Castles & Crusades

Castles & Crusades
RPG published by Troll Lord Games
Authors	Davis Chenault & Mac Golden
First Publication	2004

Castles & Crusades is a role-playing game published by Troll Lord Games in 2004. It was conceived as a reimagining of classic Dungeons & Dragons using streamlined mechanics from third edition Dungeons & Dragons. The game uses many of the d20 System mechanics, but eliminates skills and feats and expands the number of character classes to 13. Another feature is the reversion of some rules to the original versions seen in original Dungeons & Dragons (often referred to as "OD&D") or first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D). It is notable for it's light-handed approach to rules that encourages the GM (Or Castle Keeper) into attempting to lure out some imagination from the Munchkin by providing combat and skill bonuses for describing either, and to remind the roleplayer that this is a game and not his amateur theater hour.

The system that Castles & Crusades uses is called the SIEGE Engine. A significant new mechanic is the notion of "Primes," often referred to by gamers as the 12/18 system. Through selection of character class and race, players designate some of their character's attributes as "Prime." These Prime attributes use a challenge base of 12, while non-Prime attributes use a challenge base of 18. Tasks based on the Prime attribute are therefore much easier to accomplish than those based on non-Primes. Primes allow a wider variety of characters to be created because characters of same class may excel at different types of tasks. Some players prefer to replace the different challenge bases with a +6 modifier for the Prime attributes.

The first three products produced for Castles & Crusades were an introductory boxed set, the Players Handbook, and Monsters & Treasure, a list of creatures and magic items for the game. A collection of alternate rules and guidelines for modifying the system, the Castle Keepers Guide, came out in 2008. The books have been reprinted multiple times, with more recent printings being in full color (as well as having fixed fuckups). Troll Lord games has published more than a dozen adventures for the system, and small-press publisher Goodman Games has produced three adventures for Castles & Crusades under license.

The name of the game derives from the Castle & Crusade Society, founded in the pre-Dungeons & Dragons era, by Gary Gygax. The title is in homage to the roleplaying industry's birth.

The shared lineage and resulting similarity in rules between Dungeons & Dragons, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Hackmaster, and Castles & Crusades simplifies conversion of rules and statistics between the games.

System Iterations, the "Reforged" Transition and expansions

Over its long publication history, C&C, has prioritized seamless backward compatibility. However, the game has evolved through incremental printings and structural updates. For example, the 3rd printing introduced a redesigned Barbarian class, the 4th printing added a specialized healing expansion for Illusionists by James M. Ward, and the 7th printing overhauled encumbrance rules for faster play.

• The biggest change since release is the Reforged Edition: Released to address industry shifts, the Reforged Edition marks the game’s transition completely away from the Wizards of the Coast Open Game License (OGL). It strips out OGL dependencies by renaming classic spells, treasures, and monsters.
• Disposition Framework: The traditional alignment system was replaced by a fluid "disposition" mechanic, giving players more nuance (e.g., ordering tendencies like Good Chaotic rather than a rigid Chaotic Good designation).
• Layout Enhancements: Production values were completely upgraded with full-color modern art, stitched binding for hardcovers, enlarged headers, and functional page bleeds for faster navigation.

This has also resulted in a swathe of significant expansions outside of it's core books, some of which are now being produced in Reforged editions. This includes The Adventurer’s Backpack which is a major 224-page player expansion that injects 20 new character classes including Warlock, Blade Dancer, Oathsworn and Arcane Thief, and 34 pre-designed equipment packages to streamline game preparation. This was followed promptly by the Adventurer's Armory which goes through other equipment, rules for mounts, rules for pets, an ongoing magic system revamp and so forth.

The Engineering Series: A detailed world-building suite including titles like Engineering Names, Engineering Villages, Engineering Towns, and Engineering Castles designed to assist Castle Keepers in creating organic settlements. This can be paired with the Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds Series, which is a massive set of world building guides and tools, written by Gary himself.

The Codex series supplements cover different religions, cultures and planes if you want to add them to your games more readily. The series is quite comprehensive already and has started to expand east, including Codex Egyptium, Codex Celtarum, Codex Sinarum, Codex Exaltum and Codex Inferum. (You'll never guess the subjects of all of those.)

The World of Aihrde Setting and Adventure: The signature universe for Castles & Crusades, supported by massive campaign compilations like The Undying War, which weaves modules A0 through A12 into an epic storyline spanning character levels 1 to 13.

The Gygax Stuff

The creme de la creme for true fa/tg/uys and ca/tg/irls everywhere, the exclusive Gygax material that TLG has released. Following an agreement to resolve debts and manage the legendary creator's estate, TLG partnered with Gary's son, Luke Gygax, to resurrect and fully integrate Gygax’s classic works directly into the Castles & Crusades system, along with the above mentioned Gygaxian Worlds series. It's worth noting here, that TLG was Gary's publisher till the day he passed on to the great gaming table in the sky.

