Am I doing something wrong?

[ProfGremlin]

I came across another thread that may offer some more useful thoughts: Solitaire Dungeon Protocols.

Something else that came to mind reading Rat Salad 's reply: They're called 'solos' because we play them on our own. I don't recall anyone ever saying we could only ever bring one character at a time into the dungeon.

Hobgoblin Gate Guard: "Ever so sorry sir, you'll have to wait. We have another poor unfortunate soul..." cocks ear towards tunnel entrance, "yep, sounds like he's getting trounced by a pack of ughrats. Won't be long now. Them critters can be deceptively lethal."

In the distance a high pitched wail slowly tails off into silence.

Hobgoblin Gate Guard: "Right, so, you're up now." Lifts gate up and out of the way, "Got everything you'll need? Weapons, armour, shield, torches, rations, 11-foot pole? Don't look at me like that. There are some things you just don't want to touch with a 10-foot pole. Go on then, in y'go."

Scratches behind his ear as he watches the delver disappear into the tunnel. "Pity. I sorta liked that one."

So, have some fun with it. Take a second delver in with you. Let's call them siblings, or brothers-in-arms. Maybe they're part of D.I.G.S., Delvers in Great Supply, Local 137. Or maybe they just met in a tavern and decided to raid a nearby tunnel complex to pay off their bar tab.

Use them to stunt off each other. Think great swashbuckling stunts: one swings from a chandelier (L2 SR Dex) to distract the monster while the other sneaks in and kneecaps the offending creature (L2 SR Spd). Or maybe one propels the other into the air using their shield as a springboard (L3 SR Str) so the airborne buckler-of-swashes can land on the ettin's shoulders (L2 SR Luk) and blind him with a hastily fitted flour sack.

Take a page out out of the video-game genre and allow yourself an Easy, Normal, Hard and Suicidal level of approach to solos. Decide what each level of play would allow for and have fun with it.

When we allow rules, or preconceived perceptions, to short circuit our fun we're doing ourselves a disservice. Changing the rules to fit your fun is baked into the game.

[cupboardgnome]

Apr 1, 2022 0:07:19 GMT -5 ProfGremlin said:

Something else that came to mind reading Rat Salad 's reply: They're called 'solos' because we play them on our own. I don't recall anyone ever saying we could only ever bring one character at a time into the dungeon.

. Yep, I often bring an expendable friend or two 😀

[Aramis of Erak]

Mar 30, 2022 15:32:13 GMT -5 darrght said:

You're not wrong about Ken's solos viva. I think when my first character escaped from Naked Doom I had a party

I suspect Ken's conditionally psychopathic... When writing, he makes things WAY too hard.

It's also worth noting that it was even MORE unfair under 5th, where (I'm simplifying here): you level up in a manner similar to D&D, with set breakpoints, but each level only adds Level# att points.

At least under 7 & later, your levels are twice as wide as the difficulty increase from a SRL=ChL standpoint.

My suggestion for enjoying the trip? if it's written by Ken, use half your level and half the MR.

Remember: If you're not having fun, you are doing it wrong. Modify until it's fun.

[ProfGremlin]

Took a little longer to track this one down, I keep forgetting to bookmark it. Not any more!

Detailed listing of T&T solos

This thread has a list of T&T Solos posted by jbbourgoin giving all sorts of details that can be helpful when selecting a solo for a particular character. Keep in mind that it is not comprehensive despite the extensive list of solos. Fact is, it was originally posted six years ago and a number of solos have been produced since then as well as old ones updated for dT&T. Still, it's a useful place to start.

The file is in *.ods format which is the spreadsheet file type for Open Office and/or Libre Office. I believe Excel should open it just fine. If it doesn't, try Google docs or, if you're on a Mac, Numbers.

[shinmajin]

This is a lot of support! I'm impressed! It seems that while cut from a similar cloth, T&T has a different spirit from other old-school ttrpg's!

[houndle]

Nothing to add to what has been said before, except I hope that it helps. I find those posts really useful and revisit them now and again. Castle Ironwood had passed me by... But no longer!
The question of balance (or survivability) seems to come up every so often, possibly because T&T works a little differently to other rule sets... Perhaps worth adding some explanatory notes in any future edition of the rules / beginner sets?

