For Glory, Gold, and Adventure

Beyond the Gold Box

Sometimes a game comes along that perfectly fills a niche, leaving virtually no room for any other. Sometimes a game gives me just what I am looking for and nothing more, and nothing less. Sometimes, the game seems so perfect "as is" that I am not interested in looking for better, I am not even tempted to tinker with, or "house-rule" the system.

For me Tunnels & Trolls is this game. The incomparable Tunnels & Trolls, or "T&T" as it is lovingly referred to by its many fans, is just perfect for solo play. I believe its originators recognized this early on in T&T publication as the very first solo module I am aware of of any kind - Buffalo Castle - was written by Rick Loomis in 1976 for T&T.

The orange box was not my first copy of T&T. That introduction came in a spiral bound 4th edition paperback booklet that I picked up during a late 1970s Gencon trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin (1978 or '79?). The first edition of T&T was released in 1975 - just a year, if that long, after the publication of the World's First Role-Playing Game that came in the now-famous "wood-grain" box; Tunnels & Trolls quickly progressed through several editions leading up to the 5th edition (released in 1979) when they seemed to find the "sweet spot" and let things rest for a time. The 5th edition became the standard T&T for many of us and I believe it was in print and available through the original publisher Flying Buffalo until the Kickstarter for Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls happened in 2014-15.

The above pictured box contains the Flying Buffalo United Kingdom (F.B.U.K.) 5th edition rulebook - a saddle-stitched orange softcover slightly larger in size than a digest journal - packaged together with the solo adventure Buffalo Castle and included a couple of adventures designed for the T&T referee to run for their players - Trollstone Caverns, included as an example adventure in the rulebook, and the freestanding loose-leaf Dungeon of the Bear written by Jim "Bear" Peters - who incidentally was one of the original players of T&T and seems to have remains actively engaged with the game to this day. I have played both the included solo adventure and the mentioned group dungeon adventures many times and I find them entertaining (and to provide a little "tongue-in-cheek" humor at times).

Tunnels & Trolls has used the same basic system mechanic across all the editions. Therefore adventures written specifically for one edition are easily played using any other edition - older or newer. The mechanical edition changes have mostly been directed at "play balance" and consist of more tweaking than redesigning. From its first edition, T&T has used "roll the dice and compare the total" to resolve conflict between player characters and monsters. The rolls of players are added together and likewise all the monster dice are summed and the lower sum (loosing side) is subtracted from the higher sum (winning side). Hits are assigned based on the difference in the sums with the losing "team" distributing damage among its crew. 

I real genius in the system mechanics of the T&T game. Even better than combat is perhaps its saving throw mechanic. A T&T "Saving Throw" involves rolling two six-sided dice and comparing the total to a target number that is determined by subtracting an attribute score from a "Saving Throw" level number. An example of a common T&T Saving Throw as made during play could be found when either the player asks to make a "First Level Luck Saving Throw" in order to try some maneuver or is told to do so by the referee. Depending on the edition, the player may subtract their character's "Luck" score from either 20 or 25 and try to equal or exceed the difference on two dice - T&T uses only six-sided dice. Doubles on the dice add together and are rolled again with the new dice total added in again. This is an open-ended rolling technique used as long as doubles are rolled, thus "making the long shot" is always a possibility. A minimum score is required, such as a total of "five" on the two dice, in order to be considered a "success". The "Saving Throw" can be used to avoid a trap, or just about anything else the referee agrees to such as convincing a guard to "look the other way". 

The game of T&T works quite well with a group or as a solo game and I have also enjoyed playing T&T many times with friends, using either an adventure of my own making or one of the published modules for designed for group-play. I have also played the group-play adventures as a "solo" using my party of adventurers and acting as my own "GameMaster". (The unique game mechanics of T&T lend themselves quite well to one player rolling for multiple characters.) Although I do play other games in a solo style, T&T has remained my favorite for those games. It is a game I am always excited to play and is my "go-to" system pick for a rules-lite style game to introduce beginners to table-top adventure gaming.