Archetypes for Tunnels & Trolls

Contents:

0.0 Introduction 1.0 Archetypes 2.0 Nine Cool Combat Tricks 3.0 Hero Points 4.0 Priestly Magic, page 5.0 New Magic Items, page 6.0 Talents and Disadvantages 7.0 Bestiary 8.0 The Iron Tower 9.0 Map of the Iron Tower

My thanks to Ken St. Andre, Michael Stackpole, Liz Danforth, Jim “Bear” peters and Rick Loomis; thanks for bringing us Tunnels & Trolls. Also thanks to my buddy Dave Hollister, my sister Taara Ryan, and my wife Jody Wood, and the countless other gamers who have made the hobby fun!

Sample file

Written by Tori Bergquist Copyright 2008 by Tori Bergquist, all rights reserved Tunnels & Trolls is trademarked and copyright by Flying Buffalo games; no copyright infringement intended A product of Zodiac Gods Publishing Clipart courtesy FCIT at http://etc.usf.edu/clipart and http://www.godecookery.com/macabre Cover copyright 2008 by Jody Wood

The Troll’s Companion

Introduction Welcome to the Troll’s Companion, a sourcebook written entirely for the modern-day Tunnels & Trolls gamer. T&T has been around for 33 years now, and has produced 7 editions (counting the unauthorized 6th edition, of which this work could be considered a part.) Fans of the system like me understand why this is so: T&T is fast, simple, and very flexible. It’s an awesome game system! Right now there are two main editions of T&T floating around: the 7 th edition (published by Fiery Dragon in print and PDF format) and the 5.5 edition from Flying Buffalo. Both of them are essentially the definitive co-editions of T&T to most gamers today. Both introduce skills (finally!) as well as provide some updated and interesting rules for expanding upon the core game system. This companion is written to work well with whatever edition of T&T you prefer. The main purpose of this book as I see it is to get all of my little rules and variants out for T&T and under one cover, where anyone who enjoys the game can browse and sample to taste. Within the Troll’s Companion I am offering up hundreds of magic items, monsters, class options, combat options and new spells. Nothing in here rewrites or changes the core rules in any way; it’s all supplemental information, stuff you can tack on, plug in, and have fun with. Want some variant class ideas? Add a few archetypes. Need some quick magic items? Pick a chart and roll or choose. Want some combat maneuvers to spice things up? Pick your favorite and go for it. Need some new spells or monsters, or the old brain need a kick-start for inspiration? You’ll find it all right here. In writing the Troll’s Companion, I am taking advantage of all rules in the core T&T system, so you’ll want to have a copy of the 5.5 or 7 th edition to take full advantage of everything in here. If something in this book doesn’t quite jive with your own house rules, then you should definitely change it to suit to taste. T&T is all about getting the experience you want out of the rules, and everything here is designed for sole purposes of inspiration and ease of play. Back in the 1980s I wrote a sourcebook called Keepers of Lingusia , which was my home campaign setting. The book served to provide some data on the campaign world, as well as lots of house rules for T&T that I used at the time. Nothing in here directly stems from that book, but the spirit of KOL is alive in the Troll’s Companion. For those interestedSample in the world of file Lingusia, I have long since made my Lingusia campaign a free event on my web page at http://www.angelfire.com/rpg2/ancientworlds. Okay, read on, enjoy, and most importantly: start playing Tunnels & Trolls! The game thrives on your enjoyment. --Tori Bergquist July, 2008

1.0: Archetypes for Tunnels & Trolls

Within T&T there’s plenty of room for variation. Although the core classes are all anyone would need for good old dungeon delving, the idea behind these archetypes is to expand on the type of roles the core classes represent, to open the floor up to all kinds of weird and interesting character concepts. If you want to add some extra panache to your campaign, the following variants will give you some interesting possibilities. If you use them in 7 th edition, you can use them as-is, or make them specialists. Each of these variants offers a couple of special abilities that the archetype grants free at first level, and some abilities which may add to or replace existing class abilities. The idea of the archetype is to provide a lens through which to view your character in a different light, making him just a little bit more special, weird, or bad-ass, depending upon what you’re going for. Try them out; they’ll probably work especially well in a game with lots of role playing opportunities. The archetypes can work well as specialists if you so desire, but it is just as easy to allow certain specialist classes the apply archetypes, as well (such as elementalists and necromancers to specialist wizards, priest and shamans to healers, or the woodsman or sword saint to rangers). Some suggestions are given below. In general, a specialist has one key, notable trait that makes them distinct, and they require a attribute of exceptional value to gain entry to the specialist class. Archetypes don’t normally require this, but you could turn them in to specialist classes if you so desired by making such a requirement. The archetypes do not define abilities as skills or talents. If you are using the 5.5 skill rules or the 7 th edition talent rules, you might want to pick some complimentary traits to make your archetypal abilities even better, but for all other purposes the archetypes place no special demands on what types of talents or skills you can choose. When looking at the archetypes, consider carefully whether or not you really want to adopt some of the archetypes. A character who is a straight class without an archetype is still the most versatile guy on the block; sure, he doesn’t have a special maneuver or ability that an archetype grants, but he’s still got his core class traits fully intact, and doesn’t have a mess of disadvantages to worry about, either. Therefore, for the all-around multi-purpose dungeon delver, I still recommend the core classes as-is. But if you don’t mind dealing with some strange requirements, specialized abilities, and potentially disastrous disadvantages, then by all means, snag an archetype! Sample file 1.1 The Archetypes: Each archetype follows the following format: name, followed by a description and some examples. Then the following data points: Classes Permitted: some archetypes work for more than one class. If so, the details of how it varies from one class to the next are described in the text. Worth noting is that no archetype will grant a core ability from one class to another. So, a warrior can never gain spell casting from an archetype, a rogue can never gain an armor bonus, wizards never gain any of that fighting stuff, and warrior-wizards, as usual, are special. Alternate Titles: A list of suggested alternate titles for the archetype that can also be used. New Abilities: these are abilities that supplement, add to, or replace core class traits. These also include variations or modifiers to existing class traits. Note that if a class does not specifically exclude or modify an existing class trait, then it is assumed you have full access to the class abilities. Disadvantages: these are problems that the archetype comes with, to provide flavor and possibly offset some of the cool new abilities each grants. Ah, who am I kidding; these are for the GM to torture you with.

