Predators, Tribbles And, The Fett

A recent discussion over at the Peryton Publishing Facebook page, in which we
conjured an alternate universe populated solely by science-fiction parodies (Shatner's Toupee meets a Tribble meets the Brain Slug's of Futurama anyone) has set me thinking.

The original topic matter was who would come out on top in a death match between Boba Fett and The Predator? This combined with the tangent that we traversed inspired Tom to want to pay homage to The Predator within his gaming world and, has set me wondering just how a Predator would shape up in Tunnels and Trolls terms.

What modifiers should the Kindred receive and, how should it's vast arsenal be statted out?

Whilst I am far away from reaching any definitive answers, I have found some great resources after a dig on-line, covering not only The Predator (which is apparently a "Yautja") and his weapons locker but, also a great fan-written supplement for the "other game" covering the usage of sci-fi weaponry in a fantasy setting.

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.

Spontaneous Roleplay!

So I'm just pottering along, minding my own business, checking my messages, idly thumbing through the news when suddenly I am transported off to scrub land, Arizona.. And I'm a neurosurgeon. A burn out but, hey do I have a way with the ladies. It must be spontaneous roleplay. Probably the best sort.

It all kicked off a couple of days ago when sifting through my Facebook feed, I came across a post from the fine folks over at Peryton Publishing:

You're a small town Sheriff's department in Arizona. You hear from the homeless kook by the 7-11 that Hitler's brain is transported from a pharmaceutical lab in Albuquerque to a hospital in LA by a bike gang. Oddly, the bum has always been a good source of information. There is a sudden surge of calls about UFOs in your area.
What do you and the other players do?

After a couple of jokes I was soon caught up in the flow of the action and, I have to say that even from my limited experience of sitting on the players side of the table, that this will be a session that stays with me.. In a good way.

Check out this exert and, why not check out the Peryton Publishing Facebook page whilst you're at it?

Tom: Dr Vance (Tom) you go to speak with your med-tech, that operates your clinic's portable X-Ray machine. When you come back into the exam room, the boy is gone. You look out in the waiting area, and his aunt is in there reading a magazine, like she is waiting for him.

Me: I call out to my med-tech (let's call her Mary), "Hey Mary, where's the Brubaker boy? I left him here only a minute ago. Dammit! Did he come past you?"

Tom: Mary comes around the corner with the portable X-ray machine humming in front of her as she guides it.
"I thought he was in Exam A?"

Me: "Nope". Dr Vance takes a moment to ponder the situation and caress his fine jaw in an act of passive narcissism. "Well he must be here somewhere. Be a doll and take a look out front would you?" Doctor Vance then proceeds to check Exam A, suspecting that Billy is playing some silly prank or perhaps even playing hide and seek.

Tom: The boy isn't hiding behind the exam couch, nor in the small cabinets beneath the sink. (Draw a playing card, if it's within three from what I've drawn, its a successful saving roll on perception) 

A Little Experiment On A Monumental Scale

It's taken a lot of re-reads and a fair bit of time but, I am finally in position
where I am not only looking forward to playing Race For The Galaxy solo but, I also feel fairly confident so without constantly referencing the rulebook.

Much of the confusion arose as a result of the sheer mass of symbols that the game uses to denote it's functions. It's like trying to read hieroglyphs without a Rosetta Stone to hand. Not easy. Not by a long shot. I'm past that now though (thankfully). I'll still keep the rulebook to hand but, I now feel that I can muster enough basic vocab to order a coffee in a galaxy far far away and not be served with a rusted tin bucket by mistake. ;0).

So with this new knowledge under my belt, something that I thought might be fun would be to build whole empires from my play reports (which I also plan on sharing). It's something that I have done before when playing Munchkin, creating some weird and wonderful delvers, so why wouldn't it work on a galactic scale?

Will the people favor trade, politics, diplomacy or, military might? Let the cards decide.

