For those that wish to make firearms a more common part of their games, here is an optional price list to bring the cost of black powder weapons more in line with other T&T equipment.
Firearms Cost
Hand Cannon: 100 GP
Matchlocks: Pistol: 175 GP
Musket: 150 GP
Snaphaunces: Pistol: 250 GP
Musket: 270 GP
Wheellocks: Pistol: 500 GP
Musket: 600 GP
Flintlocks: Pistol: 300 GP
Musket: 375 GP
Accessories Cost
Black Powder: 3 SP / charge Powder Horn or Flask: 10 GP W/ built-in Powder Measure: 20 GP
Spare Ramrod: 2 GP
Lead Bullets: 5 SP / 10
Swabbing: 1 CP / 10
Slow Matches: 1 SP / match Characters using black powder would probably also purchase some bar lead, and a set of bullet and shot dies, so as not to be caught without ammunition.
TrollsZin
Functio
In order t black pow what it tak Matchloc a measure then a lead wad of pa in a pinch was not mounted o securely in tight as to are now re You can chemically charge—w brazier, m whirl the l good coal unlit matc cloak, an Matchlock Now that cord over your cloth up a gun metal cov horn or replacing t
ne!
on and Ma
to understand wder weapon, kes for everyth cks: To load a ed amount o d ball or mea aper, rag, or c h. You take the
until much on the weapo nto place, with o turn your ar
eady to begin light your s y treated ro with flint and making sure to
lit end over yo l. If it is dam ch cord unde nd you can k altogether if your match r your should hes alight), and rest if you are ver off the pa
gourd, pour the cover and
alfunction
what can go first you hav hing to go righ a Matchlock, y of powder int
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hout packing rquebus into firing your M slow match—
ope used to d steel or fr der (hopefully d now is also t
e using one. N n, and, using a small ch
clipping the l
wrong with a ve understand ht.
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—a length of o ignite the rom a handy match or an its end to a
est keep your or inside your n using your
ust sling your y, not setting the time to set Next, take the your powder harge into it, lit end of your
Page 51 d a Matcdiffe whee
w match into ebus against y chlocks, again
t), remove t ress the bar ho
contact with t (usually as m ng), the primi
ge. About a s y to start all o e: If you are c be using a tam tly into the en p your powder sable to remo do not want y eellocks: A W chlock kin, b erent. The fi el—something
er—that grind made of extrem
gged axle. A c attached to b ng. When the w nner, tension
hanism is rea trigger locks der is ready t of a novelty elopment. The
close it agai lly, you move
o the serpent your shoulder nst the armor the cover fro olding the slow
the priming c many as one-ing lights and econd later, "
ver again.
carrying your w mpion or plug nd of the barr r dry and the c ove the tampi your arquebus Wheellock lo ut the firing iring mechan g like the str ds against pyri mely good ste chain is wrapp both the axle a wheel is woun is stored in t ady to spin an
s the wheel to aim and fir up until thi en you open a in until you
the dog—a m
Is tine. Bracing r (or, for very
in middle of om your pan w match to b charge. If thin -in-four shots d sets off the Bang!" and yo
weapon loaded g that will be p rel to—hopefu charge in place ion before fir
to explode.
oads much li procedure is nism is a to riker on a cig ite. The wheel eel and mount ped around th and a powerfu nd up with a s the spring, an nd fire the c
in place unt re—aiming be
s point in fi and prime you are ready to moveable arm
ssue 7 placed fully—
e. It is ring if
ike its a bit oothed
garette l must ted on he axle ful leaf special nd the harge.
til the eing a irearm ur pan, o fire.
holding th the wheel, goes well, and the someone y While this the inven would bec wheellock first really with exag called Da good Whe cost you t Matchlock available o enough to Flintlock Wheellock again, diff pan is prim flint or c position a steel striki the weapo The cock sending sp and, with firing its more rel Matchlock five or six damp or e loading.
he pyrite—for , open the pan
a shower of main charge you don't like s may sound ntion of the come as reliab k once loaded
y practical ca ggerated balls ags, were Wh eellock muske ten to a hund k or Flintlock
only to the w o scavenge the s: Flintlocks ks, but the f ferent. Once th
med, the sprin hert striker i and the pan ing plate is mo on is aimed, k is released,
parks into th luck, setting leaden prese liable and k, the Flintloc x shots and w even humid co
rward and into n, and pull the f sparks ignite e, and you g
very unhappy complicated, percussion c ble or weathe d. Also of no arry-and-fire s or spikes o heellocks. Un et or pistol wo
dred times th k equivalent, wealthy and th em from the b load like Ma firing mechan he charge is lo ng-loaded coc is moved bac is opened. T oved forward
and the trigg striking the e pan, lightin g off the mai ent downrang
weatherproo ck still misfire was extremely
onditions, esp
o contact with e trigger. If all es the priming get to make y.
