How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

C&C discussion. Fantasy roleplaying.
New products, general questions, the rules, laws, and the chaos.
User avatar
slimykuotoan
Greater Lore Drake
Posts: 3702
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 8:00 am
Location: Nine Hells

How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by slimykuotoan »

Pour moi, I happened upon the PHB at a gaming store in Calgary, Alberta, and leafed through it.

Later, I located these forums and started asking questions about the game.

Days after that, I went back to said store and purchased the second printing PHB and the M&T.

I then organised a SKYPE game through these boards.

The rest, is total awesome history.

And thou?
For crying out loud, do what you can with the rolls the dice have given you. This is what separates the men from the boys... -Kayolan

User avatar
Rigon
Clang lives!
Posts: 7352
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 7:00 am
Location: Conneaut Lake, PA

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Rigon »

Back in 2004, I was tired of all the splat/bloat of 3e so was working on an AD&D 2e/d20 splice with the information from the article "10 Ways to Play 3rd Edition Today" in Dragon 264. While looking some things up online, I stumbled upon a reference to C&C and it piqued my interest, so I dug around a bit and ordered the 1st printing PHB (this was before the 1st print M&T was available). It's been my game of choice since then.

R-
Castles & Crusades: What 3rd Edition AD&D should have been.
TLG Forum Moderator
House Rules & Whatnots
My Game Threads
Monday Night Online Group Member since 2007

User avatar
Go0gleplex
Greater Lore Drake
Posts: 4051
Joined: Fri May 30, 2008 7:00 am
Location: Keizer, OR

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Go0gleplex »

Because of the advent of the unpleasantness that was 4e. Was burning out on 3.5 already and had no interest in a WoW wanna be pretending to be an RPG. Looked for something simpler, cheaper, and would be fun! After researching about the web C&C fit the bill. I made the switch and never looked back. Creating worlds and dungeons was once again fun and not a tedious exercise in paperwork that would give an Army Corps of Engineers Flood Plain alteration permit a run for its money.
"Rolling dice and killing characters since September 1976."
"Author of Wardogs! and Contributor to Iron Stars and Starmada-Admiralty ed."
"Certified crazy since 2009."

Treebore
Mogrl
Posts: 20660
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 7:00 am
Location: Arizona and St Louis

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Treebore »

I was actually a fan of the Trolls when doing their D20 products, initially when they started publishing stuff for Necromancer Games. So when I saw their announcements about it, I followed posts in their forums, and ordered the PHB, and finally settled down long enough in December of 2005 to play it, and after a few weeks of play, I was hooked.
Since its 20,000 I suggest "Captain Nemo" as his title. Beyond the obvious connection, he is one who sails on his own terms and ignores those he doesn't agree with...confident in his journey and goals.
Sounds obvious to me! -Gm Michael

Grand Knight Commander of the Society.

User avatar
Greyblade
Hlobane Orc
Posts: 128
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2012 8:53 am
Location: Paris, Wastri's homeland

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Greyblade »

Around 2010, I was growing very bored & tired with the rules bloat of 3.5/PF, I wanted something simpler & smoother that allowed me to use many old-school ressources and yet was still polished & modern enough to bring the best of both worlds.

Read a review, downloaded the quickstart rules, and there it was. Haven't looked back since, in fact I sold all my Pathfinder books and the only 3.5 items I still use are the Monster Manual & the DMG2 because it contains a lot of useful stuff.

Well done Trolls :)
Durka durka Muhammad djihad

User avatar
maximus
Lore Drake
Posts: 1203
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:23 am
Location: North Carolina

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by maximus »

A few years ago my son expressed an interest in playing D&D. I hadn't played in years, so I thought I'd look around and see what was current. I bought the basic 3E books when they first came out, but never played. I looked through the 4E stuff and wasn't interested at all. I went on Ebay and bought a used Pathfinder Basic box, as well as a few C&C books (digest versions I came to find out). I really liked the idea of the Siege Engine. By this time I had already started DM'ing the Keep on the Borderlands with my kids. After asking a few questions on this forum, I moved the play over to C&C and found it was easy as everyone said it would be. I can use all my old 1E stuff, almost anything else that is on the market, as well as all the Trolls have to offer. Why go anywhere else?

