Ulthor the Conjurer In the Random Rainbow Maze

The Random Rainbow Maze was the first solo released by Ken St. Andre under his Trollhalla Press brand in 2010. The Rainbow Maze is a "fun house" style dungeon, meaning that it was designed with the sole purpose of luring in delvers with the promise of wealth and fame but typically offering only an early grave. The monsters found within fun house-style dungeons the monsters are a varied mix of creatures with no reason of being there other than to fight delvers. The general rule in a fun house dungeon is that nothing makes sense; assume everything will be illogical.

Interestingly the Rainbow Maze has no instructions and therefore there are no guidelines for how powerful your character should be; no mention of level or adds. Nor does it provide any stipulations on character type or kindred. I'll just have to hope that Ulthor has what it takes to make it out alive. The introductory paragraph does say that the maze is a "magic free zone" but for the sake of this experiment with Specialist Mages, and my own fun, I'll ignore that one rule.

I played using the 7.5e rules which means I used spite damage, did not reduce the number of dice used by opponents as their Monster Rating decreased, used the Wizardry attribute to power spells, and required an Intelligence Saving Roll to successfully cast spells.

Be advised that the following play report contains a lot of spoilers about the Random Rainbow Maze.

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Ulthor the Conjurer walked down a long and winding path toward a large square stone building. Lining the path were highly detailed statues of all of the various humanoid kindreds; they were all delvers by their appearance. Many were sculpted in posed of rage or surprise. Ulthor noted the statues, but kept his eyes focused on the building ahead. Here was the famous Rainbow Maze, built to test the skills of delvers and reward those who were worthy. He tried not to think about what happened to those who were not worthy.

Ulthor finally made it to the end of the path. He stood before the great building facing two doors. Suddenly a man appeared in front of him. He was a small man with skin the color of polished ebony. Ulthor could feel strong magic emanating from him; he must be a powerful Wizard.

"I am the Maze Master," the Wizard said. "Do you wish to enter the Rainbow Maze?"

"Yes," Ulthor said without hesitation.

"The task is simple," the Maze Master explained. "Simply enter the Maze, kill any creatures you may meet, and exit at the other end. Any treasure you find along the way is yours to keep. You won't need your lantern inside; the walls glow in different colors so you'll be able to see well enough."

"Sounds simple enough," Ulthor replied.

"Indeed," the Wizard smiled, but there was nothing friendly about it. "Start when you are ready."

Ulthor looked at the two doors. They were identical. Ulthor shrugged, drew one of his banks and opened one of the doors.

Ulthor stepped through the doorway and into a 20' square room. The walls glowed with a deep red color casting an eerie light. On the floor in the center of the room was a strange-looking animal carcass. Ulthor slowly approached the carcass drawing his second bank as he did so. Suddenly the 'carcass' rose to it's feet! It was a bizarre creature the size of a dog with the body of a spider, the head of an eagle, and the claws of a lobster.

"What sort of of demented creation are you?" Ulthor exclaimed.

Suddenly the creature attacked! Ulthor gripped his banks and defended his life. For all of it's horrific appearance the monster was a pathetic thing (MR10), so Ulthor quickly put it out of its misery.

[Ulthor won the fight in a single combat turn.]

Ulthor inspected the now most definitely dead creature to see if he could learn anything about how it was created. In doing so, Ulthor found a pouch containing three gold coins. Ulthor pocketed the coins then began to search the room. There were no obvious exits other than the door he came in and that was now locked. After carefully searching for concealed doors Ulthor finally went to the locked door and knocked. Ulthor heard a click and the door opened. Standing there was the Maze Master.

"It took you long enough," the Maze Master said. "Come on out. Would you like to try the other door?"

"That wasn't much of a maze," Ulthor commented as he walked out. "But yes, I will try the other door."

Ulthor promptly opened the second door and entered the Maze once again. This time Ulthor found himself in a long corridor with glowing orange walls. As he advanced, the passage turned at sharp angles several times but kept to the same basic heading. Finally Ulthor came to two more doors, one in the wall to his left, the other ahead of him at the end of the corridor.

