Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal - part II

Chirine,

We have talked alot about Phil's campaigns on this, and the previous, thread, but I was wondering if you could tell us something about of your Tekumel campaigns?
I know that you ran some in conjunction with Phil's game, but which of your many campaigns was/is your favourite?
What was the main story arc?
Who were the PC's?
Where was the action set?
Did any go on to play in Phil's game(s)?
Was there a singular event or encounter that stood out in this campaign which still amuses, or is talked about?

Shemek

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Chirine,

We have talked alot about Phil's campaigns on this, and the previous, thread, but I was wondering if you could tell us something about of your Tekumel campaigns?
I know that you ran some in conjunction with Phil's game, but which of your many campaigns was/is your favourite?
What was the main story arc?
Who were the PC's?
Where was the action set?
Did any go on to play in Phil's game(s)?
Was there a singular event or encounter that stood out in this campaign which still amuses, or is talked about?

Shemek

Oh! Well, I can make a start on this; I'm off to bed in just a bit, due to my work schedule - it's State Fair time here in Minnesota, and parking by my workplace is a little 'difficult'.

I had three major campaigns; two were running between 1986 and 1989, and the third ran from 2004 to 2014 or so. The first two ran in parallel with Phil's, and were to some degree 'waiting rooms' for Phil's games. I'd run people for a while to see what they were like as gamers and how much they enjoyed Tekumel, and then give Phil my advice.

The first campaign featured a Lorun lady who was in Tsolyanu for political purposes - she opposed Baron Ald - and her Tsolyani associates / guards. This was very much a 'general adventuring group' who were very interested in exploring Tekumel. None of the people in this group wanted to play out at Phil's.

The second campaign was the Yan Koryani-based one, with a group of YK people doing odd jobs for the Baron - your usual PC stuff, really, but with a different cultural emphasis. Several of this group went on to play at Phil's

Neither campaign had a story arc; both were a series of adventures set in Tekumel, in my usual 'sandbox' style; it what what the players wanted it to be.

My long-running campaign was a lot of fun; people came and went over the years, and enjoyed exploring Phil's world. Again, no real story arc; the setting was Tekumel, and people just wanted to explore. Pretty much like we did out at Phil's, which was what seemed to be what people wanted. Several of the people in this group had gamed with Phil.

Now, having said all this, all of these groups on occasion interacted with Chirine and his friends, and will be providing some of the more fun moments in TSTPT. Again, I don't like specific story arcs in games; I do like having a 'historical background' against which people can play, but it's always been open sandbox with me and it's the players' game - not mine.

TSTPT has a story arc, based on the guy's long and exciting career and his relationships with his friends and family and set against the historical events that unfold around him and them.

Thee have been all kinds of really wonderful events, like The Killer Bunny and The One And Only TPK I Ever Had; I can write some up, if that's what you're looking for, but I do have to warn that they are very short on game mechanics stuff and very long on people having fun in Phil's creation.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Oh! Well, I can make a start on this; I'm off to bed in just a bit, due to my work schedule - it's State Fair time here in Minnesota, and parking by my workplace is a little 'difficult'.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I had three major campaigns; two were running between 1986 and 1989, and the third ran from 2004 to 2014 or so. The first two ran in parallel with Phil's, and were to some degree 'waiting rooms' for Phil's games. I'd run people for a while to see what they were like as gamers and how much they enjoyed Tekumel, and then give Phil my advice.

Would your games tie into what Phil was doing with his group(s)?

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

The first campaign featured a Lorun lady who was in Tsolyanu for political purposes - she opposed Baron Ald - and her Tsolyani associates / guards. This was very much a 'general adventuring group' who were very interested in exploring Tekumel. None of the people in this group wanted to play out at Phil's.

Cool. How far did they get in their explorations?

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

The second campaign was the Yan Koryani-based one, with a group of YK people doing odd jobs for the Baron - your usual PC stuff, really, but with a different cultural emphasis. Several of this group went on to play at Phil's

This one sounds great, and is the type of games I like best. It's nice to get out of Tsolyanu once in a while. I'm currently running a Vriddi themed campaign set in Hetkolainen's reign (NO SPOILERS ), out on the periphery, near Hekellu. Lots of fun and mayhem there.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Neither campaign had a story arc; both were a series of adventures set in Tekumel, in my usual 'sandbox' style; it what what the players wanted it to be.

I have to try a pure "sandbox" adventure one day. Mine tend to be something of a mish-mash between "railroads" and "sandboxes."

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

My long-running campaign was a lot of fun; people came and went over the years, and enjoyed exploring Phil's world. Again, no real story arc; the setting was Tekumel, and people just wanted to explore. Pretty much like we did out at Phil's, which was what seemed to be what people wanted. Several of the people in this group had gamed with Phil.

