#castlesandcrusades — Public Fediverse posts

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Not the Most Attentive Player...

@lairofsecrets While I typically run square-grids for my own games, I got to play with a hex-grid during our monthly #CastlesAndCrusades game on Sunday.

Zalerin — Nature’s Law,
Cleric of Tanil -- was ready in time for today's monthly real-world #CastlesAndCrusades game.

Ken's Saturday RPG project is painting his cleric for his monthly Castles & Crusades real-world game (in which he's a player, not a GM).

What's your weekend RPG project?

#RPG #TTRPG #CastlesAndCrusades #RPGMinis

Last night at CERN Games Club, we ran a kick-off event for a series of short #TTRPG campaigns to run over the summer. It was aimed at summer students, who are with us for 8-12 weeks between late June and Sept.

I decided to run a classic megadungeon, so I dug out Castle Zagyg. I bought this for about $45 in 2007, before Gail #Gygax pulled the license from #TrollLordGames. I see it selling online for 10 or 20 times that now, but TBH I'd rather play it than keep it pristine.

#CastlesAndCrusades

New Quest: the mortality of green! (Castles and Crusades). A sapling holds the forest's future, but ancient malice hungers to corrupt it. Dare you protect its fragile green? What choices will you make? #CastlesandCrusades #Fantasy #Questable #ttrpg https://questable.app/#/quests/kx3DrsJyo5CdVo4vuMaR

@ConorMahood

The PDF copy of #CastlesAndCrusades player's handbook is available for free from the Troll Lord Games website here https://trolllord.com/product/castles-crusades-players-handbook/.

TV Tropes is great for teasing out story ideas. I've found that once I understand basic story structure, it's a lot easier to make small changes to keep players involved in a familiar plot but with enough twist to keep them interested.

When running a published module, I've been lucky enough to find digital copies of maps available with a quick search. Drop it into a chat service (our group uses Element, another free resource!) to show players the lay of the land without having to draw out details. Use a browser with a screen capture and you can drop specific snippets and cut out spoilers.

The above mentioned Element is great for keeping individual channels for game chat, sharing spells or pictures of characters and monsters ad well as maps, and can host calls for online games.

Youtube can be great for finding playlists or specific pieces of music or clips for background atmosphere or show off what your scene would look like.

Time for some #CastlesAndCrusades … with new dice!

New Quest: the mortality of green! (Castles and Crusades). A sapling of hope against ancient darkness. Can you guide its fragile life through corrupted woods before mortality takes hold? Make your move! #CastlesandCrusades #Fantasy #Questable #ttrpg https://questable.app/#/quests/kx3DrsJyo5CdVo4vuMaR

#SideQuest in the #CastleZagyg #Yggsburg book

#GaryGygax #Greyhawk #CastlesAndCrusades #TTRPG

@raphaelkaitz Appreciate the thought, but I tend to prefer theater of he mind over maps. It becomes a different game for me and I did not care for 5e at all.

I have a few systems lined up. #LightFantasy, #13thAge, and #CastlesAndCrusades.

Looks like I may be adding yet another #TTRPG game that I'm GMing. We have some young friends and the boyfriend has asked about playing in one of my games. At this point, the easiest way to get them in is to start a fresh campaign for them.

I'm going to push for #13thAge since I already have a campaign at home and I think, honestly, it's an easier game to start with than #DnD5e. I'd go for #CastlesAndCrusades (#CnC) or #LiteFantasyRPG, but my wife doesn't seem as keen on those games.

Not sure I have the spoons for another #Pathfinder game. 1e Pathfinder is a lot more number intensive than I'm comfortable with.

#GMLife

It’s a beautiful, sunny Sunday. Perfect for playing Castles & Crusades in a friend’s basement (albeit a basement with nice big windows letting in sunlight). #TTRPG #CastlesAndCrusades #GameDay

Time for some #CastlesAndCrusades at #MEPACon

@critfail_press #CastlesAndCrusades and #ADnD2e for sure. I love C&C for the simplicity of the SIEGE engine mechanic from what little I've gotten to run with it. AD&D 2e was the first game I played and I love it despite/because of the weird sub-systems for rolling. I'm going to run an Al-Qadim based backup game for my Pathfinder group.

I've even started running my Pathfinder game more OSR-style. My players are incredibly creative and I find that I need to make a quick, fair ruling on the spot if I don't want to drag things down looking for specific rules. A couple of my players do usually have tablets or computers up to help me find some rules on the fly though, so that helps.

I find that there's an incredible amount of trust required for OSR games. You have to feel like the GM is going to be fair and balance resolutions for the story and for the characters. I think it's a little more intimate of an experience, which I love. I feel honored that my players trust me to bring a satisfying gaming experience at my table and I don't want to betray that. It makes me be a better GM, I think.

I'm going to work on a backup #TTRPG game for our Sunday #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords campaign for when we can't all make a session.

I'm leaning towards the #AlQadim #ArabianNights setting. I've had the boxed set for years, and I haven't had the chance to use it yet.

It'll probably be #ADnD2e but I'm not above trying to make it work for #CastlesAndCrusades. If it's AD&D, I'll probably convert AC to ascending instead of descending, for the ease of the players (and for me!).

