Tell me about your Castles and Crusades adventures!

[Maliki]

Nomad4life

I've run 6 sessions now and my players are loving it, it is much simpler and faster than 3.0/3.5. Characters are archtypes, each class has a set of class abilities, and there is little room to customize them. Rangers are rangers, fighters are fighters, etc. The C&C system is designed to easily allow houserules(so you may add anything you like from other systems.).


Kravell

There is a free module on the TLG website, that would work for a starting adventure, or any of the "classics" like Keep on the Borderlands. Just about any BD&D, 1st or 2nd edition module can be used as is with minor adjustments(flipping AC). When Castle Zagyg is released it should serve as an excellent campaign setting. It is a smallish area 30+miles by 40+miles. It can easily be expanded as the CK(DM) wishes.

 

[cuchulainkevin]

I just have run 2 sessions of C&C and I have to say that the experience has been great for my players and myself. The system is easy to learn, plays fast, and lends itself well to conversions of earlier D7D material. In fact, I could run a D7D module using the C&C siege engine system "on the fly" as it were.

I've been taking my players through B1-3 (merged together into a super mod) and then bringing them into the temple of elemental evil. Both the players and myself are excited about running the old "classic" mods as well as Castle Zagyg from Gary Gygax, when it comes out in March.

In all I'd have to say that I highly reccommend this game system.

Peace
Morty

 

[Akrasia]

I ran an involved 3e campaign last year (March 2004-January 2005). During that time, I also ran two 'one shot' C&C adventures (when one player could not make our regular game), and really liked it as a DM. I won't go into detail as to the reasons why I preferred to DM C&C (see my review at RPG.net for that: http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11008.phtml ), but suffice to say I decided to switch my campaign once I had the chance.

In January the old campaign wound down (as the main plot line came to an end). I switched my homebrew setting over to C&C, advanced the world by 26 years, and started up a new group.

Everyone is now running a first level character again (2 of whom have very strong connections to characters in the old party -- one is the son of a former PC, the other is the former apprentice of a powerful wizard that extensively helped the old party).

The pace is much faster, and everyone seems to be having a great time. We have had 4 sessions so far. For the initial batch of adventures, I am been using modified versions of the old B1 (In Search of the Unknown) and B2 (Keep on the Borderlands) modules, and they are working well. I also plan to run the OAD&D UK 2-4 series, before moving on to the main 'plot' of the new campaign. In general, using OD&D/OAD&D modules is very easy.

Have fun!

 

[Charles Dunwoody]

Sounds great. I'm going to run Expedition to the Barrier Peaks tonight for a friend I gamed with in college and three of my regular players. I can hardly wait.

One thing I've noticed that I like about C&C is that you can have hordes of monsters. Like lots of vegepygmies running around with blasters for instance. They have a chance to hit even 12th level characters in C&C which allows for a wider range and number of monsters.

Plus I get to use archaic and cryptic flowcharts to determine mishaps with any blasters or autoshavers found. Like 1st Edition Gamma World and D&D put together.

I haven't been this excited about gaming since 3rd edition came out 5 years ago!

 

[Mythmere1]

Sounds great. I'm going to run Expedition to the Barrier Peaks tonight for a friend I gamed with in college and three of my regular players. I can hardly wait.

One thing I've noticed that I like about C&C is that you can have hordes of monsters. Like lots of vegepygmies running around with blasters for instance. They have a chance to hit even 12th level characters in C&C which allows for a wider range and number of monsters.

Plus I get to use archaic and cryptic flowcharts to determine mishaps with any blasters or autoshavers found. Like 1st Edition Gamma World and D&D put together.

I haven't been this excited about gaming since 3rd edition came out 5 years ago!

Best of luck on Barrier Peaks!
BTW, I noticed that Amazon has only two copies left in stock ...

 

[Breakdaddy]

Hey, when you get a chance give us an update on how your barrier peaks expedition went, I'd love to hear about it.

 

[Von Ether]

Please promise me something ...

Those that say C&C promotes role-playing are not the same people saying they're running old style D&D modules. I know everyone has different experiences, but all of my exp. with these mods have been pure dungeon crawls -- little if any role-playing in between fighting monsters that had no logical reason for being where and when they were.

