Tunnels & Trolls, anyone?

Beastman · Aug 6, 2005

hi @all!

i'm yet undecided to buy or not to buy T&T. i never played it and never had any book read, although i heard several good things about it. so, has anyone already bought the "new" (reprint) 5.5 edition and what's your opinion about it. furthermore, there will be a 7th edition by fiery dragon games (?) in the near furture. should i wait for that one?

thanks

Klaus · Aug 6, 2005

I may be biased (hey, I'm illustrating T&T as we speak...er, type), but I'd say wait for the 30th Anniversary Edition from Fiery Dragon, debuting at GenCon.

It has pretty pictures!

Melkor · Aug 6, 2005

I am a big fan of Tunnels & Trolls.

Not really sure why because I generally do not like 'rules lite' systems. Something about it is very catching though.

The 5.5 version is the same as the 5.0 version until you get to the last part of the book. That section has some of Ken St. Andre's house rules listed, an optional skill system by Michael Stackpole, a chronology of 'Troll World", and a Solo Dungeon.

From what I understand, Feiry Dragon's 7th Edition will have two rulebooks, one that was written by Ken St. Andre which presents the classic (possibly updated ?) T&T Trolls, and a second that Fiery Dragon has 'upgraded' to add some details to character creation and combat (including the use of miniutures).

In the spirit of my love for T&T, I would say: BUY BOTH!

Hope that helps.

AFGNCAAP · Aug 6, 2005

Mixed experience for me...

I didn't enjoy tabletop Tunnels & Trolls, but I think that was due to a poor GM for the game (one with favorite NPCs/personal PCs used for NPCs, etc.).

However, the best positive experience I had for T&T was the old computer game. Man did I ever put a lot of hours into creating characters for the game, & trying to boost PC stats when I could. It was tough, too. Good game.

Klaus · Aug 6, 2005

And that very game will come in a CD, along with the 30th Anniversary Edition of T&T. No support, play if you dare, etc.

the_redstar_swl · Aug 6, 2005

Klaus said:
And that very game will come in a CD, along with the 30th Anniversary Edition of T&T. No support, play if you dare, etc.

IIRC the disk will also have a bunch of adventures also.

Plane Sailing · Aug 6, 2005

I occasionally played 1e Tunnels and Trolls, but never really liked it that much. It did have one of the first ever "solo adventures" that I ever saw though, and I remember having fun with that!

the Jester · Aug 7, 2005

I never played T&T. What is it like? How does it differ from dnd in terms of subject and/or style?

Teflon Billy · Aug 7, 2005

I thought the original T&T was an exercise in frustration.

Weaponry that was patently worse than other otpion costing more

Armor, that when broken down and worn piecemeal provided more protection

A "luck" stat that was more valuable and easier to raise than any of the other stats.

Combat that could literally go on forever without resolution.

Combat in which--once you started losing--you really started losing and it snowballed from there.

Shallow character creation

Simplistic spells

I can't think of anything I liked about it excpet for the cover art.

The lads at Fiery Dragon are generally talented and dependable though, so the new edition might be worth a look.

Claudio, is that art you are doing your normal style, or the moody Pencil-stuff we've seen glimpses of recently?

Klaus · Aug 7, 2005

the Jester said:
I never played T&T. What is it like? How does it differ from dnd in terms of subject and/or style?

T&T is the original 'rules-light' RPG, released one year after the original D&D. The style depends entirely on the playing group, but if it serves as an indication of the 'intended' style of play, spells have names like "Take That, You Fiend!" (an attack spell) or "Poor Baby!" (a healing spell).