Where to Buy Tunnels and Trolls Products

If you're looking for the places to purchase Tunnels and Trolls items online, the best places to go are the Flying Buffalo website, RPGNow (aka DriveThruRPG), and Lulu.

Flying Buffalo is a straightforward enough choice; they are the official publishers of T&T after all. Go to their website to find an array of new and old adventures and supplements. You can find their T&T page here.

If you enjoy your RPG accessories in PDF format, one of the best places to shop is RPGNow (also known as DriveThruRPG). There are currently 86 different T&T related items available on RPGNow including the complete 7.5 Edition box set, GM adventures, solo adventures, rules supplements, and magazines. Some of these items (like TrollsZine!) are even free. For a quick look at what is available go to the RPGNow T&T items here.

If you still prefer your gaming material to come in a nice paperback book, check out the print-on-demand publisher Lulu. There you can find a number of solo adventures, GM adventures, magazines, and even the French edition of the T&T rules. Check out Lulu's T&T list here. Of course when shopping with Lulu you should always wait for one of their many sales and save a lot of money, so be sure to register before you buy.

There are several reasons to shop at these sites. In most cases, you will be purchasing directly from the authors, especially when shopping at RPGNow and Lulu. You will also get the lowest prices when you do so. There's no reason to pay outrageous mark-ups from second-hand dealers; buy direct. Finally, by purchasing from the authors of these products you help to encourage the production of new T&T material which is something that we all want to see.

August's Lone Delver

This month's Lone Delver is another by Liz Danforth from the 5th edition Tunnels and Trolls rulebook. This illustration depicts a classic scene in any fantasy RPG, with the adventurer facing a dangerous monster guarding a locked chest in the middle of an otherwise empty room. Of course there is a nice burning brazier in the corner; maybe to keep the serpent warm? I like the simplicity of the set up, but there are details about the delver that make the image more substantial and memorable. First, the delver is not a human but a hobbit and is significant dwarfed by the snake. The small size of the delver make this seemingly mundane adversary all the more dangerous. Second is the way the delver is dressed. He is not well-equipped but instead wears only a loose jerkin and some pants making him look desperate; that's how I view delvers in general. Why else would you take on a giant snake that will more than likely kill you unless you REALLY needed the money. Third, the delvers weapons are far from the norm, in particular his madu; it's an interesting choice and not one most delvers possess. Of course between his madu and short saber, the hobbit may have a fighting chance.

Two New Solos from Tavernmaster Games

Tavernmaster Games has rolled out two new T&T solo adventures: Sideshow by Andy Holmes and Andy James and Rapscallion by Sid Orpin.

SIDESHOW

Written by Andy Holmes and Andy James featuring art by Jeff Freels this solo contains 69 paragraphs and includes a separate GM version of the adventure with maps. It is designed for first level characters of any type and includes a Magic Matrix.

Roll up! Roll up! Come and visit the Sideshow. With time on your hands after a night of satisfying all of your desires what better way to spend a few happy hours than to enter the colourful tents that you discover down a quiet alley in an unknown part of town? After all, what could there be here that would pose any sort of threat to an adventurer like you?

Sideshow is a mini-solo adventure for use with Tunnels & Trolls. It was designed with the 5th Edition of the Rules in mind but can be easily adapted for other Editions. It is suitable for first-level characters only and some magic spells are permitted.

In addition to the solo adventure, this special edition includes a section with descriptions and a map that will allow it to be used as a GM Adventure.

WARNING: Contains bizarre, bloody violence, mild peril and some sexual references.

You can get the PDF for $1.00 from RPGnow; that's an absolute steal. As an added bonus, all proceeds from the sale of Sideshow go the Jeff Freels Transplant Fund.


RAPSCALLION

Written by Sid Orpin featuring a nice cover illustration by Simon Lee Tranter and some interior art by William McAusland this solo contains 142 paragraphs and a Magic Matrix. It is designed for 1st-3rd level Rogues using the 7th edition rules.

