d&d’s-oldest-rival-is-making-a-comeback-due-to-the-developer-of-sniper-elite

In 1974, TSR launched Dungeons & Dragons—the world’s first commercially revealed tabletop role-playing game. In 1975, a librarian named Ken St Andrew revealed the second—Tunnels & Trolls. You would be forgiven for by no means having heard of it, however it might be about to tackle a brand new life underneath an unlikely new proprietor.

Almost 50 years after its authentic launch, Tunnels & Trolls has been acquired by Rise up—the developer behind the Sniper Elite video games, and proprietor of different properties as eclectic because the 2000AD comics and Whitaker’s Almanac. In an announcement celebrating the game’s landmark place in tabletop historical past, the corporate says it is engaged on  “the following chapter of Tunnels & Trolls releases”. 

Although it arose very humbly out of fabric Andrew wrote for his personal gaming group, Tunnels & Trolls was a giant deal at launch. At first it was D&D’s solely competitor (clearly), however even after different RPGs sprung up, it remained one in every of its greatest rivals all through the ’70s and even into the early ’80s. Pitched as a less complicated, simpler various to the comparatively sophisticated D&D, it additionally used solely six-sided cube, making it accessible at a time when polyhedral cube like d20s had been a rarity. 

Since then, although, it is largely light into obscurity, its small however devoted fanbase saved alive by fairly sporadic releases. A profitable revival definitely appears attainable, nonetheless—had been I in cost (I so not often am) I might be seeking to put out a pointy new version that stays trustworthy to the unique guidelines and tone, and goal it squarely on the very talked-about OSR scene ‘Previous Faculty Renaissance), which is all about fashionable video games intentionally recreating the model and mechanics of old skool dungeon crawlers. 

My solely phrase of warning to Rise up: please do not embody detailed guidelines for shooting Hitler within the balls.