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Castles & Crusades Den of Iniquity
by Michael D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/03/2020 00:54:47

This book contains a detailed description of a pirate city 78 keyed locations , sadly the relevant map is not included. Also there is no index to thePDF



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades Den of Iniquity
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Castles & Crusades The Adventurers Backpack
by Edward K. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/18/2020 19:03:08

Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Adventurer's Backpack

Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day!

Product- Adventurer's Backpack System-Castles and Crusades Producer- Troll Lord Games Price- 19.99 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/234183/Castles--Crusades-The-Adventurers-Backpack?affiliate_id=658618 TL; DR- OPTIONS! 86%

Basics-It's time for a solid player option book for CnC! This book features TONS of new classes, spells, items, niche rules, and even a complete new magic system. There is even a whole chapter dedicated to backpacks of tools each adventurer would need to do their job. How does it stack up?

Mechanics or Crunch- Ah old school… you provide us with gonzo options and allow the DM to do whatever they want. The problem is, this is pretty rules-light for how some of the crunch works. A perfect example is the warrior priest. That class has Cure Wounds which allows them to heal other characters. Awesome! I love it. But the rules don’t describe: do you roll once per day, or do you roll all hit points and then give them out as you want, or do you spend dice as you go? I could hunt online and find the answer. I don’t want to do that. I just decided and went with it. This is old school, so once the group decides, we roll with it. That's the bad; the good is this book gives you new character classes, character options like spell casting rangers, paladins,and bards, lots of equipment options, spells, and all sorts of tools adventurers might need to fight evil. It's not perfect, but the flaws are all part of OSR rules' light touch. The good is amazing and makes this worth the price. 3.75/5 Theme or Fluff- I would not call this a fluff book, but I do think what is here is done well. It mostly gives you ideas how the new things fit into the fantasy worlds of Castles and Crusades. It's world-agnostic in a decent way, so you could plug these into any fantasy world and have a fitting character. I would like more, as I want to build out the world and campaign setting, but the book gives you enough that you can find the equivalent in your world and plug and play right away. 4.25/5

Execution- PDF? Yep! Hyperlinked? YES! This book is well done. It's an old school game, but it's modern design makes me happy. It's not perfect - I would like the font to be a bit larger, but this thing has all the things I think a modern book should have. 4.9/5

Summary-My summary of this book comes down to one very specific question-do you want more character options for CnC? If yes, then get the book. It’s not perfect; I think things need another round of writing to fully explain what the writers wanted me to do in some spots, but if you can look past some small issues, you will enjoy this. The fluff is decent. I want more, but it's not bad. Just not the whole world laid bare. Physically, the book is done well. Links, layout, and text all work well. I’m glad this is in my collection, and I know my players are always happy to have this as a place to get spells, classes, and toys to help them put down evil. 86%



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades The Adventurers Backpack
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Castles & Crusades -- Tome of the Unclean
by Eric F. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/14/2020 13:28:36

"Beyond the darkness and beyond all sense lies a gulf of empty fear where true evil lurks.

Born with twisted thought, tainted with stains of malice, they are creatures foul and bent. They dwell in the darkness of time's caverns, in the Abyss, in Hell, in those Wretched Planes of shadow and evil, loss and despair. The echo of the unknown drives them from darkness toward the light. Some few seek salvation, but others to drive the souls of mortals to ultimate darkness and corruption.

Tome of the Unclean unleashes all of the power and horror of these wretched planes upon your Castles & Crusades game! From the Lords of the Abyss, to the Legions of Hell, and through to the gray wastes of Gehenna, a host of devils, demons, and daemons await your table!

Tome of the Unclean includes all of the familiar denizens of the darker planes. Here you will find Demogorgon and Orcus; Asmodeus, Bael, and Mammon, plus legions of others. All of the major and minor demons, greater and lesser devils, and a veritable host of creatures from your players' worst nightmares await within these pages."

