Tag: Castles and Crusades

Posted in: Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2026 Day 29: An early Labor Day

Written by TardisCaptain

Day 29 Prompt: Labor
Week 5 Prompt: Emotion
Weekday Prompt: Works Hard

While its not Labor Day on the calendar, we are using Labor as the prompt for Day 29 of the RPGaDAY 2026 Challenge. Since Labor Day is approaching here in the United States, it reminded me of some research I’ve done in the past that is now bubbling back to the surface.

In our modern era, one of the tropes that gets a chuckle (and it’s funny because it’s true) is an out-of-touch corporate upper management throwing a pizza party for their employees thinking that will resolve any grievances they have. There is an equivalent of that in medieval times, but on a grander scale. The upper class and royalty would hold lots of holidays, feasts and festivals that helped maintain social cohesion while also providing a break from labor. Most of the time these were centered around the harvest, community pride, competitive events, culture and traditions or had religious significance. Sometimes specialized food, or costumes, would be involved. What it all came down to is that it provided a break for those who did the labor. A lot of labor compared to the modern world we live in now.

In the worldbuilding for a fantasy campaign for Dungeons and Dragons, Old School Essentials, Dungeon Crawl Classics or any others, there should be lots of these traditional festivals and holidays for the people who provide that labor. This gives the gamemaster plenty of opportunity for roleplaying opportunities.

A Day for the Guilds. I really wish I could remember which RPG book I read this in, but a concept that each guild had their own day to celebrate. Their shops would be closed on that day in honor of the festival and hold a grand feast. No two guilds could have their events on the same day. But it could throw a monkey-wrench in the works for the players. They arrive at the Grand City of Roses only to discover that all the blacksmiths are celebrating Fire and Hammer Day. They wouldn’t be able to get their armor repaired for a day or two because of the backlog. The shipwright’s guild is on a cruise, the baking guild is on a fast, members of the town guard are milking the cows because the farmers guild is observing a day of rest.

Some of these festivals deal with warding off spirits or providing tributes to their ancestors. This could lead to minor issues like; Where is the costume the mayor is required to wear to honor the first mayor of the city? The sweet biscuits are being made, but they must be served with the flowers of the pika plant otherwise we will have a poor harvest this fall. The bard required to write the new song of devotion is not feeling inspired and left and hasn’t returned yet. We don’t have enough camphor wood for the 47 bonfires honoring St. Lethek.

Now where do some of these holidays and festivals come from. For some of these, the answer is older festivals that were altered for the current time frame. I remember watching a documentary on the history of Christmas, and that famous holiday went through a lot of changes. Religions had pulled a lot from pagan rituals such as roman Saturnalia and Norse Yule. The farther back you go, the less that my readers might recognize. Christmas was even banned in Plymouth colonial times by Puritan leaders. Well what type of roleplaying scenarios could come up from a strict sect wanting to “return to old times”. Or if an older sacred text showing a different way to celebrate a holiday was found by the adventurers? What would they do with the scrolls? When certain powers discovered that they had this information, what steps would they take to maintain the status quo?

Now in my current Castles and Crusades campaign, I’m keeping the world building down to a minimum in certain sections. At session zero, I explained that I didn’t want to build everything and then discovered that I only used 5% of that effort. The players got to name the towns and kingdoms that the characters came from. They got to name the gods that were part of the pantheon of this world. And I’m going to let them name the festivals, feasts and celebrations held by the aristocrats and laborers in this game world. I’ll have to ask them what they would like to celebrate.

What celebration would you like to see in a fantasy RPG? Is it based on a real event or something that you created on your own? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Posted in: Dungeons and Dragons, Music, Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2026 Day 19: That which you desire

Written by TardisCaptain

Day 19 Prompt: Desire

Week 4 Prompt: Instinct

Weekday Prompt: Full of Woe

A desire is a type of wish. And for Day 19 of the RPGaDAY 2026 Challenge, the prompt provided by the organizers is Desire. I was tempted to just post a YouTube video of the U2 song Desire, but I didn’t know how well that would go down.

So, the following is a system agnostic plot post that could be used with Dungeons and Dragons, Basic Fantasy, Castles and Crusades, Fantasy Age, BareBones Fantasy or your favorite flavor for fantasy.

The Well of Desires

Located in a very remote location of the gamemaster’s choice, lies a secret well called the Well of Desires. Scholars have speculated that it magically moves after so many uses such as drinking or wishing. This may be to keep it from remaining in control of a single individual or group for too long or to spread the confusion around.

