Collecting Trolls and Trying to Avoid the Ebay Crush

Last week I saw this really nice boxed set of the T&T 5.0 rules.  Black box, gold lettering and art, with a buy it now of 80 bucks.  I watched, didnt buy, saw the sale expire and get reposted at the same price.  Damn it was purty tho.

Thing is, how can a boxed set of the 5.0 rules go for 3 times the price of the 4.0 rulebook (which I grabbed for 26)?  It's not like either was in mint condition.  Well, i waited, and found the same boxed set, slightly dinged (still looks awesome) on the outside but damn near mint on the inside, for less then 17 bucks (plus shipping).  It wound up coming from Troll and Toad even tho' I found it on ebay.  These lads know how to pack!

Yes, working at the Tunnels & Trolls collection.  Must secure as much as I can before I lose sole control of the discretionary funds ;)

I'll be posting some thoughts n the T&T 7.5e boxed set later tonight.

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Elf Free Zone - Talisanta

Every once in a while, when I troll the net looking for interesting sites, one thing leads to another and suddenly I find myself at Talisanta.com.

I remember it being advertised as a fantasy world without elves, and my perception was that it was a D&D variant of sorts. I never knew more then what the magazine ads showed me, but no more.

Talisanta.com offers free and legal downloads of nearly all the books in the Talisanta line and there are many. Others are in the process of being converted for download. It costs you nothing but the bandwidth to take a peek.


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Mini Review - Green Devil Face #4 from LotFP

Lamenations of the Flame Princess has put out a new (issue?) of Green Devil Face.  GDF #4 is chuck full of OSR goodness.  70 pages for 5 bucks.

Lets see... mini adventures?  Check.  New magic items?  Check.  New class?  Check.  New spells?  Check.  Random tables?  Check.  All that and more fully infected by the Raggi touch?  Hell yeah!

Yes, some of this has appeared elsewhere.  So what?  James has a unique touch when it comes to RPG products, and it shows here.

Alright, now for the word of James himself:

Green Devil Face is back!

The True Finnwegian Old School Role-Playing kult unearths the legendary zine from its 14-month slumber to deliver more madness to lay your players low! This isn't the solidly-composed, somberly delivered material that LotFP normally trades in, this is MADNESS UNLEASHED! Rapid-fire fuel-air explosive blasts of pure energy and creativity which will ignite your imagination because this one's just too hot! If you run an old-school game and you can't find something in here to put in your campaign RIGHT NOW you're just hopeless. You're not hopeless, are you? Then PROVE IT! Buy this PDF RIGHT NOW!

... it's all contained within SIXTY-NINE HOT PAGES... (plus OGL)... how can you resist?


Contents of This Issue:

Knights of Science - A New Character Class by James Edward Raggi IV
The Tower - Mini-Adventure by James Edward Raggi IV (originally presented in Fight On #4 - contains more backstory than the version in Death Frost Doom!)
The Dread Sorceries of Duvan'Ku - New Spells by James Edward Raggi IV (originally presented in Fight On #4)
Fell Magick Items of Duvan'Ku - New Magic Items by James Edward Raggi IV (originally presented in Fight On #4)
Random Inn Generator - Create an Inn and its Visitors from scratch! By James Edward Raggi IV (originally presented in Fight On #2)
Wand of the Weird - A wand of Bizarre Effect by James Edward Raggi IV
House of Snails - A mini-dungeon by James Edward Raggi IV
The Frog Cult - A mini-dungeon by James Edward Raggi IV
The Tomb to Die For/In by R. Lawrence Blake
Random Treasure Generator - The Old Treasure Tables Presented in a New Way by James Edward Raggi IV
A Spell Point Theory - Another Look Adapting the Vancian Magic System to Spell Points by James Edward Raggi IV

Plus Classic Green Devil Face Tricks/Traps:

The Room of Four Pits by Ramsey Dow
The Sneaky Book Room by James Brian Murphy
The Child by Zak Sabbath
The Chamber and the Glass Box by Zak Sabbath
Shrieker Stew by Jonathan Becker
Pool of Testing by Jonathan Becker
Shaggy Dog by Jonathan Becker

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In The Hopper

Working on a mini review of Elric of Melnibone from Mongoose (uses the RQ2 rules).

