The Cold Honor of Malakar

[grrraall]

I just read the latest issue of Elder Tunnels, which I bought from Lulu. Nice layout, as always, and a very good GM adventure by Kopfy.

There was also a solo written by someone new. This increasing number of authors is good news for T&T and I'm generally easily entertained and satisfied.

This time, however, it didn't catch. This solo was like nothing happened in the last 20 years, back to the old days you had a temple guarded by monsters, with a main room, a kitchen, a bedroom - monsters and treasure - combat - win or lose, well, you know what I mean. It wasn't even like a T&T adventure, when there is generally something surprising, funny, or original, with a special atmosphere.

There were also technical defects in the solo, like the way combat adds were computed.
Whenever combat occurs, there is a list of the monsters that you have to face with their MR, and that's all. There is even a point in the solo where you are given the choice to face a whole army. The solo has not been thoroughly play-tested and there are a few mistakes here and there, but it isn't what struck me most.

Buffalo Castle, for all its simplicity, I enjoyed, but this... The author is not familiar with the T&T rules or uses some house rules that nobody knows. The storyline lacks originality, the solo is written in a naive, simplistic way the charm of which I somehow couldn't understand. It looks like, you know, some old solo that one of my friends could have written when he was about 14.

I hope some of you guys will like this solo, but I wasn't able to enjoy it at all. I'm surprised that it was included in Elder Tunnels, the quality of which is generally very good.

[fellgore]

Thank you very much grrraall for your refreshing honesty! Exalt! It seems to me that it is very hard to find useful information and/or reviews of T&T solos. I think this is due to the small size of the this community. No one wants offend anyone, so you never hear anything negative. I can't say I really blame them. If you are planning on releasing anything in the future, you don't want someone out there with an axe to grind with you when you do publish. As a result I have a collection of stuff (mostly from the old OP days) that I used once and put in my junk drawer, most likely never to see the light of day again.

Regarding Elder Tunnels, I wish there were more info available on the website as to the contents of each issue. Of particular interest to me are solo adventures, so it would be nice to know who wrote what, how long it is, what character level/type it is for and a brief description of the adventure. Heck, before I joined Trollhalla, I wasn't even sure which Peryton products were for T&T!

So, are there any issues of Elder Tunnels that you would recommend to solo players? If anyone can help me out with this info I would greatly appreciate it. If you don't want to offend the authors, please just message me (here of via Trollmail on Trollhalla).

Does anyone know of a good place on the web to get honest reviews of T&T material?

[Peryton]

I just now came across this thread, I guess because of the new post. "Cold Honor of Malakar" got published because... well, it's a long story, but basically we had several decision-makers who all thought someone else had read and approved of this piece. Christy edited for grammar and (up to a point) style, but it was never her job to make it creative or interesting. Anyway, Malakar made us aware that our process was flawed and we've fixed that.

I'm a little confused by the lack of information comment, unless you're referring to reviews, which of course we can't provide. The Winter and Summer 2011 descriptions are a little vague, but even for those, the web page lists the types of pieces in each issue. For the others (and future issues) we include the title and author as well.

Finally, I realize I'm not the one you're asking but, even as someone who benefits from sales of Elder Tunnels, I have to tell you that there aren't any issues that I'd recommend if solos are all you want. While most issues include a solo or two (David Crowell has done a couple of great Halloween ones), the magazine's main focus is GM material. This is mostly because that's what interests us and what we do best, but also because there are so many talented solo writers out there doing their own thing already.

[grrraall]

I already wrote a couple of reviews here on the Bridge, and one of them was in TrollsZine 3.
You will find a few interesting reviews in JongJungBu's Tunnels & Trolls 5th Edition Gathering And Paraphernalia (JJB's TnT5e GAP), here: www.jongjungbu.com/solo-adventures-2.

While Peryton rightly points out that Elder Tunnels focus on GM material, you will find David Crowell's "Farmer's Daughter" solo quite entertaining (in the Summer-Fall 2010 issue), even if it is probably not your typical T&T solo.