This may be one of the best uses of the (late?) Action system that I've seen. It gives a very 3-dimensional feel to tactics and movement, and actions really do have consequences.

Action has taken some hits in the past for not emphasizing role play itself. The templates and the chapter on Individualizing Your Character takes care of much of that, but the player IS going to have to do their share of the work. It is all too easy to bring the hack attitude into the Wild West mythos. Here is where many of the tools for the gamesmaster come in. The system does reward the player for playing "in character," and does it pretty well. Shucks, ma'am, it's even fun to create characters in Gunslingers. Haven't had this much fun creating a character since Traveller!

Yep, there are some amusing spelling errors. I'm fairly sure that when Mark says "Each player should select a cultural decent from where his character’s forefathers originated," that he really meant "Each player should select a cultural descent from where" etc. (Even then, I'd have made him rewrite the line for clarity.) So yeah, it's not 100% perfect - nothing is.

But it's a good fit for a great western adventure. I think you'll enjoy it. It's worth at least twice this price, and you'll rarely get this much adventure for this price.

Highly recommended.

It may be a bit self-serving to review this, but no one else has - so here goes!

It's short in pages, but long in play -- if you make some very good saving rolls. Or if the NPCs do.

What you have is an archery contest. Which starts out fair, and keeps going until even the Flynn Robin Hood would throw up his hands and surrender his sanity! At one point, the champion archers must aim and HIT invisible moving targets.

Hopefully, you'll succeed well before this - or fail, which seems more likely. But it's totally fair -- the NPCs have just as much a chance to fail as do you -- probably even more chances!

The reward is fulfilling for your character and for yourself. Because you, as a winner (HUZZAH!!) are invited by the Khaghy one to enter into Trollhalla itself. He may or may not have such authority, but it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.

And it's MUCH better to be lucky than skillful.

Never, never, NEVER expect the normal or average when Ken St Andre builds a world and its inhabitants.

Dwarfs, for instance, look and act and SEEM like the dwarfs you find in other fantasy rolegames. Don't be fooled! They are - without spoiling any surprises, I hope - an entirely different life form than what you expect. IF they are actually a life form at all.

Dwarf World takes your player characters INTO the world owned (?) and inhabited (sometimes?) by Gristlegrim, the dwarf god who is not a god, but is, who brought and/or created dwarfs for Trollworld in the first place.

But this is not Trollworld, and the characters are foredoomed to worse than death if they make such rash assumptions. The gamesmaster has a LOT of freedom with this "worldbook" though there is plenty of information available. This being Tunnels & Trolls and specifically a Tunnels and Trolls book by Ken, there is enough data to build on, but you are fully expected, as a gamesmaster and world creator, to make this very personal - to yourself and especially to your players. Run properly, they'll never forget this, and they'll talk about it for the rest of their lives.

If they get out.

Y'know, I've been looking for JUST the sort of vampire that has posed so nicely in the file labeled 'Nosferatu.' It's not a clone of the original movie's character - nor is it imbued with the humorous that Jeff can and does give to some of his art. No, this one is VERY serious, very sad in some way, and very, very threatening. I can use this. And shall.

Again, the VERY inexpensive price includes not only this illustration, but a whole fistful of others (13 in all? Forgot to count. No pun intended.) and each one of them as good as this. And license to use them (credited properly) in one's own story, game, or novel. Jeff is practically giving these things away. And they're way too good to go at these prices.

Take advantage of Jeff before he comes to his senses!

Steve Jackson (the American version) once complained that there wasn't enough "silly" in RPGs, that they were taking themselves far too seriously.

He should enter the Temple of the Fool God.

One of the conceits (?) of solos, especially TnT solos, is that your character is willing and eager to enter into an arena type of game in which he or she is most likely going to be killed. Of course, there's the promise of Great Reward if one survives, but one has to wonder - just who is running these arenas and how do they make a profit if there is no paying audience? (Only Roy Cram has an answer for that in his two Gamesters solos.)

Nonetheless, our PCs gleefully enter into these death traps with all the survival instincts of the cast of either version of "the Haunting." And in this case, that's exactly the sort of mentality which will give us, the players, the most fun. (Not the PCs, of course, the pitiful fools!)

The previous review may have given you some idea of the puns, the Pythonesques, and the expected twists on RPG cliches that you'll find herein. Let's just add for the proper seasoning, that this was written by the inimitable Stuart Lloyd, who never disappoints, and the art is by Mr or Ms Public Domain, who was not available for torture and questioning.

