Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

I verify Bren's claims - I am definitely not his doctor.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

He's like that in real life, too; an unstoppable force of nature...

An excellent description of both the player and the character.

In real life that's why, when comic book stores, game stores, and other 'nerd hobby' retailers close shop on a daily basis, "The Source" is still going strong after all these years.

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Was the best or the worst harder to survive, Uncle?

The 'worst'. Several times, it was nearly fatal. As in 'real life fatal'.

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Thanks!!! Good stuff!!! Was there anytime, when the Professor really caught caught you guys with your kilts down?

You guys seem to have gotten the best of the Professor quite a bit...

H:0)

The slave revolt in Ferenara.

Tu'umnra. How not to run a fief. In a very big way.

Temple of Sarku in Bey Su; it was so bad he reused the scene in "Man of Gold".

The shipwreck that ended our first voyage with Harchar. It was the one and only time I used 'Divine Intervention' in the campaign.

Invading Mihallu. A train wreck of the first order.

Third Battle of Mar.

Our second shipwreck, near Sunraya. Yes, that's right, a shipwreck in the middle of a stinking desert.

The Sirsum micro-campaign.

These are the ones that come instantly to mind. They were bad enough, thank you.

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Oh my...!!! Sorry to bring up bad times. Will the above be include in TStPT? Since you mention it though. Could you say a bit more about the Temple of Sarku and the desert shipwreck incidents...

Thanks a bunch!!!

H:0)

Well, these were not 'bad times'; these were nights / game sessions where Phil was at his very best, and simply carried us away on the wings of his imagination. We had what I think it 'immersion' in bucket loads, as Phil grew up in the Golden Age of Radio - between the serials and the dramas, he learned at a very young age how to grab and hold an audience.

(The bad times I've had stemmed from the treachery, back-stabbing, lying, rumor-mongering, thefts, frauds, slanders, and similar such activities that have been - and still are - one of the least positive aspects of gaming culture here in the Twin Cities. Anyway...)

All of these incidents will be in TStPT; I am telling you what happened, or discussing it if and when it affects what we did in the campaign. Back in my day, the referee / GM was assumed to be intellectually honest, and a neutral party. Yes, the opposing NPCs had to be played, but it was always - at least by the people that I played with - a basic tenet that the NPCs would be played as beings just as tough and just as smart as we were. There was none of the "GM has power over the players" or "the players must be protected from the GM' that I see being discussed; the players made their own way in the world, and had what I think is being called 'player agency'; we called it 'you made the bed, now lie in it'. It was always assumed that we were responsible for our actions, and ready to face any consequences that arose as a result.

In TStPT, you meet a lot of people, most of whom are simply trying to make a life for themselves in a hostile world and in a particular society. Tekumel, as played by Phil, is not a 'nice' place; it is not Disneyland. Lots of very bad things happen to a lot of decent people, and so my books is more the story of how they cope and survive then anything else. That's the way we played, for all those nights in Phil's basement, and I'd be lying to you if I 'spun' the book any other way.

Without doing too much of a 'spoiler', Eyloa got us lost (again) and we wound up in the lower levels of the Temple of Sarku in Bey Sy - when the Worm Prince was there. So, we got his guards, the temple guards, hordes of skull-faced priests and priestesses, and all the stinking shambling Undead you can imagine. We got chased all over the place, including one absolutely harrowing bit where we had to cross a very narrow ledge while fighting off the Vorodla, the flying Undead. (Ral Partha 01-028, "Winged Gremlin War Party", which I had painted up and which Phil just loved. So, of course, he sent them off to fight us...) It was a very scary night, and Phil was at the top of his form. We survived, but we had to change our kilts. Several times.

Phil loved the scene so much, he used it in "Man of Gold" but with Harsan and Co. as the hapless targets.

Our shipwreck in the Dry Bay of Su'um came right after our little jaunt to Blackmoor. Arneson / Harchar simply could not keep his hands off the stupid dimension hopper, and had a habit of not checking the settings before he pushed the 'go' button. Typical player-character, really. The big galley wound up being dropped in the Tsolyani Army's lap, and I had a heck of a time getting Harchar and his merry crew out of trouble. Luckily for me, I had confiscated one of the other PC's 3,000,000 kaitars / GP - I gave him a writ on the Imperium for the cash, so he didn't actually lose anything - and bought up all the iron and steel stuff that Blackmoor was entirely too well-stocked with.

So, as our 'honest sea-faring merchants' are about to take the high ride, I just happened to casually mention to Prince Mirusiya that all these loyal subjects of the Imperium are friends of mine, and that I just happen to have enough iron and steel to hand to equip four Imperial legions, and would the Highborn be willing to accept same as a personal gift from my humble self? The Highborn allowed that he would be delighted to accept such a magnanimous gift, tore up the documents, and inquired if I had any thoughts about my career - why, there just happened to be a Deputy Imperial Governorship open in Hekellu! - and also casually mentioned that his good friend, the Disposer of Meku, had a place in his clan all ready for me and that - by another wonderful coincidence! - the Highborn just happened to have a Patent of Nobility with my name on it with his Imperial Self.

Harchar and his crew vanished into the desert, never to be seen again - we met up with him in Jakalla, later on; he'd bought a new ship with the insurance money - and I got a nice 'career motivational enhancement opportunity'.

Apropos of "sword and planet" I'm currently rereading Llana of Gathol. Makes me want to find some cheap plastic boats between 3" and a foot long, some tinsel and trim, and some gun looking things, and have a Barsoomian fleet action at next GaryCon.

I know somebody who still has a copy of TSR's "Warriors of Mars".

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Apropos of "sword and planet" I'm currently rereading Llana of Gathol. Makes me want to find some cheap plastic boats between 3" and a foot long, some tinsel and trim, and some gun looking things, and have a Barsoomian fleet action at next GaryCon.

I know somebody who still has a copy of TSR's "Warriors of Mars".

How many copies of the rules do you need? This was one of the games that Paul Stormberg wanted me to run in his 'Legends of Wargaming Area' at this past Gary Con; as he didn't have any copies of the rules for me to use, I put The Missus, Queen of the Internet, on the case to get me some. She found this:

https://archive.org/details/Warriors...nMiniature1974

And we ran off half a dozen copies for the game. These are now, of course, surplus to requirements; I scrapped the flyers I was scratch-building, as my heart just wasn't in it after all the screaming and shouting that went on. Paul also insisted that I use my bucket load of original Heritage figures, in order to fit within his rules for his area. I'm scrapping out these as well - the Bronze Age figures are so much nicer! I had also bought a heap of dowels to make flying stands, and give them that '70s look; not sure what I'll do with those.

Boats from the dollar store; decoration from the same source. Radium cannon from dowels - easy to build, quick to paint - with steel bases and magnets to hold them on the decks until they get shot off.

I love Barsoom; I hate 'gamer politics'...

Look at this! 250 pages! 2,500 posts and replies! 45,614 views! Who would have thought?

Keep those questions and comments coming in, everyone - this is your thread, not mine!

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Look at this! 250 pages! 2,500 posts and replies! 45,614 views! Who would have thought?

Keep those questions and comments coming in, everyone - this is your thread, not mine!

Huzzah! Keep it coming. This thread is an amazing resource for primary information, and can easily be used as a springboard for our own Tekumel games. This thread has cleared up a lot things for me regarding Tekumel. Nice to see how and why things were done a certain way in Phil's games. Even though I didn't know Phil personally,having only carried on a brief email correspondence with him, judging from what you and the Glorious General have told us he probably would have enjoyed this thread as well (especially when you two guys tell us about pulling the professor's beard). Thank you for sharing your memories Chirine.