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Troll Lord Games 24pp
Playtest Review.
For the sake of brevity Castles and Crusades is abbreviated to C&C throughout this review. This is a cut down version of the rules available for free in pdf form and printed versions usually on Free RPG day. As the C&C term for the GM is Castlekeeper (one term I'm not so keen on), I have used this throughout the review.
Rules Basics Character creation is done with 3d6 for attributes rolled six times then assigned. This will give a lower average range than many experienced players have become used to using other systems. Attribute modifiers are lower than in 3rd edition D&D, with +1 for an attribute between 13-15, +2 for a score between 16-17, and +3 for 18-19. Penalties for low attributes are lower with -1 between 6-8, -2 for 4-5 and -3 for 1-3. The six attributes are:
- Strenth
- Intelligence
- Wisdom
- Constitution
- Dexterity
- Charisma
Characters designate two abilities as primes (three for humans), one of which is determined by the characters class, the other can be chosen by the player. This is used in determining the difficulty of things attempted by the character in the Siege Engine, which is the C&C name for its core system, which I'll discuss later.
Classes There are 4 core classes in the rules - each of which has one or more attributes linked to it's class abilities. Classes have different xp charts for level progression, which makes it more complex to know when a party will gain levels for the CK compared to 3e D&D. Information is only included to level 4 in the Quick Start rules.
The classes in order of their primes are (as in the PHB):
- Fighter - Strength
- Rogue - Dexterity
- Wizard - Intelligence
- Cleric - Wisdom
It appears that character classes are mechanically balanced in that a Fighter with 2,000 or 10,000 experience points (XP) will be similar in power to a Wizard, Rogue, Cleric or Bard with the same number of XP and that does apply across all the classes. This will be regardless of the actual levels, though there will be points where one class will be more powerful due to number of levels (and therefore hit points plus abilities). Of course in a given situation a particular class can be more effective, but that will be a matter of the CK trying to make encounters that will allow all the party members to shine.
Races The archetypal character races are presented here:
- Dwarf
- Elf
- Human
All the non-human races have various special abilities to counter balance only having two primes and most have attribute modifiers to reflect their physical and mental nature. There is descriptive text for each race which presents them very much as the archetypes
Character creation will be less mechanically focused as there are just the basic six stats to generate, then any racial adjustments to apply before assigning primes, writing the character description and equipping them. As a CK I find this helps greatly with NPCs with no need to worry about skill points and feats.
Equipment There is a section of arms and equipment listing prices, but not weights and encumbrance values. This list is substantially cut down from the PHB and I feel is a bit inconsistently done and this is a weak point of the quick start rules.
Magic The magic section only really lists spell names and a very hight level view of the effects of each spell, there are only level 0, 1 and 2 spells as that is all that is required for characters of 4th level or below. The style is what is usually described as Vancian with spell slots and memorisation of spells. There are many spells which are familiar to D&D type fantasy, such as Magic Missile, Knock and cures for various amounts of wound damage.The lack of description and limited number of spells included is obviously due to the space limitations of this booklet, but would be unhelpful to inexperienced players of CK.
Combat The combat mechanics are similar to most D20 games with the use of a to hit roll and an armour class as the target, the attacker needing to roll higher than the defender' AC, followed by a roll of dice for damage done. There is not an emphasis on using miniatures or a grid in combat for C&C allowing the CK to adjudicate more of the combat, this could be tricky with encounters where potential exists for doubt about where characters are located. Initiative in combat is rolled on an unmodified D10, with a ties settled in favour of the highest dexterity.
Shields can only be used against a limited number of opponents per combat round depending on the shield's size and if opponents are not behind the shield's user. Dexterity bonuses are allowed, but can be negated by rear attacks, and the Shield spell protects its caster from the front. One weakness is no real discussion of how to deal with the element of facing that this introduces such as effect of turning on what other activities a character is performing in that turn.
Each round a character is able to take an action such as full movement, fighting, casting a spell or use an item or class ability. These do not provoke attacks of opportunity as these have not been included in the game. The rules mention being able to take a short move if fighting or casting a spell, but this is not clearly defined like the 5ft step in 3e D&D. Combat manouvers such as dodging are included as well as unarmed combat, but this section is brief. Grappling is simple based on the opponents rolling D20 adding modifiers and the higher winning.
The Siege Engine This is the C&C core mechanic and I feel it is a strength of the game. It works with a fixed target number for each check of 12 for a prime and 18 for a non-prime attribute with modifiers applied for the challenge level to increase the target number. There are DRM applied for the attribute modifier, character level and class or race attributes, these can be at the CK's discretion so a higher level character will not automatically become better at doing things just because of their level, e.g. using a class ability will normally add the level, like a rogue picking a lock, while a character lifting a heavy rock from the ground will normally only use their Strength modifier. Some examples of this would be useful in the rulebook as it is not unambiguous and there aren't examples included.
Saving throws are categorised by type and the attribute that would be used for the check these are listed out clearly for the CK and would be easy to use.
Overall the rules are more strongly built around archetypes rather than the customisation with skills and feats approach in 3e D&D. The approach is more giving a framework of rules which do not have a detailed set of rules for every eventuality allowing for customisation by the CastleKeeper.
Scenario: These rules include a mini scenario for Castle Zagyg, The Workhouse of Yggsborough town. This is only on two pages with an adventure hook for characters as former inmates and a description of the workhouse and its inhabitants. This part is written by Jeffery P. Talanian. Though usable I would really have preferred to have another couple of pages of rules.
Appearance and production The pages are quite densely filled, so probably about 95% text on average keeping the overall size of the book down, but it is still readable. There are quite a lot of typos in the text, mostly minor, but its still an irritation. One or two places where it is more problematic is in the spell descriptions where effects can be tricky to judge and would require a CK's ruling or use of errata. There is little artwork due to constraints of space.
Web support Errata, scenarios and a basic list of monsters are available from The Castles and Crusades and Troll Lord Games websites, there are also active discussion forums which support the game and many third party websites with notably useful entries, such as skill and feats systems or additional base classes.
Positives
- Siege engine - I feel this is a good mechanic for resolution of actions in game
- Price
- Speed of character generation
- Framework of rules allows CK to add house rules to fit their campaign
- Well supported online
Negatives
- No combat and play examples
- Not very complete sets of equipment
- Typos
Overall On the whole I consider these quickstart rules as better for more experienced players than newcomers as it lacks explanations of things like roleplaying, character creation, or examples of combat or spellcasting. The simplicity of the ruleset is something that I like as it makes it far easier to set up and prepare a game than some of the other FRP systems available. It is hurt by typos such as talking about 13 classes and 7 races when only 4 and 3 of each respectively are present, and I would have been happier to omit the scenario and had more rules in here, like spell descriptions or another class. I give this 6 out of 10, equating to 3 stars. Splitting this into style and content I'd give 3 for style and 4 for rules as there isn't the clarity of the PHB here.
