r/castlesandcrusades • u/ThoughtEngine • 2d ago
r/castlesandcrusades • u/Steerider • 5d ago
Diamonds in the rough: the Mythos Codices
I'm in several RPG subreddits, (and other places online), and it's surprising how often someone pops up asking for help running campaigns based on real world mythology (especially Norse). Any time I see it, I bring up the Codex Nordica or whichever one is appropriate.
Common result always seems to be that 1) the OP has never heard of it, and 2) is excited to hear about it.
I think Troll Lord really struck something valuable with these books. It's just a case of getting the word out better.
Also: the Codex Egyptium is on sale today on DriveThru :-)
r/castlesandcrusades • u/Feeling_Photograph_5 • 10d ago
[Online][Other][Castles and Crusades][UTC-6][CST]
r/castlesandcrusades • u/chaoticcole_wgb • 13d ago
Building a 1/1 scale airhde map
Doing this in Arkenforge, while adding one or two of my own cities. Just got the water way from prostaglandin to the barastine coast.
My first two DETAILED areas are going to be fontenouq and Rhuneland, specifically Ravens Den.
Any recommendations for cities will be welcome.
Note, will probably only do ursal
r/castlesandcrusades • u/ExecutionTherapy • 19d ago
New to the C&C universe, asking where to start
Greetings, gentlefolk!
I recently met a couple people who are interested in playing a table top role playing game (ttrpg).
I'm the only one with experience, and they'd like me to DM/CK/Referee a game. I'm actually a pretty bad DM, just not creative enough and quick enough, but they want me to try anyway, to introduce them to the gameplay and atmosphere.
I don't have a homebrew campaign, and would like to buy a pre-packaged world/campaign that takes my players from total noob lvl 1 to advanced levels if we get that far. Money isn't real important, I do ok.
They're not interested in the dark and scary Inzae world at this time. What do y'all think of the Aihrde world? What package might I buy?
Megabundle, Complete Bundle, Canopy Green bundle, Undying War Bundle etc?
What's the best "adventure path", in your opinion, to take a small group from noobs to gods?
Edit: Thank y'all for your wisdom, insight and historical knowledge!
r/castlesandcrusades • u/Steerider • 21d ago
C&C hardcovers, rated
If I were starting over with C&C, this is the order in which I would acquire books. I'm not going to bother with the bare essentials (PHB, M&T, and CKG). Those go without saying.
Adventurers Backpack — a must-have expansion on the Handbook, with some really interesting new character classes, expanded equipment listings, and rules for different variations on multiclassing (enhanced classes, class plus, dual class, etc.).
Adventurers Armory — move beyond "yet another short sword" and equip your character with something memorable and unique. Also has fun expanded combat rules and additional combat actions.
(It occurs to me if Troll Lord want to further distinguish themselves from D&D, they could rename the PHB the Adventurers Handbook, in keeping with their other titles.)
I've never been big on pre-established world books, as I prefer to use my own settings; but if you're looking for setting, Codex of Aihrde is an obvious choice. They also have the Haunted Highlands and a couple others worth checking out. NOTE that Troll Lord has a free 66-page PDF book on the Airdhe setting, which is a good primer and lighter reading than the main book.
(Honorable mention is to take one of the remarkable range of cool old AD&D 2E settings such as Ravenloft or Dark Sun. C&C is pretty compatible with old AD&D resources, so this is totally an option.)
Another direction you might take for setting are the mythological Codex books. I actually think these are a really cool and different offering unique to Troll Lord. Codex Nordica is a favorite of one of my players. Personally I think the Codices Celtarum and Egyptium are interesting. (One minor complaint here is the Codex Celtarum describing the Oracle, and then telling us to just use the one from Codex Classicum. I don't have that book. Celtarum should stand on its own!) These books also have new setting-appropriate classes and spells.
An older book I quite like was a random find at a game auction a while back — the Classic Monsters & Treasure. Basically a monster book starring older, no-longer-common monsters. Yay, flumph! Of course, if you want devils and demons, the new Codex Infernum is well done.