User avatar
finarvyn
Global Moderator
Posts: 998
Joined: Sun May 14, 2006 7:00 am
Location: Chicago suburbs
Contact:

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by finarvyn »

I was on the TLG boards before C&C because they were one of the few places that had some threads discussing old school D&D. When rumors came out that the Trolls were putting together a new game based on 3E but with a 1E feel, I just had to get in on the playtest. I involved my wife, kids, and some friends and we've enjoyed C&C ever since.
Marv / Finarvyn
Lord Marshall, Earl of Stone Creek, C&C Society
Just discovered Amazing Adventures and loving it!
MA1E WardenMaster - Killing Characters since 1976, MA4E Playtester in 2006.
C&C Playtester in 2003, OD&D player since 1975

User avatar
Buttmonkey
Greater Lore Drake
Posts: 2090
Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:00 am

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Buttmonkey »

Back around 2005 (I think), I was miserable in the job I had then and started surfing the net to dull the pain. I had been out of gaming since about 1989. For some reason, I started googling Gary Gygax. That led me to Lejendary Adventures which led me to the Trolls which led me to C&C. I went to one of the Lake Geneva Gaming Conventions that summer and picked up the PHB and M&T.
tylermo wrote:Your efforts are greatly appreciated, Buttmonkey. Can't believe I said that with a straight face.

User avatar
Desrimal
Hlobane Orc
Posts: 128
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 10:30 am
Location: Denmark

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Desrimal »

In 2003 I was growing tired with D&D 3.5. I searched the internet for alternatives, found TLG and signed up for playtesting C&C. I loved it (I still do BTW) and bought the White box, when it was released. I played countless sessions until 2006, when my son (and my daughter 2 years later) was born. This put my RPG-hobby on standby for some years but I returned to C&C again around 2010.
RPGing since '89

Guitarist in Rust Age (old-school rock)
https://youtu.be/c7ULaz7yRig

User avatar
pawndream
Red Cap
Posts: 231
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2012 6:25 am
Location: Texas

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by pawndream »

I've pretty much played whatever version of D&D was current through the years. Started on 1e. Adopted 2e, 3e, 3.5e and 4e when they each came out. I had been playing 4e for a couple of years, and liked the game, but it was becoming way too involved to play and too heavily focused on counting squares, tracking effects, etc. for my tastes.

Around this time, I had played in a few Basic D&D games and enjoyed the simplicity of it, but preferred the d20 mechanics for consistency. Started looking around for a game like that and stumbled on C&C. Bought the PH and M&T in late 2011, and started up a game about two months later. Been playing ever since.

User avatar
Jyrdan Fairblade
Unkbartig
Posts: 947
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 7:00 am

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Jyrdan Fairblade »

Hmmm...I heard about a rules-light, old school version of 3e coming out. Not sure whether it was on ENworld or the Necromancer Games boards, but I remember how excited I was to get the C&C white box.

lobocastle
Red Cap
Posts: 272
Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 7:00 am

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by lobocastle »

It was May of 2007 I ordered C&C from Amazon based upon thge reviews. I first purchased C&C for ideas to use in 3E. It was around 2008 I totally stopped with D&D and went with C&C. I did not like 4th ed. I have not purchased another RPG product from anyone but Trollord since 2012. I am starting to puchase Lone Wolf RPGs from Kickstarters and some OD&D items from online.

JLL

User avatar
Kayolan
Lore Drake
Posts: 1945
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2008 8:00 am
Location: Ohio

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Kayolan »

Back in '08 I was told that the Lejendary Adventures game that I was in was to be put on hold and that we would be playing another game called Castles & Crusades. Slimykuotoan told me a bit about the game and highly recommended the PHB. I ordered a copy, liked what I read and soon became a regular player and CK.

User avatar
ArgoForg
Red Cap
Posts: 341
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2010 8:00 am
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Contact:

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by ArgoForg »

Got called over to the TLG table at the Marketplace in GenCon '09 or '10, and was given a quick spiel about how the game was played and how simple the SIEGE mechanic was... and as a 3.5 GM who wanted to get back to the sort of narrative gaming I enjoyed, the Trolls might well have been holding up a shiny diamond the size of a fist and saying, "So, what do you think? $40 buys it." I was sold from that moment and haven't looked back.
- "I just happen to prefer games where the GM actually has final say on rules and is not just the wall to roll dice off to decide what happens."

serleran
Mogrl
Posts: 14094
Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2008 7:00 am

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by serleran »

Helped develop it.

