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Tunnels & Trolls
Tunnels & Trolls (abbreviated T&T) is a fantasy role-playing game designed by Ken St. Andre and first published in 1975 by Flying Buffalo. The second modern role-playing game published, it was written by Ken St. Andre to be a more accessible alternative to Dungeons & Dragons and is suitable for solitaire, group, and play-by-mail gameplay.
Ken St. Andre, a public librarian in Phoenix, Arizona, liked the idea of fantasy role-playing after reading a friend's D&D rule books but found the actual rules confusing, so he wrote his own. "I just wanted something I could play with my friends at a reasonable price, with reasonable equipment,” he said. The first edition of Tunnels & Trolls was self-published in April 1975. Flying Buffalo Inc. published a second edition of Tunnels & Trolls in June 1975, which soon became a serious competitor to D&D. Tunnels & Trolls had similar game statistics, character classes, and adventures to Dungeons & Dragons but used a magic system based on points and used only six-sided dice. According to Michael Tresca, Tunnels & Trolls explained its rules better overall, and "brought a sense of impish fun to the genre".
The game underwent several modifications between the original release and when the 5th edition of the rules was published in 1979. This edition was also translated and published abroad in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, Japan, and it entered these markets before Dungeons & Dragons did in most cases.
In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Tunnels & Trolls one of "The Millennium's Most Underrated Games". Editor Scott Haring said of the game "everybody knows this was the second ever fantasy roleplaying game ... But to dismiss it as just an opportunistic ripoff would be grossly unfair. Flying Buffalo's T&T had its own zany feel – it was much less serious than D&D – and a less-complicated game system."
In 2005, Flying Buffalo updated the 5th edition rules with a "5.5" publication that added about 40 pages of extra material. That same year, Fiery Dragon Productions produced a 30th Anniversary Edition under license in a tin box complete with CD, map, monster counters, and two new versions of the rules. Ken St. Andre used the opportunity to extensively update the style of play and introduce new role-playing concepts, such as character level determined by character attribute statistics instead of arbitrary numbers of experience points. The 30th Anniversary rules are generally known as the 7th edition. The 7th edition also introduced a skills system. The 7.5 edition was released in 2008 by Fiery Dragon, being an update and clarification on the 30th Anniversary Edition.
In 2012, Tunnels & Trolls was re-introduced in French-speaking markets by Grimtooth under license by Flying Buffalo. The French rulebook, which is officially the 8th edition, is based on the 7th edition, but includes elements taken from the 5.5 edition as well as clarifications by Ken St. Andre. The interior artwork includes the illustrations of the 5th edition, plus new inks by Liz Danforth. Several other products (solos and GM adventures) have been released via Lulu.com, and others have been announced.
The production work for the 8th edition prompted Flying Buffalo to start working on a Deluxe (9th) Edition of the rulebook. As Rick Loomis, head of Flying Buffalo Inc., put it, "The French edition came out so beautiful that now that I have run out of 5.5, I am not satisfied to just reprint 5.5. I wanted to have a deluxe edition even better than the French one. (Competition is what drives us to be better!)". Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls, written by St. Andre with additional design input and editing from longtime players Liz Danforth and James "Bear" Peters, was published in August 2015.
In July 2021, Webbed Sphere bought Flying Buffalo, along with its catalog, but not including its Play By Mail games. In 2023, Webbed Sphere terminated licenses previously granted by Rick Loomis and Flying Buffalo to third party publishers of Tunnels & Trolls products. During their ownership of the company and the Tunnels & Trolls intellectual property, Webbed Sphere did not release any new versions of the game.
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Tunnels & Trolls
Tunnels & Trolls (abbreviated T&T) is a fantasy role-playing game designed by Ken St. Andre and first published in 1975 by Flying Buffalo. The second modern role-playing game published, it was written by Ken St. Andre to be a more accessible alternative to Dungeons & Dragons and is suitable for solitaire, group, and play-by-mail gameplay.
Ken St. Andre, a public librarian in Phoenix, Arizona, liked the idea of fantasy role-playing after reading a friend's D&D rule books but found the actual rules confusing, so he wrote his own. "I just wanted something I could play with my friends at a reasonable price, with reasonable equipment,” he said. The first edition of Tunnels & Trolls was self-published in April 1975. Flying Buffalo Inc. published a second edition of Tunnels & Trolls in June 1975, which soon became a serious competitor to D&D. Tunnels & Trolls had similar game statistics, character classes, and adventures to Dungeons & Dragons but used a magic system based on points and used only six-sided dice. According to Michael Tresca, Tunnels & Trolls explained its rules better overall, and "brought a sense of impish fun to the genre".
The game underwent several modifications between the original release and when the 5th edition of the rules was published in 1979. This edition was also translated and published abroad in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, Japan, and it entered these markets before Dungeons & Dragons did in most cases.
In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Tunnels & Trolls one of "The Millennium's Most Underrated Games". Editor Scott Haring said of the game "everybody knows this was the second ever fantasy roleplaying game ... But to dismiss it as just an opportunistic ripoff would be grossly unfair. Flying Buffalo's T&T had its own zany feel – it was much less serious than D&D – and a less-complicated game system."
In 2005, Flying Buffalo updated the 5th edition rules with a "5.5" publication that added about 40 pages of extra material. That same year, Fiery Dragon Productions produced a 30th Anniversary Edition under license in a tin box complete with CD, map, monster counters, and two new versions of the rules. Ken St. Andre used the opportunity to extensively update the style of play and introduce new role-playing concepts, such as character level determined by character attribute statistics instead of arbitrary numbers of experience points. The 30th Anniversary rules are generally known as the 7th edition. The 7th edition also introduced a skills system. The 7.5 edition was released in 2008 by Fiery Dragon, being an update and clarification on the 30th Anniversary Edition.
In 2012, Tunnels & Trolls was re-introduced in French-speaking markets by Grimtooth under license by Flying Buffalo. The French rulebook, which is officially the 8th edition, is based on the 7th edition, but includes elements taken from the 5.5 edition as well as clarifications by Ken St. Andre. The interior artwork includes the illustrations of the 5th edition, plus new inks by Liz Danforth. Several other products (solos and GM adventures) have been released via Lulu.com, and others have been announced.
The production work for the 8th edition prompted Flying Buffalo to start working on a Deluxe (9th) Edition of the rulebook. As Rick Loomis, head of Flying Buffalo Inc., put it, "The French edition came out so beautiful that now that I have run out of 5.5, I am not satisfied to just reprint 5.5. I wanted to have a deluxe edition even better than the French one. (Competition is what drives us to be better!)". Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls, written by St. Andre with additional design input and editing from longtime players Liz Danforth and James "Bear" Peters, was published in August 2015.
In July 2021, Webbed Sphere bought Flying Buffalo, along with its catalog, but not including its Play By Mail games. In 2023, Webbed Sphere terminated licenses previously granted by Rick Loomis and Flying Buffalo to third party publishers of Tunnels & Trolls products. During their ownership of the company and the Tunnels & Trolls intellectual property, Webbed Sphere did not release any new versions of the game.