William Mallory

William Mallory is the name of the character I am playing in a new campaign started this past Friday by a friend and follow gamer.  It wasn't the character's first appearance as I had played a few adventures with him in the past.  Mind you we are now going back a few years.

Back then, the character was made for a hybrid of D&D 3.5 and C&C which wasn't ideal in my mind.  We used 3.5 as the backbone but dropped the skill system and adopted the task-resolution system from C&C.  But it meant we kept a number of feats (a bunch were stricken off the list -- mainly the miniature dependent and combat tactical oriented ones) as well as the ability mods from the 3.x system.  Likewise, saving throws were using the Fortitude, Reflex, and Will categories but the base bonuses were determined by the best associated ability modifier of pairings making up each (Strength and Constitution to make up Fortitude for example) with relevant prime and level modifier.  Spells were also 3.5 derived.  At the time, I found the situation a bit 'less than elegant'.  I have no real problem with 3.5 and the concepts of Feats were never a big issue for me.  How some were designed and how the game was miniature dependent on the other hand is what caused me to look for other 'D&D options' since there were things about d20 I enjoyed.  Of course, that is what led me to C&C in the first place.  But the reasoning at the time was partially to accommodate a couple of players which were very much still involved with the whole D&D 3.5 scene.  The 3.5 Player's Handbook was somewhat of a security blanket for those players and because my friend knew how to run a fast-paced and dynamic game, I let it slide knowing full well that at least the cumbersome skill system was no longer a concern and Feats were more practical.

That game came to an end due to conflicting schedules and, in the interim period, I ran my own C&C game.  This past Friday was a nice change of pace to be, once again, on the opposite side of the DM's screen.  There was another first in that game -- it was the first time I actually played a character alongside my wife (NPC's just don't count).  So, to make matter easier, I decided to just run my original character (now a 3rd level, human wizard) and focused on helping a couple of newer players get set up.  We were to play a hybrid of the two systems again but as we are finalizing the characters, I realize that the game is now predominantly C&C and really the only holdover from the D&D are the Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saving throw system.  I quickly realize that my character needs to be fixed and updated accordingly.

So, in good player fashion for the first game session, having seen to it that other people had their own characters squared away, I begin working on my character while the game is running.  ;)

Fortunately, the work was simple enough... lowering the attribute modifiers... and selecting anew spells to be memorized.  I notice that the handful of FEATs I've got on my sheet need to be 'eliminated' but it's not like I have very many either... a wizard in 3.5 is not all that different from C&C.  :)

Both games ran well despite how much or little of 3.5 was used and I just had fun playing my reckless and arrogant wizard!  I am happy that C&C is the backbone we are using and the only real deviation is the saving throw system which works.

As far as spells are concerned, I've cast all my first and second level spells and I have only 3 cantrips left memorized.  I am behind enemy lines along with another party member -- having been separated from the party.  I have a crossbow and little else and I'm not a good shot with that thing either.  I'm in for some fun next session but it could end up being very brief.  And I couldn't be happier.

M