Someday, someone is going to gather the funniest TnT solos in one volume, and we'll never get around to playing them because we'll just laugh and laugh while reading them. This belongs in the front of that book.

Until and unless the classic Arena of Khazan is brought back into either print or e-print, this is our current stopgap. It's a little less fatal, than Arena, and doesn't ratchet up the treasure as does its predecessor. Definitely, it doesn't "Monty Haul" the treasure as Arena did, leading to (if one survived) a nearly-impossible-to-kill Kryptonian type. (In which case, one wondered how they kept such a person IN the Arena.)

This is training, pure and simple, and is a great method to get your new character "up to snuff" (unfortunate choice of words?) for further adventures. It's even useful in other adventures in which one is referred to having been "trapped in the Arena of Khazan." Substitute this until the original returns (if ever) and you'll be no worse off.

A fun pleasantry, and you'll get a LOT more than $3 worth of play from it!

Sure, you could have had this with your copy of Sorcerer's Apprentice #5, but you'd have had to buy that in 1979 - or pay dearly now.

Even then, you wouldn't have David Ullery's enjoyable art and seen his version of Atlas on the copyright page. Nor the cute uruk at paragraph 8. Nor would you have enjoyed some of the new incidents possible in this solo.

The adventure is, yes, short - though it has the potential to become much longer if you own some other FBI TnT solos. (Sadly, the classic Arena of Khazan is out of print and not available in ebook form. Alas!!) If you make decent Saving Rolls, you may even get from Point A (entering the city and looking around) to Point B (a dwarfish repairman of swords) without an incident at all! You may have to endure an unseemly pun from the repairman, but it's fairly harmless. It's also where the adventure (in this case) ends.

If you fumble some Saving Rolls along the way, you have opportunities to pursue a thief, to become an outlaw in the city, to fight as a gladiator in the area, to face the Invincible Fishwife (shudder!), or even experience the encounter shown on the cover of this module.

One thing is sure: you won't be bored.

Short and sweet, with violence in almost every paragraph, this is the sort of trouble a lone adventurer could get into in the Good Old Days. For less than three bucks, it's a steal of a deal!

Fast-paced like a good old pulp thriller should run, this is excitement in 14 pages (counting cover and title page) - and has a lot more to it than you'd expect.

First, the cover pays homage to the Indiana Jones type of hero. (Though he looks more like Brigham Young with Indy's hat-with-a-funny-hatband.) Nothing wrong with that type of play, and - save for the last one - the Indy movies gave plenty of value for admission price. But you're not limited in the types of characters you can play. I could easily see the Shadow, Doc Savage, or any number of lesser pulp characters (Most pulp stories were, at best, mediocre.) involved in this adventure.

Sure, it's easy to say "Everyone belongs to an anti-Nazi spy agency" but it can be even more exciting to have disparate characters pulled into this evil world-dominating plot.

It has Nazis, chase scenes, the supernatural, traps, a teriffic cover, and a plot so thick you can cut it with your Crocodile Dundee knife. What's not to like?

Troll Lord Games and Jason Vey have given a very good example of what can be done with their Siege Engine rules and the Amazing Adventures game in particular.

This is one time when brevity really does work. This is a snapshot of a smaller city, without the detail of a City-State of the Invincible Overlord (CSoIO). It isn't meant to have that much detail, though you're certainly welcome to add detail, a map, etc. A map would have been a Very Good Thing, but for this price I'm not gonna complain about it.

Like every Tunnels & Trolls adventure I've ever seen, you only use six-sided dice. Except for page 9 - where you'll use two three-sided dice. (That is, roll two D6 and divide each one in half.) There's a slight typo on this page: 2D3 will give a range of 2-6, not 1-6. This roll will determine the class or job of the local residents. Therefore, since a one cannot be rolled, there are no citizens in Lowhollow.

Getting spells is easier on Tom's world that in the Trollworld of the TnT 7.5 rulebook. Maybe that will change with Deluxe TnT? If your wizards want to stock up and/or recover, this is a town worth a detour.

There are no adventures, per se. Adventure hooks aplenty. For instance, random scenario #12 is a REAL pain for PCs, and can lead to a geas, a job, a curse, or a jail sentence. Or worse. You have to try this! Because the justice system (i.e. - the GM punishes you for whatever he or she wants) is totally unfair and the punishment probably far exceeds the crime. In short, delightful and filled with adventure hooks.

