Castles & Crusades (C&C) is a fantasy role-playing game published in 2004 by Troll Lord Games based upon a stripped-down variant of the d20 System by Wizards of the Coast. The game system is designed to emulate the play of earlier editions of the Dungeons & Dragons game while keeping the unified mechanics of the d20 System. History The game's name comes from the Castle & Crusade Society, founded in the pre-Dungeons & Dragons era by Gary Gygax. The title is in homage to the role-playing industry's birth. The game was first released in 2004 in a boxed edition containing three digest-sized booklets, dice, and a crayon. It featured artwork by artist Peter Bradley of a knight on horseback. The reason for the box set was to have something on hand for sale at Gen Con in August 2004 as the finished Players Handbook was still four months away. A boxed set was chosen for its resemblance to the earliest versions of Dungeons & Dragons, which could be found, depending upon printing, in either a woodgrain box or a white one. As a promotion through the company's website, the first 300 copies were signed and numbered by the designers. In December 2004, the first printing of the Players Handbook was released. Since that time, the Players Handbook has seen additional reprints. The companion volume, Monsters & Treasure, was released in 2005. The Castle Keeper's Guide was published in 2010. System Castles & Crusadess game mechanics are based on the d20 system, designed by Wizards of the Coast. The system has been modified to create a simplified version of the game. The alignment system, attributes, and hit points systems were retained. Most of the core classes and races are similar to those found in Dungeons & Dragons, though with some modifications, and some new classes were added others dropped. The highly intricate system of skills and feats found in Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition was discarded, replaced by what the designers call the "Siege Engine", intended as an extremely easy game mechanic with universal applications. The game is compliant with the terms of the Open Game License. The game was later nominated for a 2005 ENnie Award for Best d20 Game. The Siege Engine works on an attribute check system. A character's attributes are divided into primary and secondary attributes. Checks made against primary attributes have a base Challenge Base (or