Thursday, June 6, 2013

Crypts & Things

Some of you may remember certain comments I made concerning Crypts & Things, by D101 Games. I did, and still do, disagree with the notion of taking ideas freely given to the gaming community and making a proprietary title from them. I believe that some sort of free pdf should be made available, based on the spirit that made the game possible in the first place. Without the good will of Matt Finch and Akrasia, there wouldn't be C&T. I understand that the author developed an original setting,tweaked monsters and spells to better reflect the genre, and added descriptive fluff to be more evocative. If a free pdf that didn't include such things, then so be it. Not including that sort of artistry would be understandable.

Why have I decided to bang this tired old drum again? Because I broke down and bought the pdf of C&T. Philosophical differences aside, I love what Newt Newport has done here (so far. I haven't finished reading it yet).In this game, I have found something I have long wanted: a swords & sorcery D&D. I love Barbarians of Lemuria, I think Legends of Steel is a good implementation of the genre, but I've wanted Dungeons & Dragons swords & sorcery. I've tried many times, as most of you know, to develop my own house rules. Some of mine are amazingly close to some of Akrasia's, but mine never gelled like his do, taken as a whole. Plus it is one thing to take his rules and paste them into White Box, it is quite another to have them baked right in.

I had thought about doing one of my quasi-reviews, because there really aren't that many. The reviews that are out there (which are linked to on the D101 webpage) all say pretty much the same thing. "Great game", "excellent s&s rules", "magic system rocks", "best barbarian class ever", "really creepy monsters". Well, the fact is, that sums it up. It is a great game, and if I did review it, I would be saying the same thing all the others have said.

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