Crusaders

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Gringnr

Gringnr

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Crusaders is a superhero RPG by Olivier Legrand. It's available in PDF only, at a reasonable $5. The game is apparently inspired by Golden Heroes, and Legrand write the Superfrance supplement for the first edition of Squadron UK (that is, the version that directly followed GH, earning author Simon Burley a C&D from Games Workshop, prompting him to write the second, currently available edition of Squadron UK).

GH is probably my favorite superhero rpg, so I snapped this up, but I haven't really had a chance to dig down into it yet.

Has anyone else peeped this? If so, what are your thoughts?
 
Gringnr said:
Maybe you could reach out to him and ask if he would come here to discuss the game. The thread at TBP got nuked for reasons we don't talk about here (it was some real dumb shit, too, thats all I'm gonna say about it). That place is moderated like SA, jeez.
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I’ve reached out to him after talking to Dan. Hopefully he can make his way over here. The treatment he received was very unfortunate, especially considering how they say they champion small publishers.
 
Gringnr said:
Maybe you could reach out to him and ask if he would come here to discuss the game. The thread at TBP got nuked for reasons we don't talk about here (it was some real dumb shit, too, thats all I'm gonna say about it). That place is moderated like SA, jeez.
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Yeah, I got jumped on for pointing out that what some were complaining about had more than the meaning they were complaining about. I had hoped there would be more discussion of the game, but there's always one or two people who get triggered.

Anyway, I hope he comes over here to talk about the game. I picked up the pdf, but would like to hear more. Would also like to know if there are any possible AP videos out yet
 
olivier legrand said:
Hello everyone and thanks for the kind invitation!
I'd happily answer your questions about the game, its mechanics, the forthcoming mini-supplements etc.
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Welcome to he Pub O olivier legrand !

Most of our regulars are probably in bed around his time, but I know there's a lot of interest here in your new game. I'll post some questions once my GF goes to bed ;)
 
Hello
Thanks for your welcome and for your interest in my game
Ah yes, different time zones... Here it is 7.40 am so unless I'm mistaken it's past midnight in the US, right?
 
olivier legrand said:
Hello
Thanks for your welcome and for your interest in my game
Ah yes, different time zones... Here it is 7.40 am so unless I'm mistaken it's past midnight in the US, right?
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Yeah, I'm i Canada, where it's 30 to midnight as I write this, in the States (Midwest) it's like 1:30 am.
 
TristramEvans said:
Yeah, I'm i Canada, where it's 30 to midnight as I write this, in the States (Midwest) it's like 1:30 am.
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A lot of us are in the Pacific Time Zone (add in whatever wonkyness daylight savings is doing as well). Almost midnight. I have GH but only started to play it online with Dumarest Dumarest a few years back. I'll be interest to here the discussion. Personally I start from loving my old experience with 2nd edition Champions for super hero games but I'm always interested in hearing about potential supers games.
 
Regarding the system & mechanics of CRUSADERS, you may find the following Q&A interesting:

https://gmshoe.wordpress.com/2022/06/26/qa-olivier-legrand-crusaders/

But I will of course gladly answer any questions you have. Here is something I was about to post on another site in answer to a question about what made CRUSADERS different from other superheroic RPGs:

Here is a list of Ten Great Things about CRUSADERS (but hey, I may be biased :smile:)

1. Very fast and easy character creation rules.

2. Character creation combines the fun of random tables with a far greater degree of player-control than in most random-power-tables superheroic RPG.

3. Character definition is very streamlined, with no substats, complex calculations etc. The only scores are the four basic attributes (Physique, Prowess, Alertness, Psyche), a Vitality total, rank, Hero points and, well, that's all (except for some power-specific scores).

4. Original approach to Hero points, Super-strength and other staples of the genre.

5. A strong 1980s feel but with a far simpler & streamlined system than most RPGs of that period. No need to worry about real world physics, movement rates, feet, meters, etc. Combat, for instance, is resolved using subjective "battle zones" (center, perimeter, environs) that make things like ranged powers, area effects etc. extremely easy to handle.

6. A quick combat system, with fixed damage (no rolls) and a "heroic perspective", player-centric approach: if your hero attacks a villain, you make an attack roll; if a villain attacks your hero, you make a defense roll. Everything is symmetrical and the GM may run a battle scene without rolling any dice, allowing her to concentrate on her narrative / descriptive tasks.

7. A very simple yet flexible advancement system allowing heroes to develop power stunts, signature abilities etc. as they increase their rank.

8. Different Motivations for different types of heroes: Defenders, Patriots, Avengers, Vigilantes, Outcasts and Adventurers.

9. A simple, flexible yet robust approach to powers, making it very easy to translate new powers in game terms.

10. A very reasonable price (4.95 $ for a 100-page book) and monthly support, in the form of mini-supplements in PWYW mode.
 
Gringnr said:
I'm interested because it's supposed to take some inspiration from Golden Heroes, which is my all time fave supers RPG.
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It immediately, from the preview and character sheet, reminded me of Golden Heroes (which is no bad thing)!

