So, way back in the day, I played a decent amount of Tunnels & Trolls.  A few years ago, they Kickstarted a new, updated version of the game: Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls.  I missed the Kickstarter, but as soon as I saw it at a local con right after the Kickstarter ended, I bought the book.  I thought, "wow, this is going to be rad, I'm going to play the shit out of this game!"

Since then, I've run a DT&T convention game, and I've tried a couple of sessions on Roll20, but... it just... it doesn't feel "right".  I can't really explain it, but I feel like I'm missing something.

Anyone else share that feeling with DT&T?  Or is it just me?  Hell, are there even any T&T players here on this site?

Quote from: Chunkthulhu;1085536So, way back in the day, I played a decent amount of Tunnels & Trolls.  A few years ago, they Kickstarted a new, updated version of the game: Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls.  I missed the Kickstarter, but as soon as I saw it at a local con right after the Kickstarter ended, I bought the book.  I thought, "wow, this is going to be rad, I'm going to play the shit out of this game!"

Since then, I've run a DT&T convention game, and I've tried a couple of sessions on Roll20, but... it just... it doesn't feel "right".  I can't really explain it, but I feel like I'm missing something.

Anyone else share that feeling with DT&T?  Or is it just me?  Hell, are there even any T&T players here on this site?

Some of the "experienced" folk here may have some exposure to T&T, but now it's quite obscure. I can't tell you what doesn't feel right as I don't know exactly what you mean. Do you mean there is a change in the rules? Or the game just doesn't feel right anymore? My experience with the game is pretty limited as I much prefer D&D.

Quote from: Beldar;1085541it's quite obscure

Yeah, I know.  I keep looking at it on my bookshelf and think both that I should just forget about it, and that I should start running it.  

Quote from: Beldar;1085541Or the game just doesn't feel right anymore?

That.  I suppose it's a case of "rose tinted glasses", which kind-of makes me a bit sad.  It's not a bad game, very rules-light.

The big appeal of old T&T was all the solitaire adventures, and the game really was set up as a RPG you could play on your own. The combat system (if memory serves) really didn't make for fun multiplayer action. I don't know what "Deluxe" T&T offers, but if it doesn't come with half a dozen solo adventures, it just would be T&T to me.

Quote from: Chunkthulhu;1085546That.  I suppose it's a case of "rose tinted glasses", which kind-of makes me a bit sad.  It's not a bad game, very rules-light.

It is EXTREMELY rules-light, which is great 99% of the time, but every time I play it the combat system just doesn't work for me. It's fast as hell, actually works perfectly fine, but I always go back to rolling d20s and AD&D. When I was in high school, I ran a pretty good T&T campaign that ended up fizzling out inexplicably because we were all having a great time. We transitioned to BECMI and went 1st to 36th to Immortals, never looking back on T&T. Again, I have no idea why, but like you the system just feels flat to me. Contrast this with MSPE which essentially uses the same system and is one of the better espionage games out there.

Maybe it's just the fantasy background that doesn't work that well? I think T&T might work better if it was more science-fantasy or something.

For those like me that couldn't remember combat... http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/bccombat.htm

Yeah I never got the feeling that T&T had "legs" beyond a quick Saturday night game or something.  But who knows; I've heard of people who ran years-long Ghostbusters and Aliens games...I'm sure somewhere out there there's a decades-old T&T home campaign with high-powered characters who've made names for themselves...

For me, the "sweet spot" of T&T was 5E. Maybe it's because the rules essentially didn't change for two decades and so pretty much everything on the planet was compatible with 5E, but that one has been my go-to for a long time. I bought the super 7E version in a tin box but it just didn't grab me, so when DT&T came out I didn't follow up on it.

5E rules!

Quote from: finarvyn;1085585I bought the super 7E version in a tin box

I did too!  But then I got rid of it, and now I wish I hadn't.

I used to play Tunnels and trolls solo adventures many years ago in my teens.
I had a great time doing so.
But as soon as I found other roleplayers to actually play with, we went straight to AD&D and I never went back to T&T.

I have fond memories of it though. Yeah it was a very simple system and probably fun for one off games, but not expended campaigns I think.
If I see it cheap, I might get it with solo solo adventures and give them another run through for old times sake.

Oh hello! Long time lurker, first time poster.

I'm new to DT&T. I picked up a copy a few months ago, have thoroughly enjoyed reading through it, and I'm eager to get a game in. I've played some of the simple solo campaigns, and plan to sit down with one of the more involved ones soon.

I have some suspicions about why DT&T might feel off/fizzle out, but they're purely academic at this point since I don't have much play in. It seems pretty consistently fun to get started with, so I'm keen to give it a whirl anyway.

I was trying to find a play by post group online, but since I also couldn't find much activity I figured I'd have to GM it, so was waiting to post for that when I'd have a little more free time.

Of course I'd also like to get into games in about 3-4 other rules systems too, so who knows.

Cheers

Quote from: danskmacabre;1085624If I see it cheap, I might get it with solo solo adventures and give them another run through for old times sake.

I don't know how your cheap-nostalgia curve looks exactly, but FWIW, DTRPG has 5e for $7 and 1e for $2.

DT&T is much steeper at $20.

I got to play in a T&T game run by Ken St. Andre at Gen Con a few years ago and while he is a fun gm, he might as well been running a game with no rules at all.  Nothing seemed to matter except gm fiat.  I think that is how people generally play T&T.  If you actually try to play RAW, it doesn't look like much fun and seems rather dumb.

I just recently got the deluxe book to give it another try and was pretty disappointed with it.  The magic spells and campaign setting are embarrassingly silly.  The combat rules are both too simple and too tedious (all that counting of dice).  And the worst part was the complete absence of any monster information in such a large book.  You want monsters?  Just make up some shit and apply an arbitrary number to it.  You might as well just make up your own game rules on the fly as to use this.  

Advanced Fighting Fantasy, which I picked up at the same time, is a vastly superior game which covers the same niche.

T&T has a nice beer & pretzels feel to it. For a long-term campaign, the abstract combat might eventually get stale, but I could see some minor tweaks helping to individualize things.

Also, I've never been crazy about dice pools and death spirals, but it's simple in execution so it's not a dealbreaker.

I like T&T a lot more if you run combat off Saving Throws, like ranged attacks and spells work.  You can make melee work exactly the same way:  exchanges of Saving Throw attacks vs. a target number (Dex for example) and then reducing damage with armor as stated.  The brilliance of the system is tied up in expanding those Saving Throws into a general mechanic.  It's very easy to layer on a skill system on it.

I tend to ditch the dice-pool combat system most of the time.  I don't really mind the death spiral in it, as it only affects monsters.  PC's basically work akin to D&D, just with HP = Con.