The origin of the well is unknown. One legend states it was wished into existence from a greedy individual desiring more wishes. Another theory offered by the research wizard, Tovark, is that agents of chaos placed the well on this plane of existence in order to cause strife and confusion that could be harnessed for wild magic. Aalaanbar the Wise believed it was a punishment from the gods to mortals for messing with magics that should have been left untouched.

Seekers will know that they have found the Well of Desires by the metal plaque attached to an ordinary looking stone curb. The plaque reads “After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.” The plaque will be readable by any creature with the ability to read in their own language. The well itself cannot be damaged by magical or non-magical means. The roof cover never burns; the crank and handle will always lower the rope and bucket down to a clear reservoir of water. If retrieved, this water will always be clean and clear regardless of the environment in which the well is located, whether desert, arctic, jungle, ruins, or otherwise. Some have sworn that the waters have healing properties, but this has not been confirmed. If anything other than the bucket or a coin enters the well, the item is immediately returned to the area around the structure.

Researchers and scholars have discovered that different coins thrown into the well can result in different wishes. Tovark was asked to research the well and provided this correspondence to his former traveling companion before he retired from adventuring life.

Exalted Tanas

I am writing in response to your request for information on the Well of Desire. I thank you for challenges such as this. I was able to pour over several scrolls, tomes, and books that I had collected within my grand library searching for nuggets of information on this unique artifact. I was not aware of the impact this device has had on the various kingdoms that we had previously adventured through.

There are two factors regarding this well. One, it never stays in one place. A report placed it at the desert oasis of Al-Kalan, a second report dated much earlier reported two goblin tribes fighting over the waters of the well in the south swamplands. A Halfling merchant named Winkel Canterbottom claimed he saw the well disappear after two individuals had thrown their coins into the well before him. He was quite irate as the effort to reach the location had not been an easy one.

The Mayor of Lower West Shireton claimed that he acquired his post from the Well of Desires. He had thrown in a copper piece and requested that he become king. Well, as fate had it, he was the king of a small hamlet with seventeen residents and 47 goats. The residents don’t want any other leader but him.

Batherly Silverwind, an elvish baker living in the Grand City of Roses, tossed in a copper coin wishing for wealth. The good news is that her business boomed with many taverns and inns ordering her goods. The bad news is she must run her ovens for eighteen hours a day to keep up with demand.

You may have heard of Korth the Sly by his many wanted posters hung over many different kingdoms. Apparently, he had tossed in a silver coin requesting to become famous. Now he regrets that wish as he has no anonymity.

Another famous individual that you may have heard of was Walter the Great, a fencer from the coastal kingdom of Tir. One gold coin combined with a wish to be the unmatched in battle has resulted in a battle with loneliness. No one will duel him because they know that they will loose.

If you recall your history lessons, Jehanne Darc was the military genius who led her troops into battle, eventually overthrowing the dark tyrant Donnicus Marx. I came across a scroll about her father claiming that he had tossed a platinum coin into a strange well and requested to save the world. Apparently that wish was granted from the daughter he raised by himself.

It’s not just the standard coins that have different levels of effects. According to my research, a wish on a bent coin will result in companions that assist the individual with their quest. A counterfeit coin will randomly steal another wish from another individual and grant it to the user. This is how one warrior discovered that he was immune to bee stings. In a desperate need, a traveler tossed in a wooden token from a carnival and wished for a horse. He received his steed but discovered that it would sing while traveling. A greedy merchant had been shaving his gold coins to use the dust for other purchases. He tossed one into the well and asked for wealth. Later he discovered that throughout his life, each night a random number of coins would just disappear out of his treasury despite all his efforts to secure them.

One of the most interesting tidbits that I came across was the wish of a half-coin. A coin broken in half grants the same wish to both holders of the coin. This caused some confusion when the two holders had different goals.

I know your quest for knowledge is not for ill purposes. But the timing makes me raise an eyebrow. Venoma had a similar line of questions and it sounded like his kids may be involved. I wonder if they may have discovered the latest location of The Well of Desire. If so, we need to stop them before they unleash any wild magic on the lands.

Your faithful companion,

Tovark

Oh, and if you have the earworm from reading the intro to this post. Here you go.