Working on a full review of the Tunnels & Trolls 7.5e Boxed Set (so full that I can't even close the damn box after taking off the wrap).  I might do a book by book review of the box, like I did with LotFP's Weird Fantasy. Not sure yet.

Was hoping to game some tonight via Fantasy Grounds 2 and Rolemaster, but technical difficulties may be putting a damper on that.  Ah well, there is always next week.

When Old is New - Or Why I Should Stay Away From Ebay ;)

When I arrived home from my extended weekend earlier today, I found my Near Mint Copy of the D&D Expert rules awaiting me.  It was fairly cheap on Ebay, especially considering that it loosk like no one ever opened its pages.

Ebay, and the Flying Buffalo website, are where I've been plugging the holes in my Tunnels & Trolls collection.  Before the Outlaw Press / James Shipman debacle I'm sure there would have been alot more items on my list to buy, but that's okay.  There's more then enough for me to look for (did I mention I bought a 4th edition copy of the T&T rules?  Talk about nostalgia).

I think I'm down to 2 books for my OD&D collection: Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes and Swords & Spells.

I need to work on my man cave, so I can display my Classic Gaming Collectibles ;)

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Review - Strange Destinies Solo Adventure (for Tunnels & Trolls)

I'm on a bit of a Tunnels & Trolls kick, so you'll need to forgive me.  Still, before I dive head first into this review, you do realize you can download a free (abbreviated but complete and usable) version of the rules and can get free solo adventures for Tunnels & Trolls here, here, here and here.  Phew!

As I wrote last night, the fiancee played thru a T&T solo last night.  She had fun and got the taste of what roleplaying is about.  We used the adventure Strange Destinies, which was included in the Tunnels & Trolls 7.5e boxed set (I'll give that a proper review shortly).

First the good.  Atmosphere was great.  She really got into the mood when I read the pieces that set the scene.  When the player actually shivers with a description, you hit the right points.  Nice recap in the beginning of the adventure detailing saving rolls and such.  All in all, it was fun...

There is a "but" that needs to be added there.  This is NOT an adventure for the average beginning player character warrior type.  It is lethal, almost to the point of "why bother to roll the dice".  Case in point.  Rachel rolled triples on the score she assigned to STR.  The total was a 26, doubled as a dwarf to a 52.  She was a formidable warrior, and according to the 7.5e rules a 5th level character.  Her first encounter was with 1 Giant Bloodworm (MR 120).  It rolls 13d6 in combat with +60 adds.  The Dwarven Warrior Sheba was armed with a short sword for 3d6 and +48 adds (she also had 10 pts of armor, doubled to 20 for being a warrior).  Average rolls with adds would have been 105 for the Giant Bloodworm and 60 for Sheba.  45 damage less 20 for armor means 25 points of damage to Sheba in the average combat round not including Spite Damage.  Heck there was a 50% chance of here encountering 2 Giant Bloodworms at a pop, which would have been insta death.

My solution was to halve the MR of all the creatures encountered.  Even with that, Spite damage and combat rolls left her with 8 points left of her initial 28 CON when she found her way out.  As written, not a really good way to introduce a new player to the rules or to RPGs. as dying without a chance in the first encounter isn't much fun.  Which is a shame, because the T&T rules themselves are much fun (as was the adventure after I waved the GM Wand of Monster Nerfing).

So, nerf the monsters and you have a viable solo adventure for a warrior with decent combat adds.  It was fun, don't get me wrong, but you need to adjust it to make it work.  Or maybe run it with more then one PC.