The only factor that the cards won't really determine is ownership of the empire in question as Race For The Galaxy doesn't really go anyway towards covering such matters. Still, having an instant power block to throw into games like Starfaring and New Khazan seems like a pretty sweet deal.

Just add alien lifeforms. ;0).

When Is An Orc Not An Orc?

In my last post I outlined that rather than focusing too much on writing up my house rules of late, I had been working on fleshing out a setting. Not just a setting though. To be worth its salt or, weight in words a good setting has to be evocative and new, yet grounded in the familiar.

It's a tall order.

It's important though. I'd even go as far as saying that the setting is more important than the rules, as it's the setting that allows you to bring your character to life. It's your stage on which to roleplay. So this was not a task to be taken lightly.

Okay, maybe that's a bit heavy a tone but, hey, it's important.

So, I had been mulling over a couple of ideas but nothing seemed to have that certain sparkle that I felt the task at hand really called for. That was until by chance a couple of unrelated ideas clicked together to create something, which so far is really working for me. Like all works in progress, it's subject to change but, I'd like to take the opportunity to sight my sources that have led me this far, which would be the Peryton RPG and, Supernatural (the TV series).

In particular it's the chapter concerning races in the Peryton RPG that peaked my interest and their approach. They DON'T tell you what an Elf looks like, in fact they clearly state that they aren't going to tell you that an Elf is willowy and thin, if the Elves in your setting are more childlike in appearance (or much to that effect). The net result is however that my Orc, may not be your Orc. It's still an Orc though, just a different take on the mythos.. Which brings me to my second inspiration, Supernatural.

Supernatural is a great show but, the one thing that always kind of bugged me about the whole set-up for the show was their tendency to screw with the mythos surrounding the bad guy of the week and, how the names of the various angels and demons in the later seasons never really tied up with any of the actual lore surrounding them.

Is that such a bad thing though?

Sure, it still bugs the hell out of me but, reading the Peryton RPG has helped me realise that all the writers were doing was making the familiar fresh again. Which is exactly what I'm setting out to do.

I still fully intend to draft in the Orcs. They'll just be different. Very different. Related to Werewolves and Hellhounds, all woven into being by dark elves for their own twisted reasons. Not that even the dark Elves will be run of the mill. Werewolves will still be very much allergic to silver, but for a very different reason.

A blend of the familiar with the new. Just what I was shooting for.

Now I just need to sit down and write it all up!

Plunder For The Cave #1

Plunder for the cave will be the new catch all title for posts relating to new items that I have added to my gaming collection. Whether that be miniatures, board games, source books or, other miscellaneous gaming goodies.

If the guide at Google has sent you my way and you'd like to know more about what you see in the collection, feel free to post up a comment or a question and, I will get back to you as soon as possible.

New additions this week:

Dungeon Fighter: The time between this catching my eye after walking through the door of my friendly local gaming store and deciding that I HAD to have it would have been missed by The Flash if he'd blinked.

The appeal was instant. A goofy dungeon crawl with a sense of humor bordering on the insane. A game that literally on occasion instructs you to close your eyes and throw your dice between your legs.. Yeah, I had to have it. :0).

Although I think that it is unlikely that this game will see massive amounts of table time with the group, I know that with the right guys, every session will be a blast. The game also offers a solo play option, too so even if it doesn't see too much group play I know that I'll certainly be breaking it out every now and again.

Peryton Fantasy Roleplaying Game: This was another instance of seeing an item and knowing that I had to have it (there's a theme starting to develop here).

The guys over at Peryton Publishing are a great bunch and this really is a fantastic product. So far I have only had the time to give it a quick flick through but, for anyone familiar with D&D 3.5 and the OGL it should be a breeze to run.

From the outset though I can state three things without a doubt.

1: The artwork is sweet!

2: The layout is bang on!

3: There is more here than just your standard OGL product. Much more! 

So, considering what you have here could easily be considered a replacement for the trio of 3.5 manuals, with a more old-school feel, at a fraction of the cost, I cannot recommend you picking up this product more highly. It's a lot of bang for your buck.

