Like a Speeding Slug

A blue bear got lured out of a dungeon. Just as well - the party would have perished many times over without it. it even saved them from cholera. The fact that it only spoke ursine and uruk, neither of which they knew, made things harder but its INT of 10 was sufficient for sign language to get them by.

It had STR and CON of 100 and SPD of 16. Had. Because it looked at a gorgon's head in a ruby chest and got seriously scrambled. STR and CON doubled and SPD was quartered. The bear was now L20 by virtue of its boosted STR but was down to a statuesque 4 for SPD.

Dreadfully ponderous. Fair enough with its new stone skin.

But SPD saving rolls! Add 20 to any failed attempt and suddenly this bear reacts like an cobra on a hotplate and sprints like Usain Bolt. Roll even 1,5 and it cracks off a L3 SR on SPD. Maybe not actually a

Constant Vigil - New solo at Drive Thru

I took a break from other writing projects because this little adventure came unbidden in the night. Although he didn't appear until half way through writing the 50-odd paragraphs, a hero from the past climbed on to the page in a new guise, cloaked in the guise of a pun.
Another unexpected twist was the emergence of 'Wizard Control' which seemed apt.
Pretty much for anyone bar wizards, I'd say.

Naharat won my riddle contest at Trollhalla and I think I unfairly taxed G'noll so they both are awarded free copies ( a massive saving of $1.99).

Charlie and Chet, oceans apart, play-tested and passed it fit for public consumption.

Here's my cover (which I think I managed to get twice in the pdf but that's a whole heap better than not at all):

Bunter Wants Tuck

Did you read the marvellous Frank Richards' books about Billy Bunter, the greedy, lying, lazy Greyfriars schoolboy? You should! The Fat Owl of the Remove lives on in this board game we made. If Bunter can survive the threat of detention from Mr Quelch (Q), not get booted by Coker, Wharton or Cherry and if that blessed postal order actually arrives from the pater then William George Bunter might actually break into the tuck shop and feed his fat face. Yaroo! Crikey!

Three Dice+Three People=A Movie Script

We've been busking games with three dice and no rules recently. Pick a setting - could be planets, could be castles, could be elephants in the jungle or guys in a bar.

More than three people is fine - we were the magnificent seven yesterday but I like three of four best for the rapidity.

Each turn, a player can ask for information and take an action. Information is about himself (eg an attribute) or his planet or castle or population or whatever. Lyu ran a planet with great scientific inventiveness (15 on 3d6) but awful engineering (rating 5 which fell to 4) - he sent half his population to another planet on a transporter ship of genius design but the engineering was hopeless - 7 days out from home world, the life support systems failed and he has seven day, maybe less, air left...

The actions arise from 2d6 - the saving roll - added to the attribute to reach 20 or 25 or...

As GM, you through in a few curve balls from time to time, and try to remember enough of what's gone on before to be consistent and wise.

We played in a Wendy's last Friday and kids were soon sidling up to hear the story unfold, fascinated by the part the dice played.

Who is the saint who invented dice?

Deception: Strangebrew's Chambers of the Unknown

I found this trumpet so I am going to blow it. This is the most 'ordinary' thing I have written and I worked hard on making more than that. Chet Cox, the Wit of the 'walla, I don't know that I have enough gold to pay for this!

A Deceptive Solo Adventure 

One problem with reviewing products at DriveThruRPG/RPG Now sites is that creators' feelings get hurt, they gnash their teeth and rage, and one is courteously requested to never review anything of that rule system again. At least not on DTRpgNow.

But this is my own site, and I think I'll review that which I wish to review, and type about what I want to type about.

Right now, I want to talk about Deception: Strangebrew's Chambers of the Unknown by Mark Thornton. Mark is competing for the coveted Longest Title award in any category he can manage. The solo is even longer.

For yes, this is a solo adventure - AND it's a great Gamesmaster adventure also, with added fiddly bits for the GM. It's TWO great games in one, and just look at that shine! (Apologies to Shimmer.) Using the Tunnels & Trolls system, Deception invites you to rid the general area of an alchemist/wizard/EEEEEvil dude (maybe) who is just about to revenge himself upon the community and take over a whole lot of the world.

