Character A Day, Day Twenty(ish)

Tunnels & Trolls, Deluxe Edition

Why That Edition? It Was On The Shelf Next To My Computer

Remember This Blog’s Motto: Free, And Worth It!

Tunnels & Trolls is one of the oldest RPGs to still be a going concern, and the revisions to it over the years have been fairly minor, compared to, say, D&D. Someone transported in time from 1977 would have a much easier time playing “modern” Tunnels & Trolls than “modern” D&D, but let’s face it, they’ll be busy watching all the sequels to that brand-new “Star Wars” flick first, then discovering Internet porn.

I am picking the Deluxe Edition because… well, read the headers. I also don’t have a First Edition, and I’m not sure how ‘iconic’ or ‘classic’ any of the many intermediate editions were. So, Deluxe it is. Readers, such as they are, may also compare however this ends up with Monsters! Monsters! character I created! Created! (Damn, that joke never gets old! (Yeah, because it died stillborn.)) Some people have an Inner Child; I have an Inner Statler & Waldorf.

Once More: 3d6 In Order

3d6 in order for stats, with one notable quirk: If I roll triples, I annotate, as this might indicate a “specialist”.

Str: 11
Con: 9
Dex: 14 (hey, didn’t crap out on Dex for once!)
Speed: 8
Intelligence: 10
Wizardry: 9 (Ultima: 10, Bard’s Tale: 9)
Luck: 8
Charisma: 15* (triple 5!)

Personal Adds: I turn off cookies so the ads aren’t personalized. No, wait. Adds. These are things you “add” in combat. I get +1 for each point of Str, Dex, Luck, or Speed above 12. So, +2.

There are three types (classes, roughly) in T&T: Warrior, Wizard, and Rogue. Rogue is not a “thief” in the classic sense, but more of a self-trained wizard and jack of all trades. So I’m going to go for warrior, and hope there’s a way to make a dex-based warrior in this system.

I get +1d6/level with melee weapons, and can greatly increase my bonus from armor, at a cost of my armor taking more damage.

With my triples for Charisma, I roll 3d6 again and add — and if I roll triples again, keep adding! A 13. Not triples, but my Charisma is now 28! What this does, I dunno yet.

Kindred

“Kindred” is your race or species. Following the grand tradition of gamers going back to the first time EGG said, “Hey, I’ve got an idea…”, I will make this choice based on shameless min-maxing of the benefits for my chosen career.

Gristlegrim Dwarves double Str and Con, with a penalty to luck. Dex and Charisma, already decent, stay the same. Sounds good! I also need a name, so, off to “Random Dwarf Names” I go!

Dousgrick Drakebelly
Str: 22
Con: 18
Dex: 14
Speed: 8
Intelligence: 10
Wizardry: 9
Luck: 6
Charisma: 28
Personal Adds: +18 (a lot better than +2!)

Gristlegrim dwarves are artificial beings, created as adults, and branded with a “G” somewhere on their bodies. Huh. Go figure.

After applying racial modifiers, I am 40″ tall, and weigh 220 lbs.

I can carry 2200 “weight units” for up to 18 turns, or 1100 weight units for up to 36 turns, and less than that, I presume, indefinitely.

I am starting with 110 gold pieces.

I can pick a Talent. This is an open system that allows a player to specify one “talent” that they get a +3 on. It must be narrower than “all combat” and usually applies to specific tricks, tasks, or actions that the GM assigns a difficulty (a saving throw in this games’ parlance) to. Given my specialty in Charisma, I will go for Persuasion as my talent.

There is a section of “Elaborations” which expand the Talent system, among other things, but I am going to stick with the core for now.

Gearing Up

To my surprise, a Dex of 14 isn’t really all that good — a lot of weapons require 15, 18, or higher Dex to wield! Even with my great Strength, I can’t handle a longsword (Dex 15). On the other hand, a heavy axe only needs a Dex of 10 and a Str of 18. (The Dwarven War Axe needs a Str of 23… so close!) But it also costs 103 gp, which would leave me with 7 for everything else! Dammit! OK, a regular ax, for 73 gp. This does 6d6 in my hands, due to the warrior bonus.

That means I can only afford leather armor (50 gp). Dayum. Getting Wizardry I flashbacks here, when everyone was badly under-geared.

So, 10 gp left for “adventuring stuff”.

Backpack: 1.5
Wood Pole: 2
5 Torches: .5
3 days food: 6

And that’s all Dousgrick has on him (in addition to presumed normal clothing under his armor) to start out in life. Yeah, “deluxe edition” published in 2015 or not, this is still seriously Old School when it comes to “fantasy fucking Vietnam”.

And so we leave dear Dousgrick, and hope he finds some goblins who are simultaneously lucky enough to have a lot of loot, and unlucky enough to be under-armed and under-armored.