 Goto [ Index ] |
Troll Lord Games pp $19.95
Playtest Review.
For the sake of brevity Castles and Crusades is abbreviated to C&C throughout this review. There are planned to be three books in the series Players Handboook, Monsters and Treasure, and the Castle Keepers Guide. 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. This is based on the 2nd printing of the Players Handbook and the errata released on pdf. On the back this claims to be a complete game, but I'll comment on that once I've covered the entire thing.
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:
- Strength
- 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 13 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.
The classes in order of their primes are (as in the PHB):
- Fighter - Strength
- Ranger - Strength
- Rogue - Dexterity
- Assassin - Dexterity
- Barbarian - Constitution
- Monk - Constitution
- Wizard - Intelligence
- Illusionist - Intelligence
- Cleric - Wisdom
- Druid - Wisdom
- Knight - Charisma
- Paladin - Charisma
- Bard - Charisma
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
- Gnome
- Half-elf
- Halfling
- Half-orc
- 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, weights and encumbrance values. There is an encumbrance system included in the C&C rules, which is used (or not) to calculate if a character is encumbered, this is not totally linked to weight as it does take account of size and bulk. I suspect many groups will ignore this as too much record keeping as we did with AD&D.
Magic
The largest section in the book is the spell descriptions (not unusual with player's handbooks). 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, Fireball and cures for various amounts of wound damage.
The most irritating typos are some on spell descriptions which make the meaning unclear, e.g on Power Word Kill the amount of HP affected is stated as 140, but with multiple creatures it states up to a limit of 130HP. There are a lot less typos than in the first printing so this is a rare problem now.
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 their 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.
Examples are provided in the text which does help and unlike recent editions of D&D there is no expectation of using miniatures and a battlemat. Characters do not die at zero HP, but are incapacitated and can die if not treated.
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. More examples of this would be useful in the rulebook as it is not unambiguous and there the main example tends to imply that levels would be used. The challenge rating to beat will be set by the DM and usually on the level or HD of an opposing tester or challenge setter.
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.
Castle Keeper's information
Some hints on running the game appear in the book, but this is not a comprehensive guide to running C&C as that would appear in the Castle Keeper's Guide which is not available at time of writing. As the target audience seems to be largely experienced roleplayers this is not a large ommission. The notes are good, but not particularly indepth for novices, but as a veteran of OD&D I remember that this really didn't stop us back then.For awarding experience it includes treasure as an option as well as points for monsters killed, but the actual rules are not here, but in the Monsters and Treasure book or Monsters download. Examples are included which are useful in clarifying rules in use.
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 a few 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.
The artwork is a plus, its consistent in style and much more in keeping with the classic fantasy style of the OD&D and 1e rulebooks than that of the WotC D&D products. As I own both the first and second I can definitely confirm that it is worth getting the second or later printing for clarity and ease of use. The book has a useful contents, but no index, which is not a major loss.
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
- Evocative art
- Framework of rules allows CK to add house rules to fit their campaign
Negatives
- Not a complete game in a book as the blurb claims
- Limited number of combat and play examples
- Encumbrance system
- Typos - far fewer than 1st printing but still an irritation
Overall
On the whole I consider this edition of the rules as better for more experienced players than newcomers as it lacks lengthy explanations of things like roleplaying, character creation, or many 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 not a complete game in one book due to not containing rules for monsters or magic items and giving limited advice for newcomers. I give this 8 out of 10, equating to 4 stars. Splitting this into style and content I'd give 4 for each with the second printing.
