T&T (any edition, from what I've seen) is pretty crazy from a "systematic" point of view. It seems that Ken's style as a GM has always been pretty seat of the pants, so things that might seem 'broken' from some perspectives are simply ignored as convenient.

The wild mix of almost Chesslike determinism sometimes, big stakes on extremely long odds at other times, and wild swings of fortune from Super Hero to Super Wimp and back, certainly contribute to replay value of the solos.

The kind of balance among PCs that is such a big deal in some quarters today is basically nonexistent. T&T makes old-time D&D look geared to that by comparison!

So, T&T GMs: What's the mojo, the jazz, the art of running the game? Is it even something you can teach?

I really like T&T for a certain gonzo-ish type of fantasy. That said, I used it for a high action Colonial America game riffing off of the Leatherstocking Tales. Those sessions exceeded expectations.

I also found it to be a good fit for use with the Mythic GM Emulator:

http://platonicsolid.blogspot.com/search/label/Tunnels%20and%20Trolls

Not much armor in colonial America of that period, so there's one tricky issue off the table!

I seem to recall a saving roll versus gun fire, which could stave off the Seen=Dead phenomenon of high-DX, high-adds marksmen.

Does "high action" imply a lot of SRs for various feats? How do you set SR levels?

It works very well for me, when I want to play a dungeon crawling game that isn't Cyclopedia D&D, in general I've used it for lots of high adventure fantasy gaming as well.


A few things to learn is "shoot from your hip" if monsters are too tough, or too weak, give the heroes options to change the odds--ways to use the Saving Rolls mechanics to shift the fight, to overcome traps, or cheat the odds.

Don't be afraid to say no to certain races for example, especially if you want a certain feel.

T&T is very much kitchensink fantasy, and sometimes that takes a good plumber to keep it from getting stopped up.

I always play T&T as a dungeoncrawl (no outside wilderness at all) and I basically set the Level of the Saving Throw to the level of the dungeon the players are on.

I am a big T&T fan and usually run it at least once a year at a convention. The theme for this year's PolyCon is "Mirror, Mirror" and I am going to use T&T for Snow White, but the PCs are the Queen's huntsmen who are gonna smack down the Seven Dwarfs, slash Prince Charming into bits and bring back the heart of the wee lass...but hey is that the Axe of Dwarfish Lords that Dopey is swinging around?

I've done not-gonzo with T&T, but it the spirit of the game is definitely more darkly humorous and zany than D&D.

Here's my suggestions for running T&T...

1) MONSTER RATINGS
The Monster Rating (MR) system is fast and easy, but the monsters don't have any flavor in their stats. The GM must devise rules for how the monster does its kewl stuff or handwaive it. Either works.

My personal house rule is the "Trigger 6". When a monster rolls a 6 on a die, he can either do Spite damage to the foe or trigger one of its special abilities. The more 6s, the more special abilities get triggered or the special ability becomes more dangerous. AKA, a MR 30 Giant Spider may have the special abilities of a Venomous Bite and Shoot Webs. Let's say I roll my 4D6 and get two 6s. If my attack hits, then I get the following options:

1 - Do 2 spite damage.
2 - Trigger Venonmous Bite, the victim must make a level 2 CON save or take 2D6 damage to a random Stat...or maybe not a random one.
3 - Trigger Shoot Webs, the victim must make a level 2 DEX save or they are wrapped in webbing (must spend next action trying to get out).

2) AVOID NUMBER CRUNCHING
T&T has the potential for really awesome exciting combat. Unfortunately, it has the option to be really dull where the players just add up numbers and you add up monster numbers and then you play Battle of the Fantasy Accountants!  Which is lame.

You avoid this by breaking up melee into sub-combats, one on one combats and making sure that you narrate the combat as much as you can. The GM must take the initiative to make sure all the numbers in combat mean something in the fictional universe of the setting. T&T combat is much more abstract than D&D so it requires more GM flavoring to bring it alive.

Its important to encourage players to try crazy stuff, using the Saving Throw mechanic to do heroic daring-do instead of just "I attack" adding up handfuls of dice.

3) BE READY FOR PC DEATH
With all its gonzo zaniness and humor, T&T is a bloody blender of PC murder. Combat is really crazy dangerous and you can go from healthy to slaughterhouse splatter in a round or two. Make sure that your players understand the combat system up front so they can properly make decisions in gameplay.

But hot damn, T&T is awesome fun!

What I wonder about SRs is: How do you set levels?

The differences in ability scores among characters as they gain levels quickly dwarf the distance between an 89% chance and something miniscule (dropping below 1% after 20 points).

Put your points into Luck at 7th and 8th levels and that's another 30 points! Meanwhile, someone else may have taken a mere 7 points of Dexterity.

That's also a factor in Combat Adds, of course.

This is a game I have to run, but the central mechanic encourges me to develop a social combat system, something like Burning Wheel's Battle of Wits or whatever it's called.

I can easily see summing three of the character's non-physical stats and developing some house rules building of that. (Of course, I have to weapon equivalencies based on various sophistries and rhetorical techniques, much like the weapons and their damages in the combat system.)

I would never run T&T (My math skills are utter shit), but I had a absolute blast the one time I played it. It's apparent "Flaws" (Very little in the way of rules for anything besides combat, Humorous tone and goofy spell names, Weird obsession with long lists of obscure weapons) are revealed as fun assets once you stop reading the rules and actually start playing them.

Never played it, never read it. If I did, and I would, it would be the original, not the later editions.

Eh, its beer & pretzels D&D, as its always been. I cant think of a reason to play it instead of BD&D (or Dragon warriors for that matter), but I've nothing against the game.

Quote from: TristramEvans;651577Eh, I cant think of a reason to play it instead of BD&D (

What if someone ate all of your dice, and you had to the ones found in old boardgames, so d6s?

Quote from: Benoist;651575Never played it, never read it. If I did, and I would, it would be the original, not the later editions.

5th Edition is great. Liz Danforth's elbow grease is extremely evident. Though there are some bits from the later editions that make for handy add-ins.

I'd also like to take a look at T&T Deluxe.

Quote from: TristramEvans;651577I cant think of a reason to play it instead of BD&D (or Dragon warriors for that matter)

Tone and expectations.

Since T&T is beer & pretzels D&D and the focus is gonzo dark humor, it becomes a great system from when you want that exact tone for a particular campaign.

While I would not run LotR with T&T, it was ideal for running my Monsters of Mordor adventure where the creatures of Mordor have to decide what to do now that Sauron is dead. The decision of course was "Revenge on the Hobbitesses!!!"

Quote from: Spinachcat;651608While I would not run LotR with T&T, it was ideal for running my Monsters of Mordor adventure where the creatures of Mordor have to decide what to do now that Sauron is dead. The decision of course was "Revenge on the Hobbitesses!!!"

St. Andre once said that he saw the world of T&T as being like if Marvel in the 70's had done a LotR comic.

That one line pretty much sold me on seeking out the game. Just imagine Kirby's Sauron.