Eald Scōl # 2: Monsters! Monsters!

Do you ever get tired of playing a human or elf or dwarf? Have you ever fantasized about being a troll terrorizing the countryside? Have you ever wanted to know what life was like from the monster's perspective? If you answered 'yes', than Monsters! Monsters! by Ken St. Andre is for you!

First published by Metagaming, and later reprinted by Flying Buffalo, the edition of M!M! that I own is a reprint of the original FBI print, also published by FBI, and currently available.

While players of later editions of Tunnels & Trolls are used to being able to play monstrous kindreds, Monsters! Monsters! was first released over 30 years ago, at a time when playing a monster was far less common. Basically, Ken adapted the T&T 4e rules to give us M!M!, but there are plenty of 'monster only' rules and guidelines, like handling Charisma and gaining experience, which make this game unique.

M!M! is packed full of great stuff, and is wonderful as its own stand alone game, or as a reference tool for any T&T GM: the five pages of monster descriptions and the included Woodsedge Inn (an 8 page removable center insert containing a scenario) are worth the cost of the rule book alone! Additionally, although I'm not sure if it is still included, the current printing contains a special insert by Ken which includes monstrous versions of myself and other members of Trollhalla, and artwork by the awesome Jeff Freels!

So, if your ready to storm an Inn, ransack for treasure, devour good kindreds, and be rewarded for your evil, depraved actions, then head on over to Flying Buffalo and order your copy today:

http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/mm.htm

Additional Notes: 'The Toughest Dungeon In The World', a solo adventure published by Judge's Guild way back when, is playable with M!M!. They also published 'Rat On A Stick', a GM adventure usable with M!M!. Of course, because of its relation to T&T, many T&T solos can be used with it as well. You can also find 'Bludgeons and Flagons', an M!M! GM adventure written by Justin T. Williams, in issue #3 of TrollsZine, a FREE T&T magazine published in pdf format.
~ ~ ~

Eald Scōl (Old English for Old School) showcases Old School P&P RPGs, first published 1990 or earlier, ranging from rare and obscure games to well-known favorites.

Copyright © 2010, Paul Ingrassia

T&T 7.5 Creature Feature # 7

*****SPECIAL HALLOWEEN DOUBLE FEATURE*****

Creature Name: Bile
Monster Rating: 75
Combat Dice: 8d6+38
Special Damage: 1/2 - severe spite damage (from digestive juices).
Special Abilities: Fire or cold will hurt it, but weapons only serve to spray the attacker with diseased filth (disease at GM's whim) and lightning will heal, rather than hurt the foul beast.
Description: A disgusting reddish blob, covered with hairy warts and pus-filled blisters, this member of the "clean-up crew" is the dungeon delver's worst nightmare. Some Biles will grow to the point of being collosal horrors, with up to 180 MR or more and human-like Intelligence. These fortunately rare things are called Vicious Biles by the few who have survived them.


Creature Name: Fell Beast
Monster Rating: 45
Combat Dice: 5d6+23
Special Damage: 2/3 - ferocious blows from it's wicked horn.
Special Abilities: Fly Me - Fell Beasts can fly, if somewhat clumsily.
Description: Often mistaken for a winged horse or even a unicorn at a distance, this nightmarish creature is the death of many who wander into ancient, primeval forests and jungles. They almost look like large, pale, emaciated horses, except for the leathery, clawed wings in place of forelegs and the long, twisted horn (dark at the base, fading to blood red at the tip) sprouting from it's forhead. They attack nearly anything on sight, and cannot be tamed except by the most evil and powerful of beings (who may use them as mounts).


Both Creatures Written by Matthew Urquhart, Copyright © 2010, themattjon@gmail.com

Next: Prepare to be bludgeoned!

T&T 7.5 Creature Feature # 6

Author's Note: After reading some Edward Lear, and after going as the Quangle Wangle to a party, I present THE QUANGLE WANGLE!

