Moderator: Blacky the Blackball
I believe Castles & Crusades was the last system that Gary Gygax wrote for before he passed. He was working on the Castle Zagyg series, which was Castle Greyhawk with the serial numbers filed off.
I've heard of Castle Zagyg. That's "Gygax" backwards, with the "X" swapped for a "Z".Tim Baker wrote: ↑Tue Sep 11, 2018 5:39 amI believe Castles & Crusades was the last system that Gary Gygax wrote for before he passed. He was working on the Castle Zagyg series, which was Castle Greyhawk with the serial numbers filed off.
I'm not sure if any of the elf subtypes had anything to do with him. Was he known for being a proponent of lots of elf subraces?
Gary Gygax didn't write the C&C system. It was named in homage to him*. The Designer(s) are Stephen Chenault, Davis Chenault, Mac Golden, Robert Doyel, Todd Sandy, Todd Gray, James M. Ward.Tim Baker wrote: ↑Tue Sep 11, 2018 5:39 amI believe Castles & Crusades was the last system that Gary Gygax wrote for before he passed. He was working on the Castle Zagyg series, which was Castle Greyhawk with the serial numbers filed off.
I'm not sure if any of the elf subtypes had anything to do with him. Was he known for being a proponent of lots of elf subraces?
Correct. I didn't mean to imply that he designed the system, but he was writing products for it up until the time he passed. I recently listened to an interview with Stephen Chenault, where he talked about how Gary had contacted him to publish his content, but didn't want to use 3rd Edition rules. Stephen and Davis had already been talking about a simplified version of the d20 system that would run more like AD&D. When Stephen told Gary about it, Gary was sold on it.shesheyan wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 2:24 amGary Gygax didn't write the C&C system. It was named in homage to him*. The Designer(s) are Stephen Chenault, Davis Chenault, Mac Golden, Robert Doyel, Todd Sandy, Todd Gray, James M. Ward.
*«The name of the game derives from the Castle & Crusade Society, founded in the pre-Dungeons & Dragons era by Gary Gygax.[1] The title is in homage to the role-playing industry's birth.»
Rereading your post I see that I misread your sentence.Tim Baker wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:14 amCorrect. I didn't mean to imply that he designed the system, but he was writing products for it up until the time he passed. I recently listened to an interview with Stephen Chenault, where he talked about how Gary had contacted him to publish his content, but didn't want to use 3rd Edition rules. Stephen and Davis had already been talking about a simplified version of the d20 system that would run more like AD&D. When Stephen told Gary about it, Gary was sold on it.shesheyan wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 2:24 amGary Gygax didn't write the C&C system. It was named in homage to him*. The Designer(s) are Stephen Chenault, Davis Chenault, Mac Golden, Robert Doyel, Todd Sandy, Todd Gray, James M. Ward.
*«The name of the game derives from the Castle & Crusade Society, founded in the pre-Dungeons & Dragons era by Gary Gygax.[1] The title is in homage to the role-playing industry's birth.»
Not only was C&C marketed towards the Old School community. Gygax worked closely with its publishers and in addition to contributing to books like Castle Zagyg and others, he also openly supported the system.
I can't say for certain, but these elf subtypes strike me as a likely nod towards Greyhawk and AD&D 1st Edition.If so, are any of these elf subtypes anything to do with him?
I am now more interested than ever before in checking out C&C. I love D&D 3E for how it changed the game and made it easier to understand. So I'd love to get a better look at C&C and see how it streamlines the D20 engine further.Tim Baker wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 5:14 amCorrect. I didn't mean to imply that he designed the system, but he was writing products for it up until the time he passed. I recently listened to an interview with Stephen Chenault, where he talked about how Gary had contacted him to publish his content, but didn't want to use 3rd Edition rules. Stephen and Davis had already been talking about a simplified version of the d20 system that would run more like AD&D. When Stephen told Gary about it, Gary was sold on it.shesheyan wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 2:24 amGary Gygax didn't write the C&C system. It was named in homage to him*. The Designer(s) are Stephen Chenault, Davis Chenault, Mac Golden, Robert Doyel, Todd Sandy, Todd Gray, James M. Ward.