Pirate Versus Pirate: Another item that I had been eyeballing for sometime but couldn't decide whether to buy or not was Pirate Versus Pirate by Out of The Box.

I was certainly drawn in by the Kovalic art but in all honesty pirates aren't really my thing. I know a lot of people where the mere mention of pirates alone would have had them running game in hand to the till but, that's just really not me. I much prefer a dungeon crawl (as you may have well guessed by now) and, even when I play sci-fi games there is an underlying crawl element. After all, Space Hulk is little more than a dungeon in space.

All that aside though, I am glad that I bought this game because behind the theme there is a pretty solid strategy game that frankly would work, pirate or no pirate.

The only real problem that I have with the game is the inclusion of dice in a game that encourages and, pretty much relies upon strategic movement. Me being me though, I have thought my way around this one and done away with the dice all together.

So instead of rolling 2D4 for movement each turn, you now simply move a single pirate 5 spaces. This keeps the game balanced but increases the level of strategy involved and, creates a game that plays a lot more like Queen Bee, an abstract strategy favorite of mine. It manages to do this without creating a rule set that moots ownership of both games. Win-win in my books!

A Couple of Reaper Minis: In addition to two new games and a new read, I also picked myself out a couple of new miniatures to indulge myself in my new found love of painting.

So added to the "Going to paint sometime soon" collection I now have Spectre and a Fog Wraith, both by Reaper. Those of you who know me pretty well will no doubt know that I really dig Undead and Demonic miniatures, so the fact that I am really looking forward to painting these shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

That's all the plunder for the plunder that I have to show you for the moment but, I do hope to be adding more soon and, giving each of these items a post to call their own.

Links

Dungeon Fighter by Cranio Creations.
Peryton Fantasy Roleplaying Game by Peryton Publishing.
Pirate Versus Pirate by Out Of The Box.
Reaper.

Someone Already Did It!

Simpsons already did it!

I set my mind to "design mode" this morning, using Tunnels and Trolls as my framework and reached a somewhat startling realization that even with my fandom I had overlooked and, brought to mind some of the exploits of Professor Chaos.

It seemed that every idea that I came up with had already been done by someone, somewhere, some how.

Which ironically has still given me more than enough to write about! It's just not the post I was looking for. ;0).

So what have I found?

Pretty much that no matter what genre you want to set your game in, Tunnels and Trolls has you covered.

Now, that wasn't exactly news to me as I have always considered T&T to be a truly flexible gem but, keeping by and largely to high fantasy role playing I really hadn't given too much thought to just what else was out there on the market.

Each and everyone of these products is more than deserving of it's own post (which it will receive in the fullness of time) but, as a brief overview for those of you that want to jump ahead, here are some items that are well worth looking up.

Science Fiction: Peryton Publishing has really covered the genre well with their release of New Khazan, taking the familiar Tunnels and Trolls tropes to infinity and beyond!

Modern / Pulp: Mercenaries, Spies and, Private Eyes by Michael A. Stackpole, whilst not being true Tunnels and Trolls is so close to the original that adjusting to it's many nuances (all completely necessary I might add for the genre) should be light work for any budding gamer.

Horror: Currently being play tested but already looking amazing, Stay Alive by Jerry Teleha will no doubt become your one stop shop for Tunnels and Trolls Horror. Definitely one to keep a watchful eye on.

In the meantime however, it should be noted that there is an article within Mercenaries, Spies and, Private Eyes (called "Tunnels and Thompsons") for playing Call of Cthulhu style scenarios, which I believe was the original idea behind the re-write.

Supers: Ken St Andre has released a product in this field called Power Trip that has sadly fallen out of production as far as I can tell but, not to worry. The fine mind that is Dan Prentice has written up some great ideas for introducing supers into the existing Tunnels and Trolls rules here, at the Trollbridge.

