New Tunnels & Trolls first look at UK Games Expo. Update: Beta releaseed.

[jian]

I actually really like the basic and implied setting in the Quickstart.

The world of the Trollmark is very diverse - there are 12 playable ancestries but they’re not defined mechanically except by Traits (lets you succeed without rolling once per session at one thing) and you don’t even have to take the defined Trait for your ancestry if you don’t want to, not all Orckin are Gregarious. There’s no “Flutterfolk have a maximum Str of 2” type nonsense. The impression one gets is that everyone gets on and there aren’t any defined evil races or built in oppression.

There’s also magic at very low levels everywhere - the quartzes (which are basic equipment and let you do things like detect poison by touching the quartz to the substance, or bite the quartz to produce a cloud of smoke) are a good example, but there’s also the Craft Path which is clearly magical but meant for artisans.

I think one trick they missed is giving a use for Mana to non-Wizards (as written, they’re only for spells), since everyone has Mana. It’d be nice if Mana powered some other abilities or even did something basic like convert to Stamina with a minute’s rest.

 

[Some Dude]

I actually really like the basic and implied setting in the Quickstart.

The world of the Trollmark is very diverse - there are 12 playable ancestries but they’re not defined mechanically except by Traits (lets you succeed without rolling once per session at one thing) and you don’t even have to take the defined Trait for your ancestry if you don’t want to, not all Orckin are Gregarious. There’s no “Flutterfolk have a maximum Str of 2” type nonsense. The impression one gets is that everyone gets on and there aren’t any defined evil races or built in oppression.

There’s also magic at very low levels everywhere - the quartzes (which are basic equipment and let you do things like detect poison by touching the quartz to the substance, or bite the quartz to produce a cloud of smoke) are a good example, but there’s also the Craft Path which is clearly magical but meant for artisans.

I think one trick they missed is giving a use for Mana to non-Wizards (as written, they’re only for spells), since everyone has Mana. It’d be nice if Mana powered some other abilities or even did something basic like convert to Stamina with a minute’s rest.

Counterpoint: if all the Kindreds are the same (as in, not defined mechanically), they're not very "diverse."

As for Mana, this was a (IMO) mistake from T&T 7+ editions that got left in. One of the cool things about T&T was how Attributes were multitaskers. in T&T up until 5th Edition, spells were powered by Strength, which obviously has other uses, and not just for Wizards, either. Creating a single-use Attribute that not even every character could use ran counter to T&T's original design ethos. Again, IMO. I never used it. Strength powering spells is fine, has an internal logic, and besides, I liked the fact that T&T Wizards could punch through doors... well, at least until they'd cast a few spells.

 

[Some Dude]

Probably true.

Are the previous versions still available?

1st, 4th, 5th, and Deluxe edition rules, plus a wealth of adventures. Currently on sale in PDF. Some of the products are DEEPLY discounted.

Hoping Rebellion eventually makes POD available. Word behind the scenes is that they are currently cataloging a wealth of archival material, and we may eventually see some material that's never been available digitally. There's even a glimmer of hope that some unpublished material for classic editions might eventually see the light of day.

 

[jian]

Counterpoint: if all the Kindreds are the same (as in, not defined mechanically), they're not very "diverse."

It means they’re diverse (as in the IRL sense) in ways defined by the players and the fiction, not as character creation options for mechanical effectiveness. I must say I much prefer the former, but YMMV.