dr_venture
April 15th, 2013, 19:55
I wrote this up specifically as an introduction to Castles & Crusades for some friends who are long time AD&D 1e players. I stumbled back upon this text on the wiki for my Greyhawk game, and figured that this new forum would be a good place to put this little comparison. Not trying to convert anyone, but for the folks in this forum especially, it's worth knowing about C&C if you don't already. Hope you enjoy :)
Castles & Crusades is pretty much a streamlined and optimized version of 1st edition AD&D, but with many of the most awkward parts of the early rules (such as the class based attack tables, saving throw tables, etc.) replaced with streamlined rules that require no tables. In fact, much of the game's mechanics can be just figured in your head. If you know 1st edition D&D, there will be very little time spent learning about C&C.
One of the things that I like is that this is the last game that Gary Gygax chose to work on before his death. When he finally published the real Castle Greyhawk and City of Greyhawk – renamed ‘Yggsburg’ (a play on his initials, E.G.G.) it was published for C&C.
Finally, C&C and AD&D 1e are so close that modules and game material can very easily be converted back and forth, in many cases right in one’s head, on the fly.
Here are a few of the more prominent differences between the two games:
There are more character classes than vanilla D&D: Barbarian and Knight have been added (Knight being somewhat analogous to Cavalier class in Unearthed Arcana). Thieves are called ‘Rogues’ and Magic-Users are called ‘Wizards’ in C&C.
Any race can be any character class, with no maximum level restrictions.
Character classes have no stat requirements.
In C&C, every character has two 'prime' stats, with the rest 'non-prime' stats (Humans get three primes). One prime stat is determined by the character’s class (Fighters have a prime of Strength, Rogues a prime of Dexterity, etc.). The player then simply chooses one additional prime for their character (two for Humans). The way Prime/Non-Primes are used is:
Almost all Abilities and miscellaneous rolls are made against a basic stat, such as STR to move a large boulder, or INT to figure out a puzzle, etc. To determine the likelihood of success, if the stat is a Prime, then the success base is 12 (roll 12 or over to succeed). If the stat is Non-Prime, the success base is 18. Roll a d20, add the stat’s bonus and any other modifiers, and if you equal or exceed the success base, you succeed. For a skill based on the character's class (such as a Thief climbing a wall), the character’s level is also added. For a stat check against something which can be 'opposed' (such as disarming a trap set by another Rogue, or tracking a Ranger who has obfuscated their trail) the level of the opposition is subtracted. (C&C has no 'opposed rolls' such as later version of D&D use).
Armor class for an unarmored person is still 10, but AC goes up, not down… so what used to be AC 5 is now AC 15. Armor's bonus and Dexterity bonus are simply add to one’s base AC to make it higher.
Each character class has a Base to Hit (BtH) number that ascends with a character's level. Fighters ascend faster, Wizards slowest.
To hit an opponent, you have to roll equal or over their AC. You add any STR or DEX bonus, character's Base to Hit, and any other bonuses (i.e., +1 for a +1 dagger). Then roll a d20 & add the total bonus. If the result is equal or bigger than the target’s AC, you hit. Very simple to figure, even without gaming software. For most monsters, their level simply added to the attack roll.
No saving throw tables. All saves are stat based as described above. Dexterity is used for Breath Weapons & Traps, Constitution for Disease, Energy Drain, and Poison, etc.
Some of the spells are kinda different. For instance, there is no “Protection fro Evil” spell – the C&C version is Protection from Good/Evil/Chaos/Lawfulness, with the caster specifying what the spell is protecting against when it is cast. But many of the spells are the same.
The Dungeon Master is called the Castle Keeper
Only the Player's Handbook and Monsters & Treasure books are needed to play the game. The Castle Keeper's Guide is actually filled with entirely supplemental info, and while very useful, is not necessary to play the game.
That’s enough to get you familiarized with some of the differences. In practice, it plays very similarly to AD&D. If you’d like a bit more info, here are some good links:
Castles & Crusades Quick Start Rules (https://www.trolllord.com/downloads/pdfs/tlg2010quickstartpdf.pdf): These rules only cover the Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, & Wizard, and a subset of spells, but it’s enough to really get your feet wet. And it’s FREE from the publisher!