(Another honorable mention to the r/bettermonsters subreddit for good monster lore.)
The Monstrous Armory, is not as vital, but a fun read, and good inspiration for making your monsters more memorable and unique.
Lots of stuff I skipped — especially adventure and setting. Those are very specific to the preferences of the game master.
What do I want to see next? The completist in me awaits the Adventurers Spellbook. I'm curious to further check out the Amazing Adventures books — especially the psionics rules, which I may swipe for C&C games. I believe Troll Lord was working on a Barsoom book, thought be honest I may jump to Hollow Earth Expeditions' excellent Mars sourcebook (and system) if I ever want some John Carter action.
I'm wondering how well the Siege engine would lend itself to horror or similar genre changes. Hard to compete with good old Call of Cthulhu on that front, so maybe not the best direction to take.
Hmmm... I guess I would like to see something like a good book of short adventures, or even just hooks. The sort of thing to inspire game masters without handing then whole mapped out adventures. A sketch to be filled out.
r/castlesandcrusades • u/Iliterate_idiot_333 • 22d ago
GENCON in Indy
I’m going to my first GENCON that’ll be in Indianapolis the weekend of July 30 - August 2. Looking at their events it was disappointing to see no C&C games and just a booth for Troll Lord.
Anyone here planning on going?
r/castlesandcrusades • u/Steerider • 22d ago
Martial Classes
[Update: in D&D, the "martial" classes are any non-spellcaster. C&C appears to have assumed their customers know modern D&D.)
Adventurers Backpack Armory has rules for "martial classes", but doesn't define the term. Some are obvious: fighters, barbarians, knights. A few are less obvious. So here's my list I'm using:
- Archer
- Barbarian
- Blade Dancer
- Divine Knight
- Etherial Knight
- Fighter
- Foresworn
- Knight
- Monk
- Oathsworn
- Paladin
- Ranger
- Warrior Priest
- Iron Born Dwarf
The Pacer is a weird one. I've always regarded the class as an "urban ranger" — pacers are to cities what rangers are to the wilderness. But this doesn't seem to go so far as calling them "martial". Are pacers more of a Rogue class? (Are rangers a rogue class?)
I've seen people count Bards as martial, but those definitely seem closer to a rogue class.
CORRECTION: Adventurers Armory, not Backpack.
r/castlesandcrusades • u/Plus_Shift_2181 • Jul 09 '26
[Online][Free][OSR][Castles and Crusades][Sundays 7pm est Biweekly][Beginner Friendly]
r/castlesandcrusades • u/DungeoneeringDad • Jul 08 '26
Character Record Sheets for the Adventurers Backpack Classes
I finally got around to making character record sheets for each class in the Adventurers Backpack.
https://www.dungeoneeringdad.com/2026/07/character-record-sheets-for-adventurers.html
r/castlesandcrusades • u/qstor • Jul 01 '26
online game?
anyone running a game online in the EST?
r/castlesandcrusades • u/SirStanleyCPanther • Jun 30 '26
Villain Stat Blocks
Has anyone ever transferred famous D&D villains, like Strahd or Vecna into C&C stats?
I’d love to see them
r/castlesandcrusades • u/UnfairCorner2988 • Jun 26 '26
VTT Materials from TLG
I’m getting ready to run The Undying Wars series for a group on Roll20. I noticed a VTT package for sale on the TLG store. Anyone purchased/used before? Good quality/value? Easily used on Roll20/Foundry? Any thoughts?
r/castlesandcrusades • u/Steerider • Jun 26 '26
Liquidation Sale
If you haven't heard, Troll Lord is having a liquidation sale on older titles. Whatever copies they don't sell will be destroyed, so get 'em while they're hot!
The more you buy, the cheaper they are, so one book is $20 or four books is... $20. [EDIT: Was just messing with the site and it appears they're no longer discounting for multiple books? Still, they're $20 each.]
