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Post by Porkbelly on Dec 9, 2009 10:42:15 GMT -5
I posted a little while back that I picked up a whole bunch of T&T material in Tokyo last month. I'm not great with the language but after spending weeks poring over this stuff it's quite clear there is (or at least was) a big following in Japan.
After the release of 5th edition in 1986 (which sold over 100,000 copies) there was a new version of T&T (called Hyper-T&T) that seems to have been the prime version. Support petered out around 1996 (when the main publisher went under) and then revived again in 2006 with release of the 7th edition. I get the impression that the fanbase is much smaller now as there is no great wealth of material for 7e, but it is still getting some support and might be picking up.
I have managed to acquire copies of all versions of the Japanese books and am slowly working my way through them. The Hyper-T&T rules should be an interesting read as they are the result of many years of developing the game in new directions (I think with a revised combat system and magic system). The blurb states that it sticks to the principals of T&T but I'm expecting to find this will be a whole different take on the game.
It's interesting to find out that the T&T computer game was developed and released primarily to satisfy the demand in the Japanese market, as were story collections such as Mage's Blood and Old Bones. The Japanese publishers were very much interested in using and translating what Ken, Liz and Mike's take on a T&T world should be. The computer game may have been based on (or developed into) the Hyper-T&T game setting of the Dragon Continent, and yes, there was a world book published in Japan for that great map.
Anyway, if there is interest I can probably post a lot more info. My ability to translate Japanese is limited, so it is painfully slow going even with computer assistance. If there are any Japanese players on the board I would sure be interested in comparing notes.
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Post by Toad-Killer-Dog on Dec 9, 2009 11:06:26 GMT -5
I would be very interested indeed good sir! ;D I've been aware of T&T's popularity in Japan for a good while and as a big fan of both anime and Japanese Horror & Sci-Fi I would love to see what Japans take on T&T is like. I've seen a bunch of T&T fanzines from Japan and I bought a couple of Japanese "Dragon" ( no relation to the American "Dragon" magazine ) magazines from "Half-Price" book because they included big full-color ads for T&T products ( and a cool Japanese pro-wrestling Gurps game ). One of the issues included stats for characters from the "Record of the Lodoss War" for both GURPS & T&T. It was fun to see how much I could deduce from my knowledge of T&T and Gurps. ;D
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Post by ProfGremlin on Dec 9, 2009 11:18:47 GMT -5
Anyway, if there is interest I can probably post a lot more info. I'd be interested in the Hyper T&T info as well. It would be really interesting to see how the Japanese cultural viewpoint influenced their interpretation and evolution of the T&T rules. Who knows? Maybe we could pick up some cool alternate rules that way.
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Dec 9, 2009 11:51:57 GMT -5
I'm really looking forward to more info 'bout all this, most especially this world book based on the CoK Dragon Continent map. Awesome!
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Post by Porkbelly on Dec 9, 2009 14:14:58 GMT -5
Thanks for the response, that's given me the excuse I needed to start cutting up these books and scanning and translating them properly. I need computer aid to read 500 pages of 6-point font anyway.
A little bibliography first:
From 1986 the 5th ed rulebook, monsters! monsters!, and all the FBI solos and GM adventures were translated and printed in Japan. What's cool about those is that all the books appear to have extra bits, new scenarios and such.
There was also a long-running magazine called Warlock which published original Japanese work alongside articles pulled from Sorcerer's Apprentice. The hyper-T&T rules developed from this collection of articles and were first published in 1991 then again in 1994.
In 1994 the Japanese fans also got a "Hyper" rewrite of Monsters! Monsters!, and the World Guide for the Dragon Continent, along with four novels on the "Rise and Fall of the Dragon Continent", plus three books of game replays. Most Japanese websites I've seen refer to the HT&T rules.
The publishers of Warlock went bankrupt in 1996 with massive debts and T&T seems to have lost momentum until Roll&Role started up with publishing and support for version 7.
Another thing I've noticed is that although the publishing companies of T&T have changed it's pretty much been the same small group of folks behind the scenes all along. Interesting how that is quite similar to how it's been in the US.
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Post by Porkbelly on Dec 9, 2009 14:22:33 GMT -5
Here's the back cover blurb from the Hyper T&T rulebook and the table of contents. (Based on my 'iffy' translation)
I should make it clear I'm not intending to infringe any copyright here.