Creature Name: Quangle Wangle
Monster Rating: 50
Ability Modifiers: none
Combat Dice: 6d6+25
Special Damage: None
Special Abilities: Because the Quangle Wangle cannot be seen (a clearly magical ability - this is not just regular hiding) it can only be hit in combat if the attacker makes a lvl 1 SR on Dex after a successful hit. The Quangle Wangle is also skilled at throwing rocks - delvers are hit if they fail a lvl 1 SR on Lk. Rocks cause 3d6 damage.
Description: Made popular by the work of Edward Lear, no-one is certain what the Quangle Wangle looks like. All that is ever seen of it is a pair of spindly legs and a pair of slender arms with long, attenuated fingers. No matter where the Quangle Wangle is found, or encountered, and no matter how the adventurers might try to get a clearer look, this is all they see! What can be seen is inky black, and rough edged. Most often, the Quangle Wangle will attack from around a corner, inside a crevice, or under a very large hat.

Here is a link to a site I found containing Lear's work, including an image of the Quangle Wangle: http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/ll/quangle.html

Written by Simon "Darknight" Rafe, Copyright © 2010, http://www.batcave.co.uk/tandt/

~now for something completely different~

Khenn Arrth, Trollgod
{Sung to the tune of the Spongebob Squarepants Theme Song}

Are ya ready trolls?
Ugh, ugh Mist-tikk!

I can't heeeaaar yooouuu!

UGH, UGH MIST-TIKK!

Aarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........

Who lives in a troll cavern far from the sea?
Khenn Arrth, Trollgod.
All mighty and greenish and vicious is he.
Khenn Arrth, Trollgod.
If dungeons and delving be something you wish
Khenn Arrth, Trollgod.
Then prepare to die and be gutted like fish.
Khenn Arrth, Trollgod.

Ready?
Khenn Arrth, Trollgod,
Khenn Arrth, Trollgod,
Khenn Arrth, Trollgod,
Khenn Aaarrth, Trollgooood!

Ugh ar ar, arg arg arg, ugh, ugh-argh...ar-dee ar-ar...


In tribute to Ken St. Andre. First scrawled on the Trollhalla Walla by Mist-Tikk Foo-all.

Copyright © 2010, Paul Ingrassia

T&T 7.5 Creature Feature # 5

Creature Name: Froglin
MR: 22
Attribute Modifiers:
STR: x1 CON: x1 DEX: x3/2 SPD: x1 INT: x1/2 WIZ: x1/2 LK: x1 CHR: x1/2
Combat Dice: 3D6 + 11
Special Damage: Poisonous bite--For each 6 rolled in combat, a froglin manages to bite its opponent, and each point of poison damage will reduce the victim's DEX by 1 point until the poison is nullified or wears off in about a month.
Special Abilities: A true amphibian, a froglin can stay underwater indefinitely. Its powerful hindlegs also enable it to leap up to 15 feet at a time.
Description: Half frog, half goblin, all trouble. (Picture the creature from the Black Lagoon, but it isn't black.) Froglins are goblin-sized creatures that live in the lakes and swamps of Trollworld. They usually wear only belts of snake or gator skin which are used to carry such tools as knives, scrapers, blowguns. They prefer weapons made of bronze which they obtain by trading with the Dwarves, the more corroded the better. Each froglin has a mouthful of dagger-like teeth, and its bite is mildly poisonous. They have finned ears that are movable and lie back against the sides of their head when they are swimming, but extend at right angles to the head when fighting. The front of their bodies is pallid white shading into light blue while the back is dark green that turns brownish with age. Froglins imitate goblins in most things, even to the point of speaking the Goblin language, although their pronunciation is so thick that it is very difficult to understand it. True goblins sometimes keep froglins as slaves or pets--it's hard to tell the difference with goblins and froglins.
Weapons and loot: Froglins usually carry specially made bronze machetes worth 3D6 in combat. The weapons are corroded and jagged and will also inflict poison damage doing half again the number of hits that get through when a froglin wins a combat round.


