Tunnels and Trolls with Revolution D100

[pansophy]

While browsing my RPG collecion of books, I stumbled about the 'Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls' rule book. Distant memories came back to my mind and I thought I will have an other read.

So I tried out some of the easily available Solo Adventures T&T sells on RPGnow.com, and was amazed how similar the game feels to RD100. It is lacking a bit in terms of character variety, but the rule system itself feels interestingly 'modern'. Then I thought: it is actually possible to use RD100 to play these games. Since Monsters in T&T have (mostly) just a Monster Rating to calculate Damage and their Ht Points, this is easy to translate. The rest of the system is relying on so called Saving Rolls, which is nothing more than an Attribute+Skill check.

So, here we go, converting the Monster Rating (MR) to RD100:  divide the MR by 2 to get the Resource Point Pool for Rd100. A Monsters Damage dice in T&T are multiplied by 10 to get the Monsters Skill rating (in %) for RD100. The actual Damage a Monster is doing in RD100 is a bit more complex: every odd die adds 1Might and every even Die adds 1d6 damage. This is just a fast rule, use it as a start. It might also even be better to have a look at a similar creature in RD100 to get better stats, but so far it was fun and I got the results I wanted/expected (read: lots of dead characters, died by the hands of creepy things in the dungeons).

Here's an example: a Bandit with a MR of 28. In RD100 translation rules he will have a RPP of 14 (MR /2), with a skill of 30% (MR28 does 3d6 damage in T&T, so 3*10=30), dealing 1d6+2Might Damage (3d6 = 2odd dice (#1 & #3)  and one even die (#2)). Although you might say the Skill rating is a bit low, the Bandit is still a considerable foe due to the high RPP and the decent amount of Damage he'll inflict (once he hits).

In regards of Saving Rolls: simply use a Skill+Trait combination that works for the situation and if it has to be made against a different 'Level' in T&T, simply add a Penalty to your roll (e.g. a Lvl 2 SR will add one Penalty in RD100, a Lvl 3 SR will add two Penalties, etc.). This might seem tough, but T&T is a deadly game (yes, tunnel delvers die regularly from a failed Saving Roll. It's called a Saving Roll in that game for a reason).

I hope this little guide enables you to play some really good choose-your-own Solo Adventure games , brings back some fond memories and most important: gives you something fun to do when your RPG party does not have the time but you still want to delve into amazing old-school adventures.

Cheers, Rob.

[RosenMcStern]

This sounds like a work for Gianni. He is the T&T expert of the team. He even managed to make us play T&T once or twice.

[pansophy]

I quite enjoy it every now and then. It is just the magic system that seems to be a lot more complex than the rest of the game. That's why I want to use RD100 for the solo games - makes it much easier for me.

[GianniVacca]

This is indeed pretty cool.

[DavetheLost]

You have found another reason for me to believe that the Monster Rating is one of the most brilliant innovations in gaming. All the stats you need for a creature can be derived from that one number.

[RosenMcStern]

Quite "innovative" of course, it is just 42 year old. St.André introduced it in 1975, after all

Anyway, here is another bunch of suggestions for the Companion. In any case, RD100 already has the concept of Challenge Rating which is not so different from Monster Rating. If you do not want to fully stat an opponent for a conflict you just assign a CR that replaces his skills. Sounds similar to Monster Rating to me. The only thing I do not appreciate is that RD100 specifically suggests to keep challenges bi-dimensional. High skill rating does not automatically mean a proportional increase in Resolution Points.

[DavetheLost]

Yes, it is only 42 years old.  It does sound like RD100's Challenge Rating. I ahve also seen a similar concept in other games. Frontier Space gives NPCs a descriptor and a rating, so Brash Young Pilot 45, would be an NPC who had 45% on any skills that related to being a brash young pilot and 23% on everything else.

Converting T&T solos on the fly shoud be pretty easy. Most Saving Rolls are based on Luck to avoid traps and other horrible fates. Later solos use them for skills too. Monsters are pretty much there to fight.