it is not until ap that guns erproof as the ote is that the pistols, often on the butts, fortunately, a ould probably he price of its making them hose fortunate
attlefield.
atchlocks and nism is, once oaded and the ck holding the ck into firing he frizzen or over the pan, ger depressed e frizzen and ng the charge, n charge and ge. While far f than the ed once every susceptible to pecially during h
Heremore gettin
dvanced M
e is a table to e common in ng tired of all botch! Roll 2D Partial Burn
all of the po weapon adds horoughly cle ng an addition Charge Fails t powder is da t be complete
her shot may Flash in the P priming pow charge. The her shot may ang Fire
priming pow hing happens.
ischarge the id enough to b l-strength sho Malfunction in firing mecha chlock, the m and will nee ible; for a W lint in the co aced before an made. A full
ir the mechan Burn Round
shot is insu lting in the oding. This ca dering the gu fessionally repa Weapon Explo wielder takes pon in damage
Misfire Ta
o use if gunpo n your camp l your guns ex D6 and consu
owder charge for this shot.
eaned before nal combat tur to Ignite
amp or faulty ely unloaded a
be attempted Pan
wder goes off, pan must be be attempted
wder goes o A slow burn following com be looking do ot with no ben n the Firing M anism has a match cord is ed to be rel Wheellock or F ock has shatte ny further att combat turn nism if a repair
ufficiently wa powder bu an weld the s un unusable aired.
odes
s the full dic e—better luck
ble
owder weapon aign or if yo xploding every ult the table be
ignites—halv . The weapon it can be relo rn to the load
y, and the w and reloaded b
.
f, but fails to e re-primed b
.
off and seem causes the w mbat turn. A own the barrel nefit of armor.
Mechanism malfunction:
stubbed-out i lit before firi Flintlock, the ered and has tempts at firin will be need r is possible.
added or tam urning instea
hot into the b until it ca
ce and adds o k next charact
ns are
weapon before
ignite before
mingly eapon
pyrite to be ng can ded to
mped, ad of barrel, an be
of the er!
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Page 53
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Patrice Geil
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Obvi right their (i.e. l fromthat muchattrib havemigh or cl with overw and t lot o compthem beenwhen
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re’s just a snag m!) were crea acters. Startin Terrors or Sewe d idea. Ken S wn for their h es are self-exp alizer Dungeon, geon in the Worl viously you do t away and thi r chances of
losing) is par m time to tim you don’t p h at the be butes, gold, h e their own i ht be exceptio
lumsy. Your as little as 30 weight. Choo their starting of personality pleted at least m more. Depe
n on and wha n you created
g: most of the ated for mid ng with Micha ers of Oblivion St Andre’s sol high mortality
planatory: Na , T.E.R.R.O.R rld.
on’t want you is article is an survival. But rt of the game me. That is wh personalize yo eginning. Wh
height, and w individuality.
onally strong character mig 0 GP. She ma osing their kin
talent will giv already. But w t a couple of ending on the at you already
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ael Stackpole’
is probably los in particul rate. For the ked Doom, Dea R., and The T
ur characters attempt to in t remember, e and does h hy I would su our character hen you roll weight they a
For example or unusually ght start his ay be very tall n, type, equip ve your charac wait until they f adventures to
adventures th y knew about uld name thei
ssue 7 best of h-level
’s City not a lar are ese the athtrap Toughest
to die crease dying appen uggest rs too
their already , they dumb career
…and
place of origin, religion, and social background.
When your character reaches the second level, he will be able to pick up a new talent, which will personalize him even further. For the finishing touch, give him an earring, tattoos, a moustache, buy him a parrot and a pirate’s pistol, or let him smoke a pipe and wear a sombrero; whatever. The point is, do not personalize your beginning characters too much because the mortality rate is higher among beginners than among veterans.
Your characters will then evolve naturally as they grow in power and experience. Your female warrior may turn out to be an Amazon or a barbarian with matching talents and equipment.
Your wizard may evolve into a necromancer who creates new monsters or into a druid specializing in potions and herbs and casting strange spells deep in Mistywood.
As it was stated in the Corgi Books T&T rules section, “unlike other solo adventures, Tunnels & Trolls allows characters to grow and pass from one adventure to another (…) By upping the attributes, through encounters in the solo adventures and level raises, your character will have a whole host of spells and weapons made available to him. Money will allow him to buy armour or those weapons and spells, making him better able to face the trials and tribulations of the solo adventures. Your characters can pass from one solo to the next, earning titles and treasure in a never ending heroic career.” One of the joys of T&T solos is indeed to have your characters grow and evolve. Another asset of T&T, which was not mentioned by the Corgi rules, is that you can always use your characters to play T&T with friends. Sharing and interacting with other players is also very rewarding. Having a wonderful advanced-level T&T character is fine, but having other players know that character and interact with him or her is even better!