So, did I spark any imagination from you? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Posted in: Character Creation Challenge, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Spy-Fi, Star Trek

RPGaDAY2026 Day 14: Me giving my regards

Written by TardisCaptain

Day 14 Prompt: Regard

Week 3 Prompt: Associates

Weekday Prompt: Loving & Giving

Regard is the Day 14 prompt for the RPGaDAY 2026 Challenge…. and I’ve got nothing. I wracked my brain for this topic, and I really don’t know what the organizers are going for. Let’s look at some of the other entries that have been posted for inspiration. (Checks BlueSky social media)

Wait, Fellow RPG blogger Craig Oxbrow asked a question “What is a game held in high regard you have yet to play?” Perfect, I’m going to go with that one. Thank you Craig. (and after I started working on this, it looks like other participants used this same idea)

“Have yet to play?” Hmm… I’m going to break this into two categories since they would both count. “Never played” and “Never played outside of a one-shot.” As I’ve mentioned in my SaltCON reports, when I sign up for RPG sessions at conventions, I try to play at least one game I’ve never played before. I had also had the pleasure of being invited to a few one-shots outside of conventions (thanks guys). And no, I don’t count making characters for the Character Creation Challenge as playing the game.

Amazing Adventures– This is the “D20 Modern” variant of Castles and Crusades by Troll Lord Games. It’s a D20 based system that uses the siege system for resolving skill issues (driving a motorcycle, climbing wall, finding a hidden item, haggling with a merchant for a lower price, etc.) What I like the most about this system is it allows the player to say, “I want my character to do this” instead of “My character sheet says I can only do this.” Kind of like how you can with the 2D20 system Star Trek Adventures by Modiphius.

Planet of the Apes– The D6MV (the “magnetic variant” of the D6 system used for the Star Wars D6 game from West End Games). This game had a very successful KickStarter from Magnetic Press Play. Yes, I ran this at a SaltCON, but it was the intro adventure from the Quickstart. I would really love to play this in a campaign as a player.

Traveller– The latest version from Mongoose Publishing. 1- I’m a fan of science fiction. 2- This is one of the original RPGs that shaped a generation like Dungeons and Dragons did. I’ve seen the 2d6 system spawn off many retro-clones and imaginations. So I’d like to try it in a campaign at least once.

FrontierSpace by DWD Studios. This company is a small one-man operation that has put out a lot of different games . This entry covers science fiction and is his love letter to Star Frontiers (while using an original system). He has also created the espionage game, White Lies, which should also be on this list. While White Lies is based off of the Whitebox Fantasy Adventure retro-clone, the system used for FrontierSpace is very unique. It also has the “do what I want, not what my character sheet says” vibe.

And you know what? I’m going to call it there before this turns into a post 20 miles long. There are quite a few more that I could hold up and state that I hold it in high regard. I own them either in PDF or deadtree version. I’ll probably bring them up in future blog posts.

What are the four games you’d hold up in high regard that you haven’t played yet? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Posted in: Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games

RPGaDAY2026 Day 7: The Mercy of the Macers

Written by TardisCaptain

Day 7 Prompt: Mercy
Week 2 Prompt: Intellect
Weekday Prompt: Loving & Giving

I’ve had some very positive feedback on my Day 5 entry of Burden or Burned and my Day 6 entry of Reach. One fellow RPG bloggers commented that these were some of my best entries so far. Then they recommended that I use the same format for a fantasy setting. Well for day 7 of the RPGaDAY 2026 Challenge the prompt is Mercy.

Should I use Mercy or should I twist it? Tick, tick, tick…… processing complete. The following system agnostic entry can be used for Dungeons and Dragons, Basic Fantasy, Castles and Crusades, Fantasy Age or any of the many other fantasy RPG systems out there.

Journal of Prengar Derreth, 14th day of the royal year 1267.

I did it. I can’t believe that I’m on my way to joining the Order of the Macers. I’ve completed my first day of orientation here at St. Carthan’s Fort. I really wish I could tell you where I was, but new initiates are hooded for the last three days of the journey. When they pulled the hood off of me and the other candidates in the courtyard it felt like a breath of fresh air. Sure, we could take the hoods off as we slept in the enclosed tent at night, but not seeing sun or stars for three days was disorienting. Seeing the ramparts and towers covered by the banners of the different house mantles was a sight for sore eyes.

There are five house mantles that make up the order. The Heads, which consist of leaders and future leaders. The Hafts, which consists of the coordinators and logisticians. The Flanges, those who are instructed to strike swiftly or silently when called upon. The scholars and researchers are known as The Crowns and finally The Pommels who are the doers who get things done. All parts of St. Carthan’s Mace that are equal in providing mercy and justice. A single mantle cannot do the job alone; thus, we are all brothers. This was one of the first lessons we learned on day one orientation. To be a member of the Order of Macers is to be trusted or feared in the many kingdoms that we bring justice to.

Soon I’ll go through my first set of trials. How I pass them and work alongside my fellow initiates will determine which mantel I will join. I’m not certain which one I really hope to be admitted to. I have many talents that I feel can contribute to the order. I guess this is why the trials are here, to make that determination.

