Fates worse than death

When I started getting back into gaming (say 2004), I went in head-first with my collection of Rolemaster books clutched tightly. Managed to convince a couple of my friends who'd never played to give it a shot, and honestly, it went pretty well for a couple of sessions - in that we were having fun.

The PC's came from a town on a lake. In the middle of the lake was a ancient magical gate which was held closed by three arcane brotherhoods, as it had in past times been used as a passage for horrible demons of the Void.

Ooops! Go figure - the first session began with something going wrong with the gate! One of the brotherhoods had become corrupted, and the town could no longer be guaranteed safe - and so, the PC's were given the task (by the non-corrupted Orders) of securing a tower in the wilderness nearby - in case the unthinkable happened, and control was totally lost.

As far as the 'story' goes, it is secondary to this post, sorry. The long and short of it is this: they go and get to the tower and explore the weirdness of it, and find that some of the local denizens have claimed it (Gratar - nasty toad-men). In battling against the Gratar, one of the PCs (a big trollish fighting machine of a character) receives a fluke critical hit from a far inferior opponent. The result of this hit is a broken leg. The other characters help him back to the tower after the combat is ended, but this was to be the last session we played.

Conclusion: broken legs are worse than death.

I admit that I waffle on the simulationist/gamist axis - but find myself more and more sympathetic to the gamist side when it comes to things like this. Two months of (game) time spend knitting bones is kinda a drag (assuming no MacGuffin Inc. Super Healing Wands are available...). I love the detail of systems like Rolemaster, but that night, when the percentiles came up with a broken bone, you could feel the 'fun' rush out of the room. I would have honestly rather had the roll come up double zero and present some hideous insta-death effect - there. Done. The character's dead. End of story.

Obviously there's a couple of 'solutions' here - use something other than Rolemaster, fudge the healing rules, ignore the 'unfun' effects, etc... but the general conclusion I've come to is that lingering game-mechanic effects of realistic wounds are kinda a drag.

I'm playing in a game of 1st edition Tunnels and Trolls right now, and two of my companions have recently lost appendages to horrible noxious slime attack. Sucks, yes. But it was handled really well in the sense of - OK - cauterize the wounds, get a fake foot and a hook to replace the lost hand, AND KEEP PLAYING! No weeks or months of convalescence - No "realistic" save vs. blood loss and shock, etc. This is the way to do it in my opinion. Facts are still facts (in the logic of the game) - Drugan's got a wooden foot and Melanthios has a hook instead of a hand - but these facts do not import a bundle of realistic assumptions that would detract from getting down to the playing of a game.

I like that.

Solo Playtest 7

from 6D(Timeshadows)

Help Kragn
As you rush to the fore, you suddenly realize that something is wrong. Make a L1 SR on LK (oof! rolled 1,2 - fail).
GOTO BASED ON SR FAIL
As you turn away, the now invisible merchant manages to sink his knife deep into your back... the scavengers of the hills will feed well tonight!

---

Sorry about the bad roll there... (especially after the dalay) I'll get some more sections up for play pretty soon - thanks!

Trollbridge storefront on Lulu

Not good at announcements...So, instead, I'll just blather on about things as per usual.

I've started a Lulu Group storefront in order to make fan product material for Tunnels & Trolls available. I've started it, but it is not mine alone. I don't know how to explain exactly how this came about, as it was more-or-less an emotional reaction to the recent Outlaw Press fiasco, followed by some further research.* But the result is that members of Vin's Trollbridge will always have an outlet for material they produce,** and there's such a wide variety of ever-changing (and persistent) AWESOME there... members of the Bridge, along with other authors that produce T&T material on Lulu.

There's debate about whether this venue is the best choice out of all the options around, and it may be that the store front is torn down and rebuilt somewhere else someday - as it is a grassroots venture, there's not telling what will happen... but for now, this can serve as a waypoint for distribution. I don't expect that there will be a whole lot available before the beginning of next year - but there are two very good free PDF solo adventures available right now (by Trollbridger jongjungbu), and more may trickling up. We are also gathering our resources and planning some regular periodical publications.

So, yeah, not good at announcements. Thanks for reading!

