The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Humans are we-he-hiiiiiiiiiird creatures, you know that? We keep doin' all sorts of wacky, unexpected stuff -- which, no doubt, keeps our Secret Alien Overlords on their prehensile toes. I'm human; I come from the same basic genetic stock that invented platform shoes, bell-bottoms, rap music and France. In continuing with this tradition of forehead-slapping unpredictability, I ran out last weekend and bought a copy of Tunnels & Trolls.

I must note this -- I bought it after reading a review of the game, posted right here on RPG Net. Looked at some websites. Dug around. Thought. Ordered. Bought. Read. Playested. Hey, you wanna see my findings?

BEHOLD THE CONTENTS OF THE BOXED SET!

- 1 T&T rulebook (96 pg.)
- 1 Beginning adventure module (8 pg.)
- 1 Trade paperback solo adventure
- 1 Issue of the Sorceror's Apprentice magazine
- 3 Cardstock sheets with pre-gen characters on them
- 3 Neat-o six-sided dice

1. WHAT THE HECK IS TUNNELS & TROLLS?

T&T...D&D...get the drift? Well, you were supposed to. It's a Fantasy RPG which was first written in 1975, in order to, as the author states, provide a simpler role-playing game than the biggest one 'round in those days. It is **not** an imitation -- it's compLETELY different. OH, how different it is. I mean, sure, it's still a dungeon-crawlin', monster-whackin' game, but from a different school of gaming thought. (Curiously, in the foreword to the work, the author notes that "the people who created the game that T&T reacts against" asked that their name not be used in the book. Game History Freaks, write that down!) I have the Fifth Edition, copyright 1979. (A hallowed year, indeed -- that's when Gary Numan recorded "Cars", and New Wave got rolling. Rad!)

2. HOW DOES IT WORK? OR DOES IT?

Oh, you know, 6 stats, roll 3d6 for each...pick a class (warrior, wizard, rogue or warrior-wizard)...pick a race (human, elf, dwarf, hobbit, leprechaun, fairy), and modify stats accordingly...figure out your "Adds" (a combat roll modifier based on your Strength, Dexterity and Luck stats)...roll for gold pieces, buy some stuff...go get lost in a hole and kill things.

Having been written in The Pre-Frou-Frou Era (1975, before 'skills' and 'background'), T&T is mostly a combat system. And it's an easy one: roll the dice for your weapon, pop in your adds, and compare with opponent's roll. High roll wins; low roller takes the difference in Constitution points. Armor sucks up damage -- double the listed amount if you're a warrior.

Yep. That's it.

It's simpler than D&D was back then, as there was no armor class or anything. Less to figure out. Just roll-n-kill (or GET killed). Therefore, if its goal was to be simpler than Dungeons and Dragons, then I say

SCORE!

'cause it is.

3. WHAT ELSE DOES IT DO? JUST COMBAT?

Heavens, no! There is nary a skill in sight, but T&T revolutionized the concept of the Saving Roll by -get this- *basing it upon the character's own stats*. Wow! Totally New Concept! (It was in the 70's, anyway.) The higher the Saving Roll level, the tougher it is to beat; basically, you subtract the relevant stat from the level of the SR (Level 1: 20, Level 2: 25, Level 3: 30, etc.) and make up the difference on 2d6. Doubles add and re-roll; in a surprising feat of game engineering, multiple doubles do NOT send you to jail.

(Pardon me...what the hell kinda game IS Monopoly, anyway? I say my racecar can run down the doggie, and that if I buy Park Place, I can put a trap on the damned thing, too. But everyone else says I'm crazy, that that's not how the game is played. Morons.)

4. DOESN'T IT HAVE MAGIC?

Yeah, sure, it has magic. 20 levels (!!!) of spells, no less! Granted, some levels are just one spell...and they have interesting names, ranging from Catseyes and Wizard Speech to Freeze Pleeze and Zombie Zonk). Spells are earned by level, and cost Strength points to cast. Being a wizard and using a staff can reduce Strength point costs. Just about every spell is useful. Rejoice.

5. HOW DO MONSTERS WORK?

They have one stat: MR, or Monster Rating. From this number, the GM can derive its combat dice and adds.