A week or so ago I ordered a copy of Castles & Crusades's Tome of the Unclean. Let me first point out that this supplement is meant for Castles & Crusades exclusively. While Castles & Crusades's Tome of the Unclean can be used with other OSR systems its meant exclusively for C&C or other Siege engine rpg systems. This book does exactly what I was looking for, it adds in a plethora of Demons, Devils, & even appendixes on adding in undead, hellish fauna, & flora. But Tome of the Unclean is geared for Aihrde, the default C&C campaign setting. I'm good with this. This seems to bother a lot of members of the OSR & but not me in particular. I'm a completest & so Tome of the Unclean has been on my Troll Lords radar for a long time. My feeling is that I'd love to put together an OSR game campaign centered around my version of the Hells as the major antagonistic force of darkness. Since the C&C Player's Guide is being offered for free I figured it was a great time to get in on the action.

I gotta say that despite reviews like this from Tim O; "C&C is my go to game, but I must say I'm very disappointed in this one. I was really looking forward to the official versions, but the expected improvements to the "big baddies" did not happen. In my opinion all the major demons and devils are under powered as far as hit points and magical abilities go; even the "standard" abilities of both groups seem weak and incomplete." Sigh.. I didn't particularly find this at all. In point of fact I think that all of the infernal deviants of Tome of the Unclean work very well for me. I wasn't looking for a huge push in abilities,powers,etc. in the way of the 'munchkin factor'. Instead I'm looking for an infernal book that lines up with other Siege Engine & OSR products. So if I want a demon, devil, etc. I can grab this book off of the shelf & pop one of these horrors into my games. Tome of the Unclean is that book. It does it job & its up to the quality of other Troll Lords products. I bought it with my own pocket money & paid well for Tome of the Unclean. That should tell you everything right there. I'm very happy with Castles & Crusades's Tome of the Unclean.

Want More OSR reviews for this & other products? Please Subscribe to https://swordsandstitchery.blogspot.com/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades -- Tome of the Unclean
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Castles & Crusades By Shadow of Night
by Michael D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/06/2020 09:03:08

This be a very good adventure but it is missing a keyed map of the city as mentioned on the back cover. Such a shame.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades By Shadow of Night
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Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure of Aihrde 3rd printing
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 12/22/2019 22:34:23

At first I was not going to get this book. I had all three of the other monster books and this one seemed a bit redundant. But this one had something the others didn't; Demons and Devils. I don't want to say that this is the only reason I got it, but they were conspicuously absent from all the other books. Of course this book has more, a lot more, than just that.

I did enjoy all the new dragons and like it's "parent" book, this book has a bunch of new treasure. Some of the monsters are world specific, but nothing that can't be worked around. In truth most of these monsters are all brand new to me and that is worth the price of the book alone. Even most of the demons, devils and dragons are new. Likewise for the treasure.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure of Aihrde 3rd printing
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Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters & Treasure 2nd Printing
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 12/22/2019 22:31:35

A fantastic collection of monsters from the original Fiend Folio, Monster Manual 2 and various publications. All revised to be used in in Castles & Crusades. Not a "must have" book, but certainly a "you will really, really want it and kick yourself if you don't get it" book.

It is a fantastic edition to my C&C collection and I am very glad I bought it. Actually the more I have it, the more I find myself turning to it.

The nicest feature of this book is the inclusion of a DMG style index of the monster stats from here and from Monsters & Treasure. So now hundreds of monsters are at your finger tips.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters & Treasure 2nd Printing
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Amazing Adventures -- The Menace of the Serpent God
by David D. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/12/2019 01:26:37

A very cheesy pulp railroad. Done in imitation of some of the worst pulp tropes. If you don't mind railroads, and love really cheesy nonsensical pulp adventures then this will be for you. If you want logic, consistency or player agency give this one a pass.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
Amazing Adventures -- The Menace of the Serpent God
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Castles & Crusades -- Tome of the Unclean
by Ken S. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 07/23/2019 00:43:50

