Loot-O-Matic: Coins Of Different Kinds

Following on from my previous post where I set out to "fix" the 7.5 random treasure generator issue of spitting wealth at you like a broken ATM, I have got as far as tweaking the coinage. Here's what I have so far:

Money Table (2D6, DARO)

2-9: Iron (Worth 0.01SP each)

10-16: Steel (Worth 0.1SP each)

17-22: Copper (Worth 0.1SP each)

23-27: Orichalum (Worth 0.2SP each)

28-31: Bronze (Worth 0.5SP each)

32-34: Silver (Worth 1SP each)

35-36: Gold (Worth 10SP each)

37+: Mithril (Worth 100SP each)

When rolling for the amount of coins, roll 3D6, TARO.
All coins weigh 1WU each.

Anyone with the original 7.5 rulebook will notice that I have made some considerable changes. I have altered the value of the coins, how many coins you get, as well as removing some completely.

I like the idea of the monsters in Trollworld running under a seperate currency, so I kept the Iron and Steel pieces but the idea of Elven Silver and Trollish Gold seemed a little too specific to me. I was also at a loss as to why they were worth so much on the original table. What can you actually do to silver to increase its value by a factor of 50!? I've also recast the role of Orichalum, which is now the new "2 Copper Piece" instead of the extremely rare mythical metal of Atlantis. I just figured that with Mithril being available, do I really need another thin on the ground resource? Mithril's cool enough. :0).

At this point I should probably point out that whilst the treasure may seem to have gone from one extreme to another (bountiful to pitiful), this table and the one in my previous post were created with a method of treasure generation slightly different from the norm in mind.

Players now roll 1D6 for every 10 MR that their opponent had (or fraction of 10) and, any D6 that rolls within the monsters "range" allows one roll on the random treasure generator. So a MR 40 beastie might allow up to 4 rolls on the generator! (Possibly 5 if that were 41).

The only problem with the "range" idea is that beyond Buffalo Castle, I can't think of any solo that uses the range mechanic. Of course I could be wrong. Either way it's not a problem for three reasons:

1 - I plan to work my way through every solo I can lay my hands on and assign ranges, posting them up here.

2 - I also plan to create a generic list of all monsters commonly found in Trollworld; adding ranges; which should cover most of what I miss with point one.

3 - A new feature I'm working on called the Wandering Monster Stable will give you themed wandering monster tables; including ranges; that you can insert into any solo you already happen to own that uses the wandering monster mechanic. The idea being that you can season your solo's to taste. :0).

Loot-O-Matic

The Loot-O-Matic from Grimtooth Industries

Some people ponder the big questions. Why are we here? Where are we going?
What would happen if I taped a piece of toast to a cats back butter-side up and dropped it? Not me though, I'm pondering how my solitaire adventures through Trollworld compare to other peoples and, given a choice which random treasure generator would you use?

There are a lot of fine choices out there. From the bog standard generators that come with the rules (which we'll be focusing on in this post), on-line generators, generators from other systems that you can convert to Tunnels and Trolls, your own homebrew creations that best represent your own vision of Trollworld and, of course the fine generators that can be found in Elder Tunnels.

Personally given a choice between 5.5 and 7.5, I prefer the generator in the latter. Not that there's anything wrong with the 5.5 generator.. It's just not as interesting. It produces coins, jewels and, jeweled items. That's it!

7.5 however can produce all of that (in greater variation) plus weapons, armor, potions and, other magical bits and bobs. Which sounds great, in theory. The only problem is that it can go a bit (and for a bit, read WAY) overboard in the net worth of the treasure it dishes out, in one case handing a 1st level character a necklace worth in excess of 23,000... Yeah.. Just a "bit" overboard.

Other than it's Mad Hatter nature though, it's a good generator, so what to do? Enter homebrewing to fix an error that should have frankly been glaringly obvious from the word get go, the first table.

The first table in the 7.5 rulebook makes it just as likely that you'll roll jewels as coins, with a separate entry for jeweled items, meaning that it is now four times more likely that you'll find jewels of some description when compared to 5.5 and, twice as likely that you'll find jewels instead of coins.. Which common sense would tell you just isn't right.

My solution

Replace the first table in the book with the following one:

2D6 DARO

2-7: Money [See Money Table]

8-12: Weapon [See Weapon Table]

13-16: Armor [See Armor Table]

17-19: Jewels [See Jewels Table]

20-21: Jewelry [See Jewelery Table]

22+: Potion [See Potion Table]

Admittedly it's only a start but it I feel it goes a long way towards "fixing" the generator. Given time I will probably end up modifying all of the 7.5 tables along the same lines and, maybe introduce a few other McGuffins such as mundane items and a more robust et of tables for generating magical items.

Dungeon Masters Series

Which has absolutely nothing to do with being a GM... Well almost nothing.

It is instead a reference to one of the most influential games that I remember playing as a child.

I remember the first time that I loaded up Dungeon Master on my neighbors old Atari-ST. For years I had owned personal computers of my own, booting up my first Spectrum 128k program at the tender age of 6 (Chase HQ as I recall) but nothing could have prepared my younger self for what I was about to experience and, once I had started, there was going to be no turning back for this young delver.

Suffice to say, this game blew me away!

So I was smitten. This game was cool and, I wanted more.. And now I'm going to get it!

It's an idea that I have been toying with for sometime now but wouldn't it be great to cross these characters over to Trollworld and, take them for a whirl in dungeons new?

I mean, it's certainly doable.

Tunnels and Trolls is both simple enough and flexible enough and, with the advent of 7.0 onwards and the addition of Talents it is really possible to flesh out characters beyond there 5.0 bones that would have been possible, well, conceived beforehand.

So, that's exactly what I plan to do!

There are 24 champions in total in the original game and, with many of them being based upon either historical figures, ideals, or, other fictitious characters there is plenty in for me to work with in the way of artistic license and background material.

Also there are a few interesting factors to consider in this project. Namely the new kindreds that some of the champions will introduce, the potential for new spells needing to be created and, the fact that not everyone was armed from the outset! Almost unthinkable in Tunnels and Trolls terms!!

So will this work?

I think so. At least I hope so. It might be fair to say that some characters have a far greater chance than others of surviving the perils that face a delver on a day-to-day basis, where even walking down a city street can lead to high jinx and shenanigans but, I look at it this way.

Where's the sense of adventure without the possibility of failure?

Links

Learn more about the Dungeon Master series of games here