Written by Ken St. Andre, Copyright © 2010, kenstandre@yahoo.com

Next: Be Lear-y of this beastie by Simon "Darknight" Rafe

Eald Scōl # 1: The Creatrix

The Creatrix
Multi-Purpose Role-Playing Game
Written and Created by A.C. Donovan
Creative & Technical Consultant: Yoon S. Chung
Artists: Bob Park, Edward Reynolds, Robert Hayles
Cover art: Edward Reynolds
Copyright 1990 by Alexander C. Donovan

This just might be the rarest RPG in my collection, I've never seen another copy of it, and I've not been able to find reference to it online anywhere. I'd love to hear from anyone who owns, has played, or even heard of The Creatrix.

I think the back cover describes the spirit of the game best, so check it out:



The Creatrix is a classless system, characters are built based upon their Traits (Attributes) and Skills by spending Creation points, as opposed to random dice rolls. The game has only one mechanic, a 5 x 5 matrix based on Action vs. Resistance, decided by the roll of a single d6, and generally based on character's Traits and Skills.

As the game says, this little matrix and a d6 are all you need to play, along with a ton of common sense, creativity, and of course time to build your game setting. There is no setting for the game at all, hence the 'Muti-Purpose' bit of its moniker, The Creatrix is a generic RPG, like GURPS or Risus. The text hints at setting books to come, but, as I mentioned, I cannot find any references to confirm if any further books were produced.

The Creatrix weighs in at a light 16 pages of 'rules', in reality mostly example after example of how to use the matrix in various circumstances. Also included are a reference sheet and character sheet, which, as the booklet says, you can play Creatrix with and never once have to pick up the book.

The combat system is based on the matrix as well, of course, but I think a bit of the simplicity is lost here. For some reason, where the matrix determines outcomes in a single roll in virtually all circumstances, Donovan made combat a series of many rolls on the matrix to determine a single attack outcome. One must roll twice (at least) just to see if armor is penetrated after a hit has been scored. Damage is deteremined by a series of individual d6 rolls, the number of which is determined by various factors such as traits, skills, and weapon strength. These rolls include the armor rolls I mentioned earlier, and rolls left over from penetrating the armor finally score damage.

Overall, I like this little set of rules. So much so, I would love to 'rescue' The Creatrix from RPG obscurity by tracking down A.C. Donovan to talk to him about reprinting it. If anyone knows Mr. Donovan, or any of the others mentioned in the credits above, please ask them to drop me a line.

Paul Ingrassia
troll_hammer_press@yahoo.com
~ ~ ~

Eald Scōl (Old English for Old School) showcases Old School P&P RPGs, first published 1990 or earlier, ranging from rare and obscure games to well-known favorites.

Copyright © 2010, Paul Ingrassia

~now for something completely different~

Tired of chewing on greasy elves and tough dwarves?
Sick of fried chips and artificial ingredients?
Looking for a healthy, all-natural snack?

LOOK NO FURTHER!!!

NEW from the makers of Hobb Chips...

INTRODUCING...

!!!!!HOBB BITS!!!!!

That's right Trolls, Hobb Bits!
All natural! No preservatives!
100% free-range Hobbs, sliced, trimmed of all fat, lightly seasoned and baked to a crispy texture.

Two varieties: Barbeque Brandeebuk and Shirehouse Mix

Healthy Trolls prefer...

!!!!!HOBB BITS!!!!!

{Brought to you by Fritroll-Lay, makers of healthy snacks for over 250 years}


We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming...


First scrawled on the Trollhalla Walla by Mist-Tikk Foo-all.

Copyright © 2010, Paul Ingrassia

T&T 7.5 Creature Feature # 4

Creature Name: Inner Child
Monster Rating: 80
Ability Modifiers: none
Combat Dice: 9D6 + 40
Special Damage: none
Special Abilities: ESP, Blasting Power, Shield Me





Description: The Inner Child is a semi-parasitic organism that lies dormant inside it's human host. It has the ability to dimensionally shift outside it's host but remains bound by a psychic umbilical cord (6ft).