It is only 18 pages, counting cover and title page, but don't consider this a short scenario. There is lots of replay value, and enough adventures to carry you through your old age. Perryton could do worse than expand this small (?) town into a CSoIO module, complete with map. On the other hand, I think I'm going to enjoy stocking it myself and drawing my own map.

Lots of puns, dastardly creatures, a couple of "thinking person's" traps, and real plausibility for your character to go wandering in these cellars. Playable over and over, and with a sequel available. This is the kind of solo for me! Sid Orpin (writer) and Jeff Freels (artist, editor, publisher, and he sweeps the place out at night) can do no wrong as far as gaming is concerned!

This is for the people who say "Well yes, Bean is easy to play, but can you really have a complex adventure with it?" The answer is a resounding "YES!"

Didn't think it could happen, but the best guide to rolegaming, published more than a quarter century ago, has been surpassed. Now -the RPG Handbook- reigns supreme, with not only more up-to-date examples and reviews, but at a hefty 213 pages (counting covers) the RPG Handbook by David Morrison is quite a bargain!

First of all, it's very nice to look at. The artwork reminds me of Flying Buffalo's work (Tunnels & Trolls 5, Sorcerer's Apprentice) which is the highest compliment I could give it. Some of Jeff Freels's art would make it perfect, but you all know how much I love Jeff's art. (You should go take a look at it on various DTRpgNow items.)

Yes, there's a certain amount of redundancy with What You Already Know, because this book will be the first RPG book somebody picks up. Besides, you'll be surprised at the amount of information provided in Part One: Roleplaying Games. Such as how to get kids of different ages involved with and enjoying rolegaming. Styles of play are considered (How else will you "hook" your players into playing and staying?)

From there, you'll go on to suggestions, information, and advice that may never have occurred to you. This is not just for the gamesmaster, because there are excellent chapters on creating realistic characters who are playable AND memorable. If you've never had other players come to tears over the death of one of your characters, you haven't truly lived the roleplaying experience.

Most of the information from there, is -usually- (not always) specifically for the gamesmaster. Building a campaign from a singing adventure on up, and from there building an entire world. As your players gain experience and travel from their comfort zones, you'll be ready with new territories and challenges for them. And you'll never...

Repeat: NEVER!

...have to repeat yourself.

RPG Handbook is saved from being absolutely celestial only by the fact that a history of rolegaming is beyond its scope - and thus there is no history of rolegaming. Perhaps that could be a new project for David.

It is no secret that I find Jeff Freels to be one of the best artists to come out of the rolegaming community. He could and should go farther than our little niche community, as his work can be - at the same time - funny, exciting, and downright creepy!

Case in point: Stock Art Collection 2: Zombies. I'm not fond of zombies, at least since they ceased to be zombies (see original sources in Africa and Haiti, and pre-Romero zombie movies) and took on the characteristics of ghouls. So they're flesh-eaters, and fairly boring plot devices now.

Despite my antipathy towards the modern zombie, I'm absolutely in love with Jeff's versions here. They are scary, some of them are almost funny, and any of them could be used in a professional publication. Jeff gives such rights to any purchaser, as long as they meet the minimal requirements of crediting, etc. (Read the text when you buy it.)

Frankly, I've seen no better art for gaming or other publication. I shall certainly use some of Jeff's work in the future, and I only wish he could do a LOT more of it!

Imagine, for instance, a Jeff Freels Lord of the Rings portfolio. Mmmmmmmmm!

It's an exciting swashbuckler with tongue firmly in cheek! It's small in page numbers, yet high in amount of playing time. It also has great replay value. It's a contradiction in terms and the most fun I've yet had with Bean!

And with that wonderful Jeff Freels artwork, topped by a cover of brooding horror and anticipation.

WARNING!NOT for boring gamesmasters or players, especially for those who do not enjoy combat, jumping, running, thinking fast, and swinging from chandaliers!

(Well, MY version has a chandalier. Pencilled it in myself.)

