The book layout is fantastic! The art is wonderful! The creation of classes like the knight is utter perfection! I wanted to love this game so bad! But I can't. The d20 game system that C&C is based on is utterly flawed. The Siege Engine is built upon the "stat check" or "attribute check" mechanic of the D20 system - which is broken. In Gygax's 1e/2e system, if you wanted to flip a table over, lets say. You might have to roll a STR check. If your STR is 12, then you have to roll a 12 or less on a D20. If your STR is 9 you need to roll a 9 or less on a D20. So you can see it clearly is more difficult for a weaker character (STR 9) to flip over the table vs a comparatively stronger character (STR 12). In C&C they both have an equal chance. There is no recognition in any "stat check" that there is a difference between an Attribute having a 9, 10, 11, or 12 score. They are all equal in this game. This is the Siege Engine which is the foundation that runs the entire game. We tried removing this from the game and going back to the Gygaxian method of stat checks but it ends up muddying the entire system. If you LOVE 3rd edition. This game is better. If you LOVE 4th edition. This game is better. If you LOVE 1e/2e. This game system will make you lose your mind in utter frustration.

Currently my favorite RPG, fantasy or otherwise, this is the game that D&D should have been from the start. (If only Gygax and Arneson had had a couple of decades to playtest and iron out everything, of course.)

There is hardly a thing to dislike about this game, which seems to get everything right the first time. However, if you play it long enough, drive it around and kick the tires, you'll find there are times when you might just make up some house rules. Or use options in the Castle Keeper's Guide. (Sidebar Hint: A Castle Keeper is what you call yourself when you want to sound game-specific and not "just" a gamesmaster, and you don't want to call yourself a Dungeon Master because people will think you're a little Yoda lookalike on a Saturday morning cartoon.)

Fortunately, C&C (Yes, we're getting lazy and using acronyms!) adapts awfully well to plug-&-play. Its compartmentalized nature permits pulling out parts and replacing parts until you find something which works best for you. If you like to tinker, C&C is great fun! If you want to leave the rules alone, they work fine without tinkering.

Trolllord Games has a reputation of spelling or grammatical errors, and even some interesting floophs. This will probably be the nature of the beast until they either hire a full-time proofreader (Not easy when you're a little bitty Arkansas game company.) or beat each writer until the errors stop. I don't let this bother me, and neither should you. Unless you want to help beat up the writers.

In truth, this is a grudge purchase for me. I didn't want to buy the book as I'm not a fan of the genre and yet my group has elected to play it. So I bought a discounted used copy of 2e from Amazon, but it wasn't complete enough to satisfy me so I after much perusing through the intertubes I found it here at a decent price.

It's actually not a bad system, just missing guns. At least it's not D&D. Truth is, I'm enjoying the game so far. Book is put together nicely as well.

This game is a great alternative to D&D if you are tired of the current (4th) edition of D&D but also feel that 3.5/Pathfinder characters are still a bit too powerful or complicated. The rules are simplistic, but still allow for flexibility.

The rules seem to be a fusion of 1st and 3rd editions. Like 1st edition, you roll 3d6 for your six attributes, each class has a separate experience point table for reaching the next experience level, and has more than three saving throws. Like 3rd edition, there is no minimum attribute requirement for classes, it uses a Base to-hit rather than the confusing THAC0, uses a target number for each skill/attribute roll, has 0-level spells for spellcasters, and has death at -10 hit points.

Saving throws and attribute checks are rolled into one mechanic. Each attribute has a saving throw/check target number, which is either 12 or 18 depending on whether it is a prime attribute or secondary attribute. Each character has two (or three, if the character is human) primary attributes; one of which is determined by the character's class, and the other(s) chosen by the player.

There are optional parts to the game, most being the more controversial parts like receiving experience points for gold earned, multi-classing, or (my favorite) the choice to use miniatures or not.

All in all, this is a welcome change from other D&D clones on the market. It may not be for everybody, but a good number of gamers should be able to enjoy this game.

This is a really great system for someone that loves 3rd edition but wants something a lot simpler and easier to manage. It's also really easy to house-rule, and I think I'm going to start running this game over any other rules system from now on (and that's a big deal, because I was really sold on Pathfinder up until now). The game is just way too easy to run and understand for new and younger players, and you don't need a 600 page rulebook to play it. If you love "crunch," this probably isn't the game for you, but I don't see why you still wouldn't love playing it. Classic fantasy roleplaying at its finest!