Ulthor decided to go left. He opened the door and entered a small room with glowing yellow walls. Inside was yet another bizarre creature, this one appeared to be half frog and half goblin.

"Fascinating," Ulthor said in admiration of the Maze Master's skills.

The creature held a jagged bronze knife in its hand and approached Ulthor with obviously ill intent. Ulthor steadied himself. Fighting this creature would be tough, but perhaps he could bind it to his will. He would need to be quick. Ulthor focused his mind and reached out to the froglin. The froglin rushed in with knife raised. As the blade descended, Ulthor grabbed the froglin's wrist and forced his will upon the creature. The froglin did not have the strongest mind so it was a brief struggle. Soon the froglin stood looking at Ulthor intently waiting to do his bidding.

[Ulthor cast Spirit Mastery to bind the froglin to his will. The spell requires touch to be effective, so he first made a L1SR on SPD13 by rolling a 7 (+2 for level) to grab the froglin's arm before it could attack. He then made a L2SR on INT14 to successfully cast the spell by rolling a 25 (three sets of doubles!) (+2 for level) costing him 4 WIZ.]

"Is there any treasure here?" Ulthor asked the froglin.

The froglin quickly presented Ulthor with a small pouch. Opening it Ulthor was happy to see six gold coins.

"Good boy. Now lets be on our way."

Seeing no other doors or exits, Ulthor led the froglin back out the door he entered and into the twisting corridor. Ulthor decided to push on with his new bodyguard and tried the door at the end of the passage.

The door opened to reveal a long corridor with a glowing green wall and a glowing blue wall. There was a new door near him and two more doors at the other end of the corridor. They all looked the same.

"Now this is more like a maze," Ulthor remarked. The froglin did not comment. "Ah well, let's try this one."

Ulthor opened the door and entered a large chamber. Standing in the chamber was a massive 8' tall humanoid with the head of a lion wearing leather armor and carrying a broad bladed spear. The lion man roared and attacked without hesitation.

Ulthor once again focused his will, this time attempting to hold his foe in place.

"STOP!" he commanded and the lion man froze in place. "Get him!" Ulthor commanded his froglin.

The froglin happily charged forward and plunged his knife into the lion man's gut. The lion man roared in agony, then broke free of his magical bonds and attempted to skewer the froglin. Ulthor charged forward with his banks and fought side by side with his new companion. Even with the horrific wound the froglin inflicted, the lion man was a formidable opponent. But finally Ulthor and his froglin were able to bring the beast down. Panting, Ulthor checked himself over; somehow he had make it though the fight unscathed as had his froglin.

[Ulthor cast Hold That Pose in the first combat turn. He made a L1SR on INT14 by rolling a 13 (one set of doubles!) (+2 for level) to cast the spell costing him 2 WIZ. The froglin got a free attack on the helpless lion man scoring 21 hits. The subsequent fight lasted six combat turns. While they never lost a combat turn, Ulthor and his froglin took 2 points of spite damage each.]

"Not bad for a Mage," Ulthor said as he set about searching the carcass. "Watch the door froglin."

The lion mans armor was ruined but his spear was not. It was a heavy thing so Ulthor gave it to the froglin to carry. Then Ulthor found a hefty pouch hidden in the lion mans mane. Inside were 200 silver coins.

With no other way to go, Ulthor left the chamber and went back to the corridor to pick a new door. He decided to try the door next to the one leading to the lion man.

The door opened easily and revealed an L-shaped corridor with dully glowing gray walls. There were three new doors, one just opposite the door he entered and two more at the opposite end of the corridor.

"This is getting tiring, let's just try this door."

Ulthor opened the door in front of him and stepped through, only to be attacked by a huge jungle troll!

