or, How I Learned to Love the Monster Rating
Not Love at First Sight, I'm Afraid
I first came across actual T&T rules in about 1978-79. I'd heard of the game before, and seen rulebooks, but only had a chance to sit and read at that point. I'd picked up a copy of the rules. My memory is fuzzy, but I think it was 4th edition--though I recall a different cover than the rules on RPGNow. So I may be wrong (or my memory is bad, I haven't seen that book for over 20 years. No idea what happened, though I still have the module I got with it.)
My initial reaction was mixed, but largely negative. I was a bit of a RuneQuest snob at that point.
A Second Chance
A couple years later, I was trying to build a minimalist-simple RPG engine of my own. It was based on some computer RPGs of the time (that ran in 8K of memory or less). While I was in the middle of that, I picked up a copy of T&T 5.0. Suddenly it looked a lot better. I played a couple of games with friends, but mostly played solo when there were no games going on. Solo T&T and solo Traveller were my RPGs for some time.
A New Start
Now, I'm looking to start a face to face T&T campaign again. I was running Pathfinder last year in a campaign so overpowered that Arduin players would have snorted in disgust*. ;D This year we're playing Traveller, but SF doesn't click with this group like fantasy. So later this spring I'm looking at a T&T game as a "low impact" alternative to our ongoing d20 games.
The Deluxe Tunnels and Trolls Kickstarter is part of what helped things move along. I had pulled out T&T last fall, looking for something "rules light" to follow the Pathfinder campaign, but Traveller ended up winning that round, though T&T was a contender. Now T&T's turn is coming, and the Kickstarter made it an easier sell.
*Actually I mix Arduin with my PFRPG. I'v enjoyed mixing in Arduin since the first Grimoire came out.