I was not surprised to see the many races of the land represented in the order. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, Orcs, Giantkin, Centaurs, Dragonborn, Touched and Goblinoid. All had passed the trials and deserved my respect. None looked at me with eyes other than, will I uphold the order.

Then over the next two years, I’ll go through several more different trials. Each harder than the last. While different proctors and teachers will guide me during the first year, I’m really looking forward to the time when I’m selected by a Warden of the Order to be their Aspirant. Assisting the Warden will be one of my many duties in the Order’s mission to provide non-partisan justice and guidance across the lands.

I remember telling my mother that this would be a difficult life. I may never see the wheatfields of home again. But if I’m able to protect those fields and the members of my line that work them, then it will be all worth it.

The nightcall is about to go out. This is a time of rest which I will gladly take. Tomorrow, I know that my orientation will continue. Will I be able to keep up with my fellow initiates in the trials? I pray that my body is strong and my mind stay sharp.

-Prengar Derreth, Order of the Macers Initiate (by the gods it felt good to write that)

If you guys are getting Jedi vibes, that was rolling around in my head as the muses spoke to me. An order of knights that carried special maces (like the Jedi carried lightsabers) that distinguished them from other fighting forces. Known for balanced judgement and mercy when called upon by the general population. Some kings have blessed them, while others have cursed them.

I hope the thoughts that got loose out of my head have helped inspire you. What suggestions would you like to see for a future blog entry? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Posted in: Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Campaign Update: STA and C&C

Written by TardisCaptain
These are the adventures of the USS Magnanimous.

So apparently I am insane enough that I’ve been busy working on my two new campaigns (and getting ready for SaltCON End-of-Summer) that I haven’t blogged about them yet. So this is a quick catch up on what has happened so far.

Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition:

We held a session zero where the players made their characters for the Starfleet game. We are going to run a six-episode season and then re-evaluate from there (keep going, change eras, etc.). We will be playing in the “Lost Era” just after the end of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and before the end of the 23rd century. We did have one more player drop out, but that left us with seven players in total with the following crew:

Captain Fae Hy-Lyra- Efrosian Commanding Officer

Commander Jean LaFluer- Human Executive Officer

Lt. Commander Gemini Jones- Human Chief Engineering Officer

Lt. Commander Shiftar Vong- Edosian Chief Security Officer

Lieutenant K’Mara (Doctor)- Caitian Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Nikael Dulas- Betazoid Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Clay Frtizberg- Human Chief Communications Officer

As for the vessel they would be serving on, while I was scanning their hand-written character sheets, I pulled out my massive book of FASA Starships and dropped it on the table. It was so heavy that it made the table bounce in a loud thud. I advised against any dreadnoughts or massive battleships. This crew would be filling in the gaps while there was a massive shift of fleet resources to help out with the Klingon evacuations. They almost went with the Chandley Class Starship, but they didn’t want to deal with a Marine contingent. They voted for the Miranda Class Starship that was used quite a bit in the show. The name of the vessel came down to USS Magnanimous or USS Taylor (to be named after Roger Taylor) with the Magnanimous getting the larger number of votes. So I reached out to a friend who was a massive starship fan and he generated the registry number of NCC-31947 (note the 47 in the registry). Another friend who generates starship SFX for several Star Trek fan films was generous enough to make a graphic that I could use for the campaign (see the image above). Thank you Dennis and Ross.

We were able to have the first session, but we haven’t completed the episode yet. So I’ll have another blog post when the episode is completed. So far, the crew is reacting in typical Star Trek fashion.

Castles and Crusades:

We had a session zero for this campaign as well. There are two less players for this campaign so we have five in total. I’m hoping that the last player who had to bow out at the last minute can get his his schedules freed up to play. I have a place in the campaign where he could be slotted in.

This world is a new one of my “making”. I’ve set down some basic items, but I haven’t filled in every nook and cranny. The reason for this is that I’m allowing the players to contribute to this world since this is a shared storytelling experience. They get to make up the names of the villages and kingdoms their characters are from. If they follow a deity, they get to make that up as well. This means that I don’t have to work on minutia that may or may not be used in the campaign. Already some of the players have come up with some items from their backstories that I’m weaving into the campaign.

The magic users in this world received a special “Puzzle Scroll” that challenges them (those that pass get a free 0-level cantrip that allows them to easily create the Puzzle Scroll on a blank parchment). If the magic user solves the puzzle, then they have made it to the next level and a new puzzle appears. This is how the player knows that their character has received enough experience points to go up to the next level. It also allows them to test possible recruits into the Magic User’s Guild.

