Elder Tunnels

Elder Tunnels

Elder Tunnels was a role-playing game magazine created by Tom K. Loney and Christina Lea and published by Peryton Publishing.

Content

The first seven issues of Elder Tunnels included content for the Tunnels & Trolls ("T&T") role-playing game system, and were published during the time after release of the T&T 30th anniversary (7.5th) edition, published by Fiery Dragon Productions in 2008, and before Deluxe edition, published by Flying Buffalo in 2015. During the span of years, Peryton Publishing had permission from Flying Buffalo to publish materials compatible and for use with T&T.

After a publishing hiatus of seven years, Peryton Publishing released three more issues between 2019 and 2021. These issues shifted the focus of Elder Tunnels to other gaming systems rather than T&T being the main focus. Content included scenarios for Monsters! Monsters!, Ken St. Andre's monsters-based derivative of T&T, Jerry Teleha's Stay Alive! modern action rules for T&T-style play, and Quick Ass Games System. These issues also featured content for use with Peryton Publishing's in-house game systems, including Crawlspace and Spacers.

In July, 2021, Webbed Sphere purchased Flying Buffalo, including Tunnels & Trolls. After the sale, Webbed Sphere terminated all licenses for third party publishing companies, including Peryton Publishing. Webbed Sphere contacted Peryton Publishing with a request that Peryton sell all of their T&T related products to Webbed Sphere, or remove them from sale on various digital platforms, including DriveThruRPG. Peryton Publishers and other role-playing game publishers who previously had publishing arrangements with Flying Buffalo, were asked by Webbed Sphere to no longer reference or publish content for T&T. In response to Webbed Sphere's options, Peryton Publishing chose to remove the T&T name and brand from their previously published materials and not use the game name or content in future publications, including Elder Tunnels.

During its run, the magazine included contributions from Tunnels & Trolls' creator, Ken St. Andre, as well as independent writers of T&T material produced in cooperation with St. Andre and/or Flying Buffalo, such as Brian Penn, Michael Eidson and David Crowell, as well as other game designers such as Scott Malthouse, who as part of Rebellion Unplugged, which bought the T&T intellectual property in 2023, helped design Tunnels & Trolls: A New Age, the first new version of T&T since 2015. Staff illustrators included Jeff Freels, Mike Hartlieb, Régis Moulun, and Simon Tranter.

Publication history

Peryton Publishing released 7 issues of Elder Tunnels between 2010 and 2012. After a hiatus of seven years, it produced 3 more issues between 2019 and 2021.

Reception

In October 2011, Scott Malthouse, one of the staff writers of Elder Tunnels, noted in his The Trollish Delver website the release of the Halloween 2011 issue of Elder Tunnels is "packed to the brim with awesomeness."

Thomas Grimshaw, in his Alchemy Gaming Blog, reviewed the premier issue (Winter - Spring 2010) of Elder Tunnels in July, 2012, admitting up front "Peryton Publishing now has 6 issues of the Elder Tunnels zine under its belt and, in my opinion, they just keep getting better and better," before analyzing the individual adventures in the first issue:

The first issue was a little hit and miss from my point of view. I absolutely loved the "Wuthering Depths" adventure written by Tom K. Loney. It had depth and an atmosphere that really drew you in as the GM reading over his notes. Stephen Butka's effort, "The Sorcerers Chimney" however left a lot to be desired."

In August 2012, Grimshaw favorably reviewed the Halloween 2010 issue of Elder Tunnels:

Balancing horror and high-fantasy can be a difficult task. Even in surreal, pan-dimensional warp spaces like the many worlds of Tunnels and Trolls it's a delicate balance. Many of the classic tropes have already been explored in depth by most gamers, either through the classic fiction that most of us will have read or, through popular culture.... Pick it up now, read through it within the next week and, your next session can really bring some bite to the table. Not only will the players not be expecting you to run such a scenario but, to their credit, the two GM adventures included in this issue don't read like horror at all... Until your players are already up to their necks in it that is.

Game designer and editor Dan Hembree of The Lone Delver Games, writing in his web blog on October 26, 2012, "The Lone Delver", complimented the Halloween 2012 issue: "This is their annual Halloween issue, and it's a good one," and "[a]t only $5.99 for the pdf it's quite a bargain."

As of June 2026, several issues of the magazine have earned Copper Best Seller rank at DriveThruRPG.

External links

• "Elder Tunnels". http://www.perytonpublishing.com/elder_tunnels.htm. 

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