Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Could you give some examples of things that new players/characters can get involved in that are 'above ground' life?

Maybe some examples of 'below ground' to compare/contrast with?
=

Oh, sure; let me see...

Join a legion, see the world, and kill the bad guys before they kill you.
Escort a caravan from here to there, and try not to get killed or robbed.
Throw a party at your clan house, and try not to start a riot.
Throw a party at your Temple, and try not to start a riot.
Go off on a river voyage to get from here to there, maybe with some stuff that needs moving.
Ditto, on a sea voyage.
Check up on why the family farm hasn't sent anything to market for a while.
Do odd jobs for Cousin Woofel, and try to stay alive.
Escort your clan-sister to her new home and husband, and try not to start a riot.
Visit the zoo in Bey Su, and marvel at the two short guys with the hairy feet who stick the funny burning weeds up their noses. (Two hobbits who got lost.)
Go shopping in the market place; try not get robbed, and try not to start a riot.
Try and find out who blew up your clan-uncle with the exploding receipts. (Most people use daggers or poison, but nooo, somebody had to get clever.)
Become an Imperial official, and try to stay alive long enough to collect your pension.
Save the Princess. (Although, in my career, she usually wound up saving me.)
Buy a boat. Go fishing. Don't get et.
Try to figure out what kind of Eye Cousin Woofel was looking at when it happened...
Get married. Try not to start a riot.

And then:

Go looking for fun in the steam tunnels - er, Underworld