I soured on C&C awhile ago and actually forgot I had kickstarted this. So when it came out of the blue a few months ago, I just put it on the shelf. In the past week I finally decided to check it out and the verdict is pretty underwhelming. Sure, there are lots of demons, devils and other denizens of the Underworld. And it did come with a nifty color map that I'll definitely make use of. But the monsters themselves are just okay. They attempt to alter most of the old D&D creatures somewhat, including demon lords and arch devils, but most of the alterations aren't really improvements. A handful of the new ones are cool enough that I'll work them into my own version of the Infernus. Unfortunately the entries tend to be way too long and all the stuff about them in Aihrde, the default C&C campaign setting, is pretty much boring fluff. Frankly, that setting has never been particularly interesting to me. Others may like it, I suppose. C&C's usual spotty editing is on full display here as well. The artwork, like that of most C&C products, is not particularly good. It's not even really old school, but comes off as blurry or half finished much of the time. And a good portion of it is recycled from other books. I will still use this for my Labyrinth Lord games, but it's not really a must own, unless you really want a few new demons and devils, or want to mix them up a bit to challenge your players.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades -- Tome of the Unclean
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5th Edition Role Playing -- Mystical Companions
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 07/01/2019 20:55:23

Posted here: http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2019/07/monstrous-monday-mystical-companions-5e.html

208 pages. Full-color covers and interior art. PDF and Hardcover. For this review, I am reading primarily from the digital PDF version, but it applies to the hardcover as well. I purchased both the 5e and C&C versions at Gary Con and received my PDFs via Kickstarter. Spend any time reading my blog or reviews and one thing is obvious. I love my spellcasters and familiars. I have often felt the rules for familiars are quite under-developed in many games and familiars, or animal companions of any sort, are often an under-utilized or a forgotten aspect of the game and lives of the characters. So far every 5th Edition game I have run the players have wanted an animal companion of some sort. While the rules in the game are fine enough, there is plenty of room for improvement. Thankfully, the Troll Lords believe the same thing. I have mentioned that this book is an update and replacement to their Book of Familiars, it is, and it is more than that.

A quick look over the table of contents reveals that we are getting an animal companion for every class. I feel that this appropriate and looking forward to reading the details. Now before I go on I do want to point out that unlike some third-party books this one is NOT "plug and play". You must make plans to add these animal companions from the start. In one game I tried to tack on these rules in an on-going game and ran into some issues. In another game, I used this from the start and everything went much more smoothly. I guess think about it as getting a real-life pet. You are going to do a little work and thought beforehand. Once I did this THEN adding these to an ongoing game was much easier. This is NOT like adding a new spell or magic item to your game, this is a new, but highly compatible sub-system.

Chapter 1: Introduction Here the purpose of the book is laid out and how the authors made certain decisions on how to incorporate this new material into the game. There is a section here that bares repeating since I have heard this complaint online. A WORD OF EXPLANATION: This book requires that you have access to the three core rulebooks for the 5th edition rules, or at very least to the Basic Rules document that is freely available online. Throughout this book, we have used the terms ‘CK,’ and “Castle Keeper” to indicate the game master or person running the game, and ‘player character’ or ‘PC’ to refer to the characters created for the game. In addition, when you see terms like, “Game Master’s Guide” or “5th Edition Monster Tome,” these refer to the Core Rulebooks for the 5th Edition fantasy rules set. So if you see "CK" or "Castle Keeper" in this book, it's not shoddy editing, but a design choice. Hey, they like CK better than GM. And since they can't say DM then CK is just as good as anything else. There are rules to what an OGL publisher can and can't say, so I can't fault them here.

Here the other sub-systems are described. Advantages. Advantages are Feats. They are gained the same way and used, mostly, in the same way. The difference in wording here (at least for me) helps differentiate the "feats" from this book from all the other feats you can get in the Core rules or other publishers. In play, this has been a boon since I know immediately that an Advantage on a sheet means something from this book and not another book on my shelf.
Paths. Time has been kind to Troll Lords here. When this book first came out in 2017 not a lot of 3P publishers were doing paths yet and there was some confusion about what these were. Now everyone has a new path (read: sub-class, kit, path, option) for the 12 core classes. These CAN slot right into a game like anything else from any 3PP. Tricks. Things your animal companion can do. Rituals. How you can get your animal companion. I mean there has to be some magic right? New Familiars and Animals. Kinda what it says on the tin to be honest.

