(TFT) C&S

[ed <edhogg@equus.demon.co.uk>]

On 13/02/2007 19:30:16, John Gfoeller (johng3110@hotmail.com) wrote:
> Interesting.  It makes me want to research "C&S" ("Chivalry and Sorcery").
>
> I never played it.  Does anyone have any comments on it as a gaming
> system?

> > > We ended up expanding to 5
> > > attributes - STR (Strength), CON (Constitution), DEX (Dexterity), INT
> > > (Intelligence), and KNW (Knowledge).  A starting character is 54
> points
> > > instead of 32.  There
> can't be a difference of more than 3 points
> > > between STR and CON, or between INT and KNW.
> > >
> >
> >It's
> starting to sound like C+S which makes me nervous...:-)

Well, I was one of the authors on the latest version of C&S so here are
some comments

Original C&S shares something in common with TFT, in that it started off
as an attempt to improve D&D, in effect it was about to be offered as an
Advanced D&D but the authors didn't take to Ernie Gygax.

It shows its roots, and also the heady days of not having to fight huge
IP battles as Necromancers could aspire to making their own One Ring. It
tried to root its fantasy in a more realistic medieval world, for which
read England, and offered society built into it. It also gave more
cultures, not just Japanese, Mongol, Celtic and Viking but also
intelligent Dinosaurs, as well as many different types of mage,
incudingConjurer, Necrmancer, Arificer mage and alchemist.  You could
not only be a human, elf, dwarf or hobbit but also a troll, werewolf or
vampire

The system was a mix of d20 and percentile, featured a lot of formulae
and not only mages had to learn their spells, players were expected to
memorise what the  spells did. I learned the Viking futhark for my Norse
rune smith. Once mages learned spells it was Fatigue that limited
casting, no forgettings spells and PCs could, in theory, manufacture
their own magic swords etc.

It had stuff on running a medieval manor, wargames rules, and  essays on
trying to make your fantasy seem real. 1st ed was a totally class and
level based system, with non-humans races pretty much classes in themselves.


Second edition simplified the system, allowed up to early gunpower but
suffered a bit from editing, there were some rules that didn't fit the
new system being unchanged from the old, but the new system was still
rooted in the old. It let classes learn skills from outside their class
by spending the XP. In some ways this is still my favourite version.

Third seems a bit of dumbing down, not the system alone which was an
attempt to streamline, but in leaving out some of the depth that
attracted us to C&S. That was rectified in C&S: The Rebirth, which is
percentile. A bit like SPIs Dragonquest you have a staring percentage
and you add so much per level of skill.

In all incarnations C&S is more complex than average, but that has been
due to try and simulate reality, such as actical options in a fight, or
the effect of certain weapons against various types of armour etc.

I wrote a thing called C&S Essence, 4 pages of very small type that
tried to distill the ideas covered in C&S 4 into a simple system. Much
simpler than the reality but playable, though the system has changed
slightly since I wrote that.

http://www.britgamedesigns.co.uk/download/cnsfast.pdf

There is a Victorian version which someone (joe Hartley????) once
started to convert to TFT.
http://www.britgamedesigns.co.uk/download/victess.pdf

col
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