I enjoy having an opportunity to talk about Tunnels & Trolls, one of my favorite FRPGs, so when the above solo came in the mail a few days ago I started thinking about this post. Tunnels & Trolls, (T&T) came along right on the heals of White Box and author Ken St. Andre claims it as the world's second published RPG. T&T introduced a lot of firsts to the hobby, however, and among those were the first solo adventures. Agent of Death, here upgraded to the new Deluxe level rules, is one of those solo adventures.
I have also mentioned before my fondness for the pen and paper solo format as a preferred way to enjoy a game when friends are not available. Agent of Death is a large solo containing 64 pages of numbered paragraphs and illustrations. Rather than the usual one entry point, Agent offers the player a choice of three possible entry paragraphs, each rather unique. The adventure itself can be fairly short or quite lengthy depending on the choices made and of course the skill and luck needed for survival.
The adventure is set in the City of Khazan, founded by and named for Trollworld's greatest mage, the Great Khazan, who is rumored to be asleep on an island outside of time. The city is currently ruled by the Death Goddess herself. The title, Agent of Death, means what it says - that your character can become one of the Death Goddess/Empress' Agents, if you have what it takes! To succeed you will need a truly powerful PC, virtually a "superhero". If the player doesn't have one already, it is possible to become such a character during play of Agents.
Hela's House of Dark Delights is one of the attractions adventurers may visit while in Khazan, the city of monsters, and it appears here in Agents as one of the possible starting points or as a destination encountered while exploring the city. Hela's is an enormous obsidian pyramid that first made it's appearance in Different Worlds Magazine issue 22, July 1982. The polished ivory sign above the door reads, "House of Dark Delights. Beware of your wish, it may come true." Hela is a goddess from another dimension and things that happen inside her house don't always turn out as expected, but visits are usually memorable (for those who survive). The menu inside Hela's offers several interesting choices, indeed!
Lest I spoil the experience by going on, I will just say the Deluxe Agents solo is a nice upgrade that is consistent with the Deluxe treatment given to some other titles recently re-released for Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls and I find it definitely worth revisiting. It is written by system rules author, Ken St. Andre himself in his usual wickedly humorous style. If the prospect of Hela's doesn't lure you in, the cover illustration gives some hint at what else may be found while playing the adventure. Ah, but there's still more, much more... so, adventure awaits!
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