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Written by Brad B

Category: Tunnels and Trolls PBEM

Published: 03 November 2015

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Some common questions:

Q:  What are adds?

A:  Adds are a static bonus to combat rolls.  For instance, if your character is using a broadsword that does 4d6 damage and you have Combat adds of +6, your damage in combat is 4d6+6.

 

Q:  What are the weight units in?

A:  Weight units are 1/10 of a pound.

 

Q:  How many Hit Points do I have?

A:  Constitution = Hit points.  Your max Con = Max Hit Points.  Current Hit Points = Current Con.  Hit points only recover through magic or extended rest.  (You get a couple back per day of rest.)

 

Q: What does a Talent get me?

A:  A Novice Level Talent is a +3 on a Skill Check (which is calculated as "Applicable Stat + 2d6").  The Skill check can apply to multiple things that are interrelated.  To paraphrase an example from the book, if Greg has a Novice Level Gunsmith talent, it would give him a +3 to DEX when he tried to make a gun (or ammunition), a +3 to INT when he tries to Appraise someone else's work, or a +3 CHA when he tries to sell his latest creation to a merchant.  Basically, anything that sensibly applies to the profession of Gunsmithing.

 

Q:  Will my Rogue ever be able to cast second level spells?

A:  Yes, stats in Tunnels and Trolls are very fluid.  As you gain Adventure Points (experience points) you can spend them on:

- Increasing Attributes - as an example, if you have a Constitution of 3 and you want to increase it to a Constitution of 4, it costs you 30 Adventure Points (or, current value*10)

- New Talents (note - you gain 1 new talent when leveling up*.)

- Improving Existing Talents

- Specializing in a specific school of magic (Wizards only)

* =  Your level is equal to (highest attribute/10).  So if Strength is your highest attribute, and it is 19 and you increase it to 20, you become level 2.

 

SPELLCASTING 101

Q:  What is Kremm?

A:  Kremm = Mana = Wizardry points (Those three words are used interchangeably in Tunnels and Trolls.)

 

Q:  How does Kremm Recharge?

A: Kremm recharges at a rate of 1/10 minutes.

 

Q:  How does Hocus Focus work exactly?

A:  Hocus Focus lets a Rogue (or Wizard) use an Item as a Temporary Focus.  The easiest way to think of this is that it is a temporary battery supplying you with extra Wizardry points (equal to your normal max Wizardry) until it burns out. 

 

Q:  How does Power Up work?  Like Critical hits?

A:  A Power-Up lets you cast a lower level spell at a higher level for increased effectiveness.  The best example of this is "Take That You Fiend" which you can cast at higher levels.  The basic Level 1 stats are presented in the book.  If you cast it as a Level 2 spell it requires:  12 DEX and 12 INT (like all Level 2 Spells), Uses 12 Wizardry (double the cost), and does 2xINT damage (double the damage).  At third level it requires 14 DEX and 14 INT, Uses 18 Wizardry (triple the cost) but does 4xINT damage (as in double the amount of damage done at 2nd level)

 

Q:  Do Rogues ever gain Level 2 spells?  (And then is it like one spell, where wizards get all spells?)

A:  Yes, after character creation Rogues can learn any spells they happen to find (or buy) that they have the stat requirements for.  Wizards are in the same situation; however, they have the benefit of being licensed spell casters and can just go take classes or learn spells at the Wizard's Guild.  Rogues have to wing it on their own, as they are not members of the Wizard's guild.

 

Q:  What is Focus Affinity, etc.?  (This has changed to - "Give me an example of Spellcasting")

A:  Two characters respond

1) Fred the Rogue, Level 3. WIZ 6, knows Take That You Fiend (TTYF)

- This costs him 6 Kremm, reducing him to 0.  Therefore, he is out of magic until it recharges.  Essentially he can cast TTYF once per hour.

2) Tina the Wizard, Level 3, WIZ 6, knows TTYF also (Don't ask why, a L3 wizard would hopefully have a lot more)

- This costs her 1 Kremm, reducing her to 5.  She can cast TTYF six times in a 10 minute period before she is out of Kremm.

- Why does it cost 1 Kremm?  Because:

(a) Focus Affinity - As long as they have their Focus (which should be 99% of the time) they reduce their level from the cost of the spell.  (Ergo TTYF 6 - 3 for Focus Affinity)

(b) Magical Affinity - When a wizard casts a spell lower than their Wizard level, subtract the difference between their level and the spell level from the cost.  (I.E.  Tina is Level 3, TTYF is Level 1.  (3 - 1 = 2)  So reduce the cost of TTYF by 2 more.)