* I will try to provide summary for those interested. It is with mixed feelings, because Outlaw Press has been the biggest 'market-presence' for Tunnels and Trolls for a while, arguably the most meaningful one... so this episode has produced both anger at the responsible party and the fear of watching a house of cards we've visited crumble... so anyway -

- Someone gets on RPGnet questioning the art attribution on a product put out by Outlaw Press. Starts here.
- That thread continues to grow, wherein a WHOLE LOT of the art comes under scrutiny. Some of the artists take note and post also, claiming that they had no idea their art was being used. Last page as of (Dec. 2)
- When I say a WHOLE LOT, I mean a WHOLE DAMN LOT - like almost everything! I spent a week watching this thing grow and grow, the revelations become more and more damning... ugh - court of public opinion, etc, etc - I've never submitted anything to Outlaw Press because I disliked the copyright policy - and never had anything of mine stolen by him (that I know of!), so I have no dog in the race.
- There's more hijinx (to be vanilla) that Outlaw has pulled over the last few years, and I'd like to reserve this space for a future edit of a hyperlink list.
- While this is going on, other people who've felt that Outlaw Press had taken liberties with their material came forward and talked about it - and research on the boards and such showed that they'd often brought these issues up at the times they occurred... much gnashing of fangs, pulling of forelocks, etc. The event becomes a kind of a wake up call...

** I dread words like 'always' and 'never'. The assumptions here are 1.) as long as lulu's around 2.) as long as the Trollbridge stands 3.) as long as the internet holds up and 4.) as long as we all can keep our gentleman's agreement to never utter the name of That-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named (that's Hastur, btw...).

Solo Playtest 6 (Timeshadows)

From 5C (Timeshadows)

Assess henchmen
Round One: Use the same stats for the caravan guards as your henchmen (Con 20, 3+10, 3 armor)

Melee in front of the wagon:
- Garweot gets 16
- Front guard gets 21
-> Garweot takes 5 damage, 3 taken by armor, so damaged for 2 points (Con 18)

Melee behind the wagon:
- Kragn gets 17
- Rear guard gets 26
-> Kragn takes 9, reduced by 3, for 6 damage (Con 14)

(bad rolls for your henchies! sorry!)

AUTOMATIC GOTO

In the moments you take to see how the combat fares, the merchant bends and breaks the medallion in half. As you turn your attention back to him, you see him disappear!

Do you...
A) Attack the last position you saw the merchant in
B) Investigate where the merchant disappeared from
C) Join the melee before the wagon
D) Join the melee behind the wagon
E) Ignore everything else, begin to loot the wagon.
X) Something else

Solo Playtest 6 (Palmer)

From 5B(Palmer)

I waste him with my crossbow!
What's the gp value on that medallion?

The distance between the two of you is small, and he's a sitting duck - you get +3 to the marksmanship roll (L1 SR on DX (rolled 9, +3, in short, a hit!))

The merchant falls over feathered, his face relaxing to serene repose.
As you quickly grab the medallion and feel it's considerable weight, you estimate a two to three hundred gold piece value.

The tough life of the Temp Gamer! If you pass your next TPS evaluation, it'd be great to have you continue -

Do you...
A) Leap into the combat in front of the wagon
B) Leap into the combat behind the wagon
C) Assess how your henchmen fare
D) Ignore them and begin to pillage the wagon
E) Examine the medallion closer
X) Something else

Impromptu solo playtest: 5

From 4X (Timeshadows):

"Circle around trying to see what the merchant is up to, wary of a ranged weapon, such as a crossbow, prodd, or gun.
If I can see him I observe before riding on him. Perhaps his daughter is hidden away in a secret compartment of the wagon?"

As you round the wagon, you see the merchant crouched on the ground, holding a silvery medallion with both of his hands - you see much fear in his eyes, which only increases when he looks up and sees you.

Do you...
A) Demand his surrender
B) Launch an attack at him
C) Take a moment to assess how your henchmen fare
X) Something else

St. Andre podcast

Allow the dulcet tones of Ken St. Andre to work their charms while you wallow in the haze of post-feast (a friend of mine coined a term a while back, that may be applicable here (among other circumstances... ugh... love it!), that being the term "Engorgeous")

Anyway - the podcast is (sadly) brief and over the telephone, but good nonetheless. One point touched on is that Ken had little interest in miniatures gaming - beyond general interest in gaming. Every once in a while I remember this detail, and each time it seems to contribute to a slowly building something way in the mid-back of my mind...

Ken is such a nice guy. Take a minute (maybe 10...) to listen!

BREAKING NEWS: Engorgeous is defined at Urbandictionary.com! I'd argue for some other interpretations - I'll take that up with them I guess...

Solo Playtest 4

from 3A (Timeshadows)

"Garweot and Kragn, I think the caravan leader is too concerned and alert for the lot of us to approach without encountering organised resistance from the mercenary guards; they've got a lot riding on this.
"Hide as well out of sight as possible until the first third of the train has passed, then attack, dividing them in two. I will shore up the rear and drive them to you, slaying any who resist.
"We may even ransom the merchant if we take him alive. Who knows, perhaps there are princesses disguised as riders, or even hidden in those large woven baskets atop the Karakaras' backs.
"What say you?"