After the session zero, I was able to get some one-on-one RPG sessions with individual players to find out why their characters are traveling to the Grand City of Roses. Think a medieval city with a cross between London and Venice where different races (even Goblinoids) have their own Petal (sector). Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get all of the one-on-one sessions done, so I ended up having a session 0.5 to get them all caught up. The players are under strict orders not to talk about what happened in their one-on-one with each other. I wonder how the married couple are getting along with this challenge? We will be having the session one very soon and I’ll blog about that separately as well.

So far the characters are:

Noturin Boshk- Half-Elf Rogue

Ellywick Cogsprite- Gnome Wizard

Victor Goldweller- Dwarf Bard

Lorelei Murphy- Human Cleric

Albert Shepherd- Human Ranger

I can’t wait to torture…. errr…. put the characters through the story that I’ve planned out.

Do you have any questions (that I can answer publicly) about the campaign? I’ve even set up special channels for the two campaigns on my Discord server. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Posted in: Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Am I Insane?

Written by TardisCaptain
The two systems that I’ll be running soon.

So, apparently I have to ask myself. Am I insane? And clearly the answer is yes. I’ve been wanting to get a group of friends together and run a role-playing campaign. But the question was, which one? I’m a big fan of Star Trek (duh) and I’ve been really enjoying running Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition at SaltCON. I also want to homebrew some items for STA2e to carry on the memory of my friend Roger Taylor. But, I’ve also been wanting to run a fantasy RPG. I had several ideas rolling around my head plus I had a ton of modules in both PDF and dead-tree formats. I didn’t know which campaign I wanted to run, Trek or Fantasy. So… why not both?

I sent out a bunch of emails to different players I knew in the area that had played games and seemed interested. I inquired to their interest, availability and which game they wanted to play. I started with a large list because I knew real life would get in the way. And from that initial list, I received a number of hits. So, I arranged for a meet-and-greet (think session -1) which most of the interested participants was able to attend.

I wanted to do a meet-and-greet for two reasons. One, to show them where we would be playing (at my house) and I wanted the players to know each other. Too many times I had been invited to a campaign and was just dropped in like I knew everyone. Especially with some of the online games that I attempted to get involved in. Some of the players were just voices over Discord. I didn’t know them from Adam. Some of the friends I had invited to my campaigns I had known for decades. Some I had met recently at SaltCON. But most of them didn’t know each other. I wanted to see who could be comfortable with their fellow players and if the allotted time would work. I have a cat at home and I wanted to make sure that the players were comfortable around him. He can be a little energetic when a new person shows up in his house.

Well, the meet and greet was a day before I made this blog post and I think it went well. Some of the players were STA only, others just fantasy. But a lot of them were interested in playing both. We got to go over some ground rules and safety guidelines. There was a request for a not-overly description on zombie gore which made sense. I also described how the gaming sessions would be an opportunity to get away from the real world and de-stress for a while. We talked about methods of communication that would be used to keep the players in touch. I also warned them that I’d be blogging about some of the games and the fun we had with this group storytelling adventure.

For the fantasy game, I gave the players three choices that I was willing to run. Basic Fantasy, Castles and Crusades and Dungeon Crawl Classics. After discussing the systems, availability and support for the three choices, the vote came down to a tie between Basic Fantasy and C&C. To break the tie, my youngest as asked to choose and they pointed at Castles and Crusades because there was a woman on the cover. It seemed silly, but it worked. As for the type of campaign the players deemed interested in a classic dungeon crawl. So I’m going to look through the adventures I own and I’ll pick one to convert.

As for Star Trek Adventures, we will be playing in a six-episode season to start off. The players will be the bridge crew of a starship they get to help pick in our session zero. This will be set during the “lost era” of Star Trek between the TOS movies and the 24th century. Once this pilot season is done, the players will decide if they want to continue, or try one of the other formats that I had proposed (mixed crew like DS9, or a Hazard Team presented in the Star Trek: Elite Force video game) or other possibilities. Since I run a lot of STA games at SaltCON, I warned them that they might be beta testers for the one-shots that I was putting together.

Each game will only be played once a month on a Friday that we had set the month before. Since the holidays are a horrible time to schedule around, we’d just skip that month. There is a break between the two games so I’ve got a little bit of a breather between the two.

I’m looking forward to sitting around the table, eating a few snacks and rolling some dice with friends. I’m still setting up the communication preferences agreed with at the meet and greet, but I also set up a couple of channels on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server.