It resembles it's host creature but with mutated features. The host creature is aware of the Inner Child but usually keeps this a secret.

The Inner Child has strong psychic abilities, and also has a psychic blast (60ft) and a force wall that can shield itself and the host. If the host is killed, the inner child dies within 1D6 turns. Any person, PC or NPC, within the six foot range of the deceased host needs to make a contested Will power (Average of Int+Con) SR or end up the Inner Child's new host.


by Chad Thorson, Copyright © 2010, chad.thorson@yahoo.com, http://maximumrockroleplaying.blogspot.com/


Next: The Trollgod births a new Kindred

T&T Supplement: A Fragmentary History of Trollworld

A Fragmentary History of Trollworld
By Ken St. Andre
Art David A. Ullery
Edited by Paul Ingrassia
Published by Peryton Publishing

It's finally here, the latest update to Ken's Trollworld Timeline, with lots of great art, a compelling storyline that spans millennia, and about a million story points for GMs. I don't want to say too much and spoil the fun for everyone, so go ahead and check it out:

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/a-fragmentary-history-of-trollworld/12988390

http://www.perytonpublishing.com/

Copies are also available for purchase right here at TROLL HAMMER: http://trollhammerpress.blogspot.com/p/troll-hammer-store.html

This was a great project to work on, lots of fun, Ken is awesome, and Tom and Robin at Peryton rock!

In the words of Ken St. Andre:
H'aaarrrggghhh!
Paul Ingrassia

T&T 7.5 Creature Feature # 3

Creature Name: MRSA (Mer sa)
Monster Rating: 2
Ability Modifiers: none
Combat Dice: 0
Special Damage: Rotting Flesh
Special Abilities/Description: Attacks open wounds doing 0.02 pts of damage the first combat turn. This damage is progressive, as the number of MRSA attacking the open wound increases by 20 every combat turn. The creature reproduces by mitosis (cell division). This monster is a one-cell organism that can survive on damp surfaces indefinitely and on dry surfaces for months. When not infecting a host, it feeds off its offspring. Any liquid containing at least 61% (122 proof) alcohol will kill the beast. Due to the extensive saturation of underground populations, any wound not treated for one combat turn has a 50% chance of becoming infected. The initial infection does not present any visible manifestation until the second day, when a large number of boils appear around the wound. Within two days of the boils formation, they will burst and begin to ooze a dark green, odiferous, and thick liquid. This liquid is very dangerous and can spread the infection not only to other wounds on the victim but also to others that are exposed to the liquid. If not treated these weeping boils will enlarge and deepen eventually reaching the bone. Left untreated it will result in the death of the victim.


Written by Douglas (Trrrommm) Mitten, Copyright © 2010, douglasmitten@live.com


Next: Chad Thorson gives us a twisted peek inside

T&T Supplement: Specialist Classes

Tunnels & Trolls Specialist Classes, by James 'Grim' Desborough, published by Postmortem Studios, is a great little supplement written for T&T7.x. It expands upon the Specialist Classes introduced by Ken St. Andre in T&T7 by covering the specialist attributes that were not included in the rule book: Strength, Intelligence, Constitution, Luck, and Speed. The classes James has come up with are pretty inventive, based upon some less common but no less well known archetypes: The Brute (str), The Defender (con), The Trickster (luck), The Swashbuckler (spd), and The Tinker (int).

Hands down, my favorite is the Tinker, plenty interesting, lots of neat gadgets, and tons of room for expansion and, forgive me, tinkering with. The Swashbuckler and Trickster tie for next in line as the coolest, with Brute and Defender taking up the rear for me. Of course, that represents my playing style and preferences, no reflection of the quality of the characters. In each instance, James gives us some exciting abilities and challenges, along with fresh and unique possibilities for character development and role playing.

