12-27-2017, 12:14 AM | #51 | |
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Arizona
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
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12-27-2017, 05:39 AM | #52 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London Uk, but originally from Scotland
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
Wow, that's tremendous news and something I thought I would never see happen!!!
I still remember getting "In The Labyrinth" and being blown away by how elegantly simple the talent system was. Having played the other games available then, AD&D, RQ, T&T, etc, TFT was a breath of fresh air. Combined with Advanced Melee and Advanced Wizard, we had enough to run an extended campaign for several years. I made many changes over that time, sometimes to elaborate (splitting attributes into Strength/Constitution, Agility/Dexterity etc) and sometimes to simplify (taking away per-round spell costs to reduce book-keeping) but the core rules remained. Obviously, I don't expect wholesale changes to the original games, but I would urge you to think about the character advancement method, which to me was the big problem in extended campaign play. I'm sure you're well aware of the issue so I won't belabour it here, but as characters Advanced, their attributes began to inflate out of control. I eventually solved this by awarding "Hero Points" instead. These could be used to increase attributes, albeit at high cost, but their main use was as a useable resource during the play of the game. For the cost of one "HP" a character could alter the result of a die roll they have just made by one point, or they could choose to roll one more or less dice before a roll is made. The Hero Points regenerate between encounters. Just something to think about. Anyway, I wish I'd thanked you all those years ago for Melee, Wizard, ITL and all the many hours of enjoyment they gave us. I didn't get around to doing it then so I'll do it now. |
12-27-2017, 05:41 AM | #53 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London Uk, but originally from Scotland
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
Thanks a bunch Steve!!!!!
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12-27-2017, 05:45 AM | #54 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
Congratulations!
ITL is one of my favorite RPG systems ever and I've used the Melee combat rules as a substitute system for several other games over the years. I still have my original books I bought in 1978. Melee was actually the first game I EVER bought. I had to wait weeks to save enough allowance to buy Wizard. The fold out map is now so fragile I don't handle it much. All those cardboard chits were lost long ago, sadly... I bought some backups from some guy on AOL in the mid 90s. Opened, but uncut. I still haven't touched them, though. I know as soon as I do they will start disappearing into the carpet and sofa cushions like the others. I actually just started running a pal though a PBEM Grail Quest last week. Congratulations again! ps: I vote for change as little as possible. |
12-27-2017, 06:40 AM | #55 |
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Beaverton, OR
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
I would re-buy Melee and Wizard. Not sure about the full role-playing system.
Observation: TFT is a clade of Tunnels & Trolls. Went for different die roll mechanics, but the tying of saving rolls to attributes, and using an attribute for hit points / spell casting, is a T&T thing.
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12-27-2017, 07:23 AM | #56 |
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Columbia, Maryland
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
Wow, it seems like only yesterday that I last logged in here, but I can see it was actually a year and a half ago.
Anyway... wow, what amazing news! TFT was one of my very favorite games as a kid, and I've always dreamed of seeing it make a comeback someday. Hopefully that day will be soon! Congrats, SJ, and I can't wait to see where this goes! |
12-27-2017, 09:00 AM | #57 |
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
It's like a letter sent in childhood has finally gotten a reply! Great news.
A single, harmonized, cross-referenced set of Advanced Melee/Advanced Wizard/ITL rules seems like a great possibility, as does a single Melee/Wizard box, like the old OGRE/GEV box I happened across in the early 90s. And a book containing all the adventures --- can't remember if some were written for the basic and some for the advanced game, or if that would really matter for playability. I do remember being confused by the multi-level hex map in Tollenkar's Lair, and that there was no equivalent in the mini-quests boxes. And maybe the Melee/Wizard box could have a big map with big counters like the most recent OGRE version. Just thinking out loud, but mostly: WOW and THANK YOU! |
12-27-2017, 09:05 AM | #58 | |
Join Date: Dec 2017
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
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12-27-2017, 09:57 AM | #59 |
President and EIC
Join Date: Jul 2004
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
A fair question, because the Dark City situation doesn't really have a precedent in the hobby AFAIK. It would not have been right to talk ABOUT Dark City until I had talked TO them, but I just finished a very pleasant call with George Dew. So the executive summary is, we are talking :) In my perfect Year 2019 or 2020, there would be no "clone rules" on the market, but there would be a wide variety of "new" fan-written adventures available under the TFT banner. I should not say "fan," because if these guys sell me a dozen adventures, they are pros.
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12-27-2017, 10:05 AM | #60 |
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: San Francisco, CA
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Re: December 26, 2017: The Fantasy Trip Returns Home
This is awesome news! Any chance you can get Pat Hidy to do new artwork?
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