"COME NO FURTHER!" Ulthor shouted exuberantly. The jungle troll froze in place and the froglin happily rushed forward and stabbed it with his bronze knife. Confident in victory, Ulthor rushed forward with his own daggers hoping to bring down the fearsome troll in hand-to-hand combat. At first things went well; both Ulthor and the froglin wounded the troll even further even if Ulthor did receive a large scratch across his face for the effort. But then Ulthor noticed that some of the trolls wounds were healing even as he fought. The jungle troll then got the best of Ulthor and his froglin delivering more wound while fending off their dagger. As more of the trolls wounds healed, it grew stronger. Seeing his own imminent death, Ulthor steeled his mind and commanded the troll once again.

"STOP!" he shouted with much more desperation. The troll froze in place. Ulthor could see the rage and panic in the trolls eyes as the froglin attacked again. This time the troll had been weakened too much. Ulthor moved in to join his froglin and the troll fell while trying in vain to ward off their combined attacks.

[Ulthor cast Hold That Pose in the first combat turn once again (it's a very potent spell). He made a L1SR on INT14 by rolling a 7 (+2 for level) to cast the spell costing him 2 WIZ. The froglin got a free attack on the helpless jungle troll scoring 22 hits. Unfortunately, the troll regenerated 1/10 of it's current MR each combat turn. Ulthor fought with his daggers for two combat turns then, facing a likely defeat, decided to cast HTP again, rolling a 5 (+2 for level) on his L1SR on INT14. The jungle troll was frozen in place again allowing the froglin a free attack who inflicted 25 hits leaving the troll with a MR of 14. Even after the troll regenerated, the fight lasted just one more combat turn. In the end, Ulthor took 1 points of spite damage and his froglin took 1 hit.]

Ulthor stopped to bandage his wounds then quickly search the troll but found nothing of value.

"Let's get going," he then said to his froglin. "It may get up again."

Looking around Ulthor saw two doors at the other end of the corridor. He picked one at random and stepped through into another corridor. The walls glowed a bright yellow and a bright blue. There was just one door at the other end of the hall.

"This could be good or bad," Ulthor commented to his froglin.

Opening the door, Ulthor was greeted by sunlight and fresh air. He had made it out alive!

The Maze Master was standing there smiling.

"Congratulations," he said. "You surprised me; I did not think you would make it through. I see you have made a friend. I'm afraid that I will have to return him to my maze though."

The Maze Master snapped his fingers and the froglin vanished.

"Now for your final reward," the Maze Master said. He reached into his robe and pulled out a pouch that he pressed into Ulthor's hands. The bag was full of gold, silver, and copper coins.

"Do you wish to try again?" the Maze Master asked. "The challenges will be twice as difficult but the reward will be twice as great."

The Maze Master's smiled evilly and waited for Ulthor's reply.

"No, I think I will need to rest," Ulthor answered, "but thank you for the offer."

Ulthor bowed to the Maze Master and walked back down the statue-lined trail grateful that he did not encounter whatever had doomed the scores of delvers around him.

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Thus ends the adventures of Ulthor the Conjurer in the Random Rainbow Maze. Ulthor racked up quite a few Adventure Points from casting magic and combat, but I only gave Ulthor half the MR rating of the lion man and jungle troll in APs since he had help in those two fights. In addition to the APs earned from defeating monsters and making Saving Rolls Ulthor was awarded 1D6 x 100 = 600 bonus Adventure Points for successfully completing the adventure! In all, Ulthor earned 795 Adventure Points. He did not get a lot of treasure out of the ordeal however, only earning 43 gold pieces worth of coins in addition to the lion man's spear. Using my house rule table for selling items, Ulthor made a L1SR on Luck and was able to get 16 gold pieces for the spear. I assumed the large 6D6 spear was roughly equivalent to a pilum and worth 40 gp.