There is probably, okay, almost certainly many more genres besides but in my opinion these are the biggies and, they're covered!

Someone already did it! ;0)

Review: Elder Tunnels - Halloween 2010

Balancing horror and high-fantasy can be a difficult task.

Even in surreal, pan-dimensional warp spaces like the many worlds of Tunnels and Trolls it's a delicate balance. Many of the classic tropes have already been explored in depth by most gamers, either through the classic fiction that most of us will have read or, through popular culture.

Suffice to say, springing a surprise horror adventure on your party can be a difficult task for the GM... That's why we're taking a look at a Halloween product in early August.

Pick it up now, read through it within the next week and, your next session can really bring some bite to the table. Not only will the players not be expecting you to run such a scenario but, to their credit, the two GM adventures included in this issue don't read like horror at all... Until your players are already up to their necks in it that is. ;0).

But what do you get for your money?

The Ephemera Furnace

 

The first GM adventure in the book has several interesting themes running through it. One of which is a theme that doesn't often make it to my Tunnels and Trolls table in all honesty. That theme being morality.

I have long since thought that it is hard to herald folks that break into the homes of (granted, less savory) folks to steal and murder as heroes but, that would seem to be at the heart of our hobby. In fact, it's such common place in high-fantasy that most of us barely think twice about it. I sure don't when I am at the gaming table. I have even heard tales of a thieving little hobbit in another group, stealing the door knobs on every chamber he passed because they were made of brass!

So it is fair to say that any delver that's made it so far through their career (often having set foot inside their first dungeon is a  good benchmark) has done something immoral. Usually something like mowing down a poorly armed goblin with a broadsword for his pocket change or, hacking up a swarm of rats, just because they're in the way.

This adventure redresses that balance however and, the more black hearted amongst your party could find themselves having a very hard time! Which I think is a good thing. Not only does it encourage better roleplaying by forcing players to evaluate their actions but, it also throws them one hell of a curve ball.

Interestingly and coincidently, I saw a similar dilemma in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager that I had watched only last week.  So if you happen to have a season 1 on DVD and want to run this adventure, I would highly recommend taking a look at "Phage" for some pointers upon the motivations of the NPC's and, possible developments that may occur as a result of this adventure.

Resurrection Missions

I have to admit that when looking at the product as a whole, I find the inclusion of the Resurrection Missions article odd.

In all fairness to the author and the editors over at Peryton Publishing there is nothing wrong with the article. Nothing what so ever. It is well written, has that familiar Tunnels and Trolls take on fantasy about it and, offers three very entertaining short adventures that could be used to either break the ice with a new party or, as a special event to reunite players with their most favored fallen characters from the year that have met sticky ends.

It could be great! But somehow when compared to the other adventures it seems to fall short... Which is where the oddness comes in.

There is nothing wrong with it what so ever, yet I just can't seem to get on with it. I suspect that this may be more to do with me as a reader favoring certain authors, their styles of writing and, the way that they bring the words to life, so should certainly not be taken in any way, shape or, form as a slight on Mike's work. It's just evidently not to my taste.

It is however a fine piece of work and a good solid contribution to the zine, so well worth a read.

The Farmer's Daughter

In fairness to my readership, I must admit that I have not yet had time to play through this and, as not to spoil any of my future adventures I have pretty much tried to avoid reading anything about this solo what so ever.

As such, I can't really review it in any fair manner, so I will be coming back to this one at a later date. One thing I can comment on however is the interesting take on Grant Wood's, American Gothic that it uses as cover art and, that comment would have to be, awesome! Awesome with a capital A!

Trouble Among the Tumbled Stones

Last by no means least is Tom K. Loney's GM adventure, Trouble Among the Tumbled Stones.

Anyone that has read my previous Elder Tunnels review will no doubt have guessed that I was really looking forward to reading this adventure after how much enjoyment I got from the Wuthering Depths. Suffice to say, I was not disappointed.

