Post by Hogscape on May 2, 2011 5:14:37 GMT -5
Whilst reminiscing over a very old copy of the once brilliant White Dwarf magazine, I came across what might be the first ever 'review' of T&T.
I've included it below for your amusement.
Tunnels & Trolls a review by Lewis Pulsipher
September 1977 (White Dwarf)
One person I've talked with thinks the TUNNELS AND TROLLS (T&T) rule booklet is nothing more than a 'rip-off' of DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS. Others including myself think 'variant' is more accurate. Although it is not said in the British edition, the original American edition acknowledged the debt to D&D, making it clear that T&T was developed by fans who found pre-GREYHAWK D&D too muddled to be played.
The excuse for publication here and now, presumably, is that there is a need for a cheap and understandable role playing game for those who can't afford or make sense of D&D. However, D&D is being revised and will be cheaper, and T&T is much more limited than D&D in every way. Anyone who likes T&T will sooner or later 'graduate' to the much more satisfying (and much more widely played) D&D. In considerable wargaming travels in the USA I never encountered anyone who played T&T, though D&D players are everywhere, and I've not even heard of anyone in this country (UK) who plays it. When it first appeared in America I said there was no point in it, and nothing has occurred to change my opinion.
Thinking about the novice aspect, the T&T rules are not as clear as they ought to be, especially for combat where an example is badly needed. I suppose the novices at whom T&T is aimed are quite as confused as by the D&D-GREYHAWK system. No magic items are included, and only one page devoted to discussion of monsters. The T&T referee is heavily burdened with decisions and a creative task, worse than any burden from D&D-GREYHAWK confusion could be. This is bad for what is supposed to be an introductory game but something had to be left out in order to make it short and inexpensive.
Another disadvantage is that when a player enters a world he must slough off all his ideas about the previous worlds he played in because they won't apply in the new. There are no standard monsters or magic items, so everyone must learn everything anew. This can be tedious at best, and at worst reduces the element of skill.
T&T is not really a serious game, though this might not bother British D&D players because so few here play D&D in a serious vein. For example, the rules suggest that the referee include as much humour in the 'tunnels' as possible, and that 'anything goes'. Humour is fine, but in a wargame it should come from the people playing the game, not from the game itself. Who can believe some of the idiotic jokes and messes one finds in a silly dungeon? Some don't mind, but others are bored out of their minds. T&T reinforces this attitude by using atrociously silly spell names. even for those duplicating D&D spells - e.g., Oh There It Is for Detect Invisible, Hidey Hole for Invisibility 10' radius, Yassa Massa for Charm Monster, etc.
There are a few ideas which D&Ders might consider adopting, though I have decided against all for my campaign. When a player's level increases he does not add hit dice, but may add points to his abilities according to set rules, in an amount equal to the new level. Consequently you can find characters with an intelligence of 25 or constitution of 30.
The equivalent of D&D hit points is the constitution value of a character. Armour and shields are rated by the number of hits they absorb each round. If a fighter desires, he can multiply by three the hits absorbed in a round at the cost of destruction of the armour or shield. Finally there is a the Rogue, substituted for the cleric in the no-religion/alignment T&T world.
The writer goes on to present his interpretation of the Rogue for D&D and concludes his review there with no summary of the game, or indeed any further comment.
I've included it below for your amusement.
Tunnels & Trolls a review by Lewis Pulsipher
September 1977 (White Dwarf)
One person I've talked with thinks the TUNNELS AND TROLLS (T&T) rule booklet is nothing more than a 'rip-off' of DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS. Others including myself think 'variant' is more accurate. Although it is not said in the British edition, the original American edition acknowledged the debt to D&D, making it clear that T&T was developed by fans who found pre-GREYHAWK D&D too muddled to be played.
The excuse for publication here and now, presumably, is that there is a need for a cheap and understandable role playing game for those who can't afford or make sense of D&D. However, D&D is being revised and will be cheaper, and T&T is much more limited than D&D in every way. Anyone who likes T&T will sooner or later 'graduate' to the much more satisfying (and much more widely played) D&D. In considerable wargaming travels in the USA I never encountered anyone who played T&T, though D&D players are everywhere, and I've not even heard of anyone in this country (UK) who plays it. When it first appeared in America I said there was no point in it, and nothing has occurred to change my opinion.
Thinking about the novice aspect, the T&T rules are not as clear as they ought to be, especially for combat where an example is badly needed. I suppose the novices at whom T&T is aimed are quite as confused as by the D&D-GREYHAWK system. No magic items are included, and only one page devoted to discussion of monsters. The T&T referee is heavily burdened with decisions and a creative task, worse than any burden from D&D-GREYHAWK confusion could be. This is bad for what is supposed to be an introductory game but something had to be left out in order to make it short and inexpensive.
Another disadvantage is that when a player enters a world he must slough off all his ideas about the previous worlds he played in because they won't apply in the new. There are no standard monsters or magic items, so everyone must learn everything anew. This can be tedious at best, and at worst reduces the element of skill.
T&T is not really a serious game, though this might not bother British D&D players because so few here play D&D in a serious vein. For example, the rules suggest that the referee include as much humour in the 'tunnels' as possible, and that 'anything goes'. Humour is fine, but in a wargame it should come from the people playing the game, not from the game itself. Who can believe some of the idiotic jokes and messes one finds in a silly dungeon? Some don't mind, but others are bored out of their minds. T&T reinforces this attitude by using atrociously silly spell names. even for those duplicating D&D spells - e.g., Oh There It Is for Detect Invisible, Hidey Hole for Invisibility 10' radius, Yassa Massa for Charm Monster, etc.
There are a few ideas which D&Ders might consider adopting, though I have decided against all for my campaign. When a player's level increases he does not add hit dice, but may add points to his abilities according to set rules, in an amount equal to the new level. Consequently you can find characters with an intelligence of 25 or constitution of 30.
The equivalent of D&D hit points is the constitution value of a character. Armour and shields are rated by the number of hits they absorb each round. If a fighter desires, he can multiply by three the hits absorbed in a round at the cost of destruction of the armour or shield. Finally there is a the Rogue, substituted for the cleric in the no-religion/alignment T&T world.
The writer goes on to present his interpretation of the Rogue for D&D and concludes his review there with no summary of the game, or indeed any further comment.