srt@ucla-cs.UUCP (05/24/85)
I didn't much enjoy playing T&T that much (back when I did) but I had a
blast playing the variant where you played the monsters (sorry, I forget
the name). The great rule was that the DM could hand out extra EP (or
whatever they called it) for acts that were particularly vile and gross. I
once pulled a massive bonus when, as a very large creature (I forget what),
I drowned a young virgin in urine. Ahhhh, my kind of game!
Scott R. Turner
ARPA: (now) srt@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA (soon) srt@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
UUCP: ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!srt
SPUDNET: ...eye%srt@russet.spudcsw@ukc.UUCP (C.S.Welch) (05/24/85)
Okay then. Let's try and stimulate a bit of discussion about something
else apart from D&D. Anyone out there ever played Tunnels and Trolls ?
This was written by Ken St. Andre just after he saw one of the early
editions of D&D. The story is that he thought D&D was a great idea, but
TOO complicated (??), so he sat down and designed his own system. As you
might imagine, to be simpler than early D&D takes some doing, but he
managed it.
The game has an interesting combat system that uses only d6s. The weapon
that a character has does n d6 + some, with personal comabat adds dependent
on stats. Monsters have hit points, and the more hit points they have, the
more d6s of damage they do. As they get more battered, the number of damage
dice decreases. Comabat is resolved by rolling the damage for both
protaganists. The one that gets the highest number does the difference as
damage (absorbable by armour) to the one that gets the lower number.
This may be simpler, but it isn't necessarily easier. In my experience
two fairly equal types can slog it out for hours with nothing ever
happening, except the neccesity to continually add up 2 lots of 7d6 + 6,
say. The larger the number of dice, the worse, as the totals tend to hover
closer to the most probable result, with the difference in either direction
being absorbed by armour.
The magic system is points based, and the spells all have really cutsey
names like "Hidey Hole" and "Take That, You Fiend". Tunnels and Trolls has
four classes, Fighter, Mage, Rogue (Inferior Fighter/Magician), and Warrior
-Wizard (Superior Fighter/Magician), and five races Human, Elf, Dwarf,
Hobbit, and Fairy with stat/size/weight adjustment for all of them. The
only system I know where elves are taller than men (and Fairies about 1/50
of the size).
Interesting to play, just to look at the mechanics of the thing, but I'm
not sure I'd fancy a campaign thereof. T&T had the first solo dungeons out
years ago, but thy were obviously targeted at the wrong market. Since (in
the UK at least) various people have brought out the Fighting Fanatsy/Lone
Wolf etc. books for junior munchkins, I imagine there must be a lot of
wailing and gnashing of teeth at Flying Buffalo. One thing though, some of
the FB artwork by Liz Danforth is absolutely brilliant. It captures the
essence perfectly. Try and find some if you can, you'll like it.
Anyway, "Enough!", I hear you cry, and I agree, so ....
This epistle was brought to you by
Chris Welch
Cranfield Institute
U.K.
csw@ukc.uucpspeegle@ut-ngp.UUCP (Charles R. Speegle) (05/27/85)
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the name of the monster rpg was MONSTERS! MONSTERS!, also
put out by Flying Buffalo.