Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal - part II

Originally Posted by Greentongue

For the standard "Midwestern American" how do you impart the social details when starting players with the assumption that the Character knows them?

How much "Your character politely asks to take on the task of investigating the missing MacGuffin", verses Role Playing the "In Character" interaction between the character(s) and the senior clan member(s) is your experience. (New Players)

How do you impart how important this task is to the clan's honor/status? (In Character / 3rd Person?)
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Almost by definition all my players are new to the setting. I take a fairly gentle approach to getting them into the social aspects; I try to do as much as I can in my role as NPC-player, but I make sure that if there's something that the player needed to know for their PC I tell them about it pretty early on. For me, it's not a dichotomy between Approach A or B, it's whatever works for that player. I'll clarify details, suggest sources, and provide examples as seems best for the player to assimilate - a more didactic approach then a game one, but that's how Phil did it and I figure it's good enough for me.

I just tell them, in either mode.

And I'm sorry to be so vague; it's pretty much instinctive for me to do things this way, after all this time playing. Seems to work for people, like at the Free RPG Day games.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I try to do as much as I can in my role as NPC-player, but I make sure that if there's something that the player needed to know for their PC I tell them about it pretty early on.

It's my approach as well, with a big emphasis on using NPCs, as they help me tell the players about the world from within the world. That's very important to me. It can take the form of a simple exchange like, "And remember, your clan will be very happy with you if you accept this." or "Make sure not to offend your clan elders!", etc.
Using NPCs also has the added advantage of making them (the two or three important NPCs the players meet when they start out) more real, hence more memorable.

And you can and should tell your PCs directly too, before or after the game: "Hey, remember that thing about honor and making your clan look good on Tekumel? Well, you've seen samurai films, right? Same thing." And from there, as your adventure progresses, you gradually add details to that initial mental image.
And stick to what the adventure brings to the table. Don't extrapolate. Stick to what's at hand. It's simpler for you and simpler for your players as well.

Originally Posted by Hermes Serpent

(...) You only have to look at British TV output to see plenty of examples of social class differences being portrayed even if many of them disappeared in the Fifties and even before. (...)

Good point.
And you actually don't have to watch shows or read about non-middle-class western cultures to get a whiff of what introducing your players to different social norms might be like. I still remember my mother telling me quite directly how to behave before meeting cousins living in another part of the country or in another country altogether. "They don't do that there. They do like this, because ... etc." It's a very direct way of doing it, but, one way or another, it happens in all families. There's therefore no reason why the same approach could not be used with your players, through an NPC or directly, between GM and player(s).

Originally Posted by Neshm hiKumala

It's my approach as well, with a big emphasis on using NPCs, as they help me tell the players about the world from within the world. That's very important to me. It can take the form of a simple exchange like, "And remember, your clan will be very happy with you if you accept this." or "Make sure not to offend your clan elders!", etc.
Using NPCs also has the added advantage of making them (the two or three important NPCs the players meet when they start out) more real, hence more memorable.

And you can and should tell your PCs directly too, before or after the game: "Hey, remember that thing about honor and making your clan look good on Tekumel? Well, you've seen samurai films, right? Same thing." And from there, as your adventure progresses, you gradually add details to that initial mental image.
And stick to what the adventure brings to the table. Don't extrapolate. Stick to what's at hand. It's simpler for you and simpler for your players as well.

This is the exact way in which I approach Tekumel. It really doesn't take long for the players to get into the swing of things and "go native."

Originally Posted by Greentongue

This seems to be the quandary.
How to teach players (and GMs) the way to a social game is played when the society is different from "Generic Western Fantasy".
I'm sure this is not limited to Tekumel and may explain why there are so few popular games like it.

Without 20 years gaming in the setting or extensive travel in the India subcontinent, what is a GM to do?
Obviously you can "Make it your own" but what about replicating The Professor's version?

Have you had any of your players start EPT games of their own, successfully?
How do others do it??
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Understood. I can't replicate what Phil did, nor can I replicate Dave's or Gary's games. All I can do - and still manage to do, ask Biggles of Barsoom - is run games as I always have and try to pass that tradition on to the next generation.

Yes; John Till, with his FATE of Tekumel campaign.

I don't know; no data, sorry..

Originally Posted by Greentongue

For the standard "Midwestern American" how do you impart the social details when starting players with the assumption that the Character knows them?

How much "Your character politely asks to take on the task of investigating the missing MacGuffin", verses Role Playing the "In Character" interaction between the character(s) and the senior clan member(s) is your experience. (New Players)

How do you impart how important this task is to the clan's honor/status? (In Character / 3rd Person?)
=

Well, the old "Read a Book" helps. There are a lot of histories.

Or for that matter, just show them the old Thief of Baghdad movies and say "Like that plus weird critters."

And don't be afraid to step "out of character" to tell them things their character would obviously know.