But if you want your characters to go that far, you will have to start them with adventures they can survive. A few early official T&T solos were made for beginners, but certainly not enough. Solitaire adventures like Buffalo Castle by Rick Loomis, Sword for Hire by James Wilson, and Labyrinth by Lee Russell belong to the “maze-type” adventure and were designed for first level Warriors. James Wilson’s Blue Frog Tavern was also made for beginning Warriors and is an enjoyable sequel to Sword for Hire. Sorcerer Solitaire rewritten by James L. Walker is a fine adventure for apprentice
Wizards and Goblin Lake by Ken St. Andre is a tough solo for low-level Goblins.
Remember the time when everybody thought that since Flying Buffalo was not publishing anything new, T&T was a dead game system? Times have changed and it’s amazing how many T&T solos have been published during the last couple of years. Print-on-demand and watermarked PDF files have probably helped a lot; new authors keep on appearing.
Luckily, many of these solos were designed for low level characters. Recently, I bought a funny mini-solo for beginning characters, called Hecatombe, by Al McDougall; it was short, but good enough. Stuart Lloyd designed his Temple of the Fool God for beginning characters, in which you have to retrieve the greatest treasure of the kingdom from the belly of a mad god. I certainly will try that one too. Andy Holmes, one of the talented authors of Tavernmaster Games, is one of the most prolific T&T authors and – if I may add – one of the best. For beginning Warriors, I would recommend his solos Escape from the Vampyre's Crypt, The Haunting of Tilford's Hollow, or The Halls of the Gorgon - Level One. I hope you like the atmosphere Andy tries to create in his adventures as much as I do. Darren Jones is a little known, but promising solo author; The Temple at Marterrine is ideally suited for beginning adventurers of all character types. Surviving characters gain considerable skill and should be able to advance to more perilous adventures after that. The same goes for Sid Orpin’s (author of The Tree of Life) Devotion to Duty solo, in which your beginning character will become a fighting monk.
In Formication, you can even play a newly created fairy Warrior. In Sid’s latest solo, Rapscallion, you can play a beginning Rogue. W. Scott Grant (Sligo) wrote the excellent Final Exam, another of the few solos specially for beginning Wizards. Try it if you dare! Dan Hembree is also a solid author of T&T adventures. I already wrote a review of The Tomb of Baron Gharoth in TrollsZine! #3. Since then, Dan has developed a whole line of T&T solos as well as a very good GM adventure by Mike Hill, The Dungeon of the Rat. Dan’s Lone Delver Games product line currently includes five solo adventures, the latest of which is Crypt of the Wolf Prince, specially designed for beginning characters. Patrick Witmer (Jongjungbu)’s No Rest
TrollsZine! Page 55 Issue 7 for the Weary at War is a mini-solo designed for 1st
level characters and one of the finest I played over the last few years.
Some solos allow you to use several characters in an adventure. A good example is The Old Dwarf Mine by Roy Cram in which you can send in up to 10 beginning characters at the same time. Roy Cram is also the author of the solos Mistywood and Gamesmen of Kasar as well as the Wilderness Encounters catalyst book. The Old Dwarf Mine originally appeared in Pegasus magazine #73; it was later rewritten by Ken St. Andre and published online. Overkill, rewritten by Michael Stackpole, lets you play several characters as well, but is much, much tougher.
Then there are solos that can be played by characters of any level. Gristlegrim Khosht, Arena of Khazan, and Hela's House of Dark Delights, all by Ken St. Andre, Beyond the Wall of Tears by K.
Martin Aul, Search and Ye May Find, by Michael K.
Eidson, and Abyss by Paul Creelman (but only for characters who have died) fall into this category.
Curiously enough, most of Ken St. Andre’s recent solos from his Trollhalla Press series were not designed for beginning characters, even though he is known to favor low-level games. The exception is Tavern by the Sea, which is tough but is actually designed for beginning characters (there are even three ready-to-play characters included in the booklet). Tavern by the Sea was co-written with Andy Holmes and is available in two versions. The first, by Trollhalla Press, is illustrated by David Ullery and includes a GM adventure version. The second, by Tavernmaster Games, is illustrated by Jeff Freels and includes a second built-in mini-solo, The Tomb of the Sea Reaver’s Gold.
It is perfectly possible to take a solo designed for advanced characters and adapt it to suit your beginning characters. Obviously, this will require adapting the difficulty level (Monster Ratings and Saving Roll levels) and the rewards (Adventure Points and treasure). There are guidelines provided in the Monsters and Magic Book found in the T&T 7.5 box set, called “Balancing Encounters.” Based on those guidelines, the most
appropriate MR to match a 1st level character is around 20 (3D6+10), which seems reasonable.
Therefore, the MR amplitude should be between 10 (2D6+5 – easy encounter) and 30 (4D6+20 – tough encounter) while special damage triggers should be rare. The SRs should be 1st to 2nd level
Therefore, the MR amplitude should be between 10 (2D6+5 – easy encounter) and 30 (4D6+20 – tough encounter) while special damage triggers should be rare. The SRs should be 1st to 2nd level