[viva]

Much longer list of solos is here:

www.princeofcups.com/tnt/SoloInfo.pdf

Also I really think a newer T&T player should take their deaths by the book for awhile. After you get a hang of things (rules, solo tendencies, etc.) I think you will be able to make much better decisions where to fudge the written word without taking too much of the suspense/risk/thrill out of a character surviving an encounter/solo.

For me, I don't want to GM myself through a solo. I like to experience the adventure how the author envisioned it. This definitely means lots of dead characters in most of the solos. Or sometimes there is just no really "good" option beyond survival. I'm thinking of one particular scenario in Deathtrap Equalizer here where I clearly remember kid me backtracking every option and wondering, "really? this is the only way out of this one?". And there truly was only one way out and it definitely impaired your character. So I trudged through, took my lumps, and it is still one of my favorite / most replayed of all the solos. Trollworld is tough!

[Rat Salad]

I like your take on playing the way the author envisioned it and "taking your lumps", viva. I do think the list of character deaths is another thing that sets T&T apart from other systems where the world falls apart because you lose your precious character. Heck, after a few years of T&T if you manage to get one to the upper levels of experience, you can really bask in the pride!

[darrght]

Apr 1, 2022 8:53:33 GMT -5 shinmajin said:

This is a lot of support! I'm impressed! It seems that while cut from a similar cloth, T&T has a different spirit from other old-school ttrpg's!

We at the 'bridge like to think so shinmajin

[houndle]

Apr 1, 2022 10:10:44 GMT -5 houndle said:

Nothing to add to what has been said before, except I hope that it helps. I find those posts really useful and revisit them now and again. Castle Ironwood had passed me by... But no longer!
The question of balance (or survivability) seems to come up every so often, possibly because T&T works a little differently to other rule sets... Perhaps worth adding some explanatory notes in any future edition of the rules / beginner sets?

Had some time to look at Castle Ironwood today. A pleasant, old school sort of adventure. Lost the first two characters very quickly (including one do-over because I overlooked a rule), the third one got out with some minor rewards (largely thanks to a ridiculously high Luck score) but was too feeble to get through some of the challenges.

There's something enormously liberating about rolling up a new character for these things. I used a straight 3 dice throw for generation, the only adjustment being to swap a score between 2 attributes to better fit the character's back story. I did use a slightly modified version of the "Random Stunts" rules from Trollszine 12 on a couple of occasions. Nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

[alkazar]

We could design a solo that is specifically for 1st level mages. Maybe mostly stuff that must be solved by casting spells. Maybe only a few combat encounters, and what is there is limited to 5 - 19 MR and only have 1 or 2 monsters in any given fight whose combined MR never exceeds 19.

[zanshin]

Lots of great tips here and brilliant links from profgremlin as ever.

I would throw in the following. Sorcerers solitude is designed for first level mages.as is while the cats away. Both are interesting and worth the price of the pdf.

I would also play my wizards using dT&T rules. Allow yourself a combat roll and a spell. Use was that are easy to self adjudicate, Ttyf, formal blade, poor baby. Make sure you give yourself the cost discount for your focus and check for recovery of Wiz, once per 10 minutes, every 5 paragraphs if the solo does not explain its time passage.

Good luck and have fun.

[darrght]

Apr 2, 2022 12:55:04 GMT -5 zanshin said:

I would throw in the following. Sorcerers solitude is designed for first level mages.as is while the cats away. Both are interesting and worth the price of the pdf.

.

I think you mean 'Sorcerer Solitaire' and 'When the Cat's Away' but yes, these are specifically for mages.

[mgtremaine]

Shame Final Exam never got released as PDF.

-Mike

[shinmajin]

Apr 2, 2022 12:55:04 GMT -5 zanshin said:

Lots of great tips here and brilliant links from profgremlin as ever.

I would throw in the following. Sorcerers solitude is designed for first level mages.as is while the cats away. Both are interesting and worth the price of the pdf.

I would also play my wizards using dT&T rules. Allow yourself a combat roll and a spell. Use was that are easy to self adjudicate, Ttyf, formal blade, poor baby. Make sure you give yourself the cost discount for your focus and check for recovery of Wiz, once per 10 minutes, every 5 paragraphs if the solo does not explain its time passage.

Good luck and have fun.

Hmm? dT&T says, "Not all instant-cast spells follow this rule. In fact, most will not. Although Take That You Fiend is listed as an instant cast, presumably it takes longer to fire it up. No other action (magical or melee) is possible for the caster in that same round." I figured no melee action meant you roll no combat dice, so you just eat the entirety of the enemy's roll as damage.