Whoa! Is that too simple? Gimmie your keys and chill -- now look at the section on customizing monsters, which allows you to roll up critters and modify their stats the same way PCs do. Hey! Now you can make 'em into NPCs...or, if you want, you can make 'em PCs, and run that all-Shoggoth campaign you've always dreamed of. (NOTE: I am not kidding.)

6. WHAT ELSE?

Oh, there's a cool lil' random treasure generator...a list of languages...a section on world and city building (which suggests taking your adventures -gasp!- out of the tunnel and into a PLOT)...some slightly advanced rules...guns...a low-level pre-fab tunnel (read 'dungeon')...and some really kickin' old-school fantasy artwork: some totally rad pen-and-ink stuff by Liz Danforth which says, "Play the dang game!"

7. THE OTHER STUFF IN THE BOX

The 8-page tunnel/module/dungeon/whatever is inspired, and has some great ideas in it. It's called "Castle Ward" and leaves room for you (a door, actually) to have a go at your own tunnel design. The solo adventure in my box is called "The City of Terrors" (copyright 1985 - The Best Year For Pop Music In English) and it'll whap the butt right offa your 1st level character. But it's written by Michael Stackpole, though there are no X-wings in it. My magazine is from 1982 (the year Asia's "Heat of the Moment" came out! Cool!), has a solo adventure in it (which is harder than it claims to be), great old ads ("Call of Cthulhu" boxed set) and some really very interesting articles, still useful 17 years later. The characters are OK, I guess. And the dice, you know, they're cubes with dots on 'em.

8. OKAY, WHAT'S THE CATCH?

Tunnels and Trolls ain't perfect. No, siree. There are no skills, which may irk some modern gamers. That whole saving roll thing is kinda goofy -- as I playested it, my two players made a total of about 8 or 10 rolls and succeeded maybe twice; they had good stats, too. There's no real campaign setting, so you'll have to make your own. And one of the spells, which dominates a target critter for a time, is called "Yassa-Massa". There are those who might find that racist. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. I don't know.

Jar-Jar Binks is not a racial stereotype, by the way.

The biggest problem I have, really -judging T&T for what it is-, lies in those Saving Rolls. Now let me tell you why.

Say my 1st-level character risks setting off a trap. Say it's not too complex of a trap. Level 1 Saving Roll -- that's a 20. Subtract my Luck - say that's a 12, which is about average from a 3d6 roll. Right?

I gotta score an 8 or higher on 2d6 or get whacked by the hidden crossbow bolt. Well...maybe I'll make it.

Now the problem shows up when I go up in level. Yeah! Because a lot of SRs (mostly the ones you make in the solo modules that T&T is famous for) are *against your own level*.

Okay, now my character is 10th level. He has to make an IQ SR against his own level, or, as the solo module tells me, he's gonna be killed by the old wizard for, I dunno, being stupid. Lesee...figure a Level 10 SR....I subtract my IQ from 65.

YIKES!!!!

Granted that at 10th level, my IQ is probably higher than it was at 1st; still, if I've been developing a warrior, and my IQ hasn't gone higher than, say, 20, I still have to come up with 45+ on 2d6, adding doubles and re-rolling them. Yeah, it can be done, but my character just got penalized for being 10th level. If some 1st level schmo shows up and the wizard tries to whack him, he's gotta subtract HIS IQ (avg. 10-13 or so) from 20. So the 1st-level doofus skirts by PC-Killer-Wizard-Guy, while my seasoned, veteran guy has to bite the Magic Missile.

Granted, this can be fixed. It's a bug, not a feature. But it's a *standard* bug, so you hafta get around it.

9. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF:

-You are looking for in-depth character creation.

-You seek tactical combat.

-You seek a complex, fully-wrought game system.

10. BUY THIS GAME IF:

- You want a nostalgia trip.

- You wish "Rolemaster" were easier to play.

- You like making stuff up as you go along.

