I am not a fan of C&C. I was highly intrigued when I first heard about it. The idea of pulling a lot of extraneous stuff out of 3.x and creating a version of 1E/2E with the d20 rules appealed to me (as much as I love my 1E, I do understand that a lot of people don't like many of the esoteric and just plain wonky subsystems). Then I read C&C and -- after my eyes healed from the layout -- realized that while they started to do just that, they got "creative" and added a whole bunch of wonkiness of their own, ruining -- in my mind -- the attempt.
So, if you were going to take the SRD and convert it to emulate 1E, how would you do it?
The first thing I would do is kill feats and skills entirely. These things are unnecessary and actually detract from the game. (Feats aren't so bad in the core PHB, I suppose, but once you start stacking supplements, they get in the way -- and skills aren't in the least bit necessary.) Skill info would be subsumed into the "DM miscelenary" section of the DMG -- jumping, climbing, crafting etc... would get a looser treatment, with Stat plus 1/2 level or somesuch providing the bonus. Likewise, PrCs in all forms would be out the door.
Stats need some reworking. Assuming you are using one of the traditional 6 character rolling methods, having linear stat bonuses doesn't make any sense. Of course, making stat checks with a d20 in the old system didn't make sense either -- you only had something on the order of a 1% chance of having a natural 18 in a stat, but a 15% chance of failure using it. The easy fix -- which I am planning to implement in my 1E game -- is to simply do stat checks on a 3d6. But if you are going with d20 +/- mods, the stat modifier would have to be adjusted to reflect the probabilities of having the stat in the first place.
Saves are good in the SRD. Although there's some charm to dividing saves into unique little categories, the 3.x saves make a lot more sense and can be applied more consistently and more easily.
The races are good as is (though I always want to excise punters of all types from the game) though halflings would go back to being hobbit-types as opposed to kender-types. Where there's skill bonuses, there'd be flat bonuses to rolls for finding secret doors, etc... (which would be covered in the DMG). Of course, race/class restrictions would be implemented, with slightly less arbitrary level limits.
For the most part, the classes are acceptable, though some get abilities too quickly or have abilities that are too srong. I'd drop the sorcerer entirely, as spells/day resource management is an important factor in old school D&D, and probably nerf the druid a whole bunch. Each class would have its own experience chart, though I would try and come up with progressions that made some kind of sense (as opposed to the pure randomness that is 1E). Thieves -- NOT rogues -- would go back to having a spcific set of skills that increase at a set rate. Slowed down a little, using the sneak attack progression for backstab would work fine. All classes would have a cut off point for hit dice and a set number after that. Hit point inflation is a huge problem in higher level 3.x -- along with power inflation -- and hurts the game. Hit points are a fundamental part of the whole resource management aspect of the game and if they never stop increasing dramatically, it is harder and harder to make use of them as such.
Multiclassing would likely best work as it does in 1E -- though I am tempted even in 1E to either up the single class race/level restriction or to drop the max level for multiclased characters, probably the former. You'd progress simultaneously as opposed to in turn.
Combat would need a decent overhaul to pull the battlemat and minis out, without negating the possibility of using it. 1E recognized that some people didn't like minis, and other people would kill you before giving up their tiny pewter elf, lovingly handpainted. There'd be no grid, but inches and such would be expressed to allow for some form of battlemat based play.
Monsters would mostly require clean-up. Ability scores, feats and skills could all just be excised from the stat blocks. I kind of like "typed" abilities and how it ties to a couple subsystems in the game. I also like DR instead of simple hit/no-hit. On a lot of creatures, hit dice and damage potential would have to be toned down in order to make sure they lined up with the same limitations on PCs.
The hardest part would be the magic system. I don't have a problem with the increased utility of spellcasters at lower levels. However, many spells were changed in ways that alters their use in the game and therefore conflicts with the "old school" playstyle. Sorcerers are out because resource management, again, is key, and "preparation" would go back to "memorization", including longer memorization times for higher level spells. Making good choices about what you memorize for that days' delving is one of the most important things for the player of a wizard. Also, a lot of overpowered revised or newfangled spells would have to get revised or excised.
Things that state certainties about what PCs should have or be capable of at certain levels would be out the door. Wealth by level and the CR system are at the top of that list. Codified rules regarding encounters, treasure and such take power out of the DM's hands and put it in the players', which is counter to the nature of the old school style. DMs should be free to run their campaigns as they wish, with players free to tell him to go take a walk if he is doing a poor job or being a jerk.
