Good News Everyone! Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls is looking good

Rick Loomis released a beta test version of the Deluxe T&T rules to backers today. If you're a backer check your email. I'll say this:

1. What's released so far is formatted and in layout with art and looks very clean and orderly.

2. It's already got 105 pages done but the page count says it should be 178 pages long plus a 16 page quickstart in the back ("short form rules")

3. I like what they did with talents in this iteration, it's a smart and not overly "baby with the bathwater" way to deal with it.

4. The art in the beta is awesome.

5. This looks like a version of T&T I really want to play. Like, yesterday. Right now. Damnit!

Since they still have the spell lists and other stuff yet to go, I'm guessing we'll probably not see this in time for August GenCon but maybe we'll see it before the D&D 5E DMG releases in November.

Saving Fang from the Pits of Morgul for Tunnels & Trolls

Saving Fang from the Pits of Morgul is a new Tunnels & Trolls adventure that Ken St. Andre just released, and which backers to the Deluxe T&T Kickstarter received PDFs of. The solitaire is actually intended for use with the original 1st edition T&T rules (which are in print somewhere through Ken, I believe) and is officially the first solo ever released for that particular edition, since Buffalo Castle came out with the 2nd edition of T&T.

The book is gorgeous...it's got Simon Tranter cover and interiors (Simon did the cover for my Chirak book, too) and Steve Crompton layout and design so in terms of overall look and quality it's way above the average non-D&D OSR product (or regular D&D-derived OSR product, for that matter). With Saving Fang out that adds this one to Buffalo Castle's revision and the new City of Terrors. From Rick Loomis's latest update it sounds like we may at last be seeing the Deluxe game and mail-outs maybe a month or two late (just guessing) past August....we shall see!

Sneak Peak at the Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls GM Screen Art + Buffalo Castle PDF out to backers

Thanks to the Lone Delver for pointing this out! Steve Crompton has the art for the screen (a remix of classic module art from the past) and a contest to go with it posted up on his blog. It looks pretty cool:

I recognize the art sources for all of the modules except the blue big guy on the right...he's escaping me at the moment (maybe a book I don't own? Hmmmmm)

ADDENDUM: And no sooner did I post this then look in my gmail than did I find a link from Rick Loomis to my backer's PDF of Buffalo Castle. Joy! Can't wait for the print copies (which I assume will all be bundled together with the other print copies to save on shipping....but I could be wrong). Anyway, good stuff.

Wednesday Bits: Deluxe T&T, B/X D&D PDFs and GURPS Underground Adventures

Just a "smidgeon of news to me" post for today.....too busy to do much more!

The Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls Kickstarter closed at $125,440, over 400% above its original goal. I opted in for all the print stuff I could plus the "vital spots" Tee. I predict a good year for new T&T gaming later this year! The release date goal is August, and hopefully Ken, Liz, Jim and the rest can meet that deadline. I hope Liz gets her tattoo sooner, though....!



I finally caved and bought the Basic and Expert PDF's of Dungeons & Dragons over at dndclassics.com. A few brief comments from my perusing the documents last night:

1. the PDFs are really nice and clean, and the Expert set is indexed (maybe it was my reader, but I didn't see linking/indexing in the Basic book). The Expert PDF also includes a scan of a TSR catalog circa 1982ish. Pretty cool. If you remember the old D&D scans from then WotC was doing this before, keep in mind the quality of the scans has gone up dramatically.

2. I find it very amusing that when you get back to the Basic/Expert sets gnomes are once more delegated to the status of monstrous denizens, and the Expert set even includes a sample gnome lair....

3. Speaking of gnomes, I had also forgotten that in Basic, the gnoll was described as being created when a mad wizard crossbred a troll and a gnome! Fantastic stuff. Will be mulling over using this nugget in future games.

4. I have to concede that in terms of my appreciation for older editions that I haven't given enough credit to just how important Basic and Expert D&D was to my formative gamer years (even back then I tended to ostensibly play AD&D while in reality I was using AD&D for characters and monsters and leaning on B/X for actual rulings). Looking at them now, there is a strong temptation to break these bad boys out for a new campaign played By The Book. Probably will never happen, but they're loaded onto my Nexus now, so I'm prepared, should the need arise.

So anyway, if you're wondering if $10 is worth the admission to check out Basic and Expert Dungeons & Dragons, the answer is: yes, yes it is.

On other news, there's a new GURPS PDF out which looks really interesting: Underground Adventures is all about the fantastic world of digging deep into the earth, and the mysteries it has held (or was imagined to hold) over the ages. So far a great read and very inspirational. As with most GURPS supplements, this can work well as a sourcebook for your preferred game engine as easily as it can for GURPS 4th.

Tunnels & Trolls Deluxe at 400% with 25 Hours to Go

It's at 400% and growing with one day to go. I upped my bid to include all the print versions of the various solitaires as well as the "Ya Missed My Vital Spot" tee. If I don't wear it I know my wife will. Also, given how much of a compulsive collector I've been for official Flying Buffalo T&T products, having a complete set of all the books about to be reprinted/revised is just a big old plus, so what the hell, why not (not to mention my tax return is already on its way).

