Anyone up for learning T&T? (play by post)

[Starbeard]

Howdy, folks. It isn't OD&D, but I'm sure there are more than a few here with at least passing interest in Tunnels & Trolls.


I'm hoping to put together a little group where we can learn T&T together in the casual and laid-back environment of a play-by-post game. The main recruitment post is here: www.unseenservant.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=6459


The gist: We'll create a stable of characters, go tunnel trekking in a short-and-sweet published module, and then call it a day. This is T&T, so expect plenty of bad puns, Zork references, and pointy-hatted wizards shouting, 'Take That You Fiend!'.

Experience necessary: None is best, but experienced T&Ters are still perfectly welcome if you don't mind us newbies stumbling over everything. I had a brief foray into T&T solo modules a few years ago, but I'm basically coming to the game fresh.

Posting and timeframe: At the moment I'm aiming to run it on my usual pbp forum, The Unseen Servant. Ideally I'd like posts every 1-2 days. Brevity of word is perfectly fine—we're thumping trolls, not reciting Shakespeare.

The module: Trollstone Caverns, the introductory module printed in the back of the full 5.5 rulebook (so no peeking). It's very short, and showcases some of the wacky, tongue-in-cheek funhouse rooms that T&T is famous for. It that actually turns out to be just too short, I'll dovetail the group into the iconic module Rat on a Stick, and we can explore the upper level of that.

The rules: We'll use the quickstart rules (which are 5th edition), available for free on RPGNow/DriveThruRPG/etc. The quickstart rules clock in at something like 8 pages. I've also got the 1e, 4e and 5.5e rulebooks, which I figure can always be pulled into the game if we like.


Let me know if you're interested!

[derv]

Nice Starbeard . I know that there are a few T&T veterans on here. MormonYoYoMan is a fan. In fact Finarvyn has another forum he started way back dedicated to T&T- Vin's T&T TrollBridge.

Sounds like a fun time. I love the 5e quickstart rules. It's all you really need.

[Starbeard]

Thanks for the input derv, I've joined up and posted at the TrollBridge.

I do really like the 5e quickstart rules. The simplicity from using only Wizards & Warriors is great. I think there may a very brief description of how Rogues fit in (no armour bonus, but you can learn spells from Wizards), but you don't really need any more complexity than that.

[scottenkainen]

So...not on this forum?

[Starbeard]

I'd be happy to play here, especially if most of the players were already on this site. I did figure that hosting a T&T game wasn't exactly in the purview of the OD&D Discussion boards, though. That, and I had already put the original call out on the pbp forum I use.

I suppose Fin's T&T forum is another obvious place we can ask about hosting.

The one big thing the Unseen Servant forum has going for it is that it was designed for pbp games, complete with its dice roller and dice logs. If we played here then we'd have to figure out how to handle rolls.

[Finarvyn]

Mar 29, 2017 17:48:38 GMT -6 scottenkainen said:

So...not on this forum?

I'm happy to host it either place. I suppose that the TrollBridge is a closer match, but I'll be honest that I don't go there much anymore and I suspect lots of others don't either. There is only one active T&T game on the TrollBridge at the moment.

[mgtremaine]

I still pop in, there is a lot of goodness in that board.

-Mike

[Starbeard]

Thanks Fin. At the moment it looks like I've got 3-4 people interested, scattered across the TrollBridge, here and the Servant. After I have final word on interested parties, I'll take a vote to see where we feel it would be best situated.

[coffee]

I'd like to join you. I want to love T&T, but my experiences with it haven't been the best.

[Finarvyn]

Mar 31, 2017 6:55:41 GMT -6 coffee said:

I'd like to join you. I want to love T&T, but my experiences with it haven't been the best.

It would be interesting to hear specific details about what went poorly. A few possible things about T&T that come to mind are:

(1) Solo adventures often aren't "balanced" and you can die in an instant when it's not your fault.

(2) If a battle goes one way at the start, it often goes that way in a hurry because the sides become less and less balanced each round even if they started out similar. (An oddity of the combat system.)

Otherwise, it's a pretty rules-light system clearly designed with fun and frivolousness in mind.

[Starbeard]

That has been my experience with solo adventures. I've only played them with 4th and 5th edition rules, but in those you die very often (unless you cheat and send in a whole party).

Fin, for a group game would you suggest the traditional one PC per player? The modules I'm reading look like a party fewer than 6-8 would die very quickly, and the T&T rules seem to be rather loose regarding how you interpret how the "Character Stable" works.

[Finarvyn]

Mar 31, 2017 8:02:01 GMT -6 Starbeard said:

Fin, for a group game would you suggest the traditional one PC per player? The modules I'm reading look like a party fewer than 6-8 would die very quickly, and the T&T rules seem to be rather loose regarding how you interpret how the "Character Stable" works.

Yeah, it's that non-balance factor looming again. In a group game if you have around 6-8 players you are probably fine most of the time, but if you are looking at 3-4 players then it would make sense to have a couple PCs each.

Another thing I like about T&T is that you earn XP for falling into a pit. They assume that you LEARNED something from the experience!

[scottenkainen]

I've been wanting to try T&T. If it was run here, I would commit to the game. I just don't want to add to the number of sites I have to keep track of a day.

[Starbeard]

Alright, going over the list of people interested, it looks like the largest number who would be reluctant to go elsewhere for the game are on The Unseen Servant, so unfortunately I think that's the site it will have to be on.

Anyone here who's still interested can let me know and I'll help you get set up in the game; otherwise, maybe next time. In other circumstances I would have just started a second game here, but unfortunately again, I don't think I have the schedule to run another game at the moment.

Of course, if someone else wanted to try running T&T game, I'd love to play! 

[makofan]

Best wishes for your game. I hope you have an awesome game, and if you ever run one here, I'd like to try the rules (never played T&T)

[18 Spears]

Apr 3, 2017 8:53:41 GMT -6 makofan said:

Best wishes for your game. I hope you have an awesome game, and if you ever run one here, I'd like to try the rules (never played T&T)

me too