Nice. These are often the best type of games in my experience. Exploration for the sake of curiosity and not always for some world saving quest is most excellent IMO.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Now, having said all this, all of these groups on occasion interacted with Chirine and his friends, and will be providing some of the more fun moments in TSTPT. Again, I don't like specific story arcs in games; I do like having a 'historical background' against which people can play, but it's always been open sandbox with me and it's the players' game - not mine.

Can't wait to see the finished product. Any chance of a status update?

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

TSTPT has a story arc, based on the guy's long and exciting career and his relationships with his friends and family and set against the historical events that unfold around him and them.

Thee have been all kinds of really wonderful events, like The Killer Bunny and The One And Only TPK I Ever Had; I can write some up, if that's what you're looking for, but I do have to warn that they are very short on game mechanics stuff and very long on people having fun in Phil's creation.

I don't really care that much about mechanics, for the most part, TBH. Killer Bunny? TPK? Do tell please.

Shemek.

I had forgotten about the old "Imperial Dispatches."
In keeping with this theme, how many people on this thread have active Tekumel games/campaigns that they are part of, either as a player or a GM?
Can you share a bit of what's happening in your game with rest of us?

Shemek

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Understood. His writing and art may not be to everyone's tastes, but he does produce.

I really need to sit down and thoroughly read "Vorhiem," even though the artwork makes my eyes bleed.

Originally Posted by Greentongue

I had one that ground to a halt. If you are interested, I logged it here:
http://odd74.proboards.com/board/41/...ue-online-oept
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Originally Posted by bconsidine

Mine, too, has ground down. At the time of hiatus, the PCs were on the road from Bey Su toward Hmakuyal in an attempt to intercept some suspected Ksarul agents who have allegedly kidnapped a child psychic prodigy originally being escorted to the temple of Thumis in Bey Su. I had hoped Jeff Dee's Kurt Hills material would be available to use, since they'd be passing through it.

As a side note, I developed my Hmakuyal before learning anything "canonical" about it and in My Tekumel (TM) the temple of Ksarul runs it as a tourist attraction. I'm using the Dyson Megadelve as the underground portions of it. The megadelve cave maps are the tourist spots (it houses the largest collection of native Tekumel flora in Tsolyanu).

If the main PC is successful, his single lineage clan will be adopted by the sponsoring clan (Sky Blue Water). They got the kid from Jakalla to Usenanu, but things went south between Usenanu and Bey Su. Hence the current mission of redemption.

Blaise

These both sound like great games. Why did they stop? Lack of interest? Lack of players? Real life get in the way?

As a GM the most frustrating thing for me is when a campaign grinds to a halt. It's hard enough to find a regular group of players in my area, let alone one that wants to adventure on Tekumel.

Shemek

I'm going to take a moment, if I may, to offer a little bit of background to Phil's campaigns. As I've noted, he ran a 'meta-campaign / -game' that was always running in the background; it served to give him events and ideas for his novels. It also served to provide us players with a constantly running background of events, rumors, plots, and incidents that might or might not figure in our games; generally, we were offered these things as possible adventures, and it was up to us to make the decision to follow up on what was being offered. In effect, contrary to what some have said in the past. Phil was running a very early form of open sandbox play for us. Yes, he had some areas and somethings already mapped out and plotted out, but then he'd been at this for some twenty-five years before EPT was published. We had lots of adventures that ran for months and years of gaming, but I can always refer back into my logbook / journal to specific game sessions where we took the bait and were off on yet another adventure. (Those of you who have been kind enough to read TSTAP can probably see where those points are.) Phil had a number of specific story arcs that played out over the years in the meta-campaign, and sometimes we were and sometimes were not part of them. Phil's Tekumel ran independently of our game sessions.

The 'Imperial Dispatches' were (and still are, in my campaign) an important part of this meta-campaign. Phil loved to hear from people about their games in his creation, and more often then not we'd hear about these events through marketplace rumors, gossip at parties, or sneaking peeks at secret documents. In my time as his publisher, we encouraged people to send these in to us; we continued the tradition started by Phil in 'The Dragon' and 'Strategic Review' and followed by Gary Rudolph in 'The Tekumel Journal' in our own 'Imperial Military Journal', 'The Journal Of Tekumel Affairs', and 'The Imperial Courier'. Phil wound read what had been sent in, and offer his comments; we functioned as his secretariat, and dealt with minor matters while referring to him the major ones - we were Bey Su to his Avanthar, if you will.

So, I have lots and lots of this stuff on file, sent in by people from all over. They make for great reading, and for great Tekumel.