Tunnels & Trolls is oh-so-1979. It encourages GM creativity, however, and has that complete-yet-rough feeling that begs to be picked up, handled, smoothed, and played with. And that, my friends, is why I buy games: so I can play with them.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Tunnels & Trolls
Author: Ken St. Andre Category: game Company/Publisher: Flying Buffalo/Blade Line: Tunnels & Trolls Cost: US$16.95 Page count: 96, plus nifty extras Playtest Review by Dr. Rotwang! on 10/20/99. Genre tags: Fantasy	Humans are we-he-hiiiiiiiiiird creatures, you know that? We keep doin' all sorts of wacky, unexpected stuff -- which, no doubt, keeps our Secret Alien Overlords on their prehensile toes. I'm human; I come from the same basic genetic stock that invented platform shoes, bell-bottoms, rap music and France. In continuing with this tradition of forehead-slapping unpredictability, I ran out last weekend and bought a copy of Tunnels & Trolls. I must note this -- I bought it after reading a review of the game, posted right here on RPG Net. Looked at some websites. Dug around. Thought. Ordered. Bought. Read. Playested. Hey, you wanna see my findings? BEHOLD THE CONTENTS OF THE BOXED SET! - 1 T&T rulebook (96 pg.) - 1 Beginning adventure module (8 pg.) - 1 Trade paperback solo adventure - 1 Issue of the Sorceror's Apprentice magazine - 3 Cardstock sheets with pre-gen characters on them - 3 Neat-o six-sided dice 1. WHAT THE HECK IS TUNNELS & TROLLS? T&T...D&D...get the drift? Well, you were supposed to. It's a Fantasy RPG which was first written in 1975, in order to, as the author states, provide a simpler role-playing game than the biggest one 'round in those days. It is not an imitation -- it's compLETELY different. OH, how different it is. I mean, sure, it's still a dungeon-crawlin', monster-whackin' game, but from a different school of gaming thought. (Curiously, in the foreword to the work, the author notes that "the people who created the game that T&T reacts against" asked that their name not be used in the book. Game History Freaks, write that down!) I have the Fifth Edition, copyright 1979. (A hallowed year, indeed -- that's when Gary Numan recorded "Cars", and New Wave got rolling. Rad!) 2. HOW DOES IT WORK? OR DOES IT? Oh, you know, 6 stats, roll 3d6 for each...pick a class (warrior, wizard, rogue or warrior-wizard)...pick a race (human, elf, dwarf, hobbit, leprechaun, fairy), and modify stats accordingly...figure out your "Adds" (a combat roll modifier based on your Strength, Dexterity and Luck stats)...roll for gold pieces, buy some stuff...go get lost in a hole and kill things. Having been written in The Pre-Frou-Frou Era (1975, before 'skills' and 'background'), T&T is mostly a combat system. And it's an easy one: roll the dice for your weapon, pop in your adds, and compare with opponent's roll. High roll wins; low roller takes the difference in Constitution points. Armor sucks up damage -- double the listed amount if you're a warrior. Yep. That's it. It's simpler than D&D was back then, as there was no armor class or anything. Less to figure out. Just roll-n-kill (or GET killed). Therefore, if its goal was to be simpler than Dungeons and Dragons, then I say SCORE! 'cause it is. 3. WHAT ELSE DOES IT DO? JUST COMBAT? Heavens, no! There is nary a skill in sight, but T&T revolutionized the concept of the Saving Roll by -get this- basing it upon the character's own stats. Wow! Totally New Concept! (It was in the 70's, anyway.) The higher the Saving Roll level, the tougher it is to beat; basically, you subtract the relevant stat from the level of the SR (Level 1: 20, Level 2: 25, Level 3: 30, etc.) and make up the difference on 2d6. Doubles add and re-roll; in a surprising feat of game engineering, multiple doubles do NOT send you to jail. (Pardon me...what the hell kinda game IS Monopoly, anyway? I say my racecar can run down the doggie, and that if I buy Park Place, I can put a trap on the damned thing, too. But everyone else says I'm crazy, that that's not how the game is played. Morons.) 4. DOESN'T IT HAVE MAGIC? Yeah, sure, it has magic. 20 levels (!!!) of spells, no less! Granted, some levels are just one spell...and they have interesting names, ranging from Catseyes and Wizard Speech to Freeze Pleeze and Zombie Zonk). Spells are earned by level, and cost Strength points to cast. Being a wizard and using a staff can reduce Strength point costs. Just about every spell is useful. Rejoice. 