Where will these stories take us? I won’t even know until we sit down and game.

This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Posted in: Role Playing Games, Star Trek

RPGaDAY2025 Day 20: Enter

Written by TardisCaptain 2 Comments on RPGaDAY2025 Day 20: Enter

On Day 20 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge our topic is “enter”. What do you usually do when you are entering a location? Well, most of the time you are entering through a door. This is the angle I wanted to blog from because getting past a door has been one of the examples that I’ve used to explain a roleplaying game system to new players. Especially for a simple one-shot game like those played at SaltCON or at my local gaming store.

One of the games that I’ve GMed quite a few times for these one-shots is Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition. When explaining the rules, the first thing that I say is that this game is an episode simulator, not a tactical simulator. Then the second thing explain is how the 2d20 system works. After talking about the attributes and the departments developing your target number based on your action, I bring up the challenge. The characters trying to get past the door that is between them and their objective. Perhaps they are being pursued by an enemy, or someone on the other side of the door is critically injured, etc. In STA2e, your character sheet doesn’t define what steps you can or can’t take, the player does. You see the door in front of you, it has these traits (reinforced, computerized, looks frail, strong lock, etc.) what do you do? One character may try to break down the door. In that case as the GM, I’d tell them what attribute and department to use for your target number and how many successes that need to be rolled. If the door was reinforced, the target number would be higher, if it was already damaged, it could be lower. Another character may try to pick the lock, check out the computer controls for the door (if present), try to communicate through the door to guide someone through the process of unlocking the door, etc. Again, I like the ability for the player to decide instead of the character sheet. At the last SaltCON a father and son team heard this explanation, was quickly able to get into their first STA2e game and enjoyed themselves. Even the son was asking if they could pick up the core rulebook after the one-shot. I was quite proud when I heard that.

Are there other games that have similar concepts of allowing the players to get past the door in any method of their choosing? While I’m certain that most experienced players can come up with ideas of their own, I’m looking for systems that actively encourage this thinking. While I haven’t played it yet, I’m eager to try the Siege system used for Castles and Crusades. It’s a D20 system, but the character has two (or three) primary ability scores that when used in a skill test, has a lower base target number to reach. A character can try to use a skill that would fit a non-primary ability, but the base target number would be higher. Then that target number is adjusted based upon the traits of the scene (like a door being reinforced instead of barely holding on its hinges).

I know I’ve seen other games like this, but in the short amount of time that I have to write this blog post, I can’t do a deep dive into them all. But like that father and son team, I hope that it gives players a chance to enter into a system that they really like.

Feedback from LelxTenebris on Mastodon: @TardisCaptain Did you know that Gallant Knight Games is putting together a new edition of the D6 System? The Kickstarter definitely funded, and if you take a look at it, there is guaranteed to be a module which is essentially Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off. My suspicion is that this is going to probably be the best choice for classic WEG-style Star Wars play, if that’s the kind of mechanics that you want to go for. I was not down for the Fantasy Flight version, specifically for the custom dice, which I thought was way too fiddly and ignores the fact that pretty much everyone already has some dice. At this point, if I wanted to play a Star Wars game, I would probably either break out Scum and Villainy if I was interested in playing/GMing for a group, or just Starforged and go with the narrative framework.

Are there other RPG systems that you could explain using the door example? Do you like the idea of the players trying to enter past a door as a way to explain the system to them? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Posted in: Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games

2025 Character Creation Challenge Day 4: Castles and Crusades Reforged

Written by TardisCaptain

Still playing catch up, but here is the Day 4 entry into the 2025 #CharacterCreationChallenge and we are going to use another recent Kickstarter reward. This would be the 10th printing of the Castles and Crusades that was called Reforged in the Kickstarter campaign. Long story short, this is the C&C game with the OGL material pulled out of it. A trend that was seen in other RPG books like Basic Fantasy 4th Edition. And while I have created a Castles and Crusades character in a past challenge, I thought I’d use it again because I wanted to show off the book once more and test to see if the character creation process was still the same. With each printing, Troll Lord Games keeps the rules the same, but presents them differently and polishes them up for clarification and ease. So let’s see if there is, or is not any differences from the earlier challenge entry.

For those of you who don’t know, C&C is a D20 clone that uses the same attributes found in the oldest fantasy RPG, but uses a skill system called the Siege Engine. Instead of going into the differences, let me point you towards a very excellent video by Magehammer that explains it using index cards. This skill system has made me really want to try C&C in a campaign setting to see how well it works. I’ve played a lot of Dungeons and Dragons 3.5, and I know that skill system. But the Siege Engine seems to give players the option of “What do I want to do?” instead of “What does my character sheet say I can do?”

