Castles & Crusades
The Castles & Crusades logo
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| Designer(s) | Stephen Chenault, Davis Chenault, Mac Golden, Robert Doyel, Todd Sandy, Todd Gray, James M. Ward |
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| Publisher(s) | Troll Lord Games |
| Publication date | 2004 |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| System(s) | d20 System/Open Game License |
Castles & Crusades (C&C) is a fantasy role-playing game published in 2004 by Troll Lord Games based upon a stripped-down variant of the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast. The game system is designed to emulate the play of earlier editions of the Dungeons & Dragons game while keeping the unified mechanics of the d20 System.
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 role-playing industry's birth.
The game was initially released in 2004 in a special boxed edition consisting of three digest-sized booklets, dice, and a crayon in a white box with artwork by artist Peter Bradley of a knight on horseback. The reason for the box set was to have something on hand for sale at Gen Con as the finished product was still several months away. A boxed set was chosen for its resemblance to the earliest versions of Dungeons & Dragons, which could be found, depending upon printing, in either a woodgrain box or a white one. As a promotion through the company's website, the first 300 copies were signed and numbered by the designers.
Later that year, the first printing of the Players Handbook was released. Since that time, the Players Handbook has seen additional reprints, in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2012, and 2014. The companion volume, Monsters & Treasure, was released in 2005, with additional reprints published in 2007, 2009 and 2015.
Castles & Crusades's game mechanics are based on the d20 system, designed by Wizards of the Coast. The system has been modified to create a simplified version of the game. All the core classes and races, the alignment system, attributes and hit point systems were retained with only slight adjustments in hit dice. The highly intricate system of skills and feats found in Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition was discarded, replaced by what the designers call the "Siege Engine", intended as an extremely easy game mechanic with universal applications. The game is compliant with the terms of the Open Game License.
The Siege Engine works on an attribute check system. Attributes are divided into primary and secondary attributes. Primary attributes have a base chance to succeed of 12 while secondary attributes have a base chance to succeed of 18. The game's referee, the Castle Keeper, adds a challenge level to the base and the resulting number, the challenge class, is the target number required to succeed at a check. The player adds the character's level, any attribute bonuses and class bonuses to the roll. If the result after bonuses equals or exceeds the challenge class, the player succeeds. Except for combat, the Siege Engine is desired for use for anything that requires a check in the game.
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