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Old School Gaming Tunnels & Trolls Style

I picked up the 7.5e boxed set of Tunnels & Trolls to complement my PDF set of the same rules and all the solos I recently picked up. I spent some time rolling characters this afternoon, and it was fun rolling triples and adding another roll.

My dice rolling attracted the attention of my fiancée, who immediately declared the whole thing looked too complicated. I declared otherwise, had her roll a character (roll 4 dice, take best three, arrange as you will) and jumped into the included solo adventure, with myself taking the part of the reader / quasi-GM / monster roller. Even with her choosing a Dwarven Warrior, some of the random monsters had to have their Monster Ratings halved to give her a chance.

With the MR adjustment, the fights were challenging, especially with the Spite Damage (natural 6 is 1 point of unstoppable damage), but she prevailed. I think in retrospect the Adventure Point award was excessive and geared toward the 7e award system, but all that matters is in the end the lady had a blast.

Her big questions? Can I buy more equipment? And Can I only use her in solo adventures?

I might have a gamer on my hand ;)


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Barbarian Bazaar

Barbarian Bazaar is the name of a small shop in the Sugarman's Fleamarket in Dickson City, PA. Much to my surprise I found a 1e Player's Handbook (later cover image), 2 copies of the Dungeon board game and an interesting collection of other RPGs and related board games.

My son wound up picking out a Star Trek Next Generation board game and some used DVDs. I would have picked up a copy of Dungeon! But then I would have need to store it, as I doubt it would get use.


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From the Mouth of Lizzies

Last night was the first back to back Saturday Nite gaming I've enjoyed in over year. Heck, since we hadn't games since May, this was as much gaming as the previous 6 months.

Tenkar, my third level Dwarven Cleric in Castles & Crusades ( via Fantasy Grounds 2) was involved in too long of a discussion as to wether one leaves a sleeping giant lizard sleeping. Apparently, they will awake on their own and try to run off with said Dwarven Cleric. Ouch!

In the end the Lizzie was defeated, Tenkar was rescued and much gold and silver was had by all. Not bad for a nite's work.

I think we are about to hit 2 years with this campaign, and although the group has had much turnover, it has remained a very fun group to adventure with.

Now, of course, my yet to be implemented FG2 campaign first was to use LL, then C&C, but now I am thinking Tunnels & Trolls. Simplicity of system may be best for an irregularly playing group.


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Mini Review - Oubliette Issue #4

(Third try... lets see how buggered this attempt is)

It's been over 3 months since the last issue of Oubliette was released on the virtual magazine stand.  In that time, OD&Ditties closed it's doors, leaving one less magazine / fanzine covering the OSR, let alone RPGs in general.  Still, Oubliette 4 was well worth the wait.

30 some odd pages for the magazine with another 50 or so bonus material, the reader is given a lot to look at for the 2 bucks he spent.

We get an adventure (geared to firearms but they can be removed), fiction, new monsters, weapons, a cartoon, reviews... and then we get the bonus material.

From the publisher's spiel:

80 jam-packed pages including: 34 Page Magazine, 13 Pages of Magic-User Spell Cards for Labyrinth Lord, and Character Sheets, Figures and Multi-Part Maps for this Issue's Adventure.

Written for Labyrinth Lord, but also ideal for use with any Basic/Expert/Advanced original or clone, with little or no adjustment required.

Full Contents:

# Weapons Test - A Labyrinth Lord Adventure with Guns

# Monster Club #6 - Zombies

# Firearm Rules for Labyrinth Lord Part 3 - The Monsters Fight Back

# Tales from Hell - Buckets of Legend

# Monster Club #7 - Monster Scaling

# A Hunting We Will Go - An Encounter for Labyrinth Lord

# PC for PCs - Featuring G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief

# Purist to Puerile - The Orc

# Seven Magical Mirrors

# Reviews

# Free PDF Round-Up

# Mouse Watch - A Cartoon for Grown-Ups

# The Song of Sithakk - Part 4 of our serialized story

# Plus loads of Bonus Material including: Magic-user Spell Cards for Labyrinth Lord and Large Scale Maps and Character Sheets for the Adventure.

