In Japan, the style of RPG play ranges from whimsical to deadly serious, and there’s often a tongue-in-cheek sense of fun in the adventures they run. The American-made Tunnels & Trolls has always had (to one degree or another) that sense of humor, which made it particularly popular in Japan. So much so, Japanese gamers have created and published their own adventures for the game! Now, for the first time ever, some of those Japanese adventures are coming to America in a new book from Flying Buffalo: Tunnels & Trolls Adventures Japan!

For those who may not know, Tunnels & Trolls is the second oldest roleplaying game, first published back in 1975. Over the years, there have been numerous editions — Tunnels & Trolls was first translated into Japanese back in the 1980’s and was well-received for its ease of play, while its use of solitaire adventures made it particularly attractive for the Japanese.

In 2015, Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls was released in the US.  Group SNE, a Japanese company that specializes in translating English games into Japanese and publishing them, took note of Tunnels & Trolls ’s resurgence and decided to release Tunnels & Trolls in Japan. They were quite surprised when they sold out of their first print run in a mere two weeks! Its popularity quickly spawned a special magazine specifically geared around Tunnels & Trolls that included Tunnels & Trolls-related manga, game mastered and solo adventures, as well as articles about playing the game.

When copies of this magazine were sent to Flying Buffalo and shown to our US fans, they yearned to acquire copies of it (even though they couldn’t read Japanese)!  It was at that point that Flying Buffalo’s art director Steve Crompton realized, “We have to find a way to publish this in English!” Tunnels & Trolls creator Ken St Andre agreed, and they moved forward on plans to make this idea become a reality.

An arrangement was made with Flying Buffalo, Group SNE. and the Tunnels & Trolls Japanese Magazine editor to use the material from the first three issues. Group SNE also aided in translating the Japanese text into English and supplying the art from the magazine. Virtually all the art in the book is directly from the original magazine.

Beside Tunnels & Trolls, Group SNE has translated and published numerous RPGs in Japan since 1986, including GURPS, Warhammer FRPG, Shadowrun, Earth Dawn, Advanced Fighting Fantasy, and MechWarrior, among others.

Early on, the team at Flying Buffalo realized this new publication had the prospects of reaching out to more than just current Tunnels & Trolls players — anime, cosplayers, and manga fans who never experienced roleplaying might be intrigued, as well! With that in mind, Ken and Steve created a set of Tunnels & Trolls “mini-rules” which allows new players to be able to create a character, equip them, and literally start playing within minutes; there’s even info for novice and aspiring Game Masters! The mini-rules incorporate the art from the Japanese magazine and characters from the manga take new players through the steps and demonstrate how Tunnels & Trolls works.

For more experienced players, reading and playing through the adventures will give them a taste of what manner of roleplaying and game design is going on in Japan. For example, the solo adventure in the book uses a unique system to keep track of character alliances.  It can affect how the NPCs react to the player, which has never been utilized in a US solo adventure and adds more long-term playability to the adventure. The adventures definitely have a unique style to what we’re accustomed to in the US. In some ways, it’s even more whimsical and, at times, has the feel of classic fairy tales, while in others it’s far deadlier!