Ulthor's magic was quite effective. I intended to use Spirit Mastery as soon as possible to obtain some more fighting power. Hold That Pose was another incredibly effective spell; it allowed Ulthor and his froglin servant to defeat the lion man and jungle troll. The real challenge of magic in 7.5e is that it requires the caster to make a Saving Roll on Intelligence at the level of the spell being cast. That can make magic a bit of a gamble, especially when delving solo. I got really lucky with some of the magic saving rolls. The casting of Spirit Mastery was especially risky; if Ulthor missed the SR, that froglin would have gotten a free attack and likely killed him. But getting a bodyguard was essential if Ulthor was to have any hope of in the maze success, so the it was worth the risk. The same is true of the Hold That Pose spells. If Ulthor had missed those SRs then the froglin would have history and Ulthor likely would have joined him in short order.

But as it was Ulthor successfully navigated the maze and emerged alive and victorious. With the Adventure Points he earned Ulthor was able to increase his Intelligence to 17, his Luck to 14, his Dexterity to 13, and his Charisma to 9 with 15 APs left over. With the money he acquired, Ulthor decided to invest 30 gp in a kukri to give himself a little more power in combat. The rest he held onto to keep himself fed and sheltered.

Name: Ulthor the Conjurer

Type: Specialist Mage - Conjuring
Gender: Male
Kindred: Human
Level: 2

STR 12
DEX 13
CON 10
SPD 13
LUK 14
INT 17
CHR 9
WIZ 28

Adds: +4

Talent: History 18 (INT+4), Arcane Symbology 19 (INT+5)

Adventure Points: 15 (795)

Money: 35 gp

Weight Carried/Possible: 352/1200

Spells: Call Flame, Call Water, Dem Bones Gonna Rise, Hold That Pose, Oh-Go-Away, Sparkle, Will-o-Wisp, Spirit Mastery

Weapons: Kukri (2D+5), 2 Banks (2D+3), Common Sling (2D)

Armor: Soft Leather (5 hits)

Equipment: Cotton trousers and shirt, leather belt, hooded cloak, ankle-high hard boots, sling stones, backpack, belt pouch, lantern, 4 flasks of oil, flint and steel, small mirror, parchment (10), quill pen, ink bottle, chalk (10), small sack, water skin, first aid kit

Ardenstone Adventures Character Generator

If you have not tried out the online Character Generator at Ardenstone Adventures I highly recommend that you do so. This tool makes short work of the already quick job of creating T&T characters.

One of the great features of the Ardenstone Generator is that you can select to use either the 5th and 7.5 edition rules. Switching between the editions will bring up or remove the unique features of the two editions including character types, talents, spells, and equipment lists.

As with most character generators, Ardenstone rolls your attributes and starting gold. The attribute list includes Speed and Wizardry for 7.5e players or those wishing to use them with older editions. You can choose between three methods of generating your attributes: rolling straight 3D6, taking the best 3 of 4D6, or the TARO (triples add and roll over) system of 7.5e. This is a really nice feature of the generator. When using TARO, the generator will indicate when triples were rolled with a blue asterisk next to the attribute score. The generator will even generate a height and weight if you want to use them. If you so choose, all of these randomly determined numbers in the character sheet can be manually adjusted.
In addition to generating your attributes, your melee and missile adds will be calculated for you along with your total weight possible (this will be important later), and a randomly generated list of languages known based on your INT score.

Next you can select your preferred kindred from a pull down menu and the generator makes all the necessary adjustments to your attributes and adds. Given your finalized set of attributes you then select your type from another pull down menu. This list is modified based on your characters attributes so that the only types that are listed are the ones your character is qualified for; no need to flip through the rules. This is especially useful when using 7.5e as the three different Specialist types (Specialist Mage, Ranger, Leader) only appear when those special qualifications are met. The same is true for the Warrior-Wizard (5e) or Paragon (7.5e). If your character does not have the ability to cast 1st level spells, then the Wizard option is removed.

If you selected a spell casting type, the generator will provide you with a list of spells known. For Wizards this is a list of the first level spells. If you were lucky enough to generate a Specialist Mage you can select your magic specialty of choice (Combat, Conjuring, Cosmic, Metabolic) and you are given those spells which belong to that school. If you are a 7.5e Rogue, you can choose a single spell from a pull down menu.