The brigands' eyes light with greed, and seem emboldened and eager, and with this new focus, evince signs of cunning verve.

Roll d6 and divide by two to determine how many other guards the merchant has hired. (rolled a 4, so there's 2 guards and the merchant present)

GOTO BASED ON # OF GUARDS
L1 SR on LK (passed)
You and your new lackeys leap out of hiding - taking them completely by surprise! The merchant is the first to recognize the situation, and with what little time available to him, jumps to the ground on the other side of the wagon.

Do you...
A) Pursue the merchant
B) Join your lackeys in combat against the other guards
X) Something else

There's been a lot of weird things going on with Tunnels and Trolls recently which has kept me pretty captivated and on the edge of the seat. An end (?) result of recent events seems to imply the following scenario, which I, among others, find particularly mind-bending...

That a clone of a game could be made and allowed to titled the same as the original. Huh?

Weird. How could this be?

I have a feeling that a "weird bomb" just exploded nearby, and after a weird and emotional period of anger and recrimination among elder trolls, we are those fortunate enough to be alive on Day One... like Childhood's End or something - maybe Saberhagen's Empire of the East, caught in the Ardneh Wave - or that psi-emanation from Traveller:New Era just passed through...

Anyway, I anticipate a real flood of fan support for this wonderful game, along with greater PDF resources from Flying Buffalo - and as I watch the continuing unfolding of this weirdness, I can't help but think that a great deal of good will come of this. I readily admit that I feel somewhat inadequate to project or try to predict all the different ways this could develop, I do not see how it could be detrimental to this great game.

While the Trollgod sits mighty dominion in his Hall, we tunnelers have been busy!

Impromptu solo playtest: 3

from 2X (Timeshadows)

X: I hope to enlist them to help me seize the caravan goods and personnel, and establish a more meaningful operation from the keep. I will, of course, fight dirty with any of them who do not recognise my authority in this matter. :)

Round 1:

L1 SR(rolled 11) on CH(10) succeeds first round! Garweot and Kragn the brigands are now a part of your party. Each is CON:20 Combat:3+10 Armor:3 hits taken

Springing on them totally unaware, they offer no resistance, and you suspect them prone to surrender... but once they understand your plan, seem eager. And well rested.

Do you...
A) Have a plan in mind? (I suspect you might ;))
B) Secure your horse out of sight and wait in the brigand's cleft to ambush the wagon?

Delvers of the Unknown

Oh man. Another minimal variant which strikes REAL close to home for me, a condensed T&T. As it's two pages long, it may not be for the absolute purist... an unfortunate loss...

neat link for modern apocalyptic prophecy intersection

Though we live in a post-ironic era, I do enjoy the occasional moment of obtuse synchronicity. With the amount of brain energy I've spend thinking about high-level play, this post was too good... sorry, just the title...

Impromptu solo playtest: 2

from 1B (Christian)

The merchant is a tough nut to crack. Make a L1 SR on CHR. (I rolled for you and rolled poorly (a 4 on 2d6) - sorry...) So, you make some faltering attempts at conversation, but he insists you remain silent and watch the hilltops - "Just keep your eyes open..."

Do you
A) Keep your eyes to the hilltops
B) Insist the merchant explain himself or the situation better
C) Strike up a (quiet) conversation with another of the guards
D) Scout ahead
E) Keep a cursory watch and try to get an eye into the merchant's cargo
X) Something else

from 1D (Timeshadows)

Reaching the top of the next rise of the road, you survey the area. The hills here 'ruled' from Toor's Hall are regarded lawless, the current lord of the castle given to excesses of drink. Make a L1 SR on IQ. (I rolled for you and got 8, so you succeed). Goblins? No - but you have the advantage what appears to be two likely brigands dozing in a cleft of rock, safe from casual observation.

Do you
A) Return to gather other guards
B) Dismount and attack them
X) Something else

neat link for listgeek intersection

Dungeons & Kobalds show with the list

neat link for codegeek intersection

Troll and Flame takes early lead with practices of "Agile" software development and DM minimalism.

Impromptu solo playtest: 1

You hired on at the Mercenaries Guild a duty to guard a merchant's wagon en route to the Hall of Toor, an old castle mouldering in barren rocky hills. The journey is brief – the whole time the merchant is nervous and wary.

Do you
A) act the professional
B) engage the merchant in conversation
C) surreptitiously examine the merchant's goods

(or do something else since this is ostensibly playtesting?)