1.12 List of Archetypes by Class Availability: Warrior: Barbarian, Black Knight, Fighting Monk, Gladiator, Knight, Musketeer, Woodsman, Sword Saint Rogue: Assassin, Beast Master, Mesmerist, Musketeer, Woodsman, Scholar, Skald, Thief

Wizard: Ascetic Mage, Battle Mage, Druid, Elementalist, Mesmerist, Necromancer, Priest, Scholar, Shaman Warrior-Wizard/Paragon: Assassin, Black Knight, Eternal Champion, Fighting Monk, Legend, Templar Ranger: Barbarian, Druid, Woodsman, Sword Saint (Bow Saint!) Specialist Wizard: Elementalist, Mesmerist, Necromancer, Scholar, Shaman Healer: Ascetic Mage, Priest, Scholar, Shaman

1.2 Ascetic Mage There are a few men among mages who have learned not only to harness magic, but to dwell deep within their own body and spirit to attain a unique sort of personal mastery. Such learned souls have shunned the pleasures of life in exchange for this total body mastery. As a result, they have achieved a unique sort of harmony with the universe and the magic they are imbued with. Ascetic mages are a tough role playing challenge, because they abstain from many of the basic pleasures all adventurers seek, such as hoards of wealth, powerful magic items, and dominion over some corner of the local kingdom (and eventually perhaps the whole danged kingdom.) In exchange for these physical possessions, however, the ascetic achieves much clearer and more precise understanding of magic. Examples: Although the ascetic mage is a fairly unique blending of eastern and western concepts, it is not entirely without precedent. Go read Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, for example, but imagine the entire tale takes place in a fantasy realm! Classes Permitted: Wizards, healers Alternate Titles: Mystic, seer, prophet, oracle, ascended New Abilities: • Enlightened: The ascetic mage is an enlightened soul. As such, he achieves his understanding of magic and spells through meditation. As an ascetic advances in power, he also advances in magical skill. At each level the Ascetic reaches, he may add a number of additional spells to his repertoire equal one half the new level, rounded down. These spells are achieved through his enlightenment, and do not cost him money through the wizard’s guild. An ascetic mage can learn magic the old fashioned way, of course (by finding a spell tome or scroll and studying it) but his chief method is through delving in to his inner spirit. During the course of his adventures, if the ascetic seeks out particularly reverential, tranquil localities (which the GM must also agree are reverentialSample and tranquil file locations), then he may attempt to discover more magic hidden within the recesses of his inner spirit. Such locations could include the highest mountain peaks, perfectly undisturbed rivers, a valley of unique crystal formations, and so forth. Not too many dungeons managed by The Evil Overlord ™ are likely to contain tranquil locations, however (though those locales are perfect repositories for spell scrolls and old tomes.) Once such a location is found, the ascetic mage must meditate for 1D6 days per level of the spell he seeks to learn. He then makes a saving roll equal to the level of the desired spell, plus or minus a modifier the GM grants based on the level of tranquility at the site: treat the save as half its level if the site is completely undisturbed by men; treat it as 2 level less if the site sees frequent use by other holy men, and give it a +2 level penalty if the site is regularly visited by all sorts of rabble. The level of the save doubles if the site is in an occupied, busy, or noisy area (like the heart of a city.) In any case, if the ascetic spends the time and makes the saving roll, then he achieves the spell in memory and may add it to his spell list. • Inner Strength: Ascetic mages are prone to a great deal of contemplation. As such, ascetics are more in tune with their inner workings than other characters, and when they meditate, they will heal damage taken and recover Power points at twice the normal rate. Disadvantages: • Loner: The ascetic mage has shunned the wizards’ guild, and they will not teach spells to him, much like a rogue, unless he gives up his curious ways (which means losing his enlightened ability). As such, an ascetic mage, should he ever seek to purchase magic, will go against his own grain and lose his ascetic nature. He can only recover this ability by fleeing in to the wilderness for one year of enlightened meditation (and staying away from adventures.) Note that an ascetic

who finds a teacher willing to impart magical lore and spells to him for no cost may take full advantage of such a kind soul, as the charitable mentor is keeping with the spirit of the ascetic’s quest. • Asceticism: The ascetic mage isn’t called such just for fun. He can never carry any wealth or valuables on his person save a wizard’s staff. He must beg for food, accept hand-outs, and when he does come across money or valuables he must give them away. The life of an ascetic is a hard one, since most adventurers are motivated by such physical baubles, but not the ascetic; his goal is pure enlightenment!