5. HOW DO MONSTERS WORK? They have one stat: MR, or Monster Rating. From this number, the GM can derive its combat dice and adds. Whoa! Is that too simple? Gimmie your keys and chill -- now look at the section on customizing monsters, which allows you to roll up critters and modify their stats the same way PCs do. Hey! Now you can make 'em into NPCs...or, if you want, you can make 'em PCs, and run that all-Shoggoth campaign you've always dreamed of. (NOTE: I am not kidding.) 6. WHAT ELSE? Oh, there's a cool lil' random treasure generator...a list of languages...a section on world and city building (which suggests taking your adventures -gasp!- out of the tunnel and into a PLOT)...some slightly advanced rules...guns...a low-level pre-fab tunnel (read 'dungeon')...and some really kickin' old-school fantasy artwork: some totally rad pen-and-ink stuff by Liz Danforth which says, "Play the dang game!" 7. THE OTHER STUFF IN THE BOX The 8-page tunnel/module/dungeon/whatever is inspired, and has some great ideas in it. It's called "Castle Ward" and leaves room for you (a door, actually) to have a go at your own tunnel design. The solo adventure in my box is called "The City of Terrors" (copyright 1985 - The Best Year For Pop Music In English) and it'll whap the butt right offa your 1st level character. But it's written by Michael Stackpole, though there are no X-wings in it. My magazine is from 1982 (the year Asia's "Heat of the Moment" came out! Cool!), has a solo adventure in it (which is harder than it claims to be), great old ads ("Call of Cthulhu" boxed set) and some really very interesting articles, still useful 17 years later. The characters are OK, I guess. And the dice, you know, they're cubes with dots on 'em. 8. OKAY, WHAT'S THE CATCH? Tunnels and Trolls ain't perfect. No, siree. There are no skills, which may irk some modern gamers. That whole saving roll thing is kinda goofy -- as I playested it, my two players made a total of about 8 or 10 rolls and succeeded maybe twice; they had good stats, too. There's no real campaign setting, so you'll have to make your own. And one of the spells, which dominates a target critter for a time, is called "Yassa-Massa". There are those who might find that racist. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. I don't know. Jar-Jar Binks is not a racial stereotype, by the way. The biggest problem I have, really -judging T&T for what it is-, lies in those Saving Rolls. Now let me tell you why. Say my 1st-level character risks setting off a trap. Say it's not too complex of a trap. Level 1 Saving Roll -- that's a 20. Subtract my Luck - say that's a 12, which is about average from a 3d6 roll. Right? I gotta score an 8 or higher on 2d6 or get whacked by the hidden crossbow bolt. Well...maybe I'll make it. Now the problem shows up when I go up in level. Yeah! Because a lot of SRs (mostly the ones you make in the solo modules that T&T is famous for) are against your own level. Okay, now my character is 10th level. He has to make an IQ SR against his own level, or, as the solo module tells me, he's gonna be killed by the old wizard for, I dunno, being stupid. Lesee...figure a Level 10 SR....I subtract my IQ from 65. YIKES!!!! Granted that at 10th level, my IQ is probably higher than it was at 1st; still, if I've been developing a warrior, and my IQ hasn't gone higher than, say, 20, I still have to come up with 45+ on 2d6, adding doubles and re-rolling them. Yeah, it can be done, but my character just got penalized for being 10th level. If some 1st level schmo shows up and the wizard tries to whack him, he's gotta subtract HIS IQ (avg. 10-13 or so) from 20. So the 1st-level doofus skirts by PC-Killer-Wizard-Guy, while my seasoned, veteran guy has to bite the Magic Missile. Granted, this can be fixed. It's a bug, not a feature. But it's a standard bug, so you hafta get around it. 9. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF: -You are looking for in-depth character creation. -You seek tactical combat. -You seek a complex, fully-wrought game system. 10. BUY THIS GAME IF: - You want a nostalgia trip. - You wish "Rolemaster" were easier to play. - You like making stuff up as you go along. Tunnels & Trolls is oh-so-1979. It encourages GM creativity, however, and has that complete-yet-rough feeling that begs to be picked up, handled, smoothed, and played with. And that, my friends, is why I buy games: so I can play with them. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)