[Tunnels & Trolls] Gamism ain't for the faint of heart

Hi there,

That's good to know, Will.

Here's another bit of humor from the game, in a kind of offbeat Ron sort of way. See, in the T&T rulebook, a whole bunch of monsters are listed with their Monster Ratings and what level you might find them on, but with no other descriptions. One of them is "Black Hobbits," which puzzled me in all sorts of ways as a teenager. I mean ... whadda they mean? And if they mean ... if ... whadda ya mean that's what they mean?

Later, reading the scenario book Beyond the Silvered Pane, Black Hobbits do show up, by all appearances (they are not illustrated, I don't think) just hobbits with messy habits. I mean, we're talking about a one-page combat scenario, though, so it's not like there's much more to work with than a Monster Rating anyway.

Anyway, so as it happens, Maura has already played her hobbit character Henk as a whacked-out psycho messy warrior type. I decide that the players deserve some "hobbiting" of their own, so the next time they go into the dungeon, there're hobbits all over the place, and they are just about as greasy and obnoxious and repugnant as you can get. Maura even accused me of "making hobbits repulsive," but as I and the rest of us have endured many a Henk-originated atrocity in play so far, she received little sympathy.

So what's the joke? According to your friendly GM, these hobbits infesting the first level are Black Hobbits, exactly by the book. But what do they look like? Plain old hobbits. No difference at all.

Best,
Ron