Next, if you are using 7.5e, you can choose a starting talent. The generator provides the 1D6 modifier and you type in your talent of choice and choose the most appropriate attribute from a pull down menu. If you are a Rogue, then the Roguery talent is already selected.

The last major step is outfitting your character with weapons, armor, and equipment. This can be a difficult task sometimes given the extensive lists in T&T, but the Ardenstone generator comes through to make this much simpler. In it's default setting, the generator will only list the items that your character can afford and the weapons and armor that your character has the appropriate ST, DEX, and type to use. Purchasing items is accomplished with another pull down menu where you select the number of each item that you want. Simple and efficient. As you spend money, the list is constantly modified to reflect what you can afford. In addition, the generator keeps track of your weight carried and further modified the list of available items. Finally, when you purchase weapons and armor the generator makes a list of your attack values (dice + adds) including your personal adds and the total hits absorbed by armor. You can select to wield one weapon, weapon and shield, or two weapons (if you have the appropriate attributes) and these values will be adjusted accordingly.

You can finish your character by providing him/her with a gender and a name. There is a link provided to the Tavernmaster Games random name generator that makes this process easier as well.

As I said at the start, this is a fantastic T&T character generator that exceeds any others I've used. That said, it is a work in progress. There are just a few minor issues that I noticed:

7.5e Rogue: The generator gives a starting spell choice list even if you don't have the INT and DEX to cast 1st level spells.

7.5e: There are no extra Talent slots if you start at 2nd or higher level based on your attributes.

7.5e: Specialist Mages are not given spells above 1st level even if they have the necessary attributes and level to cast them.

7.5e: The "Misc" equipment list is incomplete, but then it is rather long.

Most of these you would not notice except under a certain set of circumstances. The Ardenstone Character Generator has been improving since it's first release and I'm sure it will continue to do so. But even with these minor problems it is an exceptional T&T utility.

Ulthor the Conjurer: Specialist Mage

I decided to see if I could roll up a Specialist Mage for my character stable using the T&T 7.5 edition rules. I've never used the various Specialist types, but the Specialist Mage type just seems like it would be fun to play. I used the Character Creator at Ardenstone Adventures to make the process faster; it still took a long time to not only meet the requirement of rolling triples on WIZ and getting a 15 or higher, but also to have a decent enough INT and DEX so that he could actually cast some spells. The exercise really drove home how rare Specialists are in the T&T world. I gave up counting the number of times I rolled attributes at around 60. In the course of my rolling I did come up with a Ranger, a potential Specialist Mage with an INT of 9 and a DEX of 4, and another potential Specialist Mage with an INT of 5 before I came up with Ulthor the Conjurer.

Name: Ulthor the Conjurer

Type: Specialist Mage - Conjuring
Gender: Male
Kindred: Human
Level: 2

STR 12
DEX 12
CON 10
SPD 13
LUK 13
INT 14
CHR 8
WIZ 28

Adds: +2

Talent: History 18 (INT+4), Arcane Symbology 19 (INT+5)

Gold: 6

Weight Carried/Possible: 352/1200

Spells: Call Flame, Call Water, Dem Bones Gonna Rise, Hold That Pose, Oh-Go-Away, Sparkle, Will-o-Wisp, Spirit Mastery

Weapons: 2 Banks (2D+3), Common Sling (2D)

Armor: Soft Leather (5 hits)

Equipment: Cotton trousers and shirt, leather belt, hooded cloak, ankle-high hard boots, sling stones, backpack, belt pouch, lantern, 4 flasks of oil, flint and steel, small mirror, parchment (10), quill pen, ink bottle, chalk (10), small sack, water skin, first aid kit

