Tunnels & Trolls 30th anniversary edition

Posts: 2614 · Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 5:42 pm

There might be some interest here:

The often-described "second-oldest RPG" is getting a shiny new update from Fiery Dragon Games. If I'm understanding everything correctly, the "7th edition" Tunnels & Trolls boxed set will be released at GenCon and will not have anything to do with d20. Very Happy

http://www.fierydragon.com/tunnelsandtrolls/index.htm

Two notes:

1. I can hear some T&T fans wondering aloud, "What happened to the 6th edition?" This isn't gospel, but I've heard that some of the folks involved wanted to skip right over the number 6 because there are multiple web-sites out there that have cobbled together a bunch of house rules and labeled them as a "6th edition." It's an issue of clarity and not wanting to compete with all of the home-brewed nonsense.

2. As always seems to happen when an older property finds its way back into the news, look for a spike (albeit temporary) in older T&T collectibles once the new edition hits the shelves. August and September will probably be a good time to sell classic T&T items.

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 6:49 pm

There was more than one Tunnels and Trolls? Someone played the first Tunnels and Trolls?

Maybe back East they played some T&T. I have not met a gamer in the West (aside from myself) who is even aware that Tunnels and Trolls existed.

Seven editions?

Wierd. Wink

Posts: 7604 · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 7:10 pm

MShipley88 wrote:

There was more than one Tunnels and Trolls? Someone played the first Tunnels and Trolls?

Maybe back East they played some T&T. I have not met a gamer in the West (aside from myself) who is even aware that Tunnels and Trolls existed.

Seven editions?

Wierd. Wink

i played it once or twice many moons ago - i actually liked it more than D&D myself. i obtained some books again and plan on playing it shortly with my daughter (who is also interested in giving it a go)

Al

Posts: 2639 · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 7:19 pm

killjoy32 wrote:

i played it once or twice many moons ago - i actually liked it more than D&D myself.

Working on a reduction of complexity theory, you ever tried "Fighting Fantasy", Al? Razz

killjoy32 wrote:

i obtained some books again and plan on playing it shortly with my daughter (who is also interested in giving it a go)

Enjoy!

*reads again*. Or were you planning on playing T&T, even if she wasn't interested?!

Posts: 7604 · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 7:27 pm

harami2000 wrote:

killjoy32 wrote:

i played it once or twice many moons ago - i actually liked it more than D&D myself.

Working on a reduction of complexity theory, you ever tried "Fighting Fantasy", Al? Razz

killjoy32 wrote:

i obtained some books again and plan on playing it shortly with my daughter (who is also interested in giving it a go)

Enjoy!

*reads again*. Or were you planning on playing T&T, even if she wasn't interested?!

hehehe david Smile

nah didnt like that fighting fantasy stuff. T&T gives me the JG feel to roleplaying.

Jess just likes to play the games. she wanted to give traveller a go, but dunno about doing that one yet. get her used to other things first, although we are gonna give Cthulhu a bash tho. shes defo interested in that one!

Al

Posts: 762 · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 7:37 pm

Heh, two of my cousins (sisters) play T&T. They also play AD&D 2nd Ed, and they like both. They're in Alberta, Canada (the west)

Posts: 2639 · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 7:57 pm

killjoy32 wrote:

nah didnt like that fighting fantasy stuff. T&T gives me the JG feel to roleplaying.

Valid point. Smile

The most obvious feel FF had was of money being taken out of one's own pockets and deposited in those of Livingstone & co. *jk* Laughing

killjoy32 wrote:

get her used to other things first, although we are gonna give Cthulhu a bash tho. shes defo interested in that one!

hehe, is gonna need a bit more than a "take that you fiend!" to dent the big C!

Definitely an interesting route to Traveller. Just keep an eye on her for SAN loss for ODing on all those RPGs.

=
(oh, an interesting little snippet aside for the Cthulhu fans; Rob Kuntz's Mythos adventures have sanity rules in them-- long before CoC, of course.
So if you're porting that concept to any other system and someone says you swiped it from CoC, just give them a smile... Smile

)

Posts: 2614 · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 3:29 am

MShipley88 wrote:

There was more than one Tunnels and Trolls?