On the other hand C&C is probably one of the better buys on the market. I was impressed for what you get for $20.

 

[Treebore]

Von Ether,

I have run lots of old modules. Yeah, they weren't written to promote roleplaying, but I as the DM have always made it happen. Even Tomb of horrors had role playing, because I allowed the demi-lich to talk while sucking their souls out of their bodies. Lost Caverns of Tsocanth, lots of roleplaying as intelligent monsters/demons/vampiress' taunted them. The players hunted the ones that got away as if they were rabid dogs.

That is why Lich Lords was so fun. They were so confident of their ultimate victory every single one of the liches took time to taunt the party. Telling them how they were helpless cattle about to be slaughtered. Most of them were, and the Lich Lords took over the world every time I ran that module. But the players wanted to roll up new characters to get back at those bass terds. Of course that module does suggest the DM allow the party to negotiate with the respective liches, because turning the liches against each other is the only chance for victory any party has. Of course the players got ticked off so quickly they never tried to negotiate.

Any module is what you, as the DM, allow it to be for your players. Whether C&C or any version of D&D, or any RPG.

 

[Akrasia]

Please promise me something ...

Those that say C&C promotes role-playing are not the same people saying they're running old style D&D modules. I know everyone has different experiences, but all of my exp. with these mods have been pure dungeon crawls -- little if any role-playing in between fighting monsters that had no logical reason for being where and when they were.

On the other hand C&C is probably one of the better buys on the market. I was impressed for what you get for $20.

Why should I promise you something so absurd as this? :\

Read the UK2-4 series (or the U1-3 series, or X4-5, or...) , and try to tell me that those modules are not built for role-playing (and smart players)!

Sure many OAD&D modules were simple dungeon crawls. But even B2, with the many diverse citizens of the Keep, had great potential for role-playing.

In any case, the 'bare bones' approach of many OAD&D modules, by not 'railroading' PCs down a certain path, were actually quite conducive to lots of improvisation and role-playing with the right group. That certainly was -- and is -- my experience.

In short, I cannot promise to live up to your narrow stereotype. Sorry.

 

[Von Ether]

In any case, the 'bare bones' approach of many OAD&D modules, by not 'railroading' PCs down a certain path, were actually quite conducive to lots of improvisation and role-playing with the right group. That certainly was -- and is -- my experience.

In short, I cannot promise to live up to your narrow stereotype. Sorry.

I didn't say "promise that if you do run old modules then don't role play." LOL! Life's amazing how people can see the same thing so many different ways. Like for me.

*My GM's never went beyond bare bones descriptions and the old mods still ran off of kill and gold XPs, prompting the "kill and take stuff" paradigm.
*I personaly see dungeon-based modules as HUGE maze-shaped railroad adventures. I mean you literally have to engage the adventure from a cetain location and leave at a certain location. The encounters in the game WILL happen, it just depends on the order.
*Many of the type of subplots (urban based and court intruge) and PC concepts (spies and diplomacy) I like go on hold as I adventure in some dusty ruins somewhere.

On the other hand, the style of games I like could be done in C&C ... once I figure out how to convert other races and d20 stuff to the game (Is there going to be a scifi C&C soon? LOL!)

The best game I ran was d20 Farscape. I designed several NPC with plots and accomplices in tow on a few different worlds. The PC decided where to land and who to talk to. Sometimes they ran out of town when the heat got to hot. Sometimes they were chased from planet to planet and then bumped into more people and more trouble. Other times, they could decide to go back and pick up something they left off. It was all up to them. The biggest negative is that sometimes they'd get "decision paralysis" because they had so many choices and they kept looking at me to clue them in on the "right direction."

As far as bare bones go. I come from the "give me more, I'll blithely ignore what I don't like." I've never understood why people felt nailed down to what's on the page. I ran a d20 Castle Falkenstein game with HALF of 3.0 PHB for months. The campaign was mostly role-play so I needed NPC with classes, not monsters. I've never liked slot magic, so I made up my own skill-based magic system that cribbed from the original CF system. Now adays, the drow don't exist in my pulp-style Eberron for my game. They've been replaced by talking apes who live in a high-tech city.

And I agree it's all relative, I've played the Slaver series in both editions and both where drawn out dungeon crawls thanks to the GM.