While I
love the Deluxe edition (presentation is probably the best I've seen for a
modern game manual), if it suffers from anything it is how much you have to
weed-out from all the additional material that was added. On one hand, it's
incredible how many possibilities it presents...on the other hand, it lost the
charm of the simple setup that really makes T&T special; at least by my
estimation. Currently, I'm running Deluxe at the table with my gaming group
(well...more of a duo, not counting myself), and it still runs the same as
regular T&T, and they are having a lot of fun, but I do find it denser from
the DM side of things (nothing like AD&D 1st ed. or anything). The idea,
once again, re-interated in the Deluxe ed. is to use what works for you and
leave out the stuff that doesn't, so one could weedle it down pretty
easily...but it is a lot of material.
With solo play there are a few things I
like to employ that gives just a little extra survivability without feeling like
I'm cheating. If you are experienced with T&T you understand the lethal
nature of the game. Its one of the things that I really like about the game, and
that hasn't changed since it's creation. That other famous system incrementally
moved further and further away from that concept, and, in my opinion, it changes
the challenge and the nature of the game. T&T got it right from the
beginning (once again)...nothing risked, nothing gained. It makes that success
so much sweeter. An actual 5th level character in T&T is well-deserved. This
little theory holds out well at the table, but in a solo, where one wrong choice
can literally mean instant demise, perhaps a tad more survivability is a
good thing...otherwise, you'll probably be "soloing" by just making endless
characters!
With that in mind, here are some solo specific house-rules that I
like to use for the 4th edition that gives you a little boost and just might cut
down a hair on the number of character names you'll have to come up with!
Speaking of that, I'm a firm believer in giving a full name and some background
history to each of my characters. I feel like just running a blank set of prime
requisites with a weapon thru the dungeon and then filling in the details if
they survive, is kinda lame. Go for it! Give it your all. You get bumped off,
make it glorious...and simply roll up a new personality!
1. "Method I" from AD&D for rolling your prime requisites (ie. 4d6, drop
the lowest die, arrange as desired).
2. Humans (and only humans) get an extra
die when rolling starting gold (I think I borrowed this one from the "Lone
Delver" blog).
3. Rogues get one single starting spell at inception. Must be
first level, and you have to roll a luck check. Failed save, you have to try
for another.
4. You get one (only one!) "do-over" for any save required that
might equal your demise, if you fail, per adventure.
...and for now, that is it. I feel these really give a tiny helping-hand without
going too far! Next entry to come: Rolling up some characters.
4 comments:
Definitely with you on the name them and imagine a real character. Extra d6 gold for humans is good idea, Sonia the starting spell for a rogue, and rolling for it. As for Deluxe T&T I removed everything I didn't want and ended up with 5th ed.😁
Yep! I noticed that too on the Deluxe edition stripped. It's 5th! Ha, ha...!
New colour scheme is a lot easier on the eye, thanks!
I must confess a lot of my characters don't get a name until they justify it by surviving their first adventure. But then, I think some of the solos are way out in terms of the recommended combat adds... usually too hard, but occasionally too easy.
There's a certain amount of interest I feel in rolling up a new character and then giving them the right amount of advances and equipment to tackle a high-level solo. (I use a semi random method for this.) Will be interested to know if you are going to start with higher level characters or take the long way round and develop your characters' experience one goblin at a time.
I thought I'd try to go from scratch on 'em and see how it fares, but I also thought about starting at a slightly bumped level for each guy or, as you say, give them a bit more to roll with from the beginning. I'm probably going to get wiped out pretty regular, ha, ha....
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