Mostly because I heard the Trolls were moving away from d20 and I wanted to, too. Also, it was a good experience working with Gary.

User avatar
slimykuotoan
Greater Lore Drake
Posts: 3702
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 8:00 am
Location: Nine Hells

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by slimykuotoan »

serleran wrote:Helped develop it.
8-) :)
For crying out loud, do what you can with the rolls the dice have given you. This is what separates the men from the boys... -Kayolan

User avatar
Captain_K
Greater Lore Drake
Posts: 2747
Joined: Sun Dec 29, 2013 10:37 pm
Location: North Coast

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Captain_K »

Another young player/CK brought up the idea... would have been in the earlier days of the game (2008 or so).. played for a while, liked it and was sick of 3.5 ruliness stuck with it ever since, plus its nice to be part of this community too.
Wow, Another Natural One! You guys are a sink hole for luck. Stay away from my dice.

User avatar
JohnD
Ungern
Posts: 90
Joined: Sat May 30, 2015 4:59 pm

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by JohnD »

On Fantasy Grounds. Learning GG was involved made it a slam dunk.

dcfitch
Ungern
Posts: 77
Joined: Sat Feb 08, 2014 8:47 pm
Location: Redlands, CA

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by dcfitch »

Years ago I grew very tired of the bulkiness of 3.5., especially the bloated monster stat blocks. I tried 4e and had some fun, but it was not the old D&D experienced I always loved. I went back to AD&D 2e, but the inconsistencies of the rules were a bother to me, and I HATE combat rounds that are counted in 60 second increments. Anyway, I stumbled across the mention of C&C...maybe it was on Dragonsfoot...because I was still pining for old school D&D. I ended up purchasing the PHB and M&T books and fell in love with the old school (1e) style stat blocks C&C uses for the monsters. The books sat on my shelf for a long time before I finally played a few games. Upon playing it, I immediately fell in love with C&C and, while I enjoy delving into other quality games like 5e and PF on occasion, C&C will always be my main game.

User avatar
Tadhg
Cleric of Zagyg
Posts: 10878
Joined: Mon May 01, 2006 7:00 am
Location: Somewhere in Time

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Tadhg »

Was reading a computer gaming magazine in July, '04 and there was an ad for the 30th anniversary of D&D. I thought WOW . . it's been quite awhile that I thought about D&D having put the game aside after a brief try to get a group together in '78.

My first thought was hmmm, mebbe my daughter would be interested in playing and she was along with my nephew. I pulled out BD&D and had a look and had some great memories.

Anyway, I did some research online and saw that there was going to be a release of the D&D basic game. I bought it and I think it came out in September or so.

At the same time, I found the C&C Boxed Set and ordered it from those Knight online guys (the name escapes me at the moment), got the game and liked what I saw - but put it on the shelf.

So, we started with D&D game and everyone (my buddy joined us as well as the kids) enjoyed it. When the game ended, I went to the library and had a look at the 3.0 PH and was blown away IN THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY. It was way too much and against everything I loved about BD&D.

I then took down the White Box and converted all the chars to C&C and we ran The Rising Knight around Thanksgiving of '04 and everyone in the group loved it and the great way that C&C played out!

:)

Here's us back then:

Image
Lord Tadhg - Lejendary Keeper of Castle Ardmore

"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax

"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" - Macbeth

User avatar
Omote
Battle Stag
Posts: 11560
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 7:00 am
Location: The fairest view in the park, Ohio.
Contact:

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Omote »

A lot of craziness back in the day, and the end result was getting into C&C at the beginning.

~O
@-Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society-@
VAE VICTUS!
>> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <<

User avatar
Fosco
Mist Elf
Posts: 32
Joined: Wed May 06, 2015 8:51 pm
Location: South Jersey

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Fosco »

I can't remember where I read it, but I read something about Gary Gygax being involved with the Trolls, so I started doing some investigating and found C&C. I'd been looking for a game to run and the straight forward rules appealed to me. Still haven't run that game yet, but I'm getting close.