And there's hardly any way to prepare for this mission, because Strangebrew (That's his name. Don't
blame me!) already grabbed most of the things you need and has them guarded and/or hidden and trapped
within his stronghold.

IF you can find all these things and IF you survive and IF you can figure out how to use them correctly, you MIGHT survive and MIGHT find this isn't the end of things. The adventure continues - which may be good or bad. Literally.

Because temptation is very real in this adventure.

You have several choices, and it's not a clear good vs evil type choice. The Deception is that there may be advantages for everyone ... IF----


Well, it's not black and white..

Mark outdid himself here. It's huge (and needs a POD option, so you won't use three ink cartridges) and
replayable in so many different ways. And then it can become a GM adventure for your players - which you can run as if you never played the solo - or which you can run as if the solo adventure happened and the players' characters are now dealing with the aftermath.

This is good solid adventure with meat on its bones. Plenty of opportunity for the gamesmaster to "make it his/her own" yet plenty of information if you don't want to do a lot of work.

I want more. Because this definitely calls for sequels, and I can't count on someone to gamesmaster it for me. If you are such a gamesmaster, report for duty right now! But first play Deception. It's the most fun a gamer can have.
----------------------------------
Deception is only $5.99 at DTRpgNow

THe Conclusion of an Epic

Some months ago, I along with a great group of Trolls, set out on Ken St Andre's 'Khazan' game over at the Outer Sanctum. It was dark and tense. The players became paranoid and nothing was easy. Then Ken had to pass on the game because of other, weighty commitments and Roy Cram took over. Roy told a great story with players in tow and has just wrapped it all up.

My character, a specialist mage (my first!), the innocent half-elf conjuror, Perry Stroika, survived. The simple forest lad emerged far better equipped to walk in a dangerous, deadly world but far from unscathed by his actions and their impact on events beyond his control. Here are his reflections:

"The formulae spilling out of his lips from the jumble of his brains were something Perry was painfully aware of, sleep notwithstanding. He wanted to talk to Mensa about this but now was not the time. The arithmetical adventure in store for the two strangely-bound Viners would not unfold for a few more moons yet.

He was happy to accept the position in the library for a limited tenure as he had much to learn and wanted to repay the kindness and consideration he had been shown through sweat of brow and mental toil; happy too that this young woman was pleased that he would stay on with her here. He hoped Zhahn would be accepting the librarian posting too because he felt the need to better understand the elf's world view, not so different to that he had inherited from his forest kin but slanted sufficiently to give him pause for reflection.

As for Lumlas, Gronk, Lady Wenn and the others, Perry felt a lesser connection but as members of the Fellowship of the Vine from that first day in Khazan when he had been hit on the head by the uruk watchman, just for being half-elven, they had his undying loyalty and service.
Perry could not believe that Greybat had actually fallen and that he had touched the Death-Goddess. He wanted to return to Khazan one day, to prove to himself - and Mensa - that he could become street-smart. He would be keeping Jeeves close at hand though! Perry tipped his lost cap to that invisible friend, he of the wolf-troll roasting exploits.

A sigh passed Perry's lips again. Edurin, Wolf, Kannish, and Weslynn, Algris too, Madame Zolgah and her shattered crystal ball, the twisted folk of Hunt Center, the captain of the boat, Count Rasulki and his entourage - they all stormed through Perry's mind like dancers at a masquerade ball. Then his father, his poor, lost father, Perry held his head in his hands and wept. When all was said and all was done, he had failed. His attempt to bring close what could never be clasped safely to the heart had cost many lives. The sobbing carried him on in a tide of compassion and he swore that he would  never take a life again and that his days upon the earth would be directed only to the shaping of a kinder world."

Not In My House

No - it's not me telling off a teenage son or daughter.

I've been thinking about what that Liche-Lord might do to combat an army coming to to kick his butt - an army with wizards as well as warriors. Of course, he could just Blow Me To out of there but he would lose all his treasures...

...so what he needs is a Not In My House Spell! It stops beings entering. Simple. And, being cunning and malicious, he drops it long enough to lure some inside and then slams up the barriers.

He can see the army coming in his scrying stone and now the trap is baited.