Overall, I think this little booklet is an essential supplement for Tunnels & Trolls 7 and 7.5 editions, rounding out and filling in a wonderful character concept introduced in these editions. For a $1.50 in pdf format from RPGNow, you've really got nothing to lose, and trust me, even if you like just one of these specialists for your game, it's worth the price of admission.

Pick it up today at: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=78593

Don't forget to check out the home of Postmortem Press at: http://www.postmort.demon.co.uk/

Copyright © 2010, Paul Ingrassia

T&T 7.5 Creature Feature # 2

Creature name: Cthonic Wyrm
Monster Rating: 180
Ability Modifiers: none
Combat Dice: 19d6+90
Special Damage: 3/Methane Breath - curls back it's tentacles, revealing a sucker-like maw that spews forth a gas that may poison those exposed and ignite any open flames into a deadly fireball.
Special Abilities: Eldritch hide - absorbs 10 hits per combat round.
Description: A huge (30'-100'), dark, wormlike creature with a facefull of writhing tentacles, this terror is thankfully quite rare. Cthonic Wyrms are often mistaken for dragons, hydras, even gorgons by the unwise and are rumored to be a curse on the land from dark and ancient gods. The beast travels underground, bursting up on prey and surprising on a 1-4 (on 1d6). A Cthonic Wyrm uses it's tentacles to draw subdued food to it's maw for feeding.


Written by Matthew Urquhart, Copyright © 2010, themattjon@gmail.com

New TROLL HAMMER PRESS Logo

Check out the new logo for TROLL HAMMER PRESS, designed by J Freels, also known as Grumlahk to his trollish brethren. Check out his website at: http://www.jfreels.com/

As an aside, I just ordered a copy of Jeff's (J Freels) Z-Town, a solo zombie p&prpg adventure, completely self-contained. I'll be posting a review of it after I get it and give it a try. In the meantime, learn more about it and Jeff's zombie-phobia at The Ziggurat Chemical Company: http://jfreels.com/ZigChem.html

T&T 7.5 Creature Feature # 1

T&T 7.5 Creature Feature will be an irregular column here. It will showcase new creatures, monsters, and kindreds created for the Tunnels & Trolls 7.5 edition, and written by a variety of players. The first offering was sent by the Trollgod himself, Ken St. Andre, creator of Tunnels & Trolls.

Creature Name: Small Chimera
MR: 20
Ability Modifiers: none
Combat Dice: 3D6 + 10
Special Damage: none
Special Abilities: none
Description: It is about the size of a dog, but it has the head of an eagle, the body of a spider, and the claws of a lobster. It is all black, head, body, and claws. They get bigger as they get older, and this form of chimera could reach a monster rating of 200 if it survived long enough. A big one like that could be more than ten feet tall, and its claws could cut a horse in half.


Written by Ken St. Andre, Copyright © 2010, kenstandre@yahoo.com

T&T Supplement: New Khazan

Might as well start things off with a few words about my latest aquisition, New Khazan: The 9,000 Worlds, written by Tom 'Kopfy' Loney and put out by Peryton Publishing.

I love the cover, it's dark, brooding, atmospheric, perfect for epic space fantasy. And this is definitely epic space fantasy, Tunnels & Trolls style. There are many nods to everyone's favorite mega-space fantasies, but I won't spoil the fun by saying which ones. This supplement is written with T&T 5.x and 7.x editions in mind, but should be fairly easy to adapt to whatever flavor of T&T you play.

Creativity runs rampant in this supplement. There is an element called Krestle, a wonderful solution to the problem of how to bring Kremm into space. Fantastic technology abounds, among my favorites being Veggie-Tek, a type of living technology. The space battle rules are simple, in true T&T style. The possibilities for New Khazan are limitless, and Tom has planted an Amazonian Jungle's worth of seeds for germination, with several sections for adventure ideas, complete with sample ships, plenty of npcs built with personalities, and a nice sampling of creatures dwelling in The 9,000 Worlds.

