Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum by Brian Young

by Brian N. Young

More than Myths and Gods

The Codex Celtarum contains a veritable host of gaming material. Built around the complete mythological cosmos of the Celts, in it you'll find new spells for your druid, cleric, and illusionist. New monsters, including mountains of fey. New magic items. For the very bold, there are new powers for your characters, allowing your characters to become fey!

190 new spells
90 gods and monsters from the Celtic mythos
150 powers for the fey monsters & characters (optional)

The Druids

Druids have surmised that before the present Universe there was a Disharmonious Void that once existed. Torn by destructive chaos and strife, it was devoid of any creative powers and life completely. Nothing could exist in this Disharmonious Void. It was death for the dead in essence and completely uninspired. A spark of Inspiration or Awen, called the Great Spark, blazing red and shaped like a thunder-bolt, tore its way through the blackness with fury. The Fire of Creation split the shapeless Void into the (as yet empty) Three Circles (Trí Fáine) that were anchored around one magnificent, growing oak tree. This tree was the first in the Universe, and under its immense leafy crown hung golden acorns, swollen with potency.

A Celtic Cromlech

The druids dwelt in a world wholly apart from our own, a world that comes down to us in the stones of the cromlech, the wild burnings of the wicker man, the priests who called on ancient trees and fey to bless or defend them and a language of such haunting beauty that its echoes stir memories within us of a people we once were.

The Codex Celtarum delves into the myths of the Celtic peoples, the powers of the world around them, the monsters that hunted them, and the gods that watched over them. Its author, Brian Young, a scholar by trade, introduces the Celtic mythos like never before, exploring the depths of

Hardcover

First published July 1, 2013

About the author

Brian Young is an artist, TV and radio host, Humanities professor and writer from Oklahoma. Born and raised in the state, he has lived a life of creativity and imagination his whole life channeling it into various mediums since the age of four. He has a BA in History from NWOSU (2001) and a Masters in Arthurian Studies from the University of Wales Lampeter (2007). He has an education and knowledge of the Celtic languages, past and present, and seeks to see them further promoted and aided for the future. He illustrated and wrote the first tri-lingual Celtic book ‘Lyver-Lywans Bukkyas Keltek’ in 1998. A self professed ‘King of the Nerds’; his hobbies include role-playing games, video games, convention appearances and too much to list here. His greatest influences are from music and owns a massive collection of the most unusual, imaginative and diverse range of music, it is from such a collection his greatest ideas are derived. Creator, director and producer of Oklahoma’s only horror TV show, ‘The Mysterious Lab of Dr. Fear’, he and his cast played old classic films with a large touch of camp and cheese for 13 years until the local channel was taken from the town by the City Counsel. They also produced live each week the longest running Gothic, horror and Halloween themed radio show, ‘The Mysterious Hours of Dr. Fear’ every Sunday night for over 13 years.

He is a writer and game designer for Troll Lord Games and have scores of modules and big books (Award Winning) still coming out. At the moment he is about to begin on a PhD in Celtic Studies (Studhyansow Geltyan) from the University of Exeter (Penskol Ker Esk), the Institute of Cornish Studies (Fondyans Studhyansow Kernowek) and teaches English at a High School in OKC and continues to be an educator after 14 years going on to the next.

Reviews

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read for anyone interested in celtic mythology. I do not play castles and crusades rpg, but the information found in here is still very useful. I got this book because I wanted ideas for my writing and games I play. It did not disappoint. It is a wealth of information presented in ways that are generally easy to understand. Where you might normally need to read a hundred books to get an understanding of the celts and their mythology, this book breaks it down into the usable pieces and leaves out the academia that would boor most to tears. While this is intended as a gaming supplement it does a good job of making it clear when it is deviating from historic and mythic accuracy.

The found few flaws in it. I would have liked to have seen the chapters better organized and broken up. A bit more on the day to day life of the celts would have been nice. A pronunciation guide and some kind of glossary or reference sheet would have been nice. Some other recommended reading would have been helpful too. All of those would have enhanced the book, but their lacking does not necessarily detract from it.

Over all an excellent source book whether you want to play a game, write a book, or just explore celtic history and myth.

[Stan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book and perhaps my rating is low because of high expectations going in. I found this book to be difficult to access due to all the Gaelic used in it. To the uninitiated, it was rather difficult to get through. The book could have benefited from better organization of the content. The listings of faery creatures and spells were interesting and useful for use in a Castles and Crusades game. I would recommend it to gamers with some familiarity with Gaelic and an interest in Celtic faery lore.