Going After The Liche-Lord

Glak is a Dark-Brotherhood assassin and he was joined by three of the Mayor's champions as the city of Khaboom determined that the rumours of Vasnarax rising had to be taken seriously. There was Atlax, the strongman wielder of an enormous spiked club, Clynostalia the elven witch and the barely-human Aracula, she of the five arms and arachnid skin. They were accompanied by five urukin, all experienced guards and soldiers, four to delve into the dungeon beneath the mausoleum on the hill, one to look after the horses and wagon.

There was a case for saying that more should have stayed up top, with so many goblins, hobgoblins and ogres raiding the countryside for miles around at night, almost to the borders of the Rainbow Palace kingdom to the south but the group had befriended a seriously large hill giant, who lived in the surrounding Forest of Maugaral. The giant did not like the 'hobbies' or the 'gobbies' but he did warm to his new friend, the 'big little boy', Atlax.

With their escape route secure, the scouting delve began...

Perry's Battle Against Evil

Perry gripped on to the Ekwinelva tightly and grimaced as a gargoyle and a dire bat targeted him. As soon as they were in range, Perry hit the gargoyle with a Hold That Pose spell (rolls 2.3), causing the monster to plummet like a stone to the ground (the gargoyle takes 6d6 damage from the fall = 24, MR now 66). The Ekwinelva circled the dire bat (needs higher roll than bat to elude the monster; rolls 9; bats rolls 1,2) with superb flying skills causing the bat to stall its wings as it was bemused by its airy trickery.

Perry fired his bow at close quarters (rolls 2 on 1d6) skewering the bat and doing 20 points of damage; the Ekwinelva smashed the hurt and helpless monster with its powerful front hooves, doing a further 65 points of damage – the tattered and bloody bat spiraled to the ground where the shock of impact killed it stone dead.

The gargoyle rose into the air once more and Perry laughed and waved his hand at it, in an unspoken taunt. The gargoyle’s eyes rolled in a hapless understanding of what was to come: another Hold That Pose spell! [Rolls 1,2 – the spell failed!] Perry roared as his over-confidence proved an annoyance. The gargoyle did not even realise what had gone wrong for the half-elf.

The Ekwinelva circled and feinted, waiting for Perry’s command, giving the now fully-focused conjuror the chance to try his spell again. [Rolls 4,5 – lightning didn’t strike twice!] The gargoyle froze, as it knew it would, and fell again, this time from a lesser height but still taking 10 more points of damage (MR now 56). The Ekwinelva dropped menacingly over the monster and when Perry had recovered from casting his spell, he fired his bow again [rolls 4, fine], sticking the gargoyle in the left shoulder and doing a further 30 points of damage.

Perry nudged the Ekwinelva with his heels gently and the creature stamped on the gargoyle’s head, shattering its skull (a further 110 points of damage). The battle was over. Half-elf and Ekwinelva a potent combination of magic and might.

Sixth Sense (direct replacement for Dear God)

Same WIZ cost, etc.

The basic shift is that 'you get a feeling'. Is that feeling always right? No way, Jose.

Player - 'Will I die if I go into this dungeon?'

GM - 'You get a queasy feeling and feel it is not going to be a picnic in the park.'

or

GM - 'You feel good about this, on top of you game, you know nothing is certain but you feel you can march and overcome anything you might meet if you stay sharp and keep your wits about you and have a slice of luck!'

Acid-barb rule:

The GM secretly rolls either 1d12 or 2d6 (rolling a total of 4, no DARO, gives the same 1 in 12 chance) - if 1 (or 4 for 2d6) comes up, the GM feeds a misleading feeling with no hint of that to the player.

For example:

Player - 'Will anyone be a higher level than me in this dungeon?' (The player is L6.)

GM - rolls 4 - 'You feel that you are going to be the top dog and anyone in their right mind would run from you all the way back to their mummy.' (GM knows there is a L10 wizard down there, just waiting.)

Dear God, No!

I'm voting for this spell to be deleted from dT&T.

Here's why....

It is mainly about knowing the future - and then what's the point of the game?