#GMLife

Tomorrow, we're starting module 5 of 6 of my #Pathfinder #RiseOfTheRunelords campaign. I never imagined I'd get this far through it when we started.

It's got me thinking about my gaming white whales.

I'd love to get to play #VampireTheMasquerade again at some point, but more likely, I'll be running #VampireTheRequiem

I'd love to go back and run some #AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons modules like the #Dragonlance #WarOfTheLance or the original #Ravenloft or things like that using #ADD2e or #CastlesAndCrusades.

#TTRPG #GMLife

As I run my players through the #Pathfinder adventure path #RiseOfTheRunelords, I've reinforced my dislike of extensive numbers of feats and systems with higher amounts of crunch and my preference towards more #OSR type games.

I've all but gotten rid of battle maps. I largely ignore the lists of feats on enemy NPC entries. Unless they're built-in to the forms, I mostly ignore them. It might be different if the information was listed on the entries, but as it is, I'd have to cross-reference across at least one other book, possibly more. That just slows down the session.

A side effect of getting rid of the battle map, I fudge distances, ignore strict rules about flanking for sneak attacks in favor of a more *shudder* #DND5e approach. If an enemy is engaged, the rogue can sneak attack. It's simple, and I don't have to worry about drawing maps or, now that we have one player remoting in, screw around with a VTT.

If I had my druthers, I'd be running #CastlesAndCrusades or #ADND2e. I really don't care a whit about character optimizing, skill points, or feat chains. Let me describe the action and let the GM adjudicate the results with a roll.

But I'm glad my players are happy and that they're happy to let me drop some annoying rules here and there to streamline the experience. /1

#GMLife #TTRPG

Playing #CastlesAndCrusades. Heard at the table: “Lawful good doesn’t mean lawful nice.” #ttrpg

I'm fleshing out Hawfair Green and the area around it to use as a base of operations for a new #castlesandcrusades campaign.

What are YOU doing with #CastleZagyg #Yggsburgh?

#trolllordgames

Fighting the beginning of a cold instead of playing #CastlesAndCrusades in the real world (with real dice!).

Sucks to skip an in-person session ... but getting everyone else sick would suck more. So I'm reading #DnD 2024 stuff, prepping for #Greyhawk76, and playing some #BaldursGate3

My halfling, Tumblefoot, just hacked and slashed his way out of the guts of a shambling mound. #ttrpg #castlesandcrusades

@cynical13 It was fun.

#CastlesAndCrusades isn't always my cup of tea, but if it means hanging out with friends, I'm happy to grab my dice and go.

Playing #CastlesAndCrusades. Investigating a dead locksmith’s shop.

People object to #CastlesAndCrusades because of the word "Crusades"? Seriously? #ttrpg

@JunkyardTornado I tried to get my group to play #CastlesAndCrusades. Most of us loved it, but my wife didn't like the lower magic feel, which really bummed me out.

I'm okay with more rapid healing because it can keep the action moving forward, but I also appreciate the slower rate of older editions.

#13thAge has a sysyem where you only get a full heal after 3-5 encounters. You habe to push on but have healing surges that power abilities.

#GURPS is a great system but the core book is written like a physics textbook.

#TTRPG players and GMs, what are you currently playing? What do you wish you were playing?

Currently running

- #Pathfinder 1e. Not a fan of the crunch, but it's for my wife
- Taking a short break from #MasksANewGeneration, a #PoweredByTheApocalypse #PBTA supers game but ready to dive back in to the GM seat at a moments notice
- #Trinity #Adventures game. Character creation was a headache compared to other #WOD #WorldOfDarkness games but the characters are fun
- Our #MonsterHearts2 game should be starting up again at some point

Wish I was playing
- #13thAge for the amount of say players get in world building
- #GURPS for the complete characters you get after creation, which CAN be a real chore
- #D6StarWars as it was one of the first games I played and I really like the system
- #CastlesAndCrusades #CNC for the old school style with modern sensibilities
- #VampireTheMasquerade or #VampireTheRequiem. I've got a #VTR campaign I want to run at some point, but I don't know if/when I'll get to it. A long term obsession I haven't had the chance to play in 15-20 some years at this point
- #StarTrek #LastUnicornGames. I like the way they handled life/career paths

#GMLife

I'm tempted to get this book from @trolllordgames. I have been looking for mass battle rules for my #DnD solo campaigns for a while now. And 40% off is a tempting offer! https://bit.ly/3LAgjRv

Anyone have it? Thoughts?
#DungeonsAndDragons #TTRPG #CastlesAndCrusades

@lonespelunker Try #CastlesAndCrusades -- it's the true successor to 1e... and of course Mr Gygax was working with them at the end of his career.

@HipsterDM I'm currently running #Pathfinder 1e and there are other, lighter D&D-esque games I prefer (#CastlesAndCrusades and #13thAge come to mind).

I've really gotten into some of the Powered By the Apocalypse games and various versions of Vampire.

I've learned the importance of making rulings on the fly. As I've gotten a better handle on different systems, it's gotten easier to make a quick decision instead of throwing the flow of the game out the window by pouring through rules in books. As long as it's fair and in the spirit of the game, no one seems to mind.

That, and keeping the game moving and reading the room to make sure players are still interested are the two things I always stress.

@DrFriendless @Fury @ethanschoonover Try #CastlesAndCrusades!