You have always sacrificed a little of your hard-won gold to Ylsenor, the god of the rogues. In return, you have enjoyed more than your fair share of good fortune. Today, just as you think your luck has finally run out, your deity snatches you from death's jaws, but now you are expected to entertain the great Dissembler. Take on his challenge, and prove his faith in you is well founded, and the rewards may be great. Fail him, and you may never have the opportunity to pay homage to him again...

Rapscallion is a solitaire Adventure module for play with Tunnels & Trolls. Only Rogue characters of 1st to 3rd level may explore its 142 adventure paragraphs. It has been written with the 7th/7.5th Edition of the Rule Book in mind, though it will adapt to earlier Editions.

You can get the PDF for $2.00 from RPGnow, another incredible bargain.

Saving Rolls and Adventure Points

While running my play-by-post adventure, The Lost City, at the Trollbridge I have run across an issue with Saving Rolls and awarding Adventure Points. Specifically this relates to situations where players may have the ability to attempt Saving Rolls for a similar action multiple times in a row.

A good example of this is when looking for traps or hidden objects. When a character first enters a room he may search for traps. This would require a Saving Roll. If the player makes the Saving Roll, it's simple and the trap is found. If the player fails the Saving Roll, however, then the trap is not found and the complication begins. Either way the character earns Adventure points for the Saving Roll, but perhaps the player is suspicious and thinks a trap is there. He may want to search the area again. One way around this is to not allow another Saving Roll to be made. As GM you can rule that if you don't find anything with the first check then you never will. I don't like being that arbitrary, however. If someone were trying to pick a lock for example, that character could keep trying as many times as she wanted as long as nothing interrupted the process, say a wandering guard perhaps. Of course there could also be a critical failure (rolling a 3 on 2D6) resulting in breaking the lock or setting off a trap. But barring these sort of events, a character should be able to search, pick, listen or fiddle around as long as he or she likes.

But, if the player does so and fails the Saving Roll again, and again, and again does he still earn more Adventure Points with each failure? What if he searches three, four, or ten more times for traps. Does he keep earning Adventure Points while he searches every nook and cranny of that room for traps? Is there a limit? Not having one can result in a serious issue with Adventure Point awards.

The House Rule that I came up with for my game is that the first Saving Roll earns Adventure Points. If the Saving Roll succeeds, all is well. If the Saving Roll is failed, no more Adventure Points are earned for subsequent failures. If the situation permits, the player may keep making Saving Rolls. If the player later makes a successful Saving Roll, he then earns Adventure Points for that roll.

Tunnels and Trolls Deluxe: It's Official

Yes, there will be a new edition of the Tunnels and Trolls rules out soon, currently being referred to as Tunnels and Trolls Deluxe. Ken St. Andre posted a statement today at the Trollhalla Outer Sanctum in which he revealed that the project has begun with a starting team of Rick Loomis, Liz Danforth, Steve Crompton, Bear Peters, and Ken St. Andre. One of the big additions to this new edition appears to be more information on Ken's own campaign setting, Trollworld. In a post at the Trollbridge late last week Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo stated the possibility of a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the project. I for one will get firmly behind this endeavor. Perhaps most importantly, Ken is looking for ideas about what fans want to see in this new version of the rules set. So, if you'd like to talk directly to the Trollgod himself go to the Outer Sanctum, sign up, and give Ken your thoughts.

New T&T Online Games and Resources

July has been a rather busy month leaving me with little time for posting or gaming in general outside of keeping up with my play-by-post games and managing TrollsZine!. Before July comes to a close, there are a couple of new T&T resources that have come online recently that I would like to mention.

The first is a new blog, Alchemy Gaming Blog, run by Tom Grimshaw which features a lot of T&T related content. It has recently finished a series of posts entitled "Week of the Troll" focusing on T&T. Tom also runs the excellent Tunnels of the Trollamancer T&T website and has written the Secrets of Saxon solo adventure series. Tom has already racked up 40 posts on his new blog this month so look for great stuff there.

