I haven't seen the free quick start rules, but I suspect some of the typos about 13 classes come from the main rules(in which a greater number of classes are available). As for the game itself, I love it. To me, it is D&D these days. Played most editions of D&D for years. Will soon be playing 4E, but have mixed feelings about what I've read in the phb. For anybody who likes combat, but also likes ROLE-playing, C&C is for you. There corebooks may not be as flashy as some of the big releases, but the artwork is fantastic, and has a feel of its own. At 20.00 a piece for their phb, and for the Monsters and Treasure book, you can't beat it. Not to mention tons of saddle-stitched modules, Gary Gygax's Castle Zagyg materials, etc. ANd, the online support is tremendous. Just about right up their with the online support at the Savage Worlds rpg website. Like I said earlier, I'll be playing 4E D&D for the first time in the next week or two. I'll bet I'll be longing for C&C instead.
I've also found C&C to be just what I need for my high adventure fantasy games (for low fantasy, it's always been WFRP for me).
After I saw the 4E rulebooks in a "PDF Preview" I was immediately turned off by the complete paradigm shift and went looking for something to provide me with the feel and experiences I had with OD&D/1e, but with more streamlined rules. C&C is it.
Bascially, C&C is what 2e should have been. It takes a single die mechanic of D20, revises and makes sense of Saving Rolls and eliminates THAC0, race based classes and a hundred different mini systems for every conveivable action. It's the best of OD&D mixed with the best from 3e without all the needless complexity of either.
Some folks might think that the 'archetypes' presented in the class system are limiting, but the system of Primes allows you to make a fighter who is dextrous like zorro (DEX), a leader like Henry V (CHA), as well read as Saladin(INT), or as wise in the way of combat tactics as Musashi (WIS). On top of that, the SEIGE system means that you don't need rigidly defined skills. Using the system of Primes and the Archetype, the CK can easily decide what a single character can or cannot do and whether it is enough of an 'archetypal' skill that you will allow them to apply their Class Level to it .
A fighter, for example, won't be able to pick locks, decipher dead languages or, in my games, read (unless he has INT for a Prime). He will, however, know how to read his opponents to try and predict their next action, intimidate folks and do basic maintenance on his and his parties weapons and armour, etc. and he will add his Class Level to those types of skills. He can also jump, swing, climb, etc. but he won't add his Class level to those, and will be depending strictly on his attributes.
Basically, the rules are minimal and minimally invasive. You can teach them in 15 minutes and the CK can prepare a game in almost no time at all (especially if they use the 'Engineering Dungeons' book). Add to that the fact that the PHB is $20 and is all you really need because all the OD&D/1e/2e material is completely compatible with it (with only the minor modification of subtracting the old AC's from 20) and you can see what a value this game is. I even bought the Monsters & Treasures book to go along with it and I'm still only out $5 more than a single D&D 4e book. I've found my high fantasy gaming system for the forseeable future...
Last edited by Maxwell Luther; 06-17-2008 at 10:12 AM..
The typos were pretty clearly just part of the process of cutting down the full rules and are not a major problem and its much better than 1st printing PHB for C&C where the layout was poor.
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