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Tunnels & Trolls: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Common questions
Who created Tunnels & Trolls and when was the first edition published?
Ken St. Andre created Tunnels & Trolls and self-published the first edition in April 1975. He designed the game as a more accessible and cheaper alternative to Dungeons & Dragons while working as a public librarian in Phoenix, Arizona.
What dice system does Tunnels & Trolls use for all calculations?
Tunnels & Trolls relies exclusively on six-sided dice for all calculations including magic and combat. The game rejects complex polyhedral dice in favor of a system that requires only standard six-sided dice and reasonable equipment.
When was the fifth edition of Tunnels & Trolls published and where was it translated?
The fifth edition of Tunnels & Trolls was published in 1979 and translated into the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, and Japan. In Germany the game was released as Schwerter & Dämonen in September 1983 making it the first roleplaying game available in the German language.
When did Webbed Sphere sell Tunnels & Trolls to Rebellion Unplugged?
Webbed Sphere sold Tunnels & Trolls to Rebellion Unplugged in May 2023. This sale included Flying Buffalo's entire range of role-playing games and marked a significant shift in the game's history after Webbed Sphere terminated licenses to third-party publishers in 2023.
How many solo adventures were published by Flying Buffalo for Tunnels & Trolls?
At least twenty solo adventures were published by Flying Buffalo including titles like Buffalo Castle and Deathtrap Equalizer Dungeon. These gamebooks were designed to be played by one person without the need for a referee and contributed to the success of the format.
Tunnels & Trolls
Ken St. Andre, a public librarian in Phoenix, Arizona, created the second modern role-playing game in history simply because he found the rules of Dungeons & Dragons too confusing to play with his friends. In April 1975, he self-published the first edition of Tunnels & Trolls, a game designed to be a more accessible, cheaper, and faster alternative to the dominant fantasy game of the era. St. Andre wanted a system that required only six-sided dice and reasonable equipment, rejecting the complex polyhedral dice and expensive rulebooks that characterized his peers' work. By June 1975, Flying Buffalo Inc. had picked up the game for a second edition, which quickly became a serious competitor to Dungeons & Dragons despite its simpler mechanics. The game brought a sense of impish fun to the genre, explaining its rules better overall and establishing a legacy of accessibility that would define its existence for decades.
Zany Mechanics and Six-Sided Dice
Unlike other fantasy games of the time, Tunnels & Trolls utilized a magic system based on points and relied exclusively on six-sided dice for all calculations. The game introduced a unique combat system where both sides roll a number of dice determined by the weapon in use, then modify the result by personal adds derived from Strength, Luck, and Dexterity. The higher roll damages the opposing combatant by the difference in totals, with armor absorbing the damage before it subtracts from the character's Constitution attribute. This system allowed for mass combat resolution with one set of rolls, applying to combat between any number of opponents simultaneously. Later editions introduced spite damage, where each six rolled on the combat dice caused a minimum of one damage to the opposing side, regardless of armor or combat totals, helping to resolve interminable stalemates between evenly matched, heavily armored opponents.
The First Solo Adventure Pioneer
Tunnels & Trolls was the first system to publish a series of fantasy-themed gamebooks designed to be played by one person without the need for a referee. At least twenty such adventures were published by Flying Buffalo, including titles like Buffalo Castle, Deathtrap Equalizer Dungeon, and Labyrinth, which contributed to the success of the format. The game's simplicity and reliance on six-sided dice made it ideal for this genre, which later achieved great popularity with the Fighting Fantasy series. These solo adventures ranged from early works by Ken St. Andre and Michael Stackpole to later entries like The Amulet of the Salkti and Vaults of K'Horror. The format allowed players to explore dungeons and face monsters alone, creating a unique niche in the role-playing market that emphasized individual play over group dynamics.
The game underwent several modifications between the original release and the publication of the fifth edition in 1979, which was translated and published abroad in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Finland, and Japan. In Germany, Tunnels & Trolls was released as Schwerter & Dämonen in September 1983, two months earlier than Dungeons & Dragons, making it the first roleplaying game available in the German language. This international expansion allowed the game to enter these markets before Dungeons & Dragons did in most cases, establishing a global presence early in its history. The game's accessibility and lower cost made it an attractive option for international publishers and players who found the original Dungeons & Dragons rules too complex or expensive to adopt.
Evolution Through Editions and Licenses
In 2005, Flying Buffalo updated the fifth edition rules with a 5.5 publication that added about 40 pages of extra material, and Fiery Dragon Productions produced a 30th Anniversary Edition under license in a tin box complete with a CD, map, monster counters, and two new versions of the rules. Ken St. Andre used this 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 7th edition introduced a skills system, and the 7.5 edition was released in 2008 by Fiery Dragon as an update and clarification on the 30th Anniversary Edition. In 2012, the game was re-introduced in French-speaking markets by Grimtooth under license by Flying Buffalo, with the French rulebook officially being the 8th edition, based on the 7th edition but including elements from the 5.5 edition and clarifications by Ken St. Andre.
Corporate Turmoil and Ownership Shifts
In July 2021, Webbed Sphere bought Flying Buffalo, along with its catalog, but not including its Play By Mail games. During their ownership of the company and the Tunnels & Trolls intellectual property, Webbed Sphere did not release any new versions of the game. In 2023, Webbed Sphere terminated licenses previously granted by Rick Loomis and Flying Buffalo to third-party publishers of Tunnels & Trolls products. In May 2023, Webbed Sphere sold Tunnels & Trolls, in addition to Flying Buffalo's entire range of role-playing games, including the Citybook and Grimtooth products, as well as Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes, to Rebellion Unplugged's table top role playing game division. This series of corporate changes marked a significant shift in the game's history, affecting its availability and future development.
A Philosophy of Fun Over Realism
Critics and players have long debated the merits of Tunnels & Trolls, with some praising its simplicity and others dismissing it as crude or lacking depth. In 1980, Eric Goldberg dismissed the fifth edition as a pleasant puff piece, while Steve Jackson called it a good book worth the price for any adventure gamer. Ken Rolston reviewed the game for Different Worlds magazine, stating that it compares favorably with other fantasy role-playing systems and represents a particularly attractive philosophy of the genre. Rick Swan, in his 1990 book The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games, called it one of the earliest and most enduring fantasy role-playing games, noting that its streamlined systems make it the perfect choice for players who react to charts and tables like vampires react to crosses. Despite criticisms of its abstract combat and lack of meaningful distinctions between monsters, the game's simplicity remains its defining virtue, allowing beginners to master it in an afternoon and veterans to nail it in under an hour.
Legacy and Modern Adaptations
In 1996, a reader poll undertaken by Arcane magazine ranked Tunnels and Trolls 32nd among the 50 most popular role-playing games of all time, with editor Paul Pettengale calling it pretty crude but noting its early release and nostalgic reasons for its inclusion. RPG historian Stu Horvath noted in his 2023 book Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground that by embracing simplicity, Tunnels & Trolls is the first major divergence from Dungeons & Dragons in role-playing game design, creating a sturdy branch of the RPG family tree. The game has seen various video game adaptations, including a 1990 computer version called Crusaders of Khazan, a 2008 Amiga and Windows adaptation by James Jacobs, and a 2017 iOS and Android version by MetaArcade featuring over 20 classic quests. These adaptations and the game's enduring popularity demonstrate its lasting impact on the role-playing game genre.