Just discovered Castles and Crusades

[Warpiglet-7]

Yeah he was working on a product Castle Xygag (sp?) with Jeffrey Talanian (of Hyperborea fame). The product (I think) only had two releases before ill health ended the project.
When I met Gygax he was at the Troll Lord booth at GenCon promoting this. I still cherish the signed copy I got.

I am such a dumb ass. I saw him in a booth at Gen con and had my 1st edition phb with me….

And did not want to bother him? Wtf?! I had social anxiety when I was younger. Live and learn. That was my one chance.

That is cool! Hold onto that history! I am a big Gygax fan.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is the aesthetic I have been missing…looked like some Gygax involvement in the past too? Bonus points for me then.

As much as Gygax handed off the torch to anyone before he died, it was the Troll Lords. Sadly, his Zagyg stuff is no longer available.

 

[Retreater]

I am such a dumb ass. I saw him in a booth at Gen con and had my 1st edition phb with me….

And did not want to bother him? Wtf?! I had social anxiety when I was younger. Live and learn. That was my one chance.

I was playing a board game event with some friends, and I was having a bad time. I decided to skip out, leaving after an hour under the guise of "going to be the bathroom." Instead I walked the Vendor Hall and unexpectedly came across Gygax at a table. Surprisingly, hordes of gamers were walking past him. So I approached, had a short but pleasant conversation and got his autograph.
My friends played a 5 hour mediocre boardgame event, and I met a legend in the industry at what was one of his final appearances. That was a good moment.
I might be waxing nostalgic, but I'm forever appreciative of the Trolls (and also Goodman and others) for preserving the legacy and history of the game, for giving us an opportunity to meet these people, for getting new material (or just updates) from these designers.

 

[Nikosandros]

As much as Gygax handed off the torch to anyone before he died, it was the Troll Lords. Sadly, his Xagyg stuff is no longer available.

I'm glad that I was able to buy a copy back then. Sadly, there's no PDF available, but I cherish my boxed set.

 

[Charles Lowry]

We got our Session 0/1 in today. Three players and all created martial class type characters. Ran a quick session to help get us all get accustomed to the rules. A couple things that will require a bit more review on my part:

- The PCs did not utilize ranged weapons and the combats appeared to be a bit of a scrum in the middle; the flanking attack option seemed to gain a bit more attention than other options (and the players quickly discovered the value of ranged attacks). With no spellcasters (which kind of surprised me honestly), I think they created a bit of a lopsided party, but if they are happy running those characters, I can adjust the game accordingly to what they will have fun with.
-They all made non Human character and having only two primary abilities cropped up often. Skill checks seem quite difficult with level one characters, especially when rolling abilities with a 3d6 mechanic (a +1 ability was a big deal within the group).

However, it was a lot of fun and we scheduled our next session later this week. With that, I'll consider our first attempt with Castles & Crusades a success.

 

[Jahydin]

Glad you had fun!
I'll try and throw out some tips off the top of my head.

- The PCs did not utilize ranged weapons and the combats appeared to be a bit of a scrum in the middle; the flanking attack option seemed to gain a bit more attention than other options (and the players quickly discovered the value of ranged attacks). With no spellcasters (which kind of surprised me honestly), I think they created a bit of a lopsided party, but if they are happy running those characters, I can adjust the game accordingly to what they will have fun with.

Sounds like my 5E players. Are you and your players used to "OSR style" combat? The importance of tactics before battle rather than during takes some getting used to, especially at low-levels.

Oh, and during play, instead of just utilizing the combat options in the book, have them narrate specifically what their character is doing and hand out bonuses on the fly if clever. I find that it makes things more engaging and exciting than just narrating vanilla attack rolls, especially since misses come up often.

And speaking of misses, make sure to not narrate them all as single swings that completely whiff! Most "misses" are incredibly skilled back and forth with no one landing a fatal blow after all.

-They all made non Human character and having only two primary abilities cropped up often. Skill checks seem quite difficult with level one characters, especially when rolling abilities with a 3d6 mechanic (a +1 ability was a big deal within the group).

As a DM in C&C, if you're thinking, "Hmmm, don't think that's going to happen, but I'll give you a shot." to a player's action, that's when you make skill rolls. If it's anything easier/much harder, than you're better off narrating with common sense. Makes the game run lightening quick while establishing credibility.

For instance, if the Rouge and the lightly-armored Fighter wants to climb a tall tree, much more fun to just narrate how the Rouge whips up the branches at lighting speed while the Fighter lags behind. Now if it's raining hard at night, maybe it's more fun to let the Rouge succeed automatically (they can climb "impossible surfaces" after all), but make the Fighter roll a check. If the Fighter is in heavy armor, you might just say, "No".

 

[Jahydin]

Oh, and pretty soon you'll certainly be drafting your own houserules. Please post them here when you do!

I'm always interested in the unique ways people play the game.

 

[Charles Lowry]

Glad you had fun!
I'll try and throw out some tips off the top of my head.


Sounds like my 5E players. Are you and your players used to "OSR style" combat? The importance of tactics before battle rather than during takes some getting used to, especially at low-levels.

Oh, and during play, instead of just utilizing the combat options in the book, have them narrate specifically what their character is doing and hand out bonuses on the fly if clever. I find that it makes things more engaging and exciting than just narrating vanilla attack rolls, especially since misses come up often.

And speaking of misses, make sure to not narrate them all as single swings that completely whiff! Most "misses" are incredibly skilled back and forth with no one landing a fatal blow after all.


As a DM in C&C, if you're thinking, "Hmmm, don't think that's going to happen, but I'll give you a shot." to a player's action, that's when you make skill rolls. If it's anything easier/much harder, than you're better off narrating with common sense. Makes the game run lightening quick while establishing credibility.

For instance, if the Rouge and the lightly-armored Fighter wants to climb a tall tree, much more fun to just narrate how the Rouge whips up the branches at lighting speed while the Fighter lags behind. Now if it's raining hard at night, maybe it's more fun to let the Rouge succeed automatically (they can climb "impossible surfaces" after all), but make the Fighter roll a check. If the Fighter is in heavy armor, you might just say, "No".

We used minis and we discovered as models were placed, the flanking bonus became apparent popular as we all looked at the combat maneuvers. They also quickly learned the value of ranged combat when they got pinned down and had to weather direct fire to get out of LOS.

I do think I may have relied a bit too much on ability checks rather than just make the decision. Good point for sure.

 

[amethal]

Like 90% of the time you should just be playing it like AD&D, but for the instances you really wish AD&D had skill rolls... that's when you use SIEGE. I prefer this since it makes the game go faster and avoids constant goofy skill scenarios (like 5E can get).

That's a great way of describing it. I'll definitely be stealing that if I ever get the chance to pitch a C&C campaign to my group.

 

[Jahydin]

@Charles Lowry
Oh, and almost forgot. Take a look at the optional Tertiary Attribute rule in the CKG. I think this single rule goes a long way in making the game more enjoyable, especially if you're running lots of demi-humans.

It lets humans have 3 Prime attributes (CB 12), 2 Secondary (CB 15) and 1 Tertiary (CB 18).
Demi-humans get 2 Prime, 2 Secondary, and 2 Tertiary.

Not only does it make checks a little easier, but also helps differentiate PCs a little more.