What is the main asset of T&T for you?

[craulabesh]

In the last two years I got into T&T more and more. I began my first blog and it's mainly about my custom lowlevel T&T campaign in hellenism. I find myself trying to dig into this ruleslight game (which may sound paradoxically). So there are some questions I hope you can help me with.

1. What do you think is the main asset of T&T?
a) The unique, abstract and wonderfully primitive combat system which "resembles a cloud with fists and swords poking out". (a quote from APN at forum.rpg.net)
b) the stunt mechanic, even while it is not mentioned in the rules directly and which emerges from the SR rules and the lightness of the system.
c) the lightness of the system (which makes possible the stunt mechanics)

2. If you should choose between b) and c), which would you think was a more important or the first design goal?

3. Do you think the stunt mechanic is hard for new players and game masters to perceive and if so why?
a) because it is very "new school"?
b) because it is no hard rule but more a guideline

[zanshin]

d) Monster Rating - the elegant way of creating a monster with just a number, that conveys how hard it hits and how resilient it is.
e) The unlimited increase of attributes - very few games have this feature
f) The sly sense of humour, most obviously showing in the art and the spell names.

a-f all make up the T&T package.

The least copied feature of T&T is the combat system, so that is probably the most T&T thing about T&T (other games have created their own universal resolution mechanics aka SR's in a desperate attempt to bottle the T&T magic)

[craulabesh]

Thanks, you're right, I forgot the MR. Great thing. Ok the original purpose of my post was because I have the suspicion that people might play T&T vastly different than you, especially with stunting if they just buy the rulebooks and do not inform themselves in places like here.

But I also have the suspicion that flexibility of the SR and stunt/ action proposition, description and negotiation is very important (perhaps most importatnt) for the game.

You could fully stat monsters, you can fight one-on-one, but you should not get rid of using other attributes in fight for gaining advantages.

And I just don't figure out, why this is not emphasized in the rules so much? Could this lead to frustrating experiences for new groups (whithout experienced T&T-players)? And don't you think this would be a problem for the thriving of the game?

[mosker]

Two assets. (Am I house-ruling or simply ignoring the format of the question?)

1. Attribute based saving rolls.
2. The self-aware weirdness. There's silly and funny, and then there's off the reservation. Buffalo Castle set the standard for creative freedom and without it, the game would still have flavor, but [create your own buffet/fusion cooking analogy]

[Aramis of Erak]

Monster Rating and the "Stunts" are the key elements. Plus the use of ST and DX in equipment allowances.

[apn]

I'm 'APN' from RPG.net (the clouds with fists and swords quote) and that is the main perk of T&T for me. I only play by post these days (group long since scattered to the four winds) and the combat system means somebody 'wins' every combat round, and a fight never drags on for too long, which is vital when playing by post.

I like the quirky feel of the game too. Silly spell names, wide variety of races available for PCs, weapons you have never heard of and so on.

Whilst I like Monster Rating it is perhaps great and not so great at the same time. MR=one number to determine how well a monster fights....

....but it doesn't really tell you anything else. Is the monster sneaky? What about special attacks? Smart? Dumb? Agressive? Where does it live?

These are all things the GM needs to figure out. A catch all number for a glance at a monster is fine in principle, but (for example) I'd have monsters such as:

Orc
MR20
Armour 5 points (furs and shield)
Details: See in dark up to 100', lives in clans of 30-300, agressive, brute intelligence, dominated by more powerful creatures, untrustworthy, will eat anything (including own young), greent skinned, pig faced, 6' tall solid build.
Special Attack:
two sixes triggers Orc 'bark' - One PC (chosen at random) makes a 1st Level SR vs luck or 1-6 Orcs turn up in 1-6 rounds.

Off the top of my head.

[quoghmyre]

I would say Fun, it is a very simple system for telling funny fantasy tales.

In T&T you don't need all those extra rules,
storytelling
limited by SRs
occasionally with some simple combat
and an easy magic system

[Toad-Killer-Dog]

For me T&T is like a gaming toolbox anything I want to build with it I can.

Its simple enough to take on any shape I want to give it, yet at the same time it covers all the necessities so I don't have to start from the ground up every time I want to try a new idea.

Players pick it up faster than any other complete system I've ever seen, but even the oldest T&T players I've met haven't grown bored with the mechanics or felt that it stifled their creativity.

In a very real way T&T becomes your game once you pick it up. It begs for expansion and revision while never feeling incomplete or broken.

What I have learned through the years is that over time as much as I've tinkered and modified the system I usually come back to the simple flexible and open ended system that was there from the beginning.

I may add a Wiz stat or play around with warrior abilities but the system stands the test of time.

Some people say simple and they mean basic, limited, dull.

When I say T&T is simple I mean it is elegant, imaginative and promotes the kind of player/game master interaction that so many systems fill books with rules to try and simulate.

So I guess that is what T&T's assets are to me.

[hrrrothgarrr]

T&T's greatest asset is that it is a toolbox. I can build anything I want from it, and easily.

MR is a brilliant concept. My monsters do not appear as just a number, but having just that number to keep track of means I don't need to worry about forgetting an extra dice modifier in the heat of battle.

Saving Rolls provide a fantastic universal task resolution system. Pick an attribute, pick a difficulty level, roll dice.

T&T plays silly, serious, dark, light, any way you like it.

[dekh]

Jul 7, 2013 20:30:44 GMT -5 Toad-Killer-Dog said:

When I say T&T is simple I mean it is elegant, imaginative and promotes the kind of player/game master interaction that so many systems fill books with rules to try and simulate.

Nicely summed up. I have nothing to add to that.

[MageInBlack]

AD&D is my first love and I most often play that game, but usually with people who have played such games for years. I was playing an AD&D game with my wife and 2 kids but found that T&T 5e was a way better fit for them so I converted their characters over (had to make my wife’s cleric a warrior-wizard). This game is not only super simple to run, but super simply for those that seldom play an RPG to get into it fast.