You need to forgive me, but Tunnels & Trolls is burning it's way through my blood these past few days and I'm still on the T&T kick.
So, here's the latest thought: Would T&T be best served if there was an actual "setting" for the game? By this, I'm looking at The World of Greyhawk and The Forgotten Realms over on the D&D side of the equation. During the course of most of D&D's history, one setting or the other has been the default setting for the vast majority of RPG campaigns that have been in existance. What does Tunnels & Trolls have to offer?
TrollWorld.
There isn't really much you can do with TrollWorld as written to place a campaign in that setting, as there is very little there. The Fragmentary History of TrollWorld isn't much of a help either. So there really isn't a default setting to use with T&T, unless one wishes to port one over from D&D. Which is fine, except that you would need to cut out a majority of the available races for T&T. Not much of a loss, as most of them just exist on the Racial Adjustment Chart for Stat Multipliers - there is no write up for most of them.
Which leads to yet another thought. Do we need all of the racial options for character generation that Tunnels & Trolls gives us or can we pare the list? Or should we flesh out the list with actual descriptions, habitat and the likes for the creatures listed?
If we design a setting for Tunnels & Trolls, how far should one step away from the old default of the standard D&D type world? Or should it be like Glorantha, very much it's unique self?
T&T adventures tend to have more "silly" elements then other types of fantasy RPGs do. Is that because of the setting that is inferred, or the system? Or "just because"?
Something tells me that Trollworld would be a lot like Discworld with more dungeons, based on the adventures that I've read about.
ReplyDeleteEither way, you and Scott should get on that. :)
Discworld would probably be a closer fit then most.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the rules aren't written as camp... well, the spell names certainly are... the game as written is a little scitzo ;)
While I love the Fragmented History of Trollworld, it's just that - 'fragmented'. I think an official setting with descriptions of each kindred would be great.
ReplyDeleteScott, while that would be great, it isn't going to happen... tho' it has given me an idea...
ReplyDeleteI am not sure that a T&T world is a "sell" unless it is indeed the canonical Trollworld.
ReplyDeleteKen seem to have a very fragmentary image of Trollworld himself. Bear Peters apparently have a lot of ideas, but none published and little written down.
I think that Liz Danforth detailed one continent and have lots of stuff written for it, in a box in storage...
The fragmentary history is an interesting case. It reminds me a lot of Shadow World. In that world there are thousands upon thousands of years of NPC infighting going on in the backstory. The thing is, how does that matter at all for your level one fighter? Timelines are, I think, a total waste of space.