User avatar
Litzen Tallister
Red Cap
Posts: 248
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:20 pm

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Litzen Tallister »

Jyrdan Fairblade wrote:Hmmm...I heard about a rules-light, old school version of 3e coming out. Not sure whether it was on ENworld or the Necromancer Games boards, but I remember how excited I was to get the C&C white box.
My memory's fuzzy, but either in the process of looking for an apartment for internship or shortly after securing said apartment, Jyrdan Fairblade shows up with a game in a white box and offers to run a very rules-light rpg. I made Kalan the Pious, a human cleric in what seemed like record time (compared to 3rd edition D&D at the time). From there, I was hooked.

User avatar
T1Hound
Hlobane Orc
Posts: 199
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:16 am
Location: Allentown, PA

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by T1Hound »

I picked up the 4th(?) printing at GenCon. Then somehow 2 years later picked it up again at GenCon. It stayed hidden for years.

Tired with constant the constant changes from other companies and wanting to quit gaming, I found the game and started getting into more.

It's odd. In hindsight, in 2000, I got away from 2nd Ed because 3rd was coming out. There was nothing wrong with the game, etc. Since then I bought product, settings, supplements, trying to fix what was never broken - finally getting back to a good rules system. Oddly, we're all like mid 20s and having fun gaming again. Not having hour long combats and rules checking, etc.

User avatar
Gundoggy
Ungern
Posts: 80
Joined: Sun Nov 30, 2008 8:00 am

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Gundoggy »

I was burned out as a DM after running Age of Worms for my players. I vowed never to play 3.x again. It was also around this time that it was announced Castle Zagyg would be in C&C rules and Gygax supported it. I switched to C&C and found it allowed me to use all the 1E/2E resources I had yet had a system that allowed more customizing than the old games and also made saving throws more challenging for high level play.

User avatar
Jyrdan Fairblade
Unkbartig
Posts: 947
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 7:00 am

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Jyrdan Fairblade »

Fuzzy in part because I also showed up with a bottle of bourbon...
Litzen Tallister wrote:
Jyrdan Fairblade wrote: My memory's fuzzy, but either in the process of looking for an apartment for internship or shortly after securing said apartment, Jyrdan Fairblade shows up with a game in a white box and offers to run a very rules-light rpg. I made Kalan the Pious, a human cleric in what seemed like record time (compared to 3rd edition D&D at the time). From there, I was hooked.

User avatar
Jyrdan Fairblade
Unkbartig
Posts: 947
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 7:00 am

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Jyrdan Fairblade »

Funny, I think it was the three-page stat block for one of the monsters in Age of Worms that made me stop and say “this is ridiculous!”
Gundoggy wrote:I was burned out as a DM after running Age of Worms for my players. I vowed never to play 3.x again.

User avatar
Zudrak
Lore Drake
Posts: 1379
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 7:00 am
Location: Audubon, NJ

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by Zudrak »

I answered this query here:
http://w.trolllord.com/forums/viewtopic ... 41&p=21228

And here:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4024

In short, Gary sent me. :-)
Psalm 73:26

"Knowledge, logic, reason, and common sense serve better than a dozen rule books."

"Rules not understood should have appropriate questions directed to the publisher; disputes with the Dungeon Master are another matter entirely. THE REFEREE IS THE FINAL ARBITER OF ALL AFFAIRS OF HIS OR HER CAMPAIGN."
-- E. Gary Gygax

User avatar
MadCartographer
Hlobane Orc
Posts: 105
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2015 3:26 pm
Contact:

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by MadCartographer »

I have yet to play a game. :( I loved D&D and AD&D, but after that.... well it became a "rules lawyer" game. I really like the "simple" rules so you can enjoy the game, and not be bogged down in rules. I just want to play the game and let the CK (GM) invent as he goes.

That said, I would love to play a game someday.

User avatar
slimykuotoan
Greater Lore Drake
Posts: 3702
Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2007 8:00 am
Location: Nine Hells

Re: How'd you get into Castles & Crusades?

Post by slimykuotoan »

Cool MadCartographer. There are many voice-chat games in the online section of these boards if your interested. :)
For crying out loud, do what you can with the rolls the dice have given you. This is what separates the men from the boys... -Kayolan

Post Reply