(c) TTYF Cost 6 - 3 for Focus Affinity - 2 for Magical Affinity = 1 Kremm.

(d) The minimum value for casting a spell, regardless of any modifiers, is 1.

 

Examples of Skill Checks and Combat Actions:

1) To remove the burning timbers from Ellegard would take a cooperative Level 3 Strength check.  This means that the combined total of all characters' Strengths + 2d6 needs to be higher than a 30.  The combined Strength of the 3 characters is 52 - WAY more than the 30 needed.  In this case the character having the highest strength would be the primary and he would roll 2d6.  A critical failure would be a 3 - because Doubles Add Roll Over (DARO so double 1 would result in 2+2d6.) Since this is an explanatory turn, I'll assume he rolls anything other than a critical failure.  Similarly, a skill check like this results in shared AP for the 3 characters.

2) There is no skill check for casting spells, in this case she uses Kremm (Wizardry points) and flings a small flame towards the bridge.  Unfortunately it is too damp for her tiny spell to set anything alight.  As Ether is a Wizard the cost of the spell is 4 (normal cost for It's Elementary) - 2 (Ether's Focus Ring) - 1 (Ether's Caster Level minus Spell Level) = 1 point, so she has 21 Wizardry left.

 

Combat goes like this (the abridged version)

1) Cast spells - for most spells this is their entire action

2) Ranged weapons attack - right now we have 1 ranged attack, the Scorpion Raider shooting at Chris' character

3) Special Attacks and Actions

4) Melee attacks

 

Spell casting is relatively explanatory - pick a spell, a target, and include that in an email.

 

Ranged attacks follow this process:

a) Pick ranged weapon (thrown, bow, etc.)

b) Pick target

c) Roll attack (this is a DEX check)

d) Roll damage for the weapon

e) Add in any combat bonuses

f) Email me the result

Picking on Lark for a minute, let's pretend he throws a dagger at Scorpion Raider #1 - Zach would roll a Level 2 Dex check to hit with the dagger, and if he hits, would 2d6+2 (dagger) + 6 for Adds and the total damage on his target.

 

Special Attacks and Actions follow this process:

a) Describe what cool thing you are doing

b) I will assign a Check

c) If you pass, you do something awesome, if you fail, something bad happens

d) These usually have a huge bearing on the combat, but are usually pretty difficult

Picking on Chris' character for a minute, let's pretend he decides he wants to line up in a fashion where he can Bull Rush one Scorpion Raider into the second one and knock both the Raiders and their Scorpions over, thereby taking them out of combat for this round while they are prone.  The GM decides this is feasible, but will require a Level 4 Speed Check (2d6+SPD >35) to be able to line up and smash into them, followed by a Level 6 Strength check (2d6+STR > 45) to knock one horse-sized six-legged animal into another.  Now...it is possible to do this, because the 2d6 are DARO, so if he keeps rolling doubles he could get there...but Chris reconsiders his action given the likelihood of failure and high probability of being grabbed by a large claw.) 

 

In a normal combat round, everyone who does not contribute other orders will participate in melee.  This is handled the following way:

a) Choose melee weapon being used

b) Roll damage for the weapon

c) Add in any combat bonuses

d) Email me the total result.

Now we are on to the mighty Sir Richard, who breaks out his trusty hatchet (3d6) and wades into combat.  He rolls 3d6 and gets a 13.  He adds in his 4 Combat Adds for a total of 17.  So he ferociously attacks his foes with a 17.

 

The key most important thing to bear in mind about combat is this - Unless one side outnumbers the other by a 2:1 margin, the following is how damage is distributed:

1) Someone who is casting spells and not rolling in melee can only be attacked by spells/ranged combat.

2) Someone who is attacking with ranged combat can only be attacked by spells/ranged combat

3) Someone who is in melee will take hits.

- Damage "spills over" into ranged/spellcasting characters if one side can swarm the other (i.e. the 2:1 ratio)

- Damage can also "spill over" into ranged/spellcasting characters if one side significantly overwhelms the other with their total combat result.  (This is really unlikely unless one side rolls horrible and the other side rolls great.)