Review of the Player’s Handbook (https://mythmere.tripod.com/reviewph.html): This was written for the first release of the book, which I understand had a lot of typos. As of this writing, the PH is on its 4th printing and the typos are all but eliminated.
Castles & Crusades is pretty much a streamlined and optimized version of 1st edition AD&D, but with many of the most awkward parts of the early rules (such as the class based attack tables, saving throw tables, etc.) replaced with streamlined rules that require no tables. In fact, much of the game's mechanics can be just figured in your head. If you know 1st edition D&D, there will be very little time spent learning about C&C.
One of the things that I like is that this is the last game that Gary Gygax chose to work on before his death. When he finally published the real Castle Greyhawk and City of Greyhawk – renamed ‘Yggsburg’ (a play on his initials, E.G.G.) it was published for C&C.
Finally, C&C and AD&D 1e are so close that modules and game material can very easily be converted back and forth, in many cases right in one’s head, on the fly.
Here are a few of the more prominent differences between the two games:
There are more character classes than vanilla D&D: Barbarian and Knight have been added (Knight being somewhat analogous to Cavalier class in Unearthed Arcana). Thieves are called ‘Rogues’ and Magic-Users are called ‘Wizards’ in C&C.
Any race can be any character class, with no maximum level restrictions.
Character classes have no stat requirements.
In C&C, every character has two 'prime' stats, with the rest 'non-prime' stats (Humans get three primes). One prime stat is determined by the character’s class (Fighters have a prime of Strength, Rogues a prime of Dexterity, etc.). The player then simply chooses one additional prime for their character (two for Humans). The way Prime/Non-Primes are used is:
Almost all Abilities and miscellaneous rolls are made against a basic stat, such as STR to move a large boulder, or INT to figure out a puzzle, etc. To determine the likelihood of success, if the stat is a Prime, then the success base is 12 (roll 12 or over to succeed). If the stat is Non-Prime, the success base is 18. Roll a d20, add the stat’s bonus and any other modifiers, and if you equal or exceed the success base, you succeed. For a skill based on the character's class (such as a Thief climbing a wall), the character’s level is also added. For a stat check against something which can be 'opposed' (such as disarming a trap set by another Rogue, or tracking a Ranger who has obfuscated their trail) the level of the opposition is subtracted. (C&C has no 'opposed rolls' such as later version of D&D use).
Armor class for an unarmored person is still 10, but AC goes up, not down… so what used to be AC 5 is now AC 15. Armor's bonus and Dexterity bonus are simply add to one’s base AC to make it higher.
Each character class has a Base to Hit (BtH) number that ascends with a character's level. Fighters ascend faster, Wizards slowest.
To hit an opponent, you have to roll equal or over their AC. You add any STR or DEX bonus, character's Base to Hit, and any other bonuses (i.e., +1 for a +1 dagger). Then roll a d20 & add the total bonus. If the result is equal or bigger than the target’s AC, you hit. Very simple to figure, even without gaming software. For most monsters, their level simply added to the attack roll.
No saving throw tables. All saves are stat based as described above. Dexterity is used for Breath Weapons & Traps, Constitution for Disease, Energy Drain, and Poison, etc.
Some of the spells are kinda different. For instance, there is no “Protection fro Evil” spell – the C&C version is Protection from Good/Evil/Chaos/Lawfulness, with the caster specifying what the spell is protecting against when it is cast. But many of the spells are the same.
The Dungeon Master is called the Castle Keeper
Only the Player's Handbook and Monsters & Treasure books are needed to play the game. The Castle Keeper's Guide is actually filled with entirely supplemental info, and while very useful, is not necessary to play the game.
That’s enough to get you familiarized with some of the differences. In practice, it plays very similarly to AD&D. If you’d like a bit more info, here are some good links:
Castles & Crusades Quick Start Rules (https://www.trolllord.com/downloads/pdfs/tlg2010quickstartpdf.pdf): These rules only cover the Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, & Wizard, and a subset of spells, but it’s enough to really get your feet wet. And it’s FREE from the publisher!
Review of the Player’s Handbook (https://mythmere.tripod.com/reviewph.html): This was written for the first release of the book, which I understand had a lot of typos. As of this writing, the PH is on its 4th printing and the typos are all but eliminated.