*«The name of the game derives from the Castle & Crusade Society, founded in the pre-Dungeons & Dragons era by Gary Gygax.[1] The title is in homage to the role-playing industry's birth.»
You can get a feel for the rules with the free Quick Start Guide. If you like what you read, the Players Handbook is quite affordable for a hardback book of its size.Angel Tarragon wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 4:24 pmI am now more interested than ever before in checking out C&C. I love D&D 3E for how it changed the game and made it easier to understand. So I'd love to get a better look at C&C and see how it streamlines the D20 engine further.
Between now and Monday, 29-Oct-2018, you can use the coupon DIGITAL30 on the Troll Lord Games store site to save 30% on all PDFs. With the Players Handbook currently on sale for 50% off (US$9.99), that would make the Players Handbook a mere US$7.
That does sound likely.
Is there anything around with an overview of the C&C elves? All I've got to go on (in this topic) are the names. There are a couple that seem similar to D&D elves, but it would be nice to be able to do a comparison of specific subraces.
Thanks for posting that, Tim.Tim Baker wrote: ↑Fri Oct 26, 2018 6:28 amYou can get a feel for the rules with the free Quick Start Guide. If you like what you read, the Players Handbook is quite affordable for a hardback book of its size.Angel Tarragon wrote: ↑Thu Oct 25, 2018 4:24 pmI am now more interested than ever before in checking out C&C. I love D&D 3E for how it changed the game and made it easier to understand. So I'd love to get a better look at C&C and see how it streamlines the D20 engine further.
I'm not aware of a resource that pulls together information about each of the races. It would take more time than I currently have to summarize each one (I'm by no means an expert, and would need to read each one then summarize, as the content is Product Identity).Big Mac wrote: ↑Sat Oct 27, 2018 3:13 pmIs there anything around with an overview of the C&C elves? All I've got to go on (in this topic) are the names. There are a couple that seem similar to D&D elves, but it would be nice to be able to do a comparison of specific subraces.
Are all of these subraces nailed down to specific regions of the C&C setting?
Ah. I didn't realise these were several sets of elves, rather than one large set of elves.Tim Baker wrote: ↑Sun Oct 28, 2018 11:33 pmThese come from several different C&C settings. Aihrde is the main campaign setting for C&C (includes the Players Handbook, Players Guide to Aihrde, Monsters & Treasure, and Expanded Races), but Hallowed Oracle is another, Bluffside is another, and Codex Celtarum and Codex Germania can either be used together or as their own individual settings, if I recall.
Interestingly enough, there doesn't appear to be nearly as much diversity from setting to setting for the other races. So there's still something special about elves going on here.Big Mac wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 1:18 amAh. I didn't realise these were several sets of elves, rather than one large set of elves.
I suppose that, if the other races featured in two or more settings, but the elves were different for each world, the number of elves vs the number of humans, dwarves, gnomes, etc might not look so large.
It it one medium-sized collection of subraces that is used across all C&C settings, or is it a number of smaller collections of subraces?Tim Baker wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 2:26 amInterestingly enough, there doesn't appear to be nearly as much diversity from setting to setting for the other races. So there's still something special about elves going on here.Big Mac wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 1:18 amAh. I didn't realise these were several sets of elves, rather than one large set of elves.
I suppose that, if the other races featured in two or more settings, but the elves were different for each world, the number of elves vs the number of humans, dwarves, gnomes, etc might not look so large.
Subraces seem to be quite rare with the exception of elves in C&C settings.
Good find!Big Mac wrote: ↑Sat Nov 10, 2018 1:55 pmIt looks like your steam gnomes feature in a free adventure called Bluffside: Right Under Our Noses.
