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Friday, August 31, 2012

Mini Review - Castles & Crusades Player's Handbook - 5th Printing - Now in Fabulous Technicolor

I've spoken about Castles & Crusades many a time on this blog. It literally is the game that brought me back to RPGs. It spoke to me like nothing else had since D&D 1e, and at the time it was first and only retroclone-ish release in the RPG market. I have every printing of the C&C Handbook - some multiple printings even, as I have the leatherette and the softcover PH / M&T flip book.

Every printing but the 5th. Well, now I have the C&C PH 5th printing in PDF. I still need to get it in HC.

So, what's the appeal of Castles & Crusades, when you have all of the other retroclones out there that hew pretty close to one classic ruleset or another?

Easy peasy compatibility from 3x to 0e. It plays very much like AD&D, and it's class selection is certainly built upon AD&D 1e.

Tons of support, adventures, and even a Fantasy Grounds ruleset available for it.

The 5th edition Player's Handbook is much like earlier editions, but with typos stomped and now color added. It's a pleasure to look at (and the PDF is nicely bookmarked) but it would be a PITA to print on your own. Consider yourself warned.

So many games, so little time ;)
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3 comments:

  1. Steve MossSeptember 4, 2012 at 2:32 AM

    Why is it a PITA to print out?

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  2. R.J. ThompsonSeptember 4, 2012 at 8:54 AM

    There are also some revisions to encumbrance rules. C&C is my go to for sure. I love that I can plug n' play anything from the LLB's all the way up through 3.5. Hence the C&C Rappan Athuk campaign, complete with 1E Wilderness Survival guide, Bards Gate, CSIO and a bunch of 2E supplements. If people really want something ultra light that you can use EVERY D&D product you have ever bought with, this is your game.

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  3. Erik TenkarSeptember 4, 2012 at 8:35 PM

    @steve - PITA to print as there is art behind all of the text - kinda like a super artistic watermark - i hate this shit on my PDFs ;)

    ReplyDelete