Safe to say, I've bought it; no-brainer for the price. Will get my mate, who loves GH, to give it a look too.
 
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Before the end of the week, I'll release a mini-supplement on BRITISH HEROES, as the first installment of the CRUSADERS INTERNATIONAL series - it will detail five British supers (Britannia + the London Irregulars: Drake, Rudeboy, Nightbird and Tom O'Bedlam), so yes, the GH vibe is definitely on :smile:

Next releases:

AUGUST: Crusaders Showcase n°2 (focusing on Meta-powers - things like power mimicry, etc.), Crusaders International n°2 (Soviet Supers - remember that the game is set in the Super 80s).

SEPTEMBER: Crusaders Showcase n°3 (super-traps & anti-superpower countermeasures), Crusaders International n°3 (Canadian heroes)

(...)
 
olivier legrand said:
Before the end of the week, I'll release a mini-supplement on BRITISH HEROES, as the first installment of the CRUSADERS INTERNATIONAL series - it will detail five British supers (Britannia + the London Irregulars: Drake, Rudeboy, Nightbird and Tom O'Bedlam), so yes, the GH vibe is definitely on :smile:

Next releases:

AUGUST: Crusaders Showcase n°2 (focusing on Meta-powers - things like power mimicry, etc.), Crusaders International n°2 (Soviet Supers - remember that the game is set in the Super 80s).

SEPTEMBER: Crusaders Showcase n°3 (super-traps & anti-superpower countermeasures), Crusaders International n°3 (Canadian heroes)

(...)
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Mister LeGrand, welcome. When I first heard of Crusaders, I immediately recognized your name from the Superfrance supplement for the 1st edition of Simon Burley's Squadron UK (which, for anyone who doesn't know was basically a reprint of Golden Heroes, before the Cease & Desist from GW forced a heavy revision/rewrite).

I have bought Crusaders, but haven't dug in yet.

What can you tell us about how Golden Heroes inspired Crusaders? And where and why did you go off in a different direction from GH?
 
Well, as you know from the now-cancelled Superfrance, I'm a long-term GH fan. I've always admired the way this game presented its subject as well as some of its key, signature features (like the visionary "campaign ratings").

In CRUSADERS, I try to revive the same spirit and tone (which is one of the reasons the game has the "Super 80s" setting) but with a (completely) different system - d100 based, with fewer dice rolls required and an absence of substats, movement rates, precise ranges and other (IMHO) superfluous complications. I also tried to mix the fun factor of random power rolls with a greater degree of players' control / influence over the results, with a triple design goal: maximum simplicity, flexibility and robustness.

Designing the game actually took years of on-and-off work; I think I started on it some 15 years ago, on the wake of Mazes & Minotaurs but after a couple of years I abandoned the project for lack of time (+ all sorts of other creative commitments); I sporadically came back to it but the amount of work needed soon forced me to move my files into the "abandoned projects" folder.

Then, in last December, I suffered a stroke - no damage on the cognitive, memory or language side of things (I was extremely lucky) but paresis (that's the medical term - a sort of half-baked paralysis) of the leg and arm on the right side. I'll spare you the details: six weeks of hospital and, since, then, a reeducation program, allowing me to walk again, write again and recover most of my old manual skills (although I've yet to recover my ability to play the piano satisfyingly - at least for now) etc. I've been on extended sick leave since I came back home and will resume my job as a high school teacher next September. But in the meantime, since typing was one of the earliest skills I'd managed to recover almost entirely, I needed some Big Writing Project to keep me occupied. So I dived into various "on hold" RPG-related projects... and then I remembered my old CRUSADERS files. I found that all the years of hiatus had actually made my mind clearer on the design directions etc. and so I decided to rise to the challenge. Being (at last!) able to write this game and launch it were very rewarding experiences for me - and helped me pass some very difficult RL moments. I was also delighted by the amount of interest and enthusiasm it gathered right from the start (until yesterday's senseless attacks on RPGnet but let's not dwell on the past) and I hope more and more people will get interested in the game and its forthcoming mini-supplements.

Ah, sorry for the personal digression - don't hesitate to ask me more specific rules-related questions! :smile:
 
olivier legrand said:
Well, as you know from the now-cancelled Superfrance, I'm a long-term GH fan. I've always admired the way this game presented its subject as well as some of its key, signature features (like the visionary "campaign ratings").

In CRUSADERS, I try to revive the same spirit and tone (which is one of the reasons the game has the "Super 80s" setting) but with a (completely) different system - d100 based, with fewer dice rolls required and an absence of substats, movement rates, precise ranges and other (IMHO) superfluous complications. I also tried to mix the fun factor of random power rolls with a greater degree of players' control / influence over the results, with a triple design goal: maximum simplicity, flexibility and robustness.

Designing the game actually took years of on-and-off work; I think I started on it some 15 years ago, on the wake of Mazes & Minotaurs but after a couple of years I abandoned the project for lack of time (+ all sorts of other creative commitments); I sporadically came back to it but the amount of work needed soon forced me to move my files into the "abandoned projects" folder.

