As a long time fan of D&D, AD&D, OD&D, and Pathfinder I have recently, gotten into playing Castles & Crusades, by Troll Lord Games. It is a familiar system with some variances to what made D&D so popular. The game is much like AD&D 1E reconfigured with the D20 flair, however, it is very rules-lite and requires little explanation in how to play. In fact a new player can be rolling up a character, and learn how to play in the same 15 to 20 minutes it takes to fill in the character sheet. I've been playing D&D and all of its variants since the late '80's and of all the more and more advanced iterations I have found that I like the simplicity that C&C brings to the table. There are no power-builds, or complicated combat rules, just good old school style role-playing where the story and character interaction once more takes the center stage. If you haven't tried it, then I would definitely recommend it; especially if you have both old school role-players and modern gamers in the same group.

That sounds very interesting! I have to check it out!!! I hate power builds and I love some good old roleplay. Mind games are the best... riddles... diplomacy... More than a month has passed since my last session.....

I recently bought the Player's Handbook, and the Monsters & Treasure book, which is really all you need to start, though you can usually find the quick start rules pdf for free which gives a basic introduction to the system. Anyway, the Core Books are still cheaper to get than D&D 5E or Pathfinder by far, and once you have them you've got everything you need for adventures in any fantasy world you choose. The Castle Keeper's Guide though not required, just expands on what is already established with the first two books. I hope you get to play again soon.

I gave the quickstart rules a look, and Castles & Crusades seems like quite a decent "old school" game. I especially like giving the players the freedom to appoint at least one of their characters' Primary Attributes. That gives more mechanical variation than most other OSR offerings - which is nice.

The one thing that stuck in my eye was the same nonsense that always bothered me with AD&D: basic tasks like climbing and listening being class-specific. There's no reason why other classes shouldn't be perfectly competent and capable of advancing in these skills! The other abilities I can swallow for the sake of niche protection, but listening and climbing aren't something that defines the class!

*wipes froth from mouth*

Erm, yeah, aside from that it looks good. As someone who prefers AD&D over the 3rd and 4th editions of D&D, C&C certainly tickles my fancy.