Animal Companion vs. Familiar. While rules in the book cover book and treat them somewhat interchangeably an Animal Companion is more like a loyal pet or friend. A Familiar is a creature summoned to work with the PC. Animal Companions are free willed, familiars are not.

Chapter 1 also covers the basics of familiars. A point. A familiar/Animal companion "character" sheet would be GREAT here, but there isn't one. Ah well, can have everything I guess.

The list of Advantages (again, these are just like Feats) are presented. There are more here and some might complain about giving up a Feat or Ability advancement for a Familiar, but these are all quite balanced in my experience. You give up one "power" (feat, advancement) for another. Quite implicit in 5th Edition's design really. Not only that it is actually quite elegant once you use it.

The best part about this? You can take the Summon Familiar Advantage/Feat multiple times (Wizards get it for free at first level) so you can have multiple familiars. I don't do multiple familiars often, but when I do, I really want to do it. Though my son runs a game with this book and he describes the group of PCs and their companions as a "traveling zoo". One girl even has a sheep as an animal companion. Why? No idea. But this book supports it.

Another great piece of advice from Chapter 1 bears repeating (coping) here. Give yourself a visual reminder of your familiar’s presence. Write “REMEMBER THE FAMILIAR” to a Post-It note and stick it to the table in front of you. Or make it a point to buy and use a miniature for your familiar. Good advice. I am a fan of the Wardlings minis from WizKids or getting a custom mini with a familiar from Hero Forge.

Chapters 2 through 13 all work in a similar fashion. Each core class is covered with attention given to special Animal Companions, Familiars or Mounts as appropriate. Different animals are discussed and a new Path is given that focuses on having an animal companion.

For example, the Barbarian (the last class you might think needs a familiar) has the Nature Fetish Path and the Horseman Path (Dothraki anyone?) The Barbarian chapter is quite good really in that it really shows that animals really do need to be a bigger part of a barbarians' (and all characters) lives. Reading this chapter has made me want to play a barbarian for the first time EVER since they became an option to me in 1985-1986 or so. No content just to talk about familiars and paths, the barbarian chapter also covers special mounts.

The other chapters are as equally robust. There are sections on the Paladin's mount and Ranger's companions but also familiars for rogues and clerics and others that you might not think need animal companions. I particularly like the Rogue's path, the Shadow Pact. How's that work? Well, Rogues can take creatures of shadow as familiars! Tell me that is not cool.

As expected the familiars of the Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard are ALL very, very different from each other and really reflect what the classes do now. Back in the 3e days Wizards and Sorcerer wre 100% interchangeable in terms of role. The differences were largely fluff. Since 4e this is less true and now in 5e they are very different sorts of classes. In 4e Sorcerers and Warlocks filled similar roles. Again in 5e they are very different. This book reflects the new 5e differences. Naturally there can be overlap. The chapter on Wizards talks about how the Wizard rituals can be used by sorcerers for example.

Appendix A: Familiars and Companions. This covers the familiars and "normal" animals in 5e Stat blocks. Appendix B: New Monsters. New monsters. Appendix C: New Spells. New spells, as expected. Likewise, Appendix D: New Magic Items and Artifacts.

Appendix E though is something different. This covers Dragon Riders. While many of the same rules are used here as for familiars this takes them to a new place and should be considered optional. This is the Appendix/Chapter that my son grabbed this book from me for, BUT he opted not use their Dragon Riders but kept the book anyway for everything else.

A Dragon Rider is a Path that can be added to any class, but some have more use for it than others. If the idea of PC Dragon Riders concerns you, then keep in mind it is being sold as "optional". And also Dragon Riders of some form or another have been around since the dawn of the game. If it is something you want, then there is plenty here for you to use. If I ever ran a Magic School game with this then Dragon Riders would be included.