HYPER T&T RULEBOOK
By Hitoshi Yasuda, Kiyomatsu Miyuki, Kuroda Kazuhito
Based on the popular U.S. tabletop RPG "Tunnels & Trolls (T&T)" game, "Hyper-T&T" is here! Elaborate and exciting combat mechanics, hyper-point saving rolls that allow a flexible response to any situation, and an expanded magic system will provide as much fun as anyone could wish for! Hyper-T&T provides a broad rule system that is more intuitive for both the player and the game master. This definitive new version has been revised for better readability. Tabletop RPG fans will want to play this great game!
Contents Preface Chapter 1 - Character Creation Chapter 2 - Saving Rolls Chapter 3 - Wandering Encounters Chapter 4 - Combat Chapter 5 - Magic Chapter 6 - Character Advancement Chapter 7 - Game Mastering Chapter 8 - Religion Chapter 9 - Monsters Chapter 10 - Magic Items Chapter 11 - Scenario Chapter 12 - World Guide Appendix I - Weapons Glossary Appendix II - Tables and Charts Index
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Dec 9, 2009 14:42:35 GMT -5
Oooo!!! ;D Oh, how the collector in me wants all of this stuff...and how the gamer in me wishes I could read it all. How's about some links to these Japanese T&T sites, if you saved 'em?
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Post by ragnorakk on Dec 9, 2009 15:08:06 GMT -5
Neat! Gotta throw an exalt your way - thanks for putting this info up!
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Post by ProfGremlin on Dec 9, 2009 16:11:03 GMT -5
Here's the back cover blurb from the Hyper T&T rulebook and the table of contents. This rocks, Porkbelly! Thanks for whetting my appetite here. (Based on my 'iffy' translation) I wonder... have you considered enlisting the aid of some Japanese students in an English as a Second Language class? Get them to work on translating the game into English as a means of practicing their skill. You never know, it could work esp. if there're a few gamers amongst them... I'm wondering how much you could post and not infringe in that manner. Maybe it would be worth simply picking one of the English language editions and running a comparison between it and HT&T.
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Post by cartomancer on Dec 9, 2009 20:26:08 GMT -5
I remember coming across Hyper TnT a month or so back when i was trawling the net for more TnT goodness. Unfortunately i couldn't make head nor tail of much of it due to the language barrier.
I'll keep an eye out if i come across any of it again for you guys. :0).
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Post by cartomancer on Dec 9, 2009 20:44:30 GMT -5
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Post by mgtremaine on Dec 9, 2009 21:47:04 GMT -5
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Post by Porkbelly on Dec 9, 2009 22:34:22 GMT -5
Cool links! The lullar site that carto posted covers a lot of what I mentioned and there's a link to HTT that gives a fair amount of detail.
I would say start with the wiki and run it through Google translate, you can reach a lot of cool links from there. There are solos, replays and house rules all over the place.
I'm not really intending to do a translation of the books but just working through the sections looking for the good stuff. It's pretty easy to work your way through the websites when you've got tools like Google but with the little books they're done in the older style written top to bottom, left to right in tiny font. Fortunately they're well organized with lots of headings and sub-headings.
It's fun trying to work out all the kana words (phonetic spelling). Unless you played T&T would you know that a Sebinguroru is a Saving Roll. I chuckldd to see there's a GM adventure published by Rally Ditirro (Larry Ditillo?). My favorite seen so far is TTYF translated into "Take That You f**k*r!"
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machfront
11th level Troll
Stalwart of the Trollbridge
"Let's go dark!"
Posts: 2,147
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Post by machfront on Dec 10, 2009 6:03:25 GMT -5
My favorite seen so far is TTYF translated into "Take That You f**ker!" LOL! ;D Wow! Japanese T&T players mean it!
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Post by Toad-Killer-Dog on Dec 10, 2009 8:43:57 GMT -5
My favorite seen so far is TTYF translated into "Take That You f**ker!" LOL! ;D Wow! Japanese T&T players mean it! Hah, that makes me think of all those Zatoichi Yakuza movies I used to watch on saturday mornings! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZatoichiThat would make for an interesting Japanese T&T setting. ;D
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