One would think that Bean, the D2 RPG, would be prone to adventures and background which were or was skimpy on the details and purely cartoony in nature. You would be as wrong as I was. There are plots and hooks throughout this world/sourcebook. I'm delighted how much is packed into only 90 pages! If you can't set up a quest based on, say, "the Elder Gods" section - or if you can't cause a lot of fun (for you and your players; your players' characters may be miserable) then a random encounter with a few Pokos could certainly make them a little crazy! Remember that the inhabitants of this world are - well, BEANS. That means you might meet up with a werebean or a bhoul. Or even a beanpyre! Stop for a snack at Lizard On A Stik & Pickled Treats! Don't tell the late Dave Thomas or his heirs, please! And oooooo, that Jeff Freels art! In short - and I regret that this must be short - Bean is almost the most fun you can have with tongue firmly in cheek, but it may well have the funniest and one of the most exciting of milieu in which to play! But it before the price goes up! I'm not at all sorry to have bought the PDF and the softcover!

Tunnels & Trolls has inspired a number of magazines over the years, and I've often been surprised at how good most of them are. In this, TnT has fared better than most game, and far better than the only rpg to get to market before it. (For the record, TnT was and is the first rpg which was designed AS a roleplaying game. See Jim Peters about this.)

Elder Tunnels is assuredly in the top 1 or 2 percent of these, offering, as it does, a smorgasbord. If one article doesn't please you, the next one will, and it is a rare issue (Can't think of one!) in which there isn't two or three things you'll find useful.

In the past, ET (I like that acronym!) has taken itself a bit seriously at time, but a sense of playfulness begins this issue, starting with an introduction that is as corny and enjoyable as Raymond Edward Johnson. (Inner Sanctum. Look it up.)

That corn was to, evidently, set us up for a shock! Two pages later, we are treated to what could easily be a chilling Call of Cthulhu adventure. The antagonist, who is also our protagonist of the story, is a combination of Lennie Small (Of Mice & Men) and Jason (Friday the infinite-numbers), and one can't help but feel sorry for the guy. With little difficulty, this scenario could provide real moral quandaries for the players. Roleplayers will thrill, yet there's enough action to satisfy the most hacker-type of player. Kudos to David Moskowitz for a great plot and follow-through, and to Christopher Lee Rowan for a funny-until-you-look-at-it portrait of a truly suspenseful scene. This is an adventure which proves the versatility of TnT, for it can be played in any time period, any place, from TnT's usual fantasy setting to a modern - or even future - environment.

"The Bone Lords," Tom Loney informs us, "are beings of loathsome, evil vileness so despicable that the softness that was their living flesh has been discarded ages past." If THAT doesn't send a cold shiver up your spine, the sight of one just might. For such a terrifying new monster (Its monster rating STARTS at 100!) it was surprising that all the information fit on one page. Score another point for TnT's system, which allows stats to be kept short, and the verbosity to be used on flavor.

"Woe Hounds" by Jerry Teleha takes a few more pages - but then, there is more than one hound. Woe Hounds are the demonic terrors that the Hound of the Baskervilles could only pretend to be. Jerry's description, and Mike Hartlieb's illustration, should frighten the wits out of your players. Perhaps it's time for a statistic such as Sanity or Fear to be introduced into TnT. (Something like it was written in the late, lamented Sorcerer's Apprentice magazine."

Solo adventures have been TnT's meat & potatoes since Buffalo Castle, and "Curse of the 3-Eyed Stone" by David Crowell does not disappoint. (We could, I suppose, have a TnT magazine without a solo, but why would we want to?) Like many solos, you're railroaded into a specific character type. If we fault this solo for that, we have to fault most of them, so let's not bother. Because the adventure is quite good, and the solo prompts you with real personality traits for this thief you are to play. Clues, puzzles, and violence are anticipated, and it doesn't let us down. Care and cleverness is called for, because it seems everything that exists is powerful enough to squash you like a bug. The illustration by Mr Rowan indicates a Chinese setting (At least that LOOKS like Zhongwen to me. It could be Hangul, which would make it Korean.) yet there's nothing stopping you from imagining it in any locale. I played it as if I was Slate Shannon (played by Humphrey Bogart in Bold Venture) and it works fine. I would've paid the six bucks for this alone!

Sadly, I end giving short shrift to more art throughout the magazine, and a really nice cover. Peryton is classy and kind, in that they include a "printer friendly" PDF along with the regular version, which will eat up black ink like mad.

And speaking of "mad," the adventures in this issue really could drive adventurers into insanity. Yes, we really do need to decide how to handle stress in TnT. Because I, a nastymean GM, homerule that if it entertains me, my players go insane.

Not necessarily the characters. I mean my PLAYERS.