My Crusade - the statement of mission - Let's Roll
It may be quixotic of me, but I'm absolutely determined that this game's going to succeed and flourish. I want my kids to enjoy the kind of game I enjoyed when I was eleven. I have a year before my oldest son turns that age - he's autistic and there's no way he can absorb the 3E ruleset. I'm going to see to it that C&C is firmly established when he's ready for it - with net support, well-edited rules, a large following (preferably with market penetration into his age group), and lots of product. That's my mission statement.

I plan to produce a few little pdfs myself in the service of this goal - which is the reason I haven't signed the NDA. I don't want to be constrained in what I publish while the CKG is still in production.

I urge any and all other fans of C&C to join the crusade not only as a fun game, but as a contribution to the FRPG hobby as a whole. It's worth it to spend a little time promoting the game we enjoyed as children (well, it's a bit more streamlined, but it's essentially the same). The only place where the heart of that original game still beats nowadays is in Castles & Crusades. The motto of the Trolls is "Alea Jacta Est." The motto of my own crusade is a bit more aggressive. I say, "Let's roll."

Proofing the PHB
Now Playing: C&C, of course...
I've spent the last 2.5 hours reading through the PHB and writing up some errata for the Trolls to use in the second printing. It runs to two and a half pages - this is the reason why the more grammatically oriented gamers are having problems with the First Printing. Now, it appears that the PHB is going to go to a second printing. The Trolls won't do it until the 1st printing sells out, but that looks pretty darn likely.

As far as I can tell, though, the Trolls' schedule doesn't contain any room for the kind of close read and edit which is ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED for the second printing. This game is already suffering somewhat from a perception of low production values - which is a real shame given the quality of the stitching, cover, price point, art, and of the game itself. The Trolls have put forth considerable expense and effort into production quality, and it's a real shame to have the grammar, style and organization of the text creating a negative impression about the best FRPG that's been published since the original D&D.

Therefore, I'm going to try to ease the Trolls' burden a bit by proofing and editing the PHB for the second printing. I'll continue if the Trolls are finding it helpful.

Now Playing: Castles & Crusades!
I spent the morning getting kids to the dentist, buying groceries, and sending some DDM minis to complete a trade on maxminis, so I haven't had much of a chance to get my C&C fix today. I did talk briefly with Steve Chenault, and I was pleased to hear that they've already had the chance to use this website with some retailers as a sales point.

I need to do some work on my own campaign, too. The players are in the middle of a tournament and fair, and they're planning to take a quick plane shift to a planar metropolis, drop off a captured Rakshasa in exchange for a ransom, then bop through a portal back into their material plane. The portal will put them down in a dungeon. So, depending on how fast they move, I've got the remainder of the fair, a planar metropolis, a dungeon, and then the city at the top of the dungeon all to develop by Saturday night. No, wait. I don't think we're gaming this weekend. Okay, that gives me another week.

I think I'll use the time between now and the end of the kids' school to write up the stats for my "Greater Ogre." I wanted something that would work well with the Fomorian giant DDM mini, so I whipped up a quick "really big, really stupid, really tough" giant.

Finally doing some work on the Website
Well, I've finally gotten down to business and started to convert the Wondrous Resource into a resource for Castles & Crusades rather than D&D.

The first entry is about the game, which is marvelous, and a slight rant about market focus. I mean, a blog's not a blog if it doesn't have some ranting, is it?

The game's the best fantasy RPG on the market. Fast paced and easy to teach. I love it, and I'm a fan. At the moment, I'm very interested in the question of how to grow the game, because I think it recaptures the heroic feel of the original Dungeons & Dragons that I played as a kid (that's AD&D, in my case, not OD&D).

Now, on to the slight rant, which isn't appropriate to the Troll Lords' board. What the heck is Troll Lords' market focus?? I mean, they've got TWO fantasy RPG's that they're promoting: Lejendary Adventures and C&C. Now, I understand that the Trolls have a personal and business relationship with Gary Gygax, whom I admire over any other figure in gaming. But C&C already seems to be gaining enough momentum since the release of the PH this month to SWAMP interest in LA. And you can't market and grow an RPG by offering it as one of two alternatives. "Hey, if you think C&C sucks, how about you try LA instead?" That's pretty weak. They should bite the bullet and drop support for LA, throwing all their resources behind C&C. After all: Alea Jacta Est, isn't it?

I know Mr. Gygax tends to go his own way, and his grumpiness in business dealings is almost a "Lejend" in itself. It might hurt the Trolls relationship with him to ditch support for his game. But if he could be persuaded to throw in his lot with C&C, and become one of the founding fathers of C&C instead of a competitor, wouldn't that be a tremendous boon to the game? I bought "Insidiae" because I somehow missed the fact that E.G.G. wasn't the author. I was really disappointed to discover that his name was just a marketing tool - I'd absolutely read anything he had to say about making adventures, and I'd love to see him produce some C&C material. Love it.

Somebody forward this to Mr. Gygax. I'd like to see him reassume the mantle of FRPGing's grumpy grandfather - and C&C is the place to do it, not LA.