Starting on p.41 we gets treated with multiple ways of equiping a character. Personally I like the third method of just giving out some basic stuff and jump into the fray. It sure makes the game going quicker. "Don't get bogged down" is solid advice.
I find it kind of amusing that silver is described as the common currency in most places, and then most of the stuff in this chapter is still priced in gold!
Real nice is that we get a short mention of reselling, lower quality and such stuff.
Regarding selling and buying, we get to know that there are merchants for everything you need for life on Trollworld, but that the Wizards' Guild are the only one dealing in magic items.
I'm very divided about selling and buying of magic items. Treating magic items like any other commodity to be bought and sold is a sure way to devalue their mystery and "magic". The question is of course if the publication of the Greyhawk supplement in 1976 with it's long shopping lists opened a door that can now hardly be closed again. I'm not so much thinking of the idea of selling off some loot, as I am of players taking their characters to the magic shop with a wish list in hand. That feels wrong on many levels. But, even in my own campaign I played it by the book that way. I had inventive players who did something fun with it, so maybe I'm just needlessly wary. But still...
Then start the most thankless part of a rpg publishers work. Long lists and tables which can be so very, very wrong without you noticing. My advice to everyone doing this. Do the layout, and then make a FREE pdf of it you give to ALL the fans to proof! There are no sane reasons what so ever not to let as many people as possible look over your tables. They will crawl with errors.
T&T 7.5 have some oddities, but it could be worse. It was worse in 7.0, I can tell you. Still a few things to wonder about.
- Why are there no descriptions of the first/second aid kits?
- Why are there no descriptions of why there's two values for DEX sometimes, like for Daggers?
- Why isn't there no description of how a bola is used?
- What does all the / separated values for the lance really mean?
- What the heck is "rifing" mentioned in the Gunnes table?
I have found some of it out in conversations with the Trollgod, but it would have been nice to have that in the book. I'm dead sure that would have been caught if 500 persons had seen those tables.
In my campaign we said the first aid kit healed 1 CON, the second one 5 CON (since it hinted at it in the table). I'm pretty sure it screws with the economy of healing, but such is life.
Next we get to armor. It's very cool to have listings of full suits, so you can just buy one of those and pick and choose later. What makes up a full suit? I don't know, it don't say so in the book. Since I'm stingy I said it didn't include a helmet. Also worth noting is that a suit of Plate is 460, but Full Plate for two measly more points will cost you 1300! Almost three times as much money for two points. Ouch! It makes no sense not to buy a suit of Soft Leather, it's dirt cheap and gives almost a third of that Plate for a lot less than a third of 460 gold.
Included in equipment is also Poisons and Treasure! The former is fun and to the point. Let's talk more about the Random Treasure Generator. The Treasure generator wsn't in 7.0, and since I was using that set as my only T&T solo rules, I did feel that lack. Many solos ask you to use the Treasure Generator to figure out the loot. We also had a lot of fun with it in my own campaign. Nobody could say I screwed my players over with loot. They roll the generator themselves, and might score high.
The procedure it simple, with subtables and the possibility of generating coin, weapons and armor, potions, gems and magic titems. Yes, magic items by random roll. The only part which I feel is broken is when you roll for jewelry, and get 4 on the Jewel table, "Value of item plus value of jewels". What the heck is the value of the item, then?
Finishing off the big chunk of equipment is something sorely needed. A glossary. I haven't mentioned much what's in the weapon tables, but trust me that most any kind of weird stuff is in there. Being able to delve in dungeons with a Bich`wa, Chakram, Estoc or any such kind of odd weapon is a classic of T&T. While I like the choice, I must say I don't think the long list does much for me. I need something sharp to hit people with, on the cheap. Still, some like it. The oportunity for worldbuilding is there, with all elves using weird weapons and dwarves refusing to fight someone using a weapon "without honor" or something like that. But, you'll have to build it yourself.
That was a big chunk, eh?
Next Week: Monsters and Combat!