Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal - part II

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Speaking of exotic weapons in Tekumel ...
Were than any "high tech" weapons that were able to be manufactured by the locals that were used?

How often did legions have to deal with "non-conventional" fighting and do you have any good examples?
(besides those damn nomads)
=

Umm, no to the 'high tech' stuff; what we saw of it was ancient technology that had survived in somebody's Secret Cache, and rolled out in an attempt to do us in. Very little of it worked the way the locals expected, as they didn't have the skill to maintain it or operate it. On the other hand, it did provide plenty of laughs when it went horribly wrong; we watched more then one sorcerer get blown up.

Well, if one takes Third Mar as the benchmark for 'formal', 'conventional' warfare, then we spent most of our time doing 'unconventional' warfare that soldiers from Alexander's Macedonians to Kitchener's Tommies would have instantly recognized. The attack on and defense of Castle Tilketl was classic North West Frontier, even though regular troops were involved on both sides. Anch'ke was a classic fight of 'civilized' troops vs. the locals. We also did a lot of sea fighting, such as the battle with the Hlyss nest ship or with pirates that Harchar was at feud with, and with the local thugs of Haida Pakalla. We had a fight or three with the Hlutrgu, skirmishes with the 'wild' Pe Choi of the Chakas, and the 'invasion' of Mihallu. There was a lot of what's been called the 'small change of soldiering', and it may have been because it gave us an excuse to get out the miniatures and get cracking. Were Gronan's Legion of Mnashu of Thri'il left off, my Legion of the All-Consuming Flame took up. We spent a lot of time out on the edges of empire, where civilization was thin on the ground the the locals looked to us to keep the wolves at bay.

Which, we got the feeling, is the way Phil had intended it to work all along. His world is full of opportunities for adventure of all kinds, and mayhem will ensue...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Umm, no to the 'high tech' stuff; what we saw of it was ancient technology that had survived in somebody's Secret Cache, and rolled out in an attempt to do us in. Very little of it worked the way the locals expected, as they didn't have the skill to maintain it or operate it. On the other hand, it did provide plenty of laughs when it went horribly wrong; we watched more then one sorcerer get blown up.

Well, if one takes Third Mar as the benchmark for 'formal', 'conventional' warfare, then we spent most of our time doing 'unconventional' warfare that soldiers from Alexander's Macedonians to Kitchener's Tommies would have instantly recognized. The attack on and defense of Castle Tilketl was classic North West Frontier, even though regular troops were involved on both sides. Anch'ke was a classic fight of 'civilized' troops vs. the locals. We also did a lot of sea fighting, such as the battle with the Hlyss nest ship or with pirates that Harchar was at feud with, and with the local thugs of Haida Pakalla. We had a fight or three with the Hlutrgu, skirmishes with the 'wild' Pe Choi of the Chakas, and the 'invasion' of Mihallu. There was a lot of what's been called the 'small change of soldiering', and it may have been because it gave us an excuse to get out the miniatures and get cracking. Were Gronan's Legion of Mnashu of Thri'il left off, my Legion of the All-Consuming Flame took up. We spent a lot of time out on the edges of empire, where civilization was thin on the ground the the locals looked to us to keep the wolves at bay.

Which, we got the feeling, is the way Phil had intended it to work all along. His world is full of opportunities for adventure of all kinds, and mayhem will ensue...

This is the Tekumel that I love. Away from the centre of power, on the periphery where "things are different." Mayhem, as you say, is almost a foregone conclusion in my campaign.

I just had an idea. Maybe for next Con of the North.

KOBOLDS ATE MY BABY as a Braunstein.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

I just had an idea. Maybe for next Con of the North.

KOBOLDS ATE MY BABY as a Braunstein.

I like it, but I'd be willing to bet there's be some push-back from some of the people on the convention committee. Gary Cpn would be a shoo-in, though.

I've never been to CotN; is it "all serious an' shit?" Because Kobolds Ate My Baby is hysterical, and the idea of turning the NPC villagers (including the babies!) into other PCs would make it ten times more hilarious.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

I've never been to CotN; is it "all serious an' shit?" Because Kobolds Ate My Baby is hysterical, and the idea of turning the NPC villagers (including the babies!) into other PCs would make it ten times more hilarious.

Oh, no, not 'all serious an' shit' at all. See their website for the actual policies; as usual, somebody spoiled it for the rest of us by running a very-not-kid-friendly and very 'mature' game in the same room as the kids' programming was in, and there was a well-deserved amount of concern over it as it was in violation of the con's polices and people did complain. I'd book the event on their website, and flag it as being possibly not 'kid-friendly due to subject matter' and discuss it with the con com. They will, I suspect, really appreciate being up-front about it and book you into a good time slot and space where there won't be any issues - or possible complaints.

As I think I mentioned, people seem to be really sensitive on some topics locally, which is why I will not be bringing an miniatures to the Free RPG Day in two weeks; I don't want to generate any complaints to the shop re little lead people being underdressed.

Had a great game session today, ending with the entire party trapped in the Underworld with no possible hope of escape and facing Certain Doom. So, in true player-character style, they asked me to leave the table set up so they can come back and play some more...

Unless kids in Minneapolis are vastly different from the rest of the world, "Kobolds Ate My Baby" would be screamingly popular with the 11 to 15 crowd. It's very, very cartoony, as is the violence.

I mean, what can you say about a game that has both a "Kobold Horrible Random Death Table" AND a "Baby Horrible Random Death Table."

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Unless kids in Minneapolis are vastly different from the rest of the world, "Kobolds Ate My Baby" would be screamingly popular with the 11 to 15 crowd. It's very, very cartoony, as is the violence.

I mean, what can you say about a game that has both a "Kobold Horrible Random Death Table" AND a "Baby Horrible Random Death Table."

The kids would love it. It's their parents who would have the fits at their innocent little ones being exposed to such bad things. The kids get into the spirit of the game in no time flat - watching kids with Arneson was always a hoot, 'cause he thought like they did - but I've run into a number of Concerned Parents Who Are Socially Aware and want their offspring to be just like them. (I am lucky; I have a clutch of very - and I do mean very! - individualistic kids who aren't afraid to tell me to stuff it.)