We end with a robust index and the OGL section.

A note about art. There is not as much in this book as other Troll Lord books, but what is here is from the fabulous Peter Bradley and Jason Walton, who also gives us the cover art.

Your results may vary, but this book has quickly gone from a neat oddity to one of our must-have books for my 5e games. My son uses it in the games he has run so much that I have not seen the book in months since it is now in with all of his books.

Do you need this book? I say yes, but only if you are adding animals of any sort to your game, be they pets, familiars, mounts, companions or all the way up to Dragon Riders. This is one of my 3PP books for 5e. One of the best really.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
5th Edition Role Playing -- Mystical Companions
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Castles & Crusades Codex Classicum
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 05/21/2019 14:30:29

For this book, I am reviewing the PDF only since that is what I have at hand at the moment.

The PDF is 146 pages with color covers and black & white interiors. The art is up to the high standards you should expect from Troll Lords with plenty of evocative art from Peter Bradley. Like the other books in this series, this one was written by Brian Young, who has the educational background to tackle these books.

Brian introduces us to the material with an apology that this book could have been twice as large and not cover everything. Indeed, the book's scope is ambitious with what we normally consider Classical Mythology; the stories of the Greeks and the Romans with some Etruscans thrown in for good measure. Ambitious indeed.

Note: There are a couple of errors in the hyperlinked table of contents in the PDF, but nothing that keeps anyone from enjoying the book.

Chapter 1 covers the actual history of the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans...or as much as can be done in 20 or so pages. There are actual history and mythical histories. The myth in this section and book takes heavily, as can be expected, from Hesiod's Theogony. It's like being back in Freshman Classics all over again! The section, for its brevity, is well thought out and hits on the big pictures and themes. I suppose if you want more you can always read Theogony yourself. In fact, do that, anyone that is a gamer should have a basic understanding of the Classical Myths.

Chapter 2 details the all-important geography of the area. Why "all-important"? Because the Greeks and the later Romans were products of their environments; their history, religions and myths were influenced by their geography to an extreme extent. From the Greek city-states of early antiquity, to rise of the power Athens and Macedonia and in the literal center of it all, the Mediterranean Sea.

Again, this chapter is a quick overview, but a better one than I have seen in other game books.

This chapter also covers mythical locations (but not the mythical worlds just yet). Remember to the Greeks these places were places just as real as everything else. One could, if they so desired, walk to the underworld. That is if they knew the way.

This chapter also introduces the Explorer/Adventurer class. Something that feels right at home in the world of the Greeks or the worlds of Gygax. Some should convert this to another system and see how it plays out.

Chapter 3 features the monsters and beasts of the Classical World. There are a lot of old favorites here and well as new representations of other favorites. Of course, this is one of my favorite chapters. Greek myth got me into D&D via the Monster Manual and there are a lot of monsters here that get right in the 1979 nostalgia. My only disappointment here is that is no art of any of the monsters. I know we all know what most of these creatures look like, but I still feel a little cheated in not getting enough Peter Bradley art.

Chapter 4 is my favorite. Monsters got me into D&D and RPGs, but it was magic that kept me coming back. Chapter 4 features Greek and Roman sorcery and magic including necromancy and prophecy. Even the most casual reader of the classic myths should know how important Oracles are to the tale. From Jason to Perseus to the tragedy of Oedipus, Oracles move the story forward. Here we get our next class, the Oracle (with notes on how these mouthpieces of the gods work in the other Codies). Unlike the Pathfinder Oracle, this one is not a spellcaster but a reader of omens. It also requires a fairly experienced player to play to make proper use of it.

Also featured here is the Nekuomantis, or the classical Greek necromancer. In many ways, this is the true necromancer before RPGs got ahold of the archetype. These characters speak to the dead to learn secrets and the future.

Chapter 5 deals with the Gods and Titans and other immortal creatures. It is fairly comprehensive compared to all other game books and very helpful in populating the ranks of the Immortals.