Description: Ulthor was trained as a scholar in the Great Library. He spent his days studying ancient texts learning the secrets of those civilizations that came and went though the countless generations. Then one day Ulthor began to feel a new power developing in his mind. It began by lighting candles, torches, and even fireplaces jut by thinking of fire. Then he did the same with water. The day Ulthor summoned a skeleton from the ground of an ancient battlefield was the day he began to change his direction of study. Ulthor began to find and read as many texts on magic as he could find. He gradually learned to decipher the strange symbols and languages in which these texts were written. Over time, Ulthor began to understand the power which had somehow began to develop in his mind. But soon the Master Scholars became annoyed with Ulthor's pursuits and he was released from the service of the Great Library. Ulthor was not troubled by this event. He was armed with the knowledge of the ancients, particularly the locations of their places of knowledge and wealth. With this knowledge and his developing abilities to control the world around him, Ulthor set out to seek his fortune along a more interesting, but dangerous, path.

Specialist Mage's are indeed interesting characters. I like the idea that the magic they know just unfolds in their mind. In this way perhaps the magic used by Specialist Mage's is different from that used by normal Wizards who have to be taught their spells by someone else or learn them from scrolls and books. The effect may be the same, but perhaps a Call Flame spell cast by a Specialist Mage does not quite operate the same way as a Wizard's spell.

Specialist Mages must choose a specialty or school of magic at the start. These include Combat, Conjuring, Cosmic, and Metabolic. There are, of course, various advantages and disadvantages of the different schools and their associated spell lists. This becomes a tougher choice if you intend to take your Specialist Mage on the road solo. Many spells are for support of other, either while engaged in combat or immediately after. A 1st level Combat Mage might be hard-pressed with just TTYF and Vorpal Blade (of course one could argue that TTYF is the perfect spell for a solo Mage), whereas a 1st level Conjurer (7 spells) or Cosmic Mage (10 spells) has a better mix of different types of spells. The 1st level Metabolic Mage had better be good with daggers since he only gets one spell, Suppress Kremm. Given that a Specialist Mage needs to TARO (triples add and roll over) to qualify for the type, the odds of starting at 2nd level are pretty good. This has the advantage of giving your starting Specialist Mage a good set of spells to work with even though you won't be getting the full complement of 20 1st level spells as Wizards do. If you decide to play an elf or fairy (WIZ x2), then you'll do even better on this front. The allocation of spells changes through the levels, with some schools getting more and some less; rarely does a particular school have none for a level (but it does happen).

Looking through the various spells, I could see advantages to all of the schools. I thought the Combat Mage was a little too obvious of a choice, however, and liked the spells of the Conjuring School. At 1st level for combat power you have Hold That Pose as well as Oh-Go-Away and Dem Bones (Who doesn't want to summon a skeleton to do their bidding?). Call Flame and Call Water are also good general purpose spells that can be used in combat in a pinch (but serve other purposes much better) as well as Will-O-Wisp just in case you find yourself in the dark. Sparkle? Could be useful. Since Ulthor started at 2nd level he also knew Spirit Mastery, allowing him to bend others to his will (up to MR 50!); this could provide Ulthor with a nice bodyguard. Managing such spells in a solo adventure might be tricky, but it could be done with a bit of creativity. I'm looking forward to Ulthor being someday able to cast 12th level spells such as Invisible Fiend and Summoning. But alas, he will likely be eaten long before then.

Personal Vision of Delvers

How we visualize our characters is an important consideration in fantasy role playing games. In some ways this image may be influenced by the particular set of rules we are using or the adventure we are involved in whether as a group or solo (see this post on Mesmerized by Sirens for a take on this) but our own personal vision of the fantasy always contributes. There are obviously many takes on this, from high fantasy to the very low. Most of the artwork produced for the big-name games these day tend to favor the high fantasy end of the spectrum.