So the last time I made a C&C character, I rolled up a Knight, but didn’t make him a Halfling because I misinterpreted the rules (as per some feedback I received from it). As I was flipping through the book I decided that I’m going to make a Monk since I don’t think I’ve made one yet. And to make up for my previous mistake, I’m going to make him a Halfling Monk that wanders the countryside trying to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Yes, that isn’t listed as one of the “typical classes” for this race (as per page 95) but the mistake I made last time is that “typical” doesn’t mean “only”. And since I’m short on time, the Halfling Fantasy Name Generator inspired this character’s name to be Barakas Nimblebarrel. One of the primary attributes was selected by the class (the Monk uses CON and I selected STR as the second primary attribute)

The character creation process starts on page 12 (again, thank you for putting the system first in an RPG book) and while there really isn’t a checklist, it breaks down the process in two pages. Imagine the character (done see above). Roll attributes (the book states, roll 3d6 and assign as desired), done including the racial modifiers. Roll Hit Points (OK, I’m going to snag Optional Rule #1 since it’s listed right here and take the max HP at first level since that is how I like it) and the last step is Fleshing out the Character. This includes the starting money and buying equipment. When I compare these steps to the 7th printing, the appear to be the same. When I look at the class and race descriptions in the 7th printing I can see how the layout has been altered, but the information appears to be the same. However I did notice that the 10th printing has details for higher levels beyond 12th.

OK, I think I’ve got everything, the stats, the race and class information, the equipment. I’m sure that there is probably a thing or two that I might be missing from making Barakas table ready, but I need to wrap this up for the day. Here are the two character sheets.

Afterthoughts:

I wish the publisher did have a checklist for character creation. But I’m sure that if I was going to run this as a campaign (tempting) I’d probably put one together. I’ve offered to run a C&C game when one of my kids asked about a game, but I haven’t heard back if her friends could make it (the dreaded schedule curse).

I like how Dusk Vision (spelled Duskvision in the 7th printing) is laid out as compared to Darkvision in other OSR games. Dusk Vision will work outdoors, but not underground. Dwarves have Deep Vision, Elves have Twilight Vision (I wonder if it will let them see sparkly vampires?).

In this new version of C&C, Alignment has been changed to Disposition. I’m sure that if I read further into the rules (when I have time) I’d probably see more changes, but I suspect that they won’t disrupt your table.

Additional Notes:

While I’m still playing catch up, I’ve been on the look out for the hashtag #CharacterCreationChallenge on BlueSky and Mastodon. I’m seeing quite a few entries. I’ve been re-posting them as I come across them and I’ve started following a few accounts. Thank you for using the hashtag, it’s made it easier to follow the other participants.

Coming Up Next:

Doctors and Daleks

This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Posted in: Character Creation Challenge, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Spy-Fi, Star Trek, Star Wars

Prepping for the 2025 Character Creation Challenge

Written by TardisCaptain
Some of the games that I plan to use in the 2025 #CharacterCreationChallenge and one of my fuzzy overlords.

As you can see, I had a volunteer model helping me out with the photo of the physical books that I’ll be using in the 2025 Character Creation Challenge. This is August (no, I don’t use any pet names for passwords, and neither should you) and after I had arranged the books he suddenly wanted to get up and see what was going on. I didn’t even know he was there until I had turned around to get my camera for the photo. After inspecting all of the books, he settled down in front of the one he liked the most. But attempting to get him to look at the camera for the photo was another matter. There are other games that will be used that I own on PDF.

For the four previous years of the Character Creation Challenge (in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024), I’ve prepped ahead of time to make the challenge a little bit easier. Especially since I try to use a wide variety of games in January 2025. I’ve already had some people reach out to me using various methods to let me know of their participation. Please let me know, Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com if you plan to post your characters up on a blog. I’ll link to it from the Character Creation Challenge section of my website.

I’m once again using a spreadsheet with the date, day and game type to schedule my games. This way I won’t have two fantasy games next to each other. I can also plan a game that may take more time and energy on a day off. This is also a good idea for those dates I know are going to be busy, I can schedule the systems I’m more familiar with for these days.

As in the past, I’ll try to walk through the character creation process as I understand them in the rules-as-written (RAW). This also gives me a chance to do a review of the process. I will then scan the character sheet for all to see. And I will have all of the character sheets printed out before the challenge starts. I’ve found that this helps me get everything ready.