Warning! Oubliette may contain content that is suitable for adult audiences only. Persons 18+ only.

Heading to the Mountains

Back to posting when I get settled tomorrow.


- Posted from my iPhone

New Khazan - Tunnels & Trolls In Spaaaacceeee!

Sorry about that, but somehow the Muppet Show's Pigs in Spaaccceee! popped into mt mind with the title.  In any case, New Khazan is a nifty little sourcebook to bring something akin to DragonStar (a very cool 3e setting for D&D) to your Tunnels & Trolls game.  I'm not saying it is like DragonStar, but it seems a closer fit for this purpose then, say, Spelljammer.

So far I have done little more then check out the first few pages, as somehow it failed to synch with my DropBox folder, which means it wasn't available for bedtime reading last nite, but I plan to correct that in a few minutes.  I'm sure I'll come back to this again in a few days, after I get a chance to read further.

Anywho, here's the blurb (gotta have the blurb):

More than elves and trolls in outer space, more than star warriors casting spells, New Khazan has its own unique flavor of space fantasy.

This supplement begins with the assumed background of Tunnels & Trolls, then extends all those fantastic creatures and spells into a distant future where reptilian astro-gators guide ships through tunnelspace and police subdue criminals with Hold-That-Pose nets and TTYF guns powered by smaller versions of the same Kremm crystals that drive starfaring battleships.

New Khazan gives you descriptions of the worlds, prominent kindreds, civilizations, technology, and common character types of the fantastic future.

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Mini Review - The Inn of Lost Heroes

The Inn of Lost Heroes is a Labyrinth Lord Adventure for 3-6 character of 3rd to 5th level.  As this is October, this is a horror themed adventure, which may or may not suit your group and play style.  The author is very up front with that.  From the blurb:

Everyone loves a good barroom brawl. But what happens when the fight gets out of hand and innocents are harmed? Witness the innkeeper's wife Evelyn Mortigan. When her entire family is killed in a fire caused by drunken adventurers, she utters a curse with her dying breath and returns to torment all those who would practice the adventuring trade. Can the characters escape her wrath, or will they be forever trapped in the Inn of Lost Heroes?

The Inn of Lost Heroes is a Labyrinth LordTM adventure for 4-6 characters of 3rd through 5th level (about 15-20 levels total). This adventure was designed as a one-shot that can be dropped into any existing campaign. The party should ideally contain at least one fighter or dwarf, one magic-user or elf, one cleric, and one thief or halfling character. The adventure centers around an inn that has become trapped in the nightmares of a vengeful spirit. Escaping the inn is the primary goal of this adventure, however, resourceful characters may also find the courage to free the trapped souls of former adventurers and finally lay the spirit to rest.

Author's Note: Know your group! This adventure begins by trapping the characters in an extraplanar dream world where some of the game mechanics they are accustomed to are slightly altered or do not work at all. It contains strong elements of horror as well as thematic material that may be disturbing to some. Common horror tropes of isolation, injury, and "taking the toys away" are also present. This is not an adventure that can be overcome by combat alone. If you suspect your players would not have fun with this type of setup, you may want to pass on this module.

Definitely not your run of the mill advnture, it might prove a nice change of pace for the proper group.

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Midweek Update

I am temporarily covering for another supervisor for the next few months. It's almost like inheriting a well oiled gaming group, except that I inherited the "does not play well with others" gamer as a last minute addition. Ah well, can't always have it easy ;)

This Saturday nite looks to be a go for C&C / FG2. Our DM should be emailing me the file today or tomorrow, so I can get my net book all set up for the weekend. Gaming 2 weeks in a row after not gaming for about 4 months is a beautiful thing.

All that and a 3 day weekend to boot!


