I Have Been Rolling Up Some Tunnels & Trolls Characters!

Tunnels & Trolls is one of my favorite role playing games.  It showed me that a role playing game could be simple, fun, and suitable to solitaire play.  Recently I have been reading through the Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls rules.  I was hesitant at first as 5.5 T&T was an edition that I loved.  I bought the 7th edition and I always felt that 5.5 was a tad bit better.  Deluxe T&T takes everything that I like about 5.5 and refines it.  I will need to convince my group to run a few sessions of dT&T soon.

My copy of Buffalo Castle, where many a character has met their death

One of the best ways to get a feel for rules is to play the game.  Fortunately T&T has a long tradition of providing solitaire modules for times when you can't find a GM or group.  Tunnels & Trolls solo modules follow the choose-your-own-adventure format, where you read a paragraph, are presented with choices, and then turn to a certain page or paragraph depending on what you pick.  Saving throws and combats take place within the solo module, as T&T combat can be run by one person.

I have rolled up three characters so far using the Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls rules.  I love the ease of character creation.  Roll eight stats, calculate combat adds,  roll for height, weight, and starting gold, equip, and the character is ready for adventure.  I have run my three unlucky warriors through Buffalo Castle (one of the most famous solos) where they have all perished.  I have run two through the solo adventure The Abyss, where they have a chance of exiting the afterlife.  Both failed.  I like the changes that have been made to the warrior class, and I have been able to try out the poison rules for the first time.

While solo adventures are a fun diversion between game sessions, I find that their best value is that they are a great way to learn and master the rules of the system.  When I first read the T&T rules I liked them but I was uncertain how they fit together.  After one run through Buffalo Castle I understood how the rules worked and the tone of the game.  Tunnels & Trolls is a game of risk and reward.  Characters can achieve great glory or be crushed quickly under the heal of a monster.

There are free Tunnels & Trolls solos available on the web.  You can try one out if you are curious as to how the system works, or just want a quick dungeon crawl experience.

Buffalo Castle is available on the publisher's main website.  You will stumble around  a castle, fighting monsters and having encounters.  Goblin Lake is one of my favorite solos, as you play as a goblin trying to win favor in your tribe.  Both of these solos use the 5.5 rules which are close to the Deluxe T&T rules.  Know that Deluxe T&T has amped up the power level for warriors in the new edition.