d20play Live 35 | Crown and Skull with Brandon Gillam (Hankerin Ferinale)

[@quickanddirtyroleplaying]

I honestly can't wait to try the mapless dungeons of Crown & Skull. I recently ran my group through "The Count, the Castle, and the Curse," and that adventure uses a point crawl style of dungeon and I really enjoyed that style of dungeon design. Each room fit in a page and I could literally just read from the page as to what the characters sensed upon entering the room, the most immediately noticeable points of interest, and what happens when investigating each point of interest (like opening a Russian doll). At worst, I still had to improv whenever the PCs did something unorthodox (like lighting the room on fire), which caused the interactable elements in the room to change accordingly.

[@d20play]

Same here.

[@solomonkane1712]

I needed this video. I love the explanation regarding the origins of C&S. I’ve been following Hankering since 2016ish when it was Drunken & Dragons. I really needed the explanation on DEF rolls. My brains sees the + in the monsters Attack score & wants to add it. This makes it a minus to the Defense roll.

[@stephenwillson2736]

Ohhhhh my! So happy!

[@rikwilliams6352]

Recieved my copy this week, now planning a play by post game via Discord. This will be my first experiance at DMing &I feel C&S will lend itself very well to the slow pace of PBP. Cheers.

[@Anticitizen2501]

Hey! I was planning to try this too. How have you got on? Are there any resources you could recommend for running the game like this? Hope you don't mind me asking - thank you!

[@quickanddirtyroleplaying]

The Darth Bane trilogy had an excellent portrayal of Sith philosophy, especially when it came to the contrast between Bane's philosophy and that of the Brotherhood of Darkness. With Bane's philosophy, a true Sith was a staunch adherent to meritocracy: if you wanted something, you alone were responsible for getting it and if you lost it, that's solely on you. That, combined with the belief that the Dark Side of the Force was weaker the more it was shared, led to the creation of the Rule of Two.

[@seanhembree6154]

Looking forward to playing Crown. Character building is insanely fun in this game. Although, I've read the player's guide twice, listened to Hank explain them twice and still don't understand phases.

[@orkcol]

Traditional rounds are chopped into smaller pieces called phases. Players can choose which phase to act in. Npc's usually have a designated phase they act in. And sometimes they can act in more than 1 phase. Tactics are basically traditional actions, so they get to do more things every time they do have a turn. so an NPC with Phases 3 Tactics 2 = On phase 3 they act and get to do 2 things. NPC with Phases 2,4 Tactics 1 = On phases 2 and 4 they act and get to do 1 thing Honestly, that's it. There is more to say on things like it helps solo monsters get more "turns" to do stuff and allows for group strategy and things. But at its core its just what I said above.

[@monkeymule1286]

Great interview! So many games have "innovative mechanics" that are simply different for the sake of being different. C&S has got some deep intention behind it's inventions and is so much more than the re-skins that can fill the field. I'll be super curious, after youre play through, how you handled npc's who ally with your players. The asymmetry of the core (player facing) rules architecture seems to leave npcs unable to fight other npcs, or pc other pc's for that matter, using rules as written. For example in the introductory adventure players have the chance to rescue a froggish master warrior, a perfect red thread to hint at the power and risk of the Empire, but how does he operate mechanically in contest with The Butcher?

[@d20play]

Thank you! Great guest! Good point on the asymmetry. I'll have to think about that before the game.

[@sanjeevshah168]

I love the thoughts about maps in 1:00. Maps are really inspiration for play. Are you lost? What is the consequence.

[@echoradius2299]

At about 19:00 he talks about not being able to do things if you don't have a specific skill. I'd like to point out that what he probably meant was, you can't do things that would require someone with EXCEPTIONAL skill to perform. Example: "I look to see if he has a weapon on his hip" DM: Roll a perception ch... *record scratch*. Stop right there. In C&S your character has all normal abilities as any other person. Does this person have a sword on their hip? Yes.. cause it's right farking there. IT'S. RIGHT. THERE. I think the game spends less time on mundane rules lawyering, and more time on just playing. Not sure what to do with a minor complication in the way? GM & Player have a D20 roll off. Anyways, my two cents.

[@d20play]

Yes. I think you are correct on all counts.