Wandering Adventure Party

@julia@eepy.moe At one point I understand that people are at different abilities. At another, I noticed the Gam Gam 'somehow' figured out the fucking poorly designed smart TV when it meant not missing her favorite show.

@cthellis@urusai.social

After all with D&D it was part of the set

I don't think this is entirely true. It is of later editions, but I believe the original White Box (1974-77) did not contain dice, only some booklets and sheets, and if I recall with CHAINMAIL combat, the d20 was optional ​​ but I don’t have a copy on hand to verify that so take with salt.

This morning I realized that unless something changes, next season I will have the space and resources to start beekeeping.

Getting into this position has been a slow (and often painful) project ongoing for years. I am experiencing something like excitement, and now I can ramp up in earnest.

I am experiencing something akin to low excitement. I’ve bought some native wild flower seeds to plant, a couple of books on beekeeping, and I discovered there’s a certification class being held in two weeks. ​​

@rinmari68k can confirm, I should not be trusted. I don’t even trust myself.

@Kingu@sakurajima.moe we’re supposed to believe in some circles that that a wafer of bread transubstantiates into the body of Christ. If Jesus is on the toast, I think theologically speaking your toaster just gave you a free Eucharist prayer and you should dig in.

The next historical game I want to try to run is Empire of the Petal Throne. For those unfamiliar, it is the second or third TTRPG (depending if you let the copyright office officiate) to come to existence, and the first published setting (Tékumel).

That’ll have to wait until I can acquire a copy though. #TTRPG

@Elizafox@social.treehouse.systems capitalism excels at the efficient use of resources… /s.

Oh, found an interview

[Tunnels and Trolls] typed it up myself on my Remington 1907 typewriter

That was a pretty old desk typewriter, even back in 1975.

https://poplitiko.blogspot.com/2015/06/tunnels-trolls-creator-ken-st-andre.html?m=1

#typewriter #TTRPG

Anytime I see a document like this though… I want to know what typewriter Ken St Andre used. Alas.

Astute Readers will also note that the poly set back then didn't contain a d10.

I hear a lot people talk about the d20 being "expensive" for its time when it was released, but no one talks about what that means or what the numbers were.

The closest I've found is https://www.tsrarchive.com/cat/tsr-1978.pdf, which you can see has a full polyhedral set for $1.49, or $.89 for 2D20s.

That puts a full polyhedral set around ... the price of a gallon of milk in 1978? That doesn't seem bad at all? Actually cheaper than today. Maybe the situation was way worse in 1975, but I wonder if this situation is overblown and it was more about availability. I know they ran into a supply crunch in the late 70s. I'm curious if someone knows more.

#D&D #DnD #TTRPG

I ran a oneshot of Tunnels & Trolls 1E

It was a fun history experience, even if in today's terms its kinda ... a bad game.

The game itself feels pretty much incomplete. You're going to run into ambiguities and missing rules almost instantly (movement? Dungeon rounds? resolution mechanic? good luck. You'll need it, because luck is the best stat). It feels like what it is: The work of someone who read a copy of oD&D, didn't really get it, and then hacked out something like it based on what he thought it was.

Which given that it was written when the genre didn't know what it was ... is fair. It's got a lot of interesting notions, like how strength and dexterity are casting stats, monster ratings, group combat resolution, a bunch of fun, zany spells, and an entirely overwrought 'berserk' mechanic. It could have used a lot more playtesting though.

Today I couldn't imagine running a campaign in this. Certainly many did, and it must have been crazy. I would get frustrated with it and begin writing out my own hack. I tried to think of what I'd do if I was around in 1975 and trying to run this thing. I think I would have done the same (and with oD&D), but who knows.

Still. We ran a dungeon, laughed, had a good time. I would like to try a later edition of T&T to see the arc of its evolution.

#Tunnelsandtrolls #TTRPG

Green tea, green tea...

@sludgecatheter@outerheaven.club I sympathize. This kind of conversation usually strikes me as some kind of weird masturbatory violence fantasy. The question can be re-framed as, "What realistic fantasies of remorselessly committing violence do you have?"

While people are talking about situations they'd commit these acts in, they're often living and reveling in the fantasy of it at the same time. The answers aren't usually the flex the speaker thinks they are.

We are all victims of an impossible situation.

I am mildly perturbed that Tunnels and Trolls lists “black hobbits” as a potential example dungeon monster. Funnily enough, “misogynists” are on that list too.

I also protest the idea that there was no sense for “balance” in these old school games. Rather, there was just a greater weight of that weird faux-realism game designers can’t shake.

Andre talks about “fairness” in several passages and grant’s rules based on it. So it’s not like the idea doesn’t exist. It’s more that St. Andre thinks that dwarves are a clearly superior species to humans and that’s reflected in their stat line.

I had a good laugh at ~“we wanted to add a glossary, but we decided to leave it to you to save space. If you don’t know what [a weapon] is, look it up”

Finally an RPG writer honest about being lazy and leaving work to the GM.

I can’t really imagine playing a campaign with this rule set. Lots of hand waving, incomplete explanations, some bonkers decisions, and poor layout

But it is an interesting piece of history, and there are a couple of fun ideas. It definitely exists in the space of “games before people knew what the game was” products.

I appreciate that there is a 2013 reprinting of Tunnels & Trolls 1E.

But I hate that it appears to be a scan of type written document. The fading, artifacts, and wacky weight from an undisciplined typist make reading this very unpleasant and hard on the eye.