I have an open question, so anyone who knows, or even has an opinion, feel free to answer.
I am very intrigued by this game. I have been ever since I first heard about it and learned it was built in the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox engine. Lately, since its release, I've learned that it includes many things found in Akrasia's house rules. In fact, apart from the setting, everything I've seen bulleted as a "new feature" is from those house rules.
So, here's the question: Aside from the setting, is there anything in C&T that I couldn't get by applying Akrasia's house rules to WhiteBox myself? I know it is layed out and formatted and all that, and has a cool cover. I'm strictly speaking of the system here. Who can help me with this?
I can't answer your question about Crypts & Things, but thanks for drawing my attention to Akrasia's house rules. I've seen them before, but it has been a while and I had forgotten how good they are.
ReplyDeleteYes, Akrasia and Lord Kilgore have some great ideas. Have you seen LK's "Roll to Advance" house rule?
ReplyDeletePersonally I like to have a more objective incentive system that rewards players for being creative rather than just showing up, but I do actually like that "roll to advance" system (maybe because I'm a sucker for randomness). Thanks for prompting me to give it another look.
DeleteI should get the hardback next week. I plan on doing an in depth review on my blog, it's called the Gygaxian Bag of Holding. As far as those house rules you referenced they look to encompass a lot of what I have seen from crypts and Things. One difference to note I think is that crypts and things seems to lean more toward swords and wizardry core than White Box.
ReplyDeleteThe art, setting and atmosphere behind crypts and things all seems excellent and well produced as a plus for it. I'll stop back and let you know what I think. Love the about line on your blog by the way. Something about the Ford administration always makes me laugh.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm not trying to knock C&T, just doing some budget prioritizing.
DeleteGlad you like the Ford line. When I started with D&D it was the Fall of '76 and he was president, so that's where that comes from.
I checked out your blog. It's a good start. You have a new follower. If I may offer some advice: just keep at it. A lot of times I felt like I was the only one that read or cared about what I was writing, but that was ok. It just takes a while to get noticed and build up an audience. Hopefully it won't take you as long as it did me, though ;-)
David, thanks again for the plug and advice, I started this to knock some rust off my writing skills mainly, I didn't expect anyone to notice but now I am already getting some hits and followers. Now the pressure is on! Lol. Hopefully I can just provide some varied content that makes at least one or two people feel good or think a little.
ReplyDeleteI have good news on the Crypts and Things front, I got the book today along with Swords and Wizardry Core. I see no reason to review S and W core as most people are familiar with the product (short review, buy it, or at least get the free PDF). I do plan to get a review written over the weekend for C and T, it should be up Monday.
A couple things that I noticed at first glance that might interest you are the magic system, one Magic User type, who can use light, dark or grey magic, and the Sanity system tied to stats. The artwork and presentation are both very nice. I'll be focusing on some of the differences between C and T and other OSR games and the ability to integrate it with said games.
Bear in mind, I haven't seen C&T, so their implementation may be different, but Akrasia's house rules have the White, Gray, Black magic thing. He also has WIS as Sanity, but you say C&T is tied to stats (plural), so I'm interested in the difference there.
DeleteI know I am sounding negative, and I want to stress: That is not my desire. Artwork, layout, and presentation all count for something, especially when professionally done. I'm just unsure about prices ranging from $12 for the pdf, up to $40 for the HC, when it is sounding to me like the only thing new between the covers is the artwork, layout, and presentation. Maybe if I could see a copy in person, like at a FLGS, it would make sense to me and I could see what C&T brings to the table. Unfortunately, that option isn't available, and as long as everything I read leads me to believe that C&T is a $40 kit bash of two otherwise free things, I will have to pass. I feel bad about that because I'm making the decision on incomplete information, but I can't spend $12-$40 on incomplete information, either.
I know that sounds like I am some kind of whiny bitch, and the simple answer is "Then don't buy it". A few months ago, I would have been good with that. But now I have some folks to bounce these thoughts and ideas off and try to arrive at more informed decisions. That is all I am after is a discourse on the topic.
ReplyDeleteI do greatly appreciate you sharing your views of the game with me and I apologize if my comments seem dismissive or ingrateful.
@David, you don't seem whiny at all, there are so many great products out there to spend your money on it gets overwhelming sometimes. So no apologies or worries about your thoughts are necessary.
ReplyDeleteAfter looking more at C&T I see that those house rules are basically the core of the product. I put an email in to the creator asking him what differentiates his game. His response should prove interesting.
My view is that I support as many of the new OSR products as I can in order to keep people creating great stuff. There are some obvious cash in products out there but after looking the book over I definitely wouldn't put C&T in that category.
However, if world building, setting and milieu are not something you need or want, C&T may not be for you. Mind you though these things are excellent in the final product.
What does C&T offer in terms of world building?
DeleteMaybe I should just wait for your review. :-)
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