Tunnels & Trolls

This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we look at Tunnels & Trolls, the earliest Dungeons & Dragons competitor. Designed by Ken St. Andre (Stormbringer), T&T was developed as a simpler, less expensive alternative to D&D, with a focus on solo play (solo T&T modules were the first adventure gamebooks, paving the way for series like Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf). Back in the day, folks said T&T was too simple to have much staying power, but the game is still with us and is an important first step towards modern attempts at streamlined rules systems.