Castles and Crusades

[Necron 99]

I do have an account there, but only check the forums now and again. Most of the info and stuff I see is on/through the FB TLG group or the C&C group.

[Necron 99]

Steve has about 6 entries on the TLG blog about his trip from AK to ME and back. All of them were fun to read, but his last entry was really cool. The entire thing can be found HERE, but part of the entry was worth repeating, which I'm posting below.

Not long after we started, my daughter Rachel, late from her studies in York England, took over direction of the trip. She guided us to the exit for Highway 90 and a little town in Virginia called Rural Retreat. It was the only real request she had on the whole journey, to go to Rural Retreat. There, she said, she had a surprise for me. What that could be I had no idea. I hadn’t even any idea of where this surprise lay nor how she got it there to surprise me. But enjoying any excursion I happily guided the car off 81 and onto this small highway that turned to Main Street almost immediately. It led up into the Virginia Hills and an old town of quiet calm. We passed into town beneath the shadow of a retired caboose that sat near the old train station. Over the tracks and through downtown, the Veterans Hall and old red brick buildings and into well-manicured neighborhood of old houses. From there we passed up a green hill, patches of mist clinging to distant pastures that lay beyond the little town.

It was amazingly peaceful and quiet, another calm corner on this long journey. Once the news is turned off America is an amazing country.

To my continuing confusion we entered a cemetery and stopped the car. Rachel was beside herself with joy, laughing and curious as to what my response would be. I had no idea why we were where we were until Kathy spied it and said “There it is.” I looked and could see nothing at first glance. What forgotten ghost of America’s past had she brought me to see?

And then I spied a familiar name on a stone and I thought that strange. I walked closer, a little confused, but slowly the realization dawned on me.

“You have got to be kidding!?” I lost it laughing first and then raced across the green yard, careless of the restful dead, something I never am. But it was meant to be because there beneath the wet, green grass, lying in peaceful repose with a tall headstone standing high above him, was the inspiration of my greatest comfort. Here beneath the green sward lay the man who inspired the elixir of my living days. From the age of 10 in Monticello Arkansas to just moments before Kathy stopped the car, I consumed its joy.

Here lie the final resting place of the esteemed gentleman of yesterday, Dr. Charles Pepper. Though a host of stories abound about how the drink got its name, it is obvious that Pepper played a role in it. There are rumors of lost loves and early jobs abound, but regardless of all that, here I stood at the door step eternal of Doctor Pepper whose name eventually adorned my drink of choice.

I’ve been to the Lourve in Paris, slept in Hyde Park in London, visited Saint Stephen’s Dome in Vienna, the Grand Canyon and lately Niagara Falls, I’ve lived on two oceans, parachuted from planes and repelled from helicopters…but all paled to the tomb and grave of Dr. Pepper, whose name alone has carried me through five decades, across two centuries and a millennia.

This was an excursion that made a worthy trip worth more. Rachel had outdone herself. I couldn't stop laughing and nor could she. It was a euphoric moment!

I toasted the old man with a cold drink from a cold can and we rambled on.

[Ancalagon]

Haha! Steve has it baaaaaaad for his Dr. Pepper!

[Necron 99]

Haha! Steve has it baaaaaaad for his Dr. Pepper!

Yeah he does, always getting that DP fix. haha.

[Ancalagon]

Found this again so posting it!

[Necron 99]

Yeah, I wish Steve and Co. had done some more stuff like this, it a pretty good watch.

[Ancalagon]

Here is the follow on video...

[Necron 99]

I was reading through the CKG and ran across a section on Equipment Wastage. I know a lot of players don't like the aspects of equipment inventory and the accounting bits associated with ammo, food, lighting, etc. But for me those are features, not bugs, in the system. It's that logistical part that makes the game feel more in-depth. I thought this bit would make for a more enjoyable aspect to add more fantastic realism to a campaign.

Simple Rules for Combat Wastage
When role-playing combat wastage it is always good to include a little dice-rolling as well. All normal wastage should be tracked by the CK/players when role-playing the wastage with the exceptions of critical hits and misses. Use these rare opportunities to allow the dice to propel the wastage forward.

When a character or foe rolls a natural 20 against an opponent, roll a saving throw for the opponent’s stricken armor or shield, on a roll of 1 or 2 the equipment has suffered damage requiring a blacksmith’s attention, and the character’s AC drops one or two points. These rolls are cumulative.

When a character or foe rolls a natural 1 for their attack, roll a saving throw for their weapon. On a roll of 1 or 2, the weapon has suffered damage requiring a blacksmith’s attention, and the weapon’s damage drops by -2. These rolls are cumulative. These rules only extend to any armor, weapons, or pieces of equipment struck by a natural 20 or involved in a natural 1.

[Necron 99]

Received and email from the Trolls about a new project that will be coming to the Indiegogo crowd-funding site. It's a project for a new application, called the Castles & Crusades Character Manager. The site preview info states it will be for both PC and phone.

Personally, I'm not into modern apps for managing character sheets and such, I don't mind PDFs for reading on a tablet, but I prefer my characters on good, old-fashion paper.

"With this APP players will be able to create, manage, level up, play your character in the C&C rpg like never before."

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[Ancalagon]

I prefer paper character sheets. I like making hand-written notes on the sheets. An app like that would be fine for an online game but if I'm playing at a table with folks, I'll always use the paper version.