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Tunnels& Trolls Tuesday - October 5th

Yep, its Tunnel & Trolls Tuesday here at the Tavern.  To start everyone off on an even foot, I'm going to direct you to a free download of the Tunnels & Trolls Rulebook (abridged 5.5 version)

Got it?  Good.  Give it a quick read.  It's pretty easy to comprehend, yet flexible too.

Now head over to the Free Dungeons Website.  This is a troll's heaven.  Another free version of the rules can be found, character sheets, and adventures (automated even).  Yep, you can play solo on your computer.  You don't even have to break out any dice (tho you will want to when you move on to other dungeons).

Rinse.  Repeat.  Enjoy.

One Down, One to Go

Psikonetic picked up his prize code today.  Still waiting on kalpesh sorthiya. 

I have a Old School style module or two to review.  Hopefully a day or two and I'll have somethng written up.

Tuesdays are going to be Tunnels & Trolls Tuesday at the Tavern, because somebody needs to show the other Old School game some love.  I'm not saying other days won't have something T&T related, but Tuesdays WILL have something T&T related.

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Completing my OD&D Collection, and Other Assorted Thoughts

I need Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes (Sup IV) and Swords & Spells (Sup V) to finish of my OD&D collection.  Ebay can be a wonderous and dangerous place ;)

I'm going to attempt to complete a Tunnels & Trolls Collection of sorts going forward.  I think I've found the system that both interests the future Mrs Tenkar, and is made for solo play.  I see no reason why I cant run some of the solos with myself as the GM. Besides, the more T&T I read, the more I like the system.  Wish I wasn't such a closed minded gamer 25 years ago, or I might have some classic OD&D and T&T stuff without requiring Ebay, but back then it was AD&D, Rolemaster and all the "crunchy"  crap ;)

I need to see if I can track down a T&T Character Sheet for Fantasy Grounds 2, as that is really all you would need to run a game using the system.

Last night was the first session of Castles & Crusades via FG2 that we've has since before the summer.  As we only run once a month for the most part, a session recap before start is damn important, and I missed the major recap as I was 90 minutes late.  Hopefully we can sneak another session in next week (looks good so far)

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It's Time to Give Away Stuff - The Tavern Has Hit 60 Followers!

Thanks to MelondraBee the Tavern has received it's 60th follower.  Which means I get to give away some free swag! 

Lets see, time to break out the dice!

d3 and a d20 = d60  :)

Rolled a 48 and a 18.

Psikonetic gets a PDF copy of Fantasycraft

kalpesh sorthiya gets a PDF copy of SplicerRPG

Games provided by OneBookshelf / RPGNow / DrivethruRPG

The winners can email me at tenkarstavernATgmailDOTcom and I'll send you the code to redeem your prize.  Congrats to both!

(get in touch by next Saturday, October 8th, or the prize will be passed on to someone else)

Tunnels & Trolls - What's in My Bag?

My package arrived from FlyingBuffalo yesterday.  I was a little disappointed at the size, as I had the mental image of 5 books and the 2007 Free RPG Day adventure taking up far more shipping space then they actually did.  I was fine after I popped the sucker open tho: 4 Corgi double adventure books and the City of Terror (and the above mentioned 2007 Free RPG day adventure).

I think I'll be working on getting a complete set of T&T adventures, theres is something fun about rolling dice and progressing your chartacter, even if it is solo.  The included abreviated rules include spell lists thru 9th level, so you really could play these without even referring to the T&T rulebook.  I'll be surfing the net looking for a write-up that details all the changes between editions, although it appears everything is backwards compatible for the most part.

As a side note, the Corgi books were printed back in 1986, so they are classics already ;)

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To Review, or Not Review... That is the Question

I haven't been keeping up with my usual reviews.

Part of the reason has been a shortage of actual releases that I have an interest in. If there is no chance i'd ever use the piece, why waste my time and that of the publisher. I do have one or two reviews that I might get to this weekend. Time will tell.

The rest of the reason? I'm simply having way too much fun going thru my classic ebay purchases. When I get my package from Flying Buffalo full of Tunnels & Trolls goodness, watch out world! Heh