Player - 'Dear God, will I die on this adventure?'
Gm - ' 'No,'
Player - 'OK, I'll go in through the skull door...hang on. Dear God, will I get impaired?'
Gm -  'No,"
Player - 'Very cool to know that. Might as well have the treasure and the APs now please!'
 GM - 'True. Here you are.'

or

Player - 'Dear God, will I die on this adventure?'
Gm - ' 'Yes,'
Player - 'OK, I'll stay home?'
Gm -  'Make sense!,"


How has this spell survived so long? I imagine because it is either house-ruled out or there are not many games played with wizards at this level. We're thinking about Andy Holmes' Liche-Lord adventure and how to sanely approach that. The Dear God spell would render it pointless - the senior wizards spend a week asking questions and the future has been written. Or - the powerful bad wizards do just that and the players never leave home.

Next post - my replacement spell :)

Flow Diagrams to Control Solo Development

Here's something I sometimes use, particularly when I'm giving lots of options and/or I have to be stop-start with the work.

The idea is that, no matter the number of options given, every gets through to the next 'starting' point and the key action words are captured along with the types of saving rolls used.

Hope it helps!

The End of the (Troll)World is Nigh (so say the Mayans, anyway)

Khazan, Khosht and Gull are about to be flooded with cheap magic items!! What's worse, warriors are going to stick badges all over their scale and plate so that wizards' spells will be warded off. The warriors will rule the world and it will be the wizards fault for making them all those silly sigils!

Or maybe not...

"The party pushed the door open to the dungeon, confident in the protective power of the collection of wards they all wore, which had cost a grand total of 275,620 gold pieces - there was no way the evil ogre wizard was going to fry them.
Or was there?
The evil ogre wizard was of a sufficiently high level to invent spells and to ensorcel items, even traps. He had set a particularly effective spell of his own design on the very door the delvers were passing through now. And he had cast a 'magic muffler' on his work.
It really was a waste of good metal when the sigils the delvers sported melted as they passed through that very first door to the evil ogre wizard's underground lair and trickled down their shiny new leather armour.
Oh well, back to the Arena of Khazan to earn some more spending stuff and back to PlutoKrat the Wealthiest Wizard in the World for more of those really effective and good value at twice the price wards."

T&T Gaming Group poster

What do you think to this?

Liche-Lords and Impending Doom

I've been reading through the text on the 6 levels of Andy Holmes' Liche-Lord adventure.

That liche packs a serious punch. Lower down (or higher up the dungeon complex from a surface-dwellers perspective), there are some seriously bad magic users to encounter before getting to Mr Evil.

First, there's a L8 wizard and then it's up to L11.

Now I think that unless I develop careful motivation  and character for these wizards, the most likley outcome will be that - given a powerful party of delvers, let's say 6 PCs at L5 - these wizards would kill one or two each before being taken out.

Having a L5 character killed without much of a chance never goes down well, not least because, short of dropping into a friendly transformational solo, building to L5 is not a quick task.

I don't suppose these L8 and 11 wizards are that keen to pop off the old mortal coil as soon as a treasure-frenzied pack of delvers appears either.

I think the players need to be very well equiped and have Plans A-E synchronised before they venture into such danger - Ken's new Outer Sanctum posting on creating magical/bespelled items for dT&T is very apt.

I need to think carefully what the dungeon wizards will do if alerted to the presence of intruders.

There are a lot of spells that an invisible L8 or 11 wizard on home turf could use to savage even an experienced and well-prepared party of L5 delvers.

If I was a L5 wizard, I'd stay at home!

What do reckon? Is it suicide?

Getting Smarter

It was with considerable sadness that I today read on one the game's great characters, Mensa the Dwarf, getting smarter. Mensa has always been lovably dumb.

Charlie has a warrior whose INT once fell to 3. That was fun. He once went to the bathroom and tried to clean his teeth with his sword. There was a joke too: why did Grawp walk through the window? A: Because he didn't understand doors. Then he got an INT boost and has never looked back. Bit of a shame though...

Be true to thyself, Mensa!

Good Old Luck

As the game has developed over many years - and how fortunate we all are that there have been decades of considered development, always presented as options for GMs and players, via the 'house rule' admonition - the once ubiquitous luck saving roll has been replaced more and more with the precision saving roll: strength for this, dexterity for that, speed for some stunt, intelligence to demonstrate awareness, charisma to persuade or resist persuasion.