For myself, I tend to view my delvers as rather rough and ragged individuals; a sort of dirty fantasy if you will as opposed to high fantasy. My delvers do not wear eternally shiny armor, wield enormous weapons that defy gravity, or even look clean. My personal fantasy world is deeply entrenched in the reality of the medieval world, and the medieval world was a dirty place; for most people at least. I'm often amused by illustrations of adventurers in dungeon or wilderness settings where they are completely clean, their clothes spotless, armor pristine, and weapons gleaming as though freshly polished. This is far from what I have in mind when envisioning my characters. They are typically coated in dirt, grime and blood (that of their foes and their own), their clothes are patched, ragged, and equally dirty, their armor is also patched, dented, and (if metal) has patches of rust, and their weapons are at least a little tarnished, kicked, and (often) bloodied. Delving is a dirty business. How clean can you stay crawling around a cave complex, a ruined castle, or ancient crypt? What is the state of you and your equipment after five or six battles with goblins, ogres, zombies, giant spiders, and a gibbering horror?

Of course when delvers return to civilization they can get themselves cleaned up and bandaged, buy fresh clothes, and repair and oil their weapons and armor. But this still does not fit fully into my vision of delvers. Considering their chosen occupation as well as the world in which they live, my delvers would never get too clean. After all, getting too comfortable would make it difficult to head back out and face a gruesome death. It's best to stay on the periphery of civilization. But even the civilized world is not that clean (at least in my settings), unless you're of noble birth or of the wealthy class. Such people seldom take on the life of a delver. Delvers may some day acquire enough treasure to afford fine clothes, a nice house, and clean living, but they'd likely retire from the dangerous profession of delving at that point and enjoy the quiet life of the wealthy.

So how do you visualize your characters?

Buy Directly From the Trollgod

Looking for a new solo adventure to challenge your best T&T characters? Need a new GM adventure for your gaming group? Searching for something obscure? Do you prefer good old paper book instead of PDFs? Well, you can buy a number of new and old T&T items directly from the Trollgod himself, Ken St. Andre, through his Trollhalla Press outlet. He'll even autograph them for you making your new purchase that much more exciting (and collectable). Ken is selling hard copies of most of his recent T&T works such as the solos Four Jars of Mead, Battle School, The Dewdrop Inn, and Tavern by the Sea, GM adventures like Dwarf World and Seven Challenges of Kartejan, some older items like Toughest Dungeon in the World, and even some 7.5 edition Tunnels & Trolls boxed sets.

For more details see Ken's post at Trollhalla Press

Translating French Tunnels & Trolls

One of the big new releases for T&T last year was a French 8th edition of the T&T rules headed by Patrice Geille. Since the release of this new rulebook, Patrice has released two GM adventures, Drunk Dwarf (aka Riverboat Adventure) and Chasing the Silver Serpent (aka Trollstone Caverns) both by Ken St. Andre and three solo adventures including a revised Buffalo Castle by Rick Loomis, Goblin Lake by Ken St. Andre, The Last Count (aka Naked Doom) by Ken St. Andre, and Caves Lan-Faer (a combination of Toughest Dungeon in the World and Strange Destinies) by Ken St. Andre. All of these books have been of exceptional quality and have featured new art by T&T greats such as Liz Danforth, Steve Crompton, and Simon Lee Tranter.

Patrice also has an excellent T&T blog which has featured a great deal of gaming content in recent months. The only issue, for me at least, has been that it is in French (a language that I am sadly unfamiliar with). But I recently tried the translate feature in Google (but I'm sure any search engine will do, perhaps some will do better) and found the result most rewarding. The translation was not perfect and sometimes took a few tries to complete but it was certainly intelligible and, most importantly, I could see all of the great material Patrice had to offer.

So what is there? In the March archive there are two detailed NPC descriptions, a one room (or cave) GM adventure, and a new spell description. In the February archive there is a nice article on bringing your deceased characters back as zombies or ghosts and a 12 room mini GM adventure. Keep delving back through the months to find interesting house rule articles (including a nice description of priests in T&T), discussions of T&T rules, additions and expansions to previously published adventures, links to freebies, and even an interview with Ken St. Andre. There is a lot to find and there should be more to come.

So go to your favorite search engine, type in "Tunnels et Trolls", and try out their translation service. You can try the one I used or your own. If you are able to read French, I'd highly recommend having a look at Patrice's storefronts at Lulu and RPGNow.