XP awards would be lowered and based on the creatures in question -- with the ever present caveat that all XP awards, increases or deacreses are subject to DM fiat. There is something very wrong if a PC can gain 2nd level by defeating a total of 8 orcs. XP for GPs is fine so long as the 1E guidelines are followed -- a GP is only worth an XP if the total monster XP is the same as or greater than the total monster XP. if it is less, the XP reward for treasure gained is reduced accordingly.
Am I forgetting anything?
So, if you were going to take the SRD and convert it to emulate 1E, how would you do it?
The first thing I would do is kill feats and skills entirely. These things are unnecessary and actually detract from the game. (Feats aren't so bad in the core PHB, I suppose, but once you start stacking supplements, they get in the way -- and skills aren't in the least bit necessary.) Skill info would be subsumed into the "DM miscelenary" section of the DMG -- jumping, climbing, crafting etc... would get a looser treatment, with Stat plus 1/2 level or somesuch providing the bonus. Likewise, PrCs in all forms would be out the door.
Stats need some reworking. Assuming you are using one of the traditional 6 character rolling methods, having linear stat bonuses doesn't make any sense. Of course, making stat checks with a d20 in the old system didn't make sense either -- you only had something on the order of a 1% chance of having a natural 18 in a stat, but a 15% chance of failure using it. The easy fix -- which I am planning to implement in my 1E game -- is to simply do stat checks on a 3d6. But if you are going with d20 +/- mods, the stat modifier would have to be adjusted to reflect the probabilities of having the stat in the first place.
Saves are good in the SRD. Although there's some charm to dividing saves into unique little categories, the 3.x saves make a lot more sense and can be applied more consistently and more easily.
The races are good as is (though I always want to excise punters of all types from the game) though halflings would go back to being hobbit-types as opposed to kender-types. Where there's skill bonuses, there'd be flat bonuses to rolls for finding secret doors, etc... (which would be covered in the DMG). Of course, race/class restrictions would be implemented, with slightly less arbitrary level limits.
For the most part, the classes are acceptable, though some get abilities too quickly or have abilities that are too srong. I'd drop the sorcerer entirely, as spells/day resource management is an important factor in old school D&D, and probably nerf the druid a whole bunch. Each class would have its own experience chart, though I would try and come up with progressions that made some kind of sense (as opposed to the pure randomness that is 1E). Thieves -- NOT rogues -- would go back to having a spcific set of skills that increase at a set rate. Slowed down a little, using the sneak attack progression for backstab would work fine. All classes would have a cut off point for hit dice and a set number after that. Hit point inflation is a huge problem in higher level 3.x -- along with power inflation -- and hurts the game. Hit points are a fundamental part of the whole resource management aspect of the game and if they never stop increasing dramatically, it is harder and harder to make use of them as such.
Multiclassing would likely best work as it does in 1E -- though I am tempted even in 1E to either up the single class race/level restriction or to drop the max level for multiclased characters, probably the former. You'd progress simultaneously as opposed to in turn.
Combat would need a decent overhaul to pull the battlemat and minis out, without negating the possibility of using it. 1E recognized that some people didn't like minis, and other people would kill you before giving up their tiny pewter elf, lovingly handpainted. There'd be no grid, but inches and such would be expressed to allow for some form of battlemat based play.
Monsters would mostly require clean-up. Ability scores, feats and skills could all just be excised from the stat blocks. I kind of like "typed" abilities and how it ties to a couple subsystems in the game. I also like DR instead of simple hit/no-hit. On a lot of creatures, hit dice and damage potential would have to be toned down in order to make sure they lined up with the same limitations on PCs.
The hardest part would be the magic system. I don't have a problem with the increased utility of spellcasters at lower levels. However, many spells were changed in ways that alters their use in the game and therefore conflicts with the "old school" playstyle. Sorcerers are out because resource management, again, is key, and "preparation" would go back to "memorization", including longer memorization times for higher level spells. Making good choices about what you memorize for that days' delving is one of the most important things for the player of a wizard. Also, a lot of overpowered revised or newfangled spells would have to get revised or excised.
Things that state certainties about what PCs should have or be capable of at certain levels would be out the door. Wealth by level and the CR system are at the top of that list. Codified rules regarding encounters, treasure and such take power out of the DM's hands and put it in the players', which is counter to the nature of the old school style. DMs should be free to run their campaigns as they wish, with players free to tell him to go take a walk if he is doing a poor job or being a jerk.
XP awards would be lowered and based on the creatures in question -- with the ever present caveat that all XP awards, increases or deacreses are subject to DM fiat. There is something very wrong if a PC can gain 2nd level by defeating a total of 8 orcs. XP for GPs is fine so long as the 1E guidelines are followed -- a GP is only worth an XP if the total monster XP is the same as or greater than the total monster XP. if it is less, the XP reward for treasure gained is reduced accordingly.
Am I forgetting anything?
