Tales from the Twisted Tunnels: 1st-edition-inspired reboot

[gaptooth]

Last week I scribbled out some ideas for house rules, or possibly a hack, of Tunnels & Trolls that would lighten the load on number crunching.

Several people who saw it— including mahrundl —said it wasn't quite T&T anymore, and the ideas kept stewing. I updated the post several times, but my notes outpaced what could reasonably be presented as a modification of Tunnels & Trolls.

So now, it looks like I'm spinning up a new game. You are cordially invited to check out what I have so far and let me know what you like and what you don't. It's just a few pieces so far, but the rest shouldn't take too long to put together.

Here's a link to the index: Tales from the Twisted Tunnels

[mahrundl]

gaptooth,

Sorry that I haven't got to this yet - I've been dealing with a post-surgical spouse (nothing serious, but it has required a fair amount of my time). I'm certainly intending to take a detailed look when I get the opportunity.

[gaptooth]

Thanks, mahrundl! This can wait—blessings to you and your spouse through the recovery!

I'm working on my next round of notes to post. I'll update this thread when there is more to show.

[zanshin]

Hi , had a quick look. Very interesting light system.

Just want to be clear - combat adds = extra dice.

Combat seems very swingy - a risk like mechanism but with big damage from win or loss all going one way.

Con will be very low compared to damage swings. Deadliness may be the point, but it looks deadly to me. I would prefer outcomes that could be more attritional - at least for the delvers!

Thanks for sharing.

[zanshin]

I see that since I posted above the system has moved on. I will await further developments with interest before giving more comments

[gaptooth]

Huh, I've been wanting to post more of the game to clarify and resolve the issues you pointed out zanshin, but I haven't had any time to write since then! Thanks for your comments so far! I will update this thread as soon as I have more to report.

[order99]

I like the fact that you've eliminated the 'negative numbers' from before-since the positive numbers are a resource to be spent, that didn't leave the original negatives anything to do...having a 0 as the lowest number definitely lets the system you're using flow more smoothly.

From what you've written so far, it seems that Delvers and Monsters still act very much as they do in T&T with the simplified mechanic...but do Monsters get 'reeling' rolls as well, or is that just for PCs and Important NPCs?

I wouldn't call this game you've written 'Tunnels & Trolls' either-but it is definitely in the spirit of (and inspired by)the original. I suspect that this would be an awesome and easy-to-play system on its own! Any plans to add in some unique and original bits of non-T&T in order to make it completely your own, or do you intend to keep it as a 'T&T Shorthand' emulator? Whichever way you decide to go with it, I look forward to more...

[gaptooth]

Thanks, order99! I do have a couple distinctions in mind to make it slightly different than a "T&T Shorthand" emulator (that's a great synopsis of what I originally had in mind).

My idea was that only delvers and named NPCs (including some rated with MRs) would get "reeling" rolls. Most MR-only nasties would automatically be stressed out when their MR hits 0, which could mean they are disarmed, distraught, demoralized, or overwhelmed to stupefaction. My model for this idea is the monsters of 1st–4th edition who can no longer defend themselves when their MR drops below 10.

[order99]

Finally had time for a more thorough reading, and I noticed a few things:

1)Is Luck King?-Luck is the basis for many default SRs (if it is anything like the original T&T), is also the basis for Ranged Defense and can play a role in Combat Adds...does it appear to be a God-stat in Playtest, or do other factors seem to balance it out?

2) Power and/or Tech-at last, something for the Warriors! Occultists(and Rogues) get to cast awesome spells, while Warriors(and Rogues) get to pull out the Conan/Ninja/Captain America/D'artagnan moves with Power and then Layeth the Smacketh Down with Tech...and when exhausted all three Types still have basic Combat Adds, SRs and equipment!

I do have one question or two though-do Combat Adds and Tech remain with whatever score was the original Median(and improvable by increasing that score) or does increasing an Ability create a new 'Median' until other scores are increased? (Example-Bingo the Warrior has ST 3, Dx 2 and LK 1, therefore Combat Adds and Tech of 2...long Delving sees an increase in LK to 2 and DX to 4...is Combat Adds and Tech now 4 (the original Median) or 3 (the new Median by default)?

Also, are you your Weapons going to be rated in simple Dice (1D, 2D etc) or Dice+Adds (!d+2, 2D+1 etc). Since you are using the highest Single digit(or sum of equals) in combat I can see some interesting bounces if using the latter-in addition, how does the 'highest single or highest multiples' affect your damage curves?

Sorry to be so nosy -and I can't wait to see the finished product, it looks really, really flexible!

[gaptooth]

I've been working on the rules text a lot since I last posted, but I haven't gotten a chance to post much on the blog. I put the rules for Saving Rolls and Clashes up today, and there is a lot more to come.

After more playtesting, the way Combat dice and Tech dice work is a little different than what I had in mind when I first wrote the char-gen rules—I've revised them in my draft, but I haven't posted those revisions yet. Stay tuned!

order99, I will respond to your questions and thoughts as soon as I get a chance! Thank you so much for picking it apart and exposing the points of confusion!

[gaptooth]

And here are the combat rules!

I've also updated the char-gen rules I posted earlier to reflect the way the system has developed. In particular, see "Combat dice" under "Secodary Traits" and in each calling.

I feel like it's coming together. The biggest missing pieces now are the equipment and spell sections, along with experience. Most of it is in my head, but writing it down always forces me to think through the ideas more rigorously, to simplify and clarify as much as possible.

I'll respond to the questions raised here as soon as I can.

[order99]

Much clearer I think-since you didn't mention Technique on the Combat page, i'm assuming that both Casters and Non-casters now have a Power score (as opposed to Technique earlier)and that Power fuels both Spellcasting and Smackdowns?

Sorry if i'm extrapolating too far ahead, I know this is a work in progress. Please keep us notified though, the refinements fascinate me...

[zanshin]

Love the writing style of these. Some very nice alliteration.

System seems a lot clearer to me now, and combat more attritional. I like the 'reeling' and 'disabled' stages of injury.

The challenge of the rolls for threat level seems high to me. If playing in the system I would be wanting the GM to let me have a fair number of auto successes in areas of my character competence, as I would be failing rolls alot of the time. I guess that is similar to T&T, but with the stats being so much lower, the roll takes on a greater significance.

Would be interesting to see a bell curve for the stats - I do like the way they are generated, it's elegant. 5 will be less common than 0 (2 ways to generate 5 against 6 for 0) but thats as far as I have crunched the numbers

Keep it coming!

[zanshin]

Ok, not too hard


6/36 = 0
10/36 = 1
8/36 = 2
6/36 = 3
4/36 = 4
2/36 = 5

Mean attribute score will be 2.1 ish, median 1.5

[gaptooth]

Spells from the Twisted Tunnels