Three Days Left on the Tunnels & Trolls Kickstarter

If you haven't jumped in, but like the broader old school revolution in all its facets, now is the time to get in on a chunk of the second fantasy RPG to come into existence and help T&T Deluxe hit a $100,000 stretch goal. (barring Empire of the Petal Throne....anyone know if T&T or EPT came first? I have no idea.)

Dungeon of the Bear and a T&T GM Screen

Tunnels & Trolls Deluxe has ripped on past the $80K mark and two new stretch goals are available, which I am buying into both of: The GM's Screen ($5 add on) and the reprinted Dungeon of the Bear ($6 add on). I happen to have a couple copies of the original Dungeon of the Bear, a module I'd actually love to run again one day, but a new one is always a good thing. The GM's Screen is just a "thing"....I like getting game screens (just got the Labyrinth Lord GM Screen the other day, actually) so its a no-brainer for me. Also, I'm curious to see what would go on one, since T&T is a game that is remarkably easy to run  sans-screen. Not a lot of charts in this system.

I'm hoping the Kickstarter passes the $100K mark, which would be cool. Kicktraq thinks its trending that way, so who knows? I mean, if Pathfinder Online can scrape past the finish line, maybe the Trolls can jump the chasm and keep on running...

Either way, I think I need to break out some 5.5 or 7.5 T&T soon and run a few adventures. 2013: a good year for classic gaming so far!

T&T Deluxe, Paizo Anniversary Sale, Camazotz' Mud-Colored Nostalgia Glasses and More

So first, for Tunnels & Trolls fans it looks like Ken St. Andre and crew are going to collaborate on a Deluxe Edition of Tunnels & Trolls. There's more about it here on Trollhalla's Outer Sanctum and the Lone Delver also speaks on the matter in detail.

I'd like to see a Deluxe super edition of T&T and the fact that it's going to include collaborative work from Rick Loomis, Steve Crompton, Bear Peters and Liz Danforth along with Ken himself, of course, can only be a good thing. T&T 5th edition has long been regarded as the best (or most organized/well presented) edition of T&T thanks to Liz's work, and I am sure that we'll see the game shape up in the same fashion.

Next! Paizo is having a tenth anniversary sale right here.

I didn't find out about this until after visiting Barnes & Noble, where I purchased the latest Brian Fagan book Elixir, along with Dean King's Skeletons on the Zahara, Paula Guran's Extreme Zombies, Into Africa by Martin Dugard, and Immortality by Stephen Cave. All interesting books which I plan to blast through in the next month, and all helping me to alleviate my conscience from the engorgement on Steam games I engaged in just a couple weeks ago....but luckily this also served as a money sponge to avoid my succumbing to the ridiculous 75% off deals on print products over at Paizo. All of their older pre-PFRPG release OGL modules are up for sale, most at $2-3 apiece and all the adventure paths in stock at $5 each. PDF versions are also marked down across the board. It's madness, I tell you!

Luckily, a dearth of remaining discretionary income and a hearty mental kick to the noggin reminding myself that I never, ever run published modules (except on occasion for C&C) served to quell my insatiable consumerism. If you, however, wouldn't mind getting something around 37 adventure paths and single modules in print for 75% off, head on over. The PDFs of the core book are all $7.49 apiece right now. Kind of a steal, ya know?



On an unrelated note, I may have given up my chance to own the AD&D Premium edition rulebooks. My FLGS owner called up and inquired as to whether I really wanted them or not, to which I explained as I always do with books they've been holding for a week or more that yes, I do want them, but the problem is I absolutely don't need them so I've been having a hard time finding the discretionary income to throw at vanity ownership. So if she had someone else keen to buy them (she did) then she was welcome to sell them and I'll just take my chances on finding copies in the distant future. Such is life as a father and husband and sole breadwinner in the family right now.

And yeah, I could have saved up the moolah I spent at Barnes & Noble, but those books are something I'm actually going to read and enjoy, maybe learn something from. Buying pristine editions of AD&D 1st edition, simultaneously marvelling at the game I played as a kid and also mildly loathing it for the memories of my youth it brings up....just not quite the same bang for my buck.

I wonder if one's OSR-ness and love for all things 1980 and earlier is inversely proportionate to one's level of fondness for the memories from that period? I'm not saying I don't have fond childhood memories....but I definitely wouldn't repeat my childhood as it unfolded. On the other hand, I continue to hold a pristine boxed set of Runequest 2nd edition, which I do indeed enjoy perusing on occasion for the fond memories, and ironically I also still have my original 1st edition Gamma World books in startlingly good condition, still filled with my writing from age 9-12 when I played Gamma World to death. That there is one of the reasons I don't even feel mildly compelled to try Gamma World 1st edition again; every time I open the pages I see a snapshot of myself in my youth, and it reminds me that those days are unique and are nonrepeatable, at least in their original forms. That's what Mutant Epoch is for, anyway...!

Bah, enough introspection! Go check out Paizo and read what Ken has to say about T&T Deluxe.