All very good but don't forget luck. Many situations may not result in a clear cut outcome even when one party makes a particular saving roll. Adding a luck roll into the mix - not always, use it judiciously with an eye to fun and quick-fired play - keeps things fresh and players on their toes.

Maybe the npc might get a lucky break, maybe the monster might do the unexpected or maybe there is a chance of lightning striking twice.

As the Trollgod is so fond of saying, it is better to be lucky than to be good!

Making a Book

I have had a very demanding week but I have survived and I'm not going to tell you about it because I have no wish to re-live again so soon and I am sure you have your won busy lives to lead...

However!

When I got home last night, there was a Lulu parcel waiting for me. Inside was Andy Holme's Liche-Lord GM adventure (another post about that soon!) and...

 My first ever printed book :)

It looks soooo good. The awesome Jeff Freels' cover is a delight and the internal art shows up well.

It took a lot of work, not least because I had no idea of anything other than the writing when I started out on the project as a 5.5 T&T solo back in 2011 and made the mistake of writing it as an Excel spreadsheet.

It got ground out as 7.5, it had a second (evil) way of playing it added with 28 champions to take on in single combat (a combination for each pairing of the 8 attributes) and then I added a GM section.

I got help with play-testing, I got help with formatting, I got given art and still it was so hard to turn in to a book that I gave up on Drive Thru (easy for pdfs so you'll find it there in that form).

But now I know how to do it!!!

I have 2 more books I am ready to release now (if only there was the demand) and a Trollworld novel I will turn from first draft to final come July.

I also have a children's novel which introduces T&T magic finished and just waiting for the illustrtor to do her bit (nudge...).

It would be nice if people bought these books when they come out and read them but I accept there are already too many books in the world so that part doesn't really matter.

What matters for me is that I got it done and will do so again and because it is print-on-demand it cost me just about no money.

So here's what I recommend - don't just think about it, do it!!

Trollbridge

Now I had not been over to the Trollbridge for a while and, to celebrate finally shaking the 'flu, I decided to mosey on over.

Interesting! A controversy has 'raged'! Quite rightly, the offensive sexist nonsense has been put in it's subterranean place. But was it ever meant seriously? Was it only ever a (mean-spirited) attempt to take a rise out of innocent readers?

Of equal interest, who is Gufnork? Time for unmasking. I do not know but a hypothesis formed all by itself immediately. What do you guys think?

Not that I'm necessarily expecting to hear the result of the thinking...

Theatre of Dreams

These are happy days indeed at Old Trafford. The visit of Real could change that or double the joy but...

There was something about losing the title to City at the stroke of midnight last year that has stepped up my appreciation of what an incredible job Sir Alex has done and just keeps on doing.

When I look at what a titan Johny Evans has developed into, how well Evra and Carrick are performing week in, week out, the excitement the arrival on centre stage of Kawaga brings, the protective arm about de Gea...

Then the way Roonie and van Persie are so committed to the cause.

The only parallel in the modern world is, I think it fair to say, Ken's time at the helm of the other beautiful game.

We may yet see the mighty Reds playing on the hallowed turf of Trollhalla :)

Creating Characters

I read a little discussion on creating new characters today at Trollhalla. There are, of course, many, many ways of going about this.

When I first played Tunnels & Trolls, I always rolled 3d6, first for STR, then for IQ - I worked my way through the attributes in strict order. If you rolled a weak character, well - you made it a dwarf or an elf!

It was, for a short time, a delving landscape devoid of humans. Oh well, never mind! I wanted to play a Lord of the Rings-Norse Myths game, not a real world with magic version. Then I remembered Conan and needed a change so...

I introduced a table so you rolled for kindred on 2d6 and it was weighted towards humans. We played lots of weak human and lots of the died - quickly.

In more recent times, although I very much enjoy games with low level characters, I have often wanted to begin with stronger characters so that I can dip into more of the magic of the game. So, we have used different methods of character creation.

The point here is the plural - not just one - horses for courses. Some won't allow for TARO and specialists - fine, we won't always use them.

First cab off the rank was letting players roll eight sets of numbers with 3d6 and then let them assign them to an attribute as they saw fit. Players tend to enjoy that one.