Chapter 6 focuses more on the humans and mortals of the world. The heroes and their issues. The basics of the Greek and Roman armies are also covered. This chapter also introduces the Gladiator class.

All in all a great overview but also leaving me with the desire for some more. Still I rather enjoyed it and can see a lot of uses for it.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades Codex Classicum
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Castles & Crusades Quick Start Rules
by Itai G. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/20/2019 17:46:20

Very strong OSR with very strong value for money. Magic system could definitely use some more work, but the combat section is great.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades Quick Start Rules
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A0 The Rising Knight -- Adventures for 5th Edition Rules
by Gene P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/14/2019 03:48:12

This is an excellent small adventure, from a story perspective. With that being said, it isn't adapted well to 5e. To be truthful, however, there is so much good content here that I would still pick it up. Their stat blocks will do in a pinch, though given a chance I wouldn't rely on them too heavily. This is very OSR and assumes you are ok with your players acquiring allies. I suggest you let them since the success of the adventure depends on cannon fodder, but I would equally not shy away from their deaths or the consequences of them in a role-play sense. Overall it's a solid little adventure and worth spending time on it to spruce it up.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
A0 The Rising Knight -- Adventures for 5th Edition Rules
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Castles & Crusades Players Handbook 7th Printing
by Edward K. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 05/04/2019 08:18:23

Ring Side Report- Castles & Crusades Players Handbook

Originally posted at [url=http://www.throatpunchgames.com]www.throatpunchgames.com[/url], a new idea everyday!

Product- Castles & Crusades Players Handbook

System-Castles & Crusades

Producer-Troll Lord Games

Price- $20 here [https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/105322/Castles--Crusades-Players-Handbook-7th-Printing?affiliate_id=658618 ](http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/105322/Castles--Crusades-Players-Handbook-7th-Printing?affiliate_id=658618 )

TL; DR- An interesting mix of old and new. 86 %

Basics-Onwards to adventure! Castles and Crusades is an Old School game through and through in its seventh edition. Let’s walk through to see all this game has to offer!

Basic Rolls-Castles and Crusades uses the d20 system at its core. Attacks are D20 rolls plus an attack bonus and an attribute. Skills are d20 plus an attribute and possible additional bonuses. If you’ve played any basic d20 system you can hop right into this game.

*Skills, saves, and the Siege System-IWhen you do something in Castles and Crusades, you roll as discussed above, but you sometimes get to add your levels. If the thing you are doing is something your class could do, you add your level. If you would not be trained because this isn’t something you would know how to do, you don’t add your level. The gamemaster sets the number you need to roll based on two factors-attribute and challenge level. Here is the crux of the Siege system. During character generation, you get primary attributes from your race and your class. If the thing you are trying to do or the save you are trying to make is based on a primary attribute, then the number you need to roll starts at 12. If it’s a secondary attribute, then the number starts at an 18. Next the GM adds the challenge level. This is a number representing how hard the thing you are doing is. Open a one tumbler lock might be a challenge level 1, but the king's personal bank vault might be an 8. So, different characters have different required rolls based on their primary abilities.

Everything else-From here on, if you have played Pathfinder or DnD 3.5, you're in solid hands. AC, rounds, and spells all function pretty much like you expect. If not, then the book gives you a solid introduction to the system

Mechanics or Crunch- Overall, this is a decently put together system, but the Siege system has some significant bumps in the road. I have lived through 3.5e to 5e DnD and watched wild swings in how much control a GM has at the table regarding the number required to roll for PCs to get things done. This game is solidly old school as lots left up to the GM, and I feel that hurts this a bit. This game really needs a list of skills and what classes get what skills, if any. Its OK for the rogue to be the a skill monkey and have tons of skills, but often some things just are left up to the GMs discretion. Saves are even left up to the GM! There is a chart of what attribute you roll for each save with different spell and monster effect requiring different attribute saves. All of this falls into the basics of the Siege system with a fighter who didn’t choose dexterity in a worse place compared to the rogue when the fireball goes off or he sneaks around in the dark. It’s not bad, but GM and the players have to really work together to run this game as some things are too complex to run on autopilot like simple roll to dodge a blow. Solid, but some needlessly complex things mar the system. 4/5

