Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal - part II

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Understood. Phil was pretty upfront about this when they brought Tekumel back into normal space in '75; he announced that the Space Marines (in their snappy silver armored suits) were landing to restore Tekumel back to the rule of the lords of Humanspace and that, having won the battle as it were, the campaign was over and they could play something else. Mayhem ensured around the game table, and in the discussion Phil let it out that the Goddess of the Pale Bone was actually trying to restore all of the 772 'lost worlds' back into normal space - he had a really good laugh over the PCs being the minions of the 'bad guy aliens', and not the handsome good guys that they had all assumed that they were. The Twenty had dumped the worlds into pocket universes as part of their war against the Arisians; we serve the Boskones. See also the works of Phil's good friend, one E. E. 'Doc' Smith, if you want the background to Phil's 'sword and planet romance' / space opera thinking.

Now, to answer your actual question, is this the One True Reason? Or was Phil doing his usual "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!" routine? There is no Certified, Notarized, Authentic source document that states all this, signed by the Professor and witnessed by anyone. What we have, like so many of Tekumel's more recondite mysteries, consists of scattered fragments of texts, Blue Room posts, and interviews he gave over the years. He loved to watch the fans speculate and bicker over their theories, and heartily encouraged it - he was right up front abut not knowing the True Secrets of Tekumel himself, and saw no reason why people could not figure it all out for themselves. The answers are there; you just have to dig them out.

Now, my first paragraph is not considered to be 'canon' by a lot of people; it's what he told me, and his players at the time confirmed. (They were pretty upset about it, actually.) All Phil did was leave us lots and lots of data points in his published and unpublished works, and figured that we'd be smart enough to connect the dots. I've got my copy of all Phil's files; there's nothing explicit in them on this, but we do have things like the seating plan of the Twenty+ at the meeting after Dormoron Plain. Which, by the way, was an internal dispute amongst the Twenty, Phil noted.

My problem with trying to explain all of this is that, unlike just about anyone else, I have all the dots to hand; I have my collections and notes, Phil's collection and notes, all my conversations with Phil over the years, and a huge amount of material that was generated - like the Blue Room posts - over the years. As a result, 'data mining' and 'data correlation' are a whole lot easier for me.

So, I don't know; does that help you at all, of have I just confused things more?

Uncle, are all of the Twenty Boskones? Or is it only true for Stability/Change?

I've always believed that PCs are best when they serve a ruthless power. After all, it's a natural fit for them.
I see my conclusion had been anticipated, but that's actually a great way to set up a game!

Originally Posted by David Johansen

It's not just roleplayers. Warhammer has largely ignored formations since about fourth edition.

Thank you, you just helped me decide what to answer to an invitation to play Warhammer!

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Ain't it the truth.

But in the case of Warhamburger, there is a logic to it: Make the latest and greatest models strong enough to beat anything old, and price them high.

My God, how the money rolls in.

One might wish that one had thought about it, right, Glorious General?

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Originally he oriented his game around the idea of "Solving the great mystery of Tekumel." In 1975 some of the players solved the mystery.

Wait, what? Is the Great Mystery ever mentioned in the books?
If you can't tell us what it was, could you at least hint what the mystery was about?

I wasn't part of the group that did it. What I heard was that there was A Certain Thing To Do that, if done, would Reveal All. And players discovered it and did it.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Ain't it the truth.

But in the case of Warhamburger, there is a logic to it: Make the latest and greatest models strong enough to beat anything old, and price them high.

My God, how the money rolls in.

Agreed; I really missed the boat on this one with the Tekumel miniatures and my rules, didn't I?

Originally Posted by Zirunel

Thanks, yes I certainly know about the Goddess as rescuer theory, and now you mention it, I think I had heard vague things about that game-ending reveal too, although this may be the clearest account I've heard. Still, for me it raises more questions than it answers.

First of all, what was the context for him trying to end it in 1975 (the same year EPT was published!!!!!!) Do you know why he decided to try and end his own game at that point?

As Gronan points out, the players had come to the end of the adventure path and solved the puzzle. So, the game ended. Phil was, for the rest of his life, pretty astonished that the players wanted to keep on adventuring in his creation - he thought that like most gamers, they'd want to move on to something else. They pointed out that they could play "Traveller" at the Fifth Precinct game group, but that playing Tekumel was a lot more fun and interesting. So, 'the game' became 'a campaign', and lasted for years.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Originally he oriented his game around the idea of "Solving the great mystery of Tekumel." In 1975 some of the players solved the mystery.

Agreed - meddling kids! I've known how to get Tekumel 'home' since 1976, but there didn't - and still doesn't - seem to be anything in it for me. I like playing a mercenary general, thank you very much.

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Uncle, are all of the Twenty Boskones? Or is it only true for Stability/Change?

I've always believed that PCs are best when they serve a ruthless power. After all, it's a natural fit for them.
I see my conclusion had been anticipated, but that's actually a great way to set up a game!

Thank you, you just helped me decide what to answer to an invitation to play Warhammer!

One might wish that one had thought about it, right, Glorious General?

Wait, what? Is the Great Mystery ever mentioned in the books?
If you can't tell us what it was, could you at least hint what the mystery was about?

All of the Twenty are the bad guys, as Phil once pointed out - by D & D standards, all of the religions of Tekumel are EEEEEVILLLLL ones.

True.

See previous post on this...

It is hinted at all through his texts. Phil assumed that his readers had a certain level of literacy and intelligence, similar to his own. It's there, if you look for it.

Originally Posted by Zirunel

So, it wasn't like he got bored or fed up, it was more that his players clued in on the big mystery themselves so he decided it was time to confirm their theory and bring it all to an end?

Precisely. They then mutinied, and wanted to continue playing in Tekumel's bethorm, rather then play a "Traveller" campaign in funny hats.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

I wasn't part of the group that did it. What I heard was that there was A Certain Thing To Do that, if done, would Reveal All. And players discovered it and did it.

While smoking cigars, too, a vital part of the sorcery involved.