle ground. If, for example, you want to play Eberron but you want to simplify things a bit, C&C would work just fine.

C&C is a great middle ground not only for combat, but also for conversions. An AD&D module can be run by making conversions on the fly. Spells from 3e can convert easily.

And so on and so forth. Please note that I'm not saying that C&C is the only system that lends itself to conversions. One can convert to any system they like. I just find it to be a nice playground where my old school and my new school can get together and have some fun.

Very well said!

 

[Treebore]

I concur. C&C allows me to use whatever I want from any edition of D&D with the greatest of ease. I get to use feats the way I want, I get to use skills the way I want, I get to use whichever version of a class that I like, and can build new classes in short order (when the CKG comes out everyone else will be able to do so as well).

So for me C&C allows me to use the best of every edition, and of Paladium, and GURPS, and Saavage Worlds, and Arcana Unearthed, and Iron Heroes, and pretty much any other system that has something I like. Plus it all stays simple and fast. Granted, if I threw everything I wanted into my house rules it would slow down, but C&C is just about as perfect as I could want a system to be.

My house C&C system has the things I like from every system, and I look forward to see if 4E gives me something different to add.

I wouldn't bother doing all of this with any other rules set.