Theme or Fluff-.Solid old school fantasy. The book doesn’t have a world per se, but it does have world building with discussions on the nature of magic and character classes. Even each class has a bit of fluff to make you understand who they are and if you want to be them. It’s light, but for building a generic fantasy RPG, it’s doing its job well. 5/5

Execution- PDF? Check! Hyperlinked? CHECK! Tables that lay things out well? Well here is where things break down. This game is solidly in the OSR crowd. That’s not bad as the old school has some great advice for the young, but some things just need a new touch! Things like laying classes out better in tables and saying what I get at each level instead of having me read the complete class entry to see if and when I get different abilities. Spells suffer from the same issue as challenge levels where much interpretation is needed to determine what kind of spell is being cast instead of just leaving me with what I have to roll.and More often that not, I’m left making a call on what I’m doing or what kind of save I have to make. And for some things, I just want to add things up some numbers and see if I succeed. It feels a bit like homework. It does read easily, but modern RPG design elements would really help make this book that much more easier to read and run. 4/5

Summary-This game is a solid entry in the Old School Revolution that is embracing the advances of d20 system, at least for the mechanics. Adding at most two numbers and hoping is easier that thac0 or other previous system, at least for new players. But this book didn’t take enough from modern systems and layout. Listing skills and just saying what attribute to roll for every spell and most common effect will really help me play and enjoy the game. Now, this game is absolutely playable and fun out of the box day one with the basic mechanics being tried, true, and tested, but more specifically, fun. It's old school fantasy RPG with some new additions that build on and preserve the original author's vision. However, some things could be done much better to really help me play and teach this RPG. 86%



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Castles & Crusades Players Handbook 7th Printing
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Castles & Crusades CK Screens
by Eric P. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 04/19/2019 14:03:02

Updated Review

Originally, the pdf did not include the cover art, but now it does. It has everything you need to run a great game, and with the beautiful art by Peter Bradley, you can insert it into a customizable screen and get to it. 5 stars.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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A0 The Rising Knight -- Adventures for 5th Edition Rules
by Thomas C H. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 03/02/2019 18:01:39

Not only are there copy editing errors as the other review pointed out more than a year ago, but there are blunders like mixing up east and west (pg 4). There seem to be some plot holes big enough to drive a four-horse wagon through, although some of that is taste. I bought this as part of a bundle on the strength of the subtitle "Adventures for 5th Edition Rules", but it seems like the conversion was purely mechanical, somewhat error-prone, and didn't really pay attention to what it was doing. There are bits of awkward terminology that I assume belong to the original game system.

The module is listed as being for 3-6 characters of level 1. Let's examine the encounters on the first dungeon level if we have a party of 3 level 1 characters: deadly, deadly, deadly, deadly, easy, deadly, easy. Or with a party of 6 level 1 characters: medium, deadly, hard, medium, easy, hard, easy. On the second level, 4 of 6 encounters are deadly, even for a party of 6. Clearing the first level would get 4 characters to level 2, but not 6. Even if our 6 characters were level 2, the second level is: deadly, easy, easy, deadly, deadly, medium. The wandering monsters vary wildly from easy to deadly.

Treasure value reads as quite high for 5e, more in OSR style. Both that and the combat difficulty might be valid design choices, but there's no discussion of them, no acknowledgement of that or thoughts about how the GM might approach this. Friendly NPCs are statted as if they were PCs, which is legitimate but unusual in 5e sources.

The dungeon is sparsely keyed but most of the keyed locations are overly verbose.

Finally, the layout doesn't seem very use-at-the-table friendly; I'm afraid it'll be a real slog to find the information I need in play. If my (4, level 2) players head east towards the rumours of goblins and run into this where I've inserted it into their world I'll update this review with our actual experience.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
A0 The Rising Knight -- Adventures for 5th Edition Rules
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