There are 4 character types, similar to T&T 5e, with updates to bring them into a futuristic setting. There are a wide variety of kindred to play, depending on which part of the galaxy you come from. Lots of potential character background plots, lots of room for variation in character development. As with all else here, possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Wait until you see what Tom has done with Warrior-Wizards, they are a force to be reckoned with.

I think New Khazan is fantastic, lots of crunch, a good amount of flavor, gobs of nostalgia, and heaps of creativity. Well done! The very few down sides were very minor, easily fixed by way of an errata or slight re-edit. I think the possibilities for New Khazan are endless and exciting, fresh yet familiar.

To purchase your copy of New Khazan, visit Peryton Publishing at: http://www.perytonpublishing.com/

Copyright © 2010, Paul Ingrassia

Welcome to TROLL HAMMER

Greetings!

Recently, my spare time interests have turned back to pencil and paper role playing games, and most specifically, Tunnels & Trolls created by Ken St. Andre.

I've been playing Tunnels & Trolls on and off since about the mid-eighties, and of all the RPGs I've ever played, it is the single one I always end up returning to. I started off playing the Corgi boxed version, which contained the 5th Edition rules in a digest sized book, a format I loved. I quickly bought up the Corgi digest sized double solos, and a bunch of solos published by Flying Buffalo/Blade, including the limited edition solo Elven Lords by Michael Stackpole. One of the best parts about T&T, at least for me, were (and still are) the solos. Eventually, I started GMing a small group, and the rest, as they say, is history. For about twenty years that small pile of books was all the T&T stuff I ever needed. T&T is that good, that flexible, and that much fun.

A few years ago, after several years of being away from rpgs, I bought the Tunnels & Trolls 7th Edition 30th Anniversary Tin published by Fiery Dragon, and most recently I bought the pdf version of Tunnels & Trolls 7.5 Edition, as an update to my T&T7E set. I like a lot of the changes in these editions of the rules, they addressed and solved some issues that cropped up in earlier editions.

I've amassed a small trove of T&T and related products recently, specifically: Monsters! Monsters! reprint edition by Flying Buffalo; The Toughest Dungeon in the World solo for T&T or M!M!, by Ken St. Andre and published by Judge's Guild back in the heyday of P&PRPG gaming; Gamma Trollworld, a post-apocalyptic setting for T&T; a 1985 special print edition of the rule book for Tunnels & Trolls 1st edition; New Khazan, a fantastic space fantasy setting for T&T written by Tom 'Kopfy' Loney and put out by Peryton Publishing; T&T Monstrum Codex vol 2; Sacramentum Gladiatorum, combat rules for gladiatorial combat in T&T; I've ordered copies of T&T 5.5 edition rule book and Power Trip, a supers setting for T&T, both from Ken St. Andre; I'm also waiting for an order from Flying Buffalo for all the Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes rpg material they carry, offered as a bundle special at their website; and, finally, I've got my eye on a copy of the T&T 4e rule book, but not sure about it yet.

Even more exciting, I've been working on some projects that have to do with Tunnels & Trolls, but I'll leave those announcements for future posts.

Also, keep an eye out for the eventual launch of Troll Hammer Press, but again, I'll leave the details for the future...

Due to my renewed interest in T&T, and in an effort to not clog the posts of my other blog, DECADENT BLOSSOMS BENEATH AN ABSTRACT SUN, with P&PRPG-related posts, I've decided to start this new blog, TROLL HAMMER.

I hope you enjoy your visit, and will consider following/subscribing to TROLL HAMMER.

Paul Ingrassia
Mist-Tikk Foo-all

FOR MORE INFO ABOUT TUNNELS & TROLLS, AND A LINK TO A ***FREE*** COPY OF T&T RULES, INCLUDING A SOLO AND GM ADVENTURE, CHECK OUT THE 'ESSENTIAL LINKS' SIDEBAR TO YOUR RIGHT!!