Right. First, there will be a short rant that you should feel free to ignore, and then I'll talk about how I set up a game like this.
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Rant follows.]
Well, yes, it is the second Saturday of the month, and normally we'd have played out this second half of the adventure. However, the players were all busy, and I doubt we'll be back to this game until January. It's been very difficult, over the past couple of years, to be able to get people together for gaming any any sort of regular basis; people have lives, and things like school do get in the way. It has not helped the group that we took a lot of hassle from various organizations, legal and otherwise, trying to get control of what's in my head. My memories (and my collections) are regarded by some people as 'collectable' and 'valuable as investments', and my book also seems to be seen as 'the pot of gold at the end of the Tekumel rainbow' for anyone who can get control of the property. All of this has had a very negative effect on my younger players, who all have better (and more fun!) things to do with their time then be served legal papers when gaming here at the house by the very people - the 'senior gamers, also called "Barker's Own", by some Tekumel fans - that they looked up to and respected. It's the same sort of mindless and ultimately pointless 'politics around the Petal Throne' that has dogged Tekumel for years.
To summarize thirty-some years in a nutshell, there are people out there who firmly believe that it's better to have no Tekumel then a Tekumel that's outside their control. I'm sick and tired of the feuding factions all kicking me, just 'cause "
Chirine has all the good stuff, and we want it for ourselves." It's gotten old.
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Rant ends. Thank you for your patience. 
]
Okay; back to the game. In this case, I made sure to have two possible entrances to the presumed Underworld on the table. This will be a true three-dimensional game, as you can go up inside the pyramid - it has four levels and does come apart for access - as well as the below-ground level. In past games, the creatures of the Underworld have managed to come up one of the unguarded shafts and surprise the players. It's much more entertaining, they way.
I like to make some quick sketches of the levels, and then I'll lay them out on the table with my set of modular Underworld tiles; I use wooden blocks (from IKEA, actually) to do walls, as these allow for better access and visibility for the players. I like to steal my floor plans from historical sources, either something that Phil did or something that he liked - I use Ancient Egyptian tomb plans a lot, as this was something that Phil did. Generally, I design 'one-off' complexes like this so that the closer and closer one gets to the center, the richer the rewards - and the more dangerous and risky the adventure. The 'gaming well' of my table is 48" x 48", and this allows for some pretty extensive Underworlds; you might want to have a look at the videos I have on You Tube of a similar game.
Generally, I don't use random tables to stock the Underworld. I think about what the rooms would be used for, in their historical contexts both in the real world and in Phil's; his Jakalla Underworld is full of closets and storeroom for the use of the people who live and work down there. I do the same thing; I then stock the rooms with all sorts of goodies, using my collection of 'detail' stuff. Barrels, weapons racks, thrones, statues, you name it - I got it. I also always make sure to make notes and take photos of whatever I've built, so that if we ever need to go back there, I can recreate the entire underworld as need be.
Next, I work up who's already there; no Hlutrgu, as you would really not be finding them in much of any situation other then along their nasty swamplands. However, this is not an issue, as Tekumel is very well-stocked with Dire Perils, and I have a lot of them on the shelves. Since this is a tomb complex, I would expect to find a lot of Undead, so out come the boxes of Undead and I play the role of the Ancient High Priest who originally stocked the place up with hordes of Tomb guardians. Each group is given a specific set of instructions, unless there will be a 'live' player to run them - this is a great job to give guests and visitors! - and they will act as per those instructions. This is as per Phil's practice; he used to note that the Undead are not the smartest beings around, and usually have to be directed by a live intelligence for maximum havoc. Luckily for me, I have some of those, too.
I can't say that I work all this out by whim; I go from what I saw and encountered in Phil's campaign, and his usual practices when he did stuff like this. I do keep careful notes, though, and I refer to these when the players find something. I should also note that the players can't see into anything unless they actually look through the doorway or go into a room; I use black paper to cover the rooms until they do this.
And I should also say that one does not need miniatures for all this; big sheets of paper, or the modern battle mats, will work just as well. Once the play starts, it pretty much runs itself, and all I do is facilitate what the players are doing.
Does this help?
Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya
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