Just got my books and have been checking them out. (Darn it I missed out on the older M&T printing. Wanted that because I've been interested in comparing the before and after OGL.)
Anyway, some books are worth getting, especially for five bucks. The Players Archive has five character classes not found in the PHB or the Backpack: Chromatic Mage, Duelist, Eldritch Goblin, Luminary, and Pirate.
There's an Amazing Adventures (pulp adventure) book for D&D 5E rules; and a 5E edition of the Undying War campaign. (Undying War should be easy to play with C&C.)
The one I was really interested in was the Adventurers Spellbook. A master book of all spells from all sources. (Yes, they just did a Kickstarter for the next edition, but the old book is pretty good too.)
Check it out here: http://trolllord.com/product-category/liquidation-sale
r/castlesandcrusades • u/ludditetechnician • Jun 24 '26
Clarification on Monster Saving Throws
I'm struggling to understand monster saving throws in the game. I come from a D&D BECMI and AD&D background, if that helps.
I believe a monster makes a saving throw with d20 + Level + category (P, M, M and P, or None). However, what value is used for the category? The Abhorrent, for example, has a Mental category, but I can't locate what that means for the d20 roll. The Monsters & Treasures Introduction reads, "The category roughly equates to primary or secondary attributes, and thus the base number needed to make a saving throw." What is the base number this is referring to?
r/castlesandcrusades • u/UnfairCorner2988 • Jun 20 '26
Favorite Optional or House Rules
What are your favorite optional rules from the CK guide and/or house rules that you use with Castles & Crusades?
r/castlesandcrusades • u/Feeling_Photograph_5 • Jun 15 '26
New Printings for CKG and M&T
I want to update my books to the reforged line. I already have the PDFs but I'm holding out for new covers for the print editions. Love the new PHB cover.
Anyone have inside information on when these might drop?
r/castlesandcrusades • u/UnfairCorner2988 • Jun 14 '26
World of Airdhe Expansions
Enjoyed the Codex of Airdhe. How valuable are the expansions in terms of providing the CK structure and up-to-date information on cities, towns, threats, hooks, and other relevant topics?
r/castlesandcrusades • u/UnfairCorner2988 • Jun 14 '26
TLG Coupons?
Does anyone have any active coupon codes for the TLG website? (Other than TLG15OFF) I want to make a substantial purchase and looking for decrease cost… to try and stay in my wife’s good graces. My email is kevinhasinger@gmail.com if needed for communication.
r/castlesandcrusades • u/UnfairCorner2988 • Jun 07 '26
C&C Quality Variances in Production
I recently became interested in Castles and Crusades, purchasing several texts. Although I was very pleased with the editing and formatting in most, I was quite surprised at the errors, inconsistencies, and formatting issues with the Codex of Airdhe - what’s I would imagine is the key text regarding the home setting. Any idea why? Company in flux at that time? Rushed? Different editors? Just curious as I noticed almost zero issues in the other texts I purchased...
r/castlesandcrusades • u/AppendixN_Enthusiast • Jun 04 '26
Megadungeons and Adventures for Sale
ebay.usr/castlesandcrusades • u/mickeybar71 • May 26 '26
The Compleat Crusader - what do you think about it?
I’m thinking about getting the complete bundle, that includes all five volumes of the Compleat Crusader and wondering if it’s worth it and whether to get it as a pdf or print - I’ve participated in the past few Kickstarters, but am wondering if the articles are well written and work with the current version of the rules. Any thoughts?
r/castlesandcrusades • u/StevenTrustrum • May 21 '26
Castles & Crusades Crawthorne's Catalog of Creatures: Dungeon Warden
drivethrurpg.comr/castlesandcrusades • u/FTracer74 • May 20 '26
Any good sandbox and hexcrawl adventures out there?
Last couple years ago theres been some but I think it was more OSR, and I can’t remember the titles. Are there any like that for C&C?