Then there is the method of setting a point total and letting players distribute them as they see fit (NO TARO here). Ken did this in the 'Seven Challenges' of 2012 (his limit of 80 was rather stingy but suited the adventure). I have found this to be less popular with players because there is no dice rolling. It is easy using this method to generate a party of a particular level by putting an upper level on any one attribute. This irons out the dwarf/elf superiority effect because the selected attribute numbers are not modified.

Another method I have used is to assign particular numbers of d6 to particular attributes. You don't get any TARO but you do get dice rolling and players seem to get a buzz from the 'advantage' of rolling say 5d6 for STR or whatever.

This week, where I wanted a bunch of wizards of particular levels created, I decided on a total number of d6 rolls for each level - to create a Level 13 wizard, I gave 120d6 for players to distribute amongst the eight attributes as they saw fit. You need to allocate 3d6 for the laws of probability to get you up to each level - 3d6 should get you 10.5 and that's is Level 1 on a relevant attribute for the class; 6d6 would get you 21 and give a L2 attribute so for L13 you would need to assign 3d6 x 13 = 39d6 of your total of 120d6 to be statistically likely to have the relevant attribute bringing you L13 status - leaving 81d6 for the other attributes (suddenly doesn't seem such a generous award). If you don't like rolling dice that much (saddo!), no problem! Just substitute 3d6 for each d6 you don't want to roll. For your L13 wizard, you could allocate 39d6 to INT and decide to roll just 2d6! The first 37 give you 3.5 times 37 = 129.5 so you only need 0.5 (half!) on those 2d6 you actually roll to reach your target of 130. Or you could roll 39d6.

There is no method I would always use and that, quite simply, is what I would recommend to you, dear reader.

Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls: dynamic, flexible, whatever...

or

Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls: whatever you need to make it fizz!

Wow - there on the Trollhalla sidebar!

I've neglected this poor blog since the end of this year, when I was happily writing about my adventures in one of Andy Holmes' solos.

Then, out of the blue, Andy James emailed me and asked if this was my current blog address as he was going to add it and my new solo, Deception: Strangebrew's Chambers of the Unknown, to the Trollhalla sidebar. That feels like becoming a 13th Level Wizard and having some standing in the Guild!

So, my resolution is to post on here much more regularly.

Thanks to Andy and to all those who helped with getting Deception' to it's launch pad. The hardest part has been making a printed book. In the end, I just had to give up with Drive Thru and the Lightning Source template as I just kept getting it wrong time and time again.

Then I looked at Lulu and saw the rosy light of a new dawn! So, for me, it's Drive Thru for pdfs and Lulu for books. I now know that I could have uploaded a much bigger cover jpeg to Lulu so I will replace the one I hit the jackpot with. The two copies I ordered might not be perfect resolution but they will take a while to reach New Zealand.

While I ordered 'Deception'. I was spurred into buying Andy H's 'Liche-Lord' GM adventure, which Ken gave high praise to. I'm lucky, unlike many, because I will have a group to GM it for. We all loved 'Goblin Crag' so much that it will be a priority to play when it arrives in the mailbox.

I hope, once the dT&T workload lightens, to have Steve Crompton draw up Khaghtch'an, the Kraken Continent, into a beautiful colour map, in the style of the Eagle and Dragon Continents. That will be amazing - our games have really taken on new life since the setting was resolved (and keeps getting bigger and more complex).

At the moment, I'm stuck into writing a solo for wizards who can win an alien bride, set in the foul Jungles of Phantog.

We are play-testing my giga-solo, 'The Poisoned Chalice' this weekend. It just didn't work well for one character so I switched it over to being for a group of six and now we are flying!

I think my next book release will be a six-pack omnibus edition of 2012 work, all currently available as pdfs. This will be 5 solos of varying length and one GM adventure. I think an experienced gamer can 'solo' a GM adventure just as it is easy to 'GM' solos. I have written a 'dirty tricks' option for Rotten Borough - Election Special in which you vie to become the new Mayor of Stoneydaze (those citizens are a tad idealistic, I admit!). I think that should give a good shot of re-playability.

It makes me realise how easy it is to write an add-on for any adventure. Maybe I'll have a think about the great 'Arena of Khazan' which after so many years is really just an opportunity for experienced players to make characters rich quick.

Enough already. Thanks again, Andy :)