The C&C poll

[Zulgyan]

In my case, I have converted my Lost City of Barakus Campaign from D&D 3.5 to C&C. We spend about an hour to convert the 5 PC characters. That's about 20 minutes per character and my players knew nothing about C&C and I had to explain it to them.

The conversion of the rest of the module was quite fast and easy.

 

[Dristram]

Everyone else -- if someone isn't obeying the rules here, report them. Do NOT argue with them and continue the argument. Doing so just worsens the problem, and causes you to break rules yourself.

If that is somehow unclear, please feel free to email me.

Gotcha PC. Seeing your name is like a flash from the past. Cool to see you're still around.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

The conversion of the rest of the module was quite fast and easy.

I find it trivially easy to convert pre-3E edition material to C&C (in-your-head on-the-fly easy). Low-level 3E material falls into that category, too. Higher level 3E material can require a bit more effort, but it still isn't hard. I'm using C&C, B/X, 1E, 2E, and 3E material in my C&C games. (I use a lot of 3E stuff from Necromancer Games and Goodman Games.)

 

[Treebore]

I find it trivially easy to convert pre-3E edition material to C&C (in-your-head on-the-fly easy). Low-level 3E material falls into that category, too. Higher level 3E material can require a bit more effort, but it still isn't hard. I'm using C&C, B/X, 1E, 2E, and 3E material in my C&C games. (I use a lot of 3E stuff from Necromancer Games and Goodman Games.)

When I convert 3E monsters to C&C I take the "cut away the fluff" and keep what makes the monster what I want it to be approach. So if I want it to keep a feat I call it a "monster ability", if I want it to keep a skill I keep it as a skill and its modifier is equal to its HD, just like all its saves and to hit bonuses. I change HP's to a power level commensurate with the challenge I want the party to have within the "power curve" of C&C. Pretty easy once you do it a few times.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Command & Conquer?

That's the only C&C that rings a bell to me, hence my choice.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I will agree that converting D20 stuff to C&C is a lot more work than older editions which are almost as easy as flipping the AC and assigning primes. With D20 you have to figure feats and other special abilities that may need modification.

 

[Grimstaff]

To me "ease of conversion" means can you do it "on the fly" (easy) or do you need to sit down with a stack of rule books and go through everything line by line to make it playable (not easy). C&C, therefore, imho, is easy. I don't have to prep anything 3.5 ahead of time for C&C unless its high level stuff.

 

[Jim Hague]

When I convert 3E monsters to C&C I take the "cut away the fluff" and keep what makes the monster what I want it to be approach. So if I want it to keep a feat I call it a "monster ability", if I want it to keep a skill I keep it as a skill and its modifier is equal to its HD, just like all its saves and to hit bonuses. I change HP's to a power level commensurate with the challenge I want the party to have within the "power curve" of C&C. Pretty easy once you do it a few times.

As would any conversion job be. Or programming. Or any other task that's basically number crunching.

C&C is a fine game. It's great that experienced users can convert on the fly, once they've done it a few times. I keep hearing about the ease of conversion, and then I look at my own C&C books and shake my head. It's not there, folks, not for d20-based material. It's just as much work as any kind of conversion is, and becomes less so once you're experienced.

IMO, the vaunted compatibility is a myth - there's not much to the C&C system, therefore it's easy to bolt things on with effectively GM fiat. Is it quick? Sure. Is it hand waving, effectively? IMO, yes.

Where C&C does shine is (as others have pointed out) converting the bizarre and often nnonsensical pre-d20 material to a clean, (semi) consistent system. Where it falls short for me is that it's not enough of a system, and hearkens back to the days when GM fiat effectively ruled the table.

YMMV.

 

[jdrakeh]

Then I contest that you're statement is false. Rules do have to be converted by your definition.

What? Taking a rule and dropping it into another system whole hog isn't conversion. Conversion is the mapping of one system's rules to another system's rules. As you yourself note, this often isn't possible in C&C as the game doesn't contain rules equivalent to things such as feats, skills, etc. Let's look at your example that supposedly proves my assertions wrong. . .

Let's take "feats" as an example...There are alot that give you a +2 to two skills. C&C doesn't have skills, but if you are using all feats then conversion is necessary, right? You could give the player a +2 anytime an action taken would fall within the realm of those skills...you could let him add his level or even 1/2 his level to rolls that fall under the purview of the specific skills. These are conversions, not taking a rule from either game. The same with AoO if you wanted to add them in, skills, etc.

In none of these examples are you converting anything from D&D 3.5, you're modifying the proprietary C&C system to mimic D&D 3.5 mechanics. Not the same thing.

It just seems that you've chosen to ignore this instances because they don't support your argument.

Actually, it seems that you're the one who is ignoring things. You're using the term "conversion" to cover proprietary system modification, rather than the actual mapping of D&D 3.5 elements to C&C rules (which, again, isn't possible in many cases as there are no equivalent rules in C&C to map to).

 

[Treebore]

As would any conversion job be. Or programming. Or any other task that's basically number crunching.

C&C is a fine game. It's great that experienced users can convert on the fly, once they've done it a few times. I keep hearing about the ease of conversion, and then I look at my own C&C books and shake my head. It's not there, folks, not for d20-based material. It's just as much work as any kind of conversion is, and becomes less so once you're experienced.

IMO, the vaunted compatibility is a myth - there's not much to the C&C system, therefore it's easy to bolt things on with effectively GM fiat. Is it quick? Sure. Is it hand waving, effectively? IMO, yes.

Where C&C does shine is (as others have pointed out) converting the bizarre and often nnonsensical pre-d20 material to a clean, (semi) consistent system. Where it falls short for me is that it's not enough of a system, and hearkens back to the days when GM fiat effectively ruled the table.

YMMV.

Yes, but a few times, for me, was two or three high level monsters. Most creatures that are "simple" in 3E, meaning they don't have a lot of special powers and abilities, can be done on the fly. Its only when it has a lot of "special powers" that you have to take any time to do it. Even then I just pencil in a dot next to what I want to keep for the game. The rest is just thrown away.


So I think its as easy as your saying you'd like it to be, but we are different people.

Plus, C&C is not for people who still love 3E and are happy with it. Its ideally for people who have old and new stuff and would like to be able to use it all together. I guess you could say C&C is a "linch pin" system that allows you to easily mix and match. Or if you just want a simple system. Or want a simple system that has a flexible core mechanic to which you can mix and match rules you like onto it.

3e, True 20, and other ssytems are all good systems. They all allow people to have fun games. C&C is just a possible alternative if other systems aren't keeping you happy anymore.