Then, in last December, I suffered a stroke - no damage on the cognitive, memory or language side of things (I was extremely lucky) but paresis (that's the medical term - a sort of half-baked paralysis) of the leg and arm on the right side. I'll spare you the details: six weeks of hospital and, since, then, a reeducation program, allowing me to walk again, write again and recover most of my old manual skills (although I've yet to recover my ability to play the piano satisfyingly - at least for now) etc. I've been on extended sick leave since I came back home and will resume my job as a high school teacher next September. But in the meantime, since typing was one of the earliest skills I'd managed to recover almost entirely, I needed some Big Writing Project to keep me occupied. So I dived into various "on hold" RPG-related projects... and then I remembered my old CRUSADERS files. I found that all the years of hiatus had actually made my mind clearer on the design directions etc. and so I decided to rise to the challenge. Being (at last!) able to write this game and launch it were very rewarding experiences for me - and helped me pass some very difficult RL moments. I was also delighted by the amount of interest and enthusiasm it gathered right from the start (until yesterday's senseless attacks on RPGnet but let's not dwell on the past) and I hope more and more people will get interested in the game and its forthcoming mini-supplements.

Ah, sorry for the personal digression - don't hesitate to ask me more specific rules-related questions! :smile:
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Sorry to hear of your health issues. I hope you are recovering nicely.

Thanks for taking the time to speak to us. Good on you for being a teacher, as well. Unsung heroes, all.

With regards to the game, one of the things I've always loved about Golden Heroes is its tactical depth. GH's stricr measurement of time (Frames) and distance make for nice, tactical combat and power usage. You say you've moved away from Movement rates and precise ranges. Would it be safe to say that Crusaders is less tactical than GH? What would you compare it to in terms of crunch? What do you feel it does better than Golden Heroes, that is to say, what did you feel was missing from GH that prompted you to write Crusaders?

Also, The Mighy Crusaders is one of my favorite comic book teams.
 
Yes, definitely less tactical: combat is more abstract or, depending on how you look at it, more story-based. The initiative system is very simple and you don't need tactical maps, minis etc.
I'm not overly fond of super-crunchy systems but the game does offer a lot of different options for power improvement / hero advancement.
I don't think that Crusaders is a "better game" than GH: they are two different games, from different times, with (I think) the same spirit as far as the genre is concerned but with different approaches in terms of game mechanics. One of the things I tried to achieve was to have a very simple and streamlined character definition, with no 'esoteric' sub-stats etc. And in this particular aspect, the game is probably closer to the old Marvel FASERIP (while still being "its own beast").
 
Probably too numerous to mention but the ones most present in my mind while working on the game were:

Marvel Comics

- The entire Chris Claremont / John Byrne run on THE UNCANNY X-MEN

- Basically everything John Byrne did for Marvel during this decade, including (of course) ALPHA FLIGHT and his exceptional run on THE FANTASTIC FOUR, plus some great AVENGERS stuff

- CAPTAIN BRITAIN as re-invented by Alan Moore and Alan Davis

- Frank Miller's fabulous run on DAREDEVIL

- Everything on CLOAK & DAGGER

- The PROJECT PEGASUS story from Marvel-Two-In-One (with the Thing)

- SECRET WARS

- Mark Gruenwald's SQUADRON SUPREME

DC Comics

- WATCHMEN by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons - a timeless masterpiece, for the darker, grittier end of the spectrum and a definitive deconstruction of the genre

- BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS by Frank Miller (for similar reasons)

- George Perez's NEW TEEN TITANS

- Dennis O'Neil & Neal Adams' run on GREEN ARROW / GREEN LANTERN (yes, I know, early 70s...)
 
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[mod]I'm not wanting to try and dampen down people's opinions on this, but I think this thread is best used to discuss Oliver's game first and foremost rather than moderation on TBP. Oliver has been kind enough to come over here to answer questions about his game, so let's not waste the opportunity![/mod]
 
Necrozius said:
Hey O olivier legrand while you’re here I wanted to shout praise to you for Mazes and Minotaurs. What an awesome (and generously offered) game. It was a big deal for me. Thanks for making it!
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You're welcome! BTW I'm still releasing some reformatted stuff from the Minotaur webzine on Drivethru - with some pretty big stuff still in store (but already published some years ago in the zine).
 
RPGNet is a fucking cesspool of nastiness. Fuck 'em. :thumbsup:

O olivier legrand can I make a direct donation to fund your crusade for making a great supers RPG at all? Hit me up with a DM here if it's not appropriate to post here publicly.
 
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Awesome. M&M was the core chassis of my first ever Ancient Greek campaign (and I still reference it for other game systems.
 
Ah OK, sorry :crossed: Thanks but I cannot accept donations: if you really want to contribute to the Crusaders treasury (which allows me to buy quality stock art etc.), just buy one of the supplements at the price you see fits (they're all on PWYW - thanks in advance) - and if you've already downloaded them, well, there's a new one coming this very week!

Also, if you really feel in a giving mood, you may consider buying my earlier Path of the Healer RPG on Drivethru: all benefits go to Doctors Without Border.
 
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