Continuing in the setting of his previous adventure, Trouble Among the Tumbled Stones takes us above ground and into troubled times as Tom fleshes out this rich world with his vibrant imagination.

As with Christina Lea's adventure, things start out rather unassuming. People are going missing along the main trade road and, this being bad for business the local authorities want to put a stop to things. As such, they hire the party to investigate. Now that all sounds rather tame doesn't it?

Not at all horrific.

Well, that might well be the case if the people weren't going missing right in the middle of Ghoul country! Ghoul's that interestingly enough the locals seem to live a peaceful coexistence with or, at least a have a tolerance for. The Ghouls even have their own settlement and community.

Now hows that for a twist! Normally you'd be charging the Ghoul city with a bunch of angry locals, brandishing torches and pitchforks sure that they were the villains of the piece but nothing is quite that clear cut here. In this instance, the party are likely the outsiders, new to the area and, potentially the subject of suspicion from the Ghouls. Talk about turning the tables!

That's as about as much as I can say before I start throwing spoilers out there (which I really don't want to do) but, for all the great content in this zine I really have to recommend you pick up a copy.

You won't be disappointed.

Links

Check out the Elder Tunnels here.
Take a look around Peryton Publishing.

Pick up the PDF here ($4.99) or, order your dead tree copy here ($7.99).

Hot Nights In Lowhollow... Hot Stuff!!

I was quite excited to receive news of a new piece of work by Tom K. Loney in my feed today.

Whilst I am yet to pick up a copy myself, if his earlier work is anything to go by this should be nothing short of spectacular.

Tom's earlier work, Wuthering Depths in my opinion created a setting worthy of the title masterpiece, so the chance to pick up another of his brain children at the low price of only $2.25 (that's right, it's on sale) seems like a steal and a definite must have item.

Pick up your copy here.

300... Smashed!

Like a bull in a china shop or a Spartan at your gates we've now smashed the goal of 300 page views and, are well on the way towards 400!

In fact, we've come close to tripling our page views in just the space of two days!

So again, a big thank you to all of you that have popped by to show your support. Huge thank yous to those folks that have decided to follow the blog and add it to their own and, an EXTRA special thank you to the great guys over at Peryton Publishing for the great publicity that they have given us.

Next goal: 500 views. Let's see how quickly we can make it happen.

Week Of The Troll: Elder Tunnels - Winter / Spring 2010

It couldn't be the week of the troll without giving an honorable mention to the excellent folks over at Peryton Publishing. Not only are they great guys but, when it comes to their products you sure do get plenty of bang for your buck.

Starting way back in the cold winds of Winter 2010, Peryton Publishing now has 6 issues of the Elder Tunnels zine under its belt and, in my opinion, they just keep getting better and better.

Right now however, let me take you back to issue one, as we take a journey and begin our exploration of the Elder Tunnels.

It has to be said that for my money the first issue was a little hit and miss from my point of view. I absolutely loved the "Wuthering Depths" adventure written by Tom K. Loney. It had depth and an atmosphere that really drew you in as the GM reading over his notes. Stephen Butka's effort, "The Sorcerers Chimney" however left a lot to be desired.

This is not to say that however that the adventure was poorly conceived but, rather that in comparison to Tom's work it seemed incomplete and sketchy. Monsters are presented in a bizarre fashion and, encounters and locations lack any great detail. That said however, I can see that this may appeal to the old school GM's out there who see loosely described rooms and blank locations as a great chance to show off their own creative flair.

That's not me though. I like nicely fleshed out adventures that are ready to run straight out of the book. This is what I feel that you get with the Wuthering Depths. More than that I would say that the Wuthering Depths isn't just an adventure, it's a setting. A setting that is well worth the price tag on the cover, even without the other adventure included.

In conclusion, buy it. It's well worth it.

Links

Check out Elder Tunnels
Take a look around Peryton Publishing

Pick up the PDF here ($4.99)
Pick up a dead tree copy here ($7.99)