Yes. The first editions were truly low-buck efforts that included mimeographs, Xerox machines, and, I'm sure, the bribing of various Kinko's employees. The early T&T editions make the early TSR efforts seem like the pinnacle of publishing know-how ...

The first real professional effort (at least that's the consensus opinion) was the 5th edition rulebook with the classic Liz Danforth cover art.

MShipley88 wrote:

I have not met a gamer in the West (aside from myself) who is even aware that Tunnels and Trolls existed.

Really? We had a pretty rock-solid T&T group here in Reno. It was played at least as often as D&D, if not more.

killjoy32 wrote:

T&T gives me the JG feel to roleplaying

I agree completely — I think it's a wonderful little game.

BTW, just to completely confuse the issue, there's also a "5.5" edition of Tunnels & Trolls that just came out. It's a boxed set with some goodies in it; my impression is that Flying Buffalo got some into the pipeline to try to ride the upcoming 7th-edition wave. I actually ordered one from NobleKnight — if it turns out to hold any surprises, I'll post an update on this thread.

Posts: 3999 · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 4:59 am

I don't think I've ever seen a copy of Tunnels and Trolls.

I visited the Flying Buffalo booth at GenCon back in 2001, mostly to express my surprise that Flying Buffalo still existed. (I was agape and agog quite a bit at my only trip to gamer Mecca.)

The only other place I've actually seen a T&T product has been in ads.

(And...Canada is cool and all...but when Americans say "West" they do not think of Canda as "west" of anything. Canada is North. Americans look at Canada and think of that entire country as "North," "Further North," "Way Freakin' Far North," and "Polar Ice Cap." The fact that Alaska is farther north than most of Canada does not even enter our minds. Alaska is one big snowdrift on American mental maps, with the label, "Many Bears Here" written across 90% of the state.) Smile

Posts: 3156 · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 10:46 am

http://www.fierydragon.com/tunnelsandtrolls/index.htm

http://www.necromancergames.com/previews/grimmy.html

Course I really hope they bring back the City Books.

ShaneG.

Posts: 603 · Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 7:18 pm

Now why would I bother with The Wurst of Grimtooth's Traps for d20 system when I have Grimtooth's Traps, Traps Too, Traps Fore, and Traps Ate without any d20 System clutter?

I know I'm missing three volumes in the series, but I'd rather have them, not the clutter.

Posts: 21 · Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 11:35 am

The writer of T&T lives right here in Phoenix AZ. This where T&T started too. Here is one of his websites:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/9921/
He also runs a online club I am a member of, Trollish Elite of Trollhalla.

Posts: 2614 · Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 3:55 pm

zanarchist wrote:

The writer of T&T lives right here in Phoenix AZ.

I'm curious: have you ever met Ken? I've heard he's a good guy ...

It's pretty neat that T&T, despite being 1/100 the size of D&D, had some really talented people involved in its evolution: Ken, Liz Danforth, Michael Stackpole, etc.

Posts: 1334 · Posted: Mon Aug 01, 2005 5:36 pm

We played T&T pretty heavily while we learing to play D&D way back in those dark ages (late 70s). I always though it was fun. I still have some original dungeons from back then!!!

I'd like to see a cleaner and newer edition. Why not. At least they haven't bastardized the game like the last couple of D&D editions. And it says something that it is still haning on after all these years.

Posts: 2614 · Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 2:47 pm

Xaxaxe wrote:

I actually ordered one from NobleKnight — if it turns out to hold any surprises, I'll post an update on this thread.

The "5.5 edition" is definitely a weird beastie:

1. The box appears to be overstock from the standard 5th-edition set. It does not say "5.5" anywhere;
2. The rulebook, however, does;
3. The rulebook contains about 30 pages bolted onto the back. These are in various typefaces and styles (overall, very amateurish) and consist of some house rules from Ken St. Andre and Michael Stackpole, the text of the original Buffalo Castle solo adventure, and three pages of Flying Buffalo's catalogue;
4. The revised edition of City of Terrors and a set of skull dice round out the package.

Overall, I can't say I recommend this item, especially with the fabled 7th edition scheduled for a GenCon release. I paid $17.95 through NobleKnight, which, frankly, feels like about $7.95 too much.

I will give it credit for one thing, though: it's whetted the old appetite. I am SO buying the 7th edition ... Smile