Teenage Monk Ninja Tortles and Other Charities!

Old-time gamers will get the reference of the title right away. Yep, it's true. It is a play on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness.


Growing up, I was (heck, I still am!) a huge Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan. Before I played my very first game of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition, I sifted through the pages of Palladium Books' TMNT & Other Strangeness, Revised Edition. Being unfamiliar with RPGs, the stats were pretty greek to me. Then when the door to RPGs were opened to me, I just had to try it out. We never did play TMNT & Other Strangeness much. Plus, I never did play a mutant turtle.


Around the same time, TSR released an expansion to it's AD&D Mystara line called Red Steel. Red Steel was quite the exotic setting. Among the new races included was the tortle. A tortle is exactly what it sounds like: a humanoid turtle. Cue ninja turtle jokes. Boy, did those jokes fly. We never did create those ninja tortles nor used Red Steel very much.


Flash forward a couple decades, (sigh has it been this long?!) Fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons debuts. The monk class contains a subclass called the Way of the Shadow. Ninjas are referenced as examples of such monks. If you're thinking I got ideas about creating a ninja, you'd be right.


Over the last several months, social media was abuzz with folks inquiring about WOTC adapting the tortle to 5E. Their response is encouraging.


And just like that, WOTC unveiled the torle as a playable race, and AL legal too!, as part of package where proceeds go to their Extra Life charity initiative, which donates to Children's Miracle Network. WOTC is engaging in other activities besides the Tortle Package for Extra Life and you can read about them (and the Tortle Package) HERE. It's pretty cool!


So donate to Extra Life, watch the games on Twitch, attend the sponsored tables in Game-Hole Con in Wisconsin, and/or purchase the Tortle Package if you want to contribute to Children's Miracle Network.


Don't know about you but I am itching to play a teenage monk ninja tortle myself.


Happy Gaming!


Next time.