The second is a new Play-by-Post game that I am playing in that has started at the Trollbridge, Isle of the Faerie. This campaign is set in a human-dominated empire where the other kin have been conquered and subjugated. The adventures are set on the Isle of the Faerie, the last stronghold of the Faerie kin to fall to the humans. The Isle is filled with ruins, mystery, and (hopefully) treasure. I am playing Banoc, a human rogue in poor health. This is my first adventure as a rogue so I am enjoying the new complexities of that role, including trying to get on of the wizards in our party to teach me a spell or two. The party includes some interesting characters including a leprechaun. The in-game posts are world looking through if just to see the antics of Ruby Redd.

There will be more to come later. Perhaps I'll get one more post in for July.

Rogues, Spells, & Solos

In keeping with my interest in the Rogue type, I have been thinking about the way in which Rogues learn spells particularly the solo Rogue. In a group game it is simple enough especially if there is a Wizard in the party (as there should be). That Wizard starts with the Teacher spell which he can use to teach Rogues any spell. If the Rogue wants a spell that the Wizard does not know (or is unwilling to teach), the player could always seek out another Wizard through the Game Master and pay an exorbitant fee.

Solo adventures are, as always, a little different in that the player is also (effectively) the Game Master especially during the time between adventures when the Rogue would be trying to learn spells. Your Rogue may find some ancient scrolls in the course of an adventure or perhaps even learn a spell during an adventure, but most would be learned during his/her 'down time.' But how?

The simplest way to do this would be to assume that the Rogue could learn any spell he/she wants. But I prefer a bit more of a challenge. So, for each level of spell, make a Saving Roll on Luck (or Roguery if using 7th edition) to see if you can find a teacher. If you want a Level 1 spell, make a Level 1 Saving Roll on Luck/Roguery. For a Level 5 spell, make a Level 5 Saving Roll on Luck/Roguery. If you fail the Saving Roll, you must wait until the character completes another solo adventure before he/she tries to find a teacher for that spell again. You may try to find as many spells as you can afford, but you should only receive Adventure Points for these Saving Rolls if you actually obtain the spell being sought.

But how much would the spell cost? There are prices listed for each spell in the rulebook: 500 gp per level starting at 2nd level in 5th edition rules or 1000 gp per level in 7th edition. But these are the prices charged to Wizards by the Wizard's Guild. They will not teach Rogues, so Rogues are left to find unscrupulous Wizards to teach them spells on the sly. Of course the punishment for getting caught teaching Rogues magic is severe, so these Wizards would need the reward to outweigh the risk. So how much would the teacher charge? Two times as much? Three time? Ten times? Time for another Saving Roll, this time on Charisma or Roguery. Make your Saving Roll and determine your level of success. For each level of success deduct one from the multiplier on the table below; however the final cost must be at least twice the listed cost. Failing the Saving Roll simply means that you must use the listed multiplier. If you cannot pay the final price, you must wait until the character completes another solo adventure before trying to obtain the spell again (you'll have to start over by trying to find a teacher). No Adventure Points are awarded for this Saving Roll.

1st - 2nd Level : 3x
3rd - 4th Level : 4x
5th - 6th Level : 5x
7th - 8th Level : 6x
9th - 10th Level : 7x
11th - 12th Level : 8x
13th Level : 9x

Remember that according to the 5th edition rules, Rogues may not learn spells above 7th level; they're just too complicated. This restriction does not apply to the 7th edition rules. Also, in the 5th edition rules there is no cost listed for 1st Level spells. For this House Rule, assume that their base (Wizard) cost is 250 gp.

So there you have it, a simple House Rule involving only two Saving Rolls to determine what spells your solo Rogues can find a teacher for and how much they'll need to pay to learn them.