I have had some people tell me that they are pre-making some of there characters before the challenge. And I’m not going to blow the referee whistle at them. As I’ve stated when this was started five-years ago, this is for fun. I know we all have real lives to worry about. And as much as we’d like to be able to focus on our hobbies and what makes us happy, we still have to function in this society. So I’m not going to dock you for setting up a buffer. All that I ask is that you post your entries in at least one location (the #Character-Creation-Challenge channel on the TardisCaptainDotCom discord, on a personal blog (tell me the URL), on one of the many RPG message boards, on social media with the hashtag #CharacterCreationChallenge). I love seeing what other RPG fans have come up with.

If you are reading this after January 1st and you still want to jump into the challenge, please do. A few participants last year either did a quick catch up or just made sure they ran a full 31 days. The choice is yours. This challenge is just for fun with our gaming systems.

Remember to have fun with this. That was one of the primary goals of the challenge.

You can also use this graphic to help promote the #CharacterCreationChallenge.

31 Day Character Creation Challenge
Feel free to share this image on social media to spread the word.

What games are you using for the challenge? Do you have any questions about the challenge that wasn’t covered on by the FAQ? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.

Posted in: Reviews, Role Playing Games

Castles and Crusades Reforged a Kickstarter reward

Written by TardisCaptain
The cover to the Castles and Crusades Reforged Players Handbook

Another Kickstarter reward came in just before the deadline to participate in the upcoming 2025 Character Creation Challenge. The Reforged Castles and Crusades books. While “reforged” doesn’t appear on the title, it was used on the Kickstarter page. The rewards included a physical copy of the Castle and Crusades Players Handbook (photo above) and PDFs of the Monsters and Treasure, the Castle Keepers Guide, a Castle Keepers Screen and some character sheets.

The stock numbers of the 7th and 10th printings of the Castles and Crusades PHB.

The physical copy of the Players Handbook has the same cover as the 8th and 9th printings. The quickest way you can discover which printing it you have is by looking at the stock numbers on the book spine (see photo above). The last one or two digits should match the printing information on the credits page. In a way, I wish that Troll Lord Games had given us a different cover with this Kickstarter. A tenth printing and the removal of all OGL material is a major milestone for the book and it would have been a nice way to mark the change. The RPG rules are still the same (more on that below) and I understand that the cover is a tribute to the 1st edition AD&D Players Handbook, but I think this might have been a missed opportunity.

This 10th printing is a hardbound book with 288 pages (this includes additional art and the character sheets) and is published by Troll Lord Games. It has an ISBN number of 978-1-952379-70-3 and a 2024 copyright. It was written by Davis Chenault and Mac Golden with Stephen Chenault, Mark Sandy, Todd Gray, Jason Vey and James M. Ward. The cover art was done by Jason Walton and the interior color art was provided by Peter Bradley, Zoe DeVos, Joel Chaim Holtzman, Michelle Smallwood, Meliora Henning and Vladimiro Rikowski. There are eight chapters and an index (thank you). These chapters include: The RPG, Classes, Races, Character, Magic, Spells, Siege Engine (a GMs section) and a Spell Chart. A good point on the physical version, they printed little color tabs flush with the pages for quick searches.

An example of the quick colored tabs printed on the edge of the pages.

I owned a physical copy of the 7th printing so I took some comparison photos. The 7th printing has a copyright of 2017, so yes there is a big jump between the two publications. I noticed that there is a lot more detail in the 10th printing, but the basic nuts and bolts of the game are the same. I compared the points needed to go up between levels on a few classes, and they were the same. Yes there was some text alteration with the OGL removal (such as the Rogue’s ability to Sneak Attack has been renamed to Back Attack), but it appears to be the same game. Much like the removal of the OGL for Basic Fantasy 3rd Edition to 4th Edition.

10th printing on the left and 7th printing on the right.
A look at the spines for the 288 page 10th printing vs the 192 page 7th printing.
The 10th printing had a blue background tint with a brown background for the 7th printing.

So now that I have the Kickstarter reward in hand (and on PDF), how do I feel? Well, I’m very happy that I backed this project. At the time of the campaign I had been invited to an online C&C game, which unfortunately fell through. The Siege Engine mechanics for resolving skill checks sounds like something that I would like to try. I even offered to run a game for some of the 5e players who I’ve GMed for in the past. The rewards came pretty quick and I could see the quality in the work. Also I did get a little bit of a high from the “new book smell” as I was flipping through it. Now if I could just get into a game. While running a one-shot at SaltCON is very likely, I really want to see how this game runs over the course of a campaign.

Do you have any questions about Castles and Crusades Reforged? Have you backed any Kickstarters lately? Tell me about it. This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

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