Materials released so far include:

Castle Zagyg: Yggsburgh: Originally published in 2005 but pulled in 2008 due to licensing expiration, this massive 256-page sandbox campaign setting—representing Gygax’s legendary home campaign environment recently received an official retro-reprint.

The Hermit: A classic standalone adventure completely updated for modern Castles & Crusades rules, featuring full-color layouts, new cartography, and historical development notes.

Classes

Castles and Crusades builds on the Second Edition array of classes. It's corebook consists of

• Assassins - Stealthy trapmakers and poisoners, not allowed to be good (morally) and are classified as an optional class in newer printings. Dex Prime, d6 HD.
• Barbarians - Hardy survivalists with a spin attack and can do Conan-esque feats of agility and strength. Con Prime, d12 HD.
• Bards - A combination of historian, fighter, and bawd, you are here to kick ass and sing names. Cha Prime, d10 HD.
• Clerics - Healbot and undead defeater, like every other D20 based cleric. Wis Prime, d8 HD.
• Druids - A nature focused supporting caster with limited shapeshifting. Wis Prime, d8 HD.
• Fighters - A guy who specializes in fighting real good and is simultaneously the most simple and most flexible class in the game. Str Prime, d10 HD.
• Illusionists - A spellcaster focused on blurring the lines of reality, who got healing spells in later printings. Int Prime, d4 HD.
• Knights - Charismatic warriors who are expert horsemen, (which will definitely be useful in a dungeon campaign) and provide combat buffs and debuffs. Cha Prime, d10 HD.
• Monks - Kung fu action skirmishers that can actually take a punch as well as deal it out. Con Prime, d12 HD.
• Paladins - The Knights Code of Conduct mixed with the Clerics god bothering. Cha Prime, d10 HD
• Rangers - A fighter with an assassin's stealth and poison knowledge and a barbarian's wilderness skills, uses racism to deal huge damage to humanoids and giants. Str Prime, d10 HD.
• Rogues - Skill monkeys and door openers with stealth. Dex Prime, d6 HD.
• Wizards - Like an illusionist, except their spells deal damage instead of pretending to. Int Prime, d4 HD.

New classes from The Adventurer's Backpack;

• Arcane Thief - A magical rogue that manipulates and siphons the arcane energy of others to cast spells and fuel their own tricks. Int Prime, d8
• Archer - A dedicated martial master of ranged weaponry who excels at sniping, trick shots, and controlling the battlefield from a distance. Dex Prime, d10
• Blade Dancer - A highly agile, dual-wielding martial artist who weaves performance and lethal swordplay seamlessly into combat. Dex Prime, d10
• Divine Knight - A holy champion who blends armored martial prowess with divine spellcasting to smite enemies and protect allies. Wis Prime, d10
• Dwarf Runesmith - A subterranean craftsman who hammers protective and destructive runes right into metal armor and weaponry. Str or Int Prime, d10
• Elf Mage - A variant spellcaster representing the ancient, inherent blend of elven heritage and natural high arcana. Int Prime, d6
• Ethereal Knight - A martial warrior capable of shifting their essence and weaponry between the physical plane and the mysterious, ghostly realms of the ethereal plane. Int Prime, D10
• Feral Halfling - A fierce, untamed warrior who survives in deep, dangerous wilderness using predatory stealth and close-quarters savagery. Dex Prime, d8
• Foresworn - A fallen knight or outcast who has abandoned their sacred vows, relying instead on raw grit, survival instinct, and dark resolve. Str or Con Prime, s10
• Gnome Trickster - An illusion-focused specialist who relies heavily on fey heritage to confuse, misdirect, and outsmart foes. Cha Prime, d6
• Magic User - A versatile, unconventional spellcaster who uses Charisma rather than intense study to channel arcane forces with fewer weapon restrictions. Cha Prime, d8
• Oathsworn - A holy or ideological zealot bound body and soul to an unyielding cause, giving them superhuman resilience on the battlefield. Cha Prime, D10
• Pacer - A rugged skirmisher and specialized wilderness scout who excels at covering vast distances quickly and ambushing targets. Con Prime, d10
• Primal Druid - A raw caster of the wild who rejects organized circles to channel the unfiltered, chaotic forces of nature and beasts directly. Wis Prime, d8
• Rune Mark - (Rune Lore Reforged) A specialized mystic who carves and manipulates elemental and cosmic runes directly into objects or environments to produce lingering magical effects. Cha Prime, d6
• Warlock - An arcane spellcaster who bypasses traditional academic magic by forging powerful, binding pacts with otherworldly entities. Cha Prime, d8

There are more classes as well included in the Codexes such the Witch, but this is the bulk of the readily available ones including the new racial exclusive classes. Most classes can be found with a little searching around online if you really want to play one but don't have the chance to stump up for the splat.