Ran a mini campaign of a Crown & Skull but set in Middle Earth, and I think it went pretty well. When I first read Crown & Skull, my initial thought was cinematic combat. And I think that is exactly what this pulled off. Having HP in a Middle Earth setting just didn’t seem right, but using attrition and watching the struggle vs goblins, trolls, uruk-hai and even small glimpse of a Nazgul was interesting to see how it affected the players.
The players all seemed to enjoy it. I customized a few of the random tables fit it with the Middle Earth theme, and it fit pretty seamlessly. So just my 2 cents, if you want cinematic style combat this seems as close as you can get.
Below I added my map of Rhovanion. This is the area we played in during the campaign. I spent a bit of time copying the style that C&S has with the North Holds map, so feel free to use it if the need arises.
I bought and read C&S, and I’ve watched some tutorials and games online, but I don’t quite get the cinematic element you refer to. How do you make attrition this way? Is it the descriptions that come with losing a skill or piece of equipment? It feels a little mechanistic to me the way I’ve seen it played.
Obviously your mileage will vary. But let me try and explain. It doesn’t matter which system I use, after challenging events I try and make it a habit to ask the players how do they feel, or how they look.
With other systems I would say something like, “You finally slayed the Ogre, but not uninjured, how does Cassomir look?” And then it would be up to my players to take their HP, spellslots, any other resources into account and give a solid response. A lot of time the common response is, “Cassomir is bloodied”.
In C&S when I practice this same habit the responses are more detailed. The players looks at their damaged skills, damaged equipment, and then says “That brutal hit from the Ogre destroyed my back. Nearly everything I was carrying is damaged. And I’m not going to be able to climb anytime soon.”
Can a player say something similar in a different system? Sure. Good RPers can make it work. But I think this system gets more people into that detailed cinematic role.