Sample file

“I Keeeeel You!”

1.3 Assassin Throughout history assassins in one form or another have made their living. Professional killers, the notion of the assassin who attempts to profit by causing the death of another. Now, most dungeon delvers technically fit this description: they are, after all, slaughtering innocent monsters – in their own homes! - in order to take their loot. Nonetheless, that’s a bit closer to raiding and pillaging, and the assassin is all about quiet movement, sizing up a specific target, and having an agreement or even payment up front locked in. Assassins are essentially contract killers. If an assassin is an adventurer, he is likely to seek out someone round about town who happens to have a job for his special skills. If he’s going off to The Evil Overlord’s ™ tower, he’ll probably find a local noble who will pay to have said evil overlord offed. The assassin is always looking to make some extra profit, and if he’s particularly charitable he might cut his companions in on the deal, too. Most assassins are unscrupulous or fiendish sorts, and the archetype is particularly suited to a GM’s evil NPC, but some players could try for an honorable rogue, one who is motivated by a greater good, a social ideal or some other philosophy. There are plenty of real-life examples of such. Examples: the assassins started as cults to the Man of the Mountain of Arabia, but examples of the trade litter history both before and after that point. In India the thugee cults were known as professional killers, as well. And of course let us not forget the ninjas of Japan!

Classes Permitted: Rogue and warrior-wizard/paragon Alternate Titles: Thuggee, ninja, slayer, hunter New Abilities: • Stealthy: Assassins are sneaky, and use this to their best advantage. As such, assassins are especially difficult to detect when creeping up on targets. They make attempt a Dexterity Save whenever they are attempting to catch a target unawares. The save level is based on the observational skills of the victim, as determined by the GM. As good rule of thumb would be 1 level to the save for every 20 MR, or for each level of the class of the target. If the GM has reason to believe that the target is especially keen or obtuse, he may add or subtract from the modifier as needed. Note that even a blind person might have keen hearing, thus helping to alert them to the sounds of the assassin. • Deadly Strike: The assassin is renowned for his deadly strike, designed to take down a foe in one stab. When the assassin is positioned, either through luck or stealth, behind a target such that the target has no idea he is there , then the assassin may attempt to stab him in the back. The actual procedure is pretty simple: The assassin makes a level 1 save vs. Dex. If he makes it, then he delivers the full damage of his attack roll to his target, immediately, and armor is ignored (unless it is natural armor, or hidden such that the assassin didn’t know it was there.) If he fails the check, then he has been made! The victim spots him at the last second and gets out of the way; normal combat ensues. The main advantage of deadly strike is that it allows the assassin a chance to deliver a special maneuver and a deadly blow against an unwitting target without immediate retaliation. Normally of course, a character making a special maneuver would risk taking his opponent’s full attack damage if he failed the save, but this ability avoids that penalty, so long as the victim was initially unaware of the assassin. • Signature Weapon: The assassin favors a single weapon over all others when doing his dirty work. This is usually a dagger or concealable weapon, but could also be a spell if so desired. When using this specific weapon to perform a deadly strike, the assassin gains 1 extra die of damage. Note that this only applies when engaging in the deadly strike maneuver. Disadvantages: • Criminal Reputation: The assassin is a pariah of civilized society, and no matter how cultured he may or may not be, when his reputation and career are known, normal people will react with fear and loathing. As such, whenSample attempting to nego filetiate with anyone who would be repulsed by his career and know of it, the assassin’s Charisma score is treated as one half normal for purposes of such interactions. • Nemeses: The assassin has a habit of picking up enemies, sometimes the relatives or friends of victims, other times the survivors of a botched attempt. The GM should work up a stable of enemies and toss them at the assassin on occasion. If the assassin is very clever about keeping himself disguised and hidden from view, then such enemies might be working to ferret out his identity. If they have learned of it, then they might go after him themselves….or in a moment of irony, hire an assassin to do the deed for them! On average, at the beginning of each game session the GM should make a level 1 Save vs. Luck for the assassin (keep the results hidden.) If the luck save is failed, then one of these enemies has caught up to the assassin and will plan to strike sometime during the adventure. Especially mischievous GMs may increase the saving roll level by 1 for each adventure that goes by without a nemesis appearing. Thus, Aharad the assassin, who has made it through three adventures without a nemesis appearing, would be making a level 4 save vs. Luck on his fourth adventure!