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Tunnels and Trolls is a role-playing game that was first released in 1975. It was designed by Ken St. Andre.

Published by Flying Buffalo, it was developed to be an alternative to Dungeons & Dragons, aimed particularly at solitaire and play-by-mail gameplay. In the early 1980s a computer version (Crusaders of Khazan) was put out which embodied many of the favorite old solo modules, but which (in a fore-shadowing of modern computer role-playing game production) was buggy and somewhat difficult to play.

Tunnels and Trolls is a simple game that is rich in detail, easy to play and with a sense of humour. It was one of the very earliest roleplaying games from the late 1970s and was greatly influential on later systems. The game introduced the idea of playing a variety of humans as player characters, using a core character generation system, such that non humans were given greater strength or lower intelligence but still operated as any human in systematic terms. This led to players rapidly playing a wide range of non human characters in a pluralist setting. (A simpler system for monsters ran in parallel and most solitaire adventures used this simpler system). The game also introduced the idea that armour — which had been merged with defence in Dungeons and Dragons making a character harder to hit — actually absorbed damage rather than reducing the danger of being hit. The game also published one of the earliest spell point systems, where magic is powered by mana points rather than memory slots derived from level, as in Dungeons and Dragons. The game was greatly influential on other early games such as RuneQuest and Ken St. Andre went on to author the Basic Role-Playing game Stormbringer for Chaosium. Tunnels and Trolls underwent several modifications between 1975 and 1983 when the definitive 5th edition of the rules was published. This edition was also translated and published abroad in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, and Japan, and it entered these markets before Dungeons and Dragons did in most cases. (It didn't make more money, however.) In 2005, Flying Buffalo updated the 5th editon rules with a 5.5 publication that added about 40 pages of extra material to the end of the rules. During the same year, Fiery Dragon Productions of Canada produced a 30th anniversary edition under license in a tin box complete with CD, map, and monster counters, and not one, but two new versions of the rules. Ken used the opportunity to extensively update the style of play and introduce new role-playing concepts, such as character level being determined by character attribute statistics instead of by arbitrary numbers of experience points.

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@mah_digilife もちろんエフエフでガチですが、ディープダンジョンを意識したってトコがショックだわww/Dungeons & DragonsとかTunnels and Trollsとかじゃねーのかよぉぉww http://ff.im/-b4uIw
komemo (kom_memo) Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:59:45 -0000
@mah_digilife もちろんエフエフでガチですが、ディープダンジョンを意識したってトコがショックだわww/Dungeons & DragonsとかTunnels and Trollsとかじゃねーのかよぉぉww http://ff.im/-b4uIw
Free Monsters for Tunnels and Trolls | Berin Kinsman’s Uncle Bear Blog / http://bit.ly/2SjHAB
RPGWizard (RPG Wizard) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:12:11 -0000
Free Monsters for Tunnels and Trolls | Berin Kinsman’s Uncle Bear Blog / http://bit.ly/2SjHAB
RT @unclebear - Free Monsters for Tunnels and Trolls http://unclebear.com/?p=4245
jesshartley (Jess Hartley) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:27:45 -0000
RT @unclebear - Free Monsters for Tunnels and Trolls http://unclebear.com/?p=4245
[UncleBear.com]: Free Monsters for Tunnels and Trolls http://unclebear.com/?p=4245
unclebear (Uncle Bear) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:02:28 -0000
[UncleBear.com]: Free Monsters for Tunnels and Trolls http://unclebear.com/?p=4245
Though I do run a once every now and then game of Tunnels & Trolls which is steeped in mythic pop culture. ;)
mana_junkie (Tim Bisaillon) Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:27:22 -0000
Though I do run a once every now and then game of Tunnels & Trolls which is steeped in mythic pop culture. ;)
Ran a quick Tunnels & Trolls adventure. An inn was attack by dark orcs and the characters fought with tooth and nail to stay alive.
mana_junkie (Tim Bisaillon) Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:03:30 -0000
Ran a quick Tunnels & Trolls adventure. An inn was attack by dark orcs and the characters fought with tooth and nail to stay alive.

 
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Trolls - Flying Buffalo's official site for the game. Features product information and game history.
Meta Description: [ Tunnels & Trolls is one of the few fantasy role-playing games that include's a description of a chakram (or chakrum), a weapon recently made popular by Xena. ]

Trolls HQ - Features new kindred, character classes, and colleges of magic.

Austin Weedn's T and T Pages - House rules.

404 Gristlegrim - An online Dungeon.
Meta Description: [ Free roleplaying game resource for Tunnels & Trolls. Gristlegrim Dungeon from the warped mind of Ken St. Andre ]

T References and Links - The definitive reference to Tunnels and Trolls online. Mostly links, but well-organized. Half a dozen on-line solo games.
Meta Description: [ The Castle of Otranto, a reference to Tunnels and Trolls online, now superseded by http://thor.acedragon.co.uk/tntwiki/Main/Links ]

500 The Tunnels and Trolls Wiki - A collaborative anarchy where anything may be added to or edited by anyone in the hope of creating something useful, unique, and massively hyperlinked .

Trollgod's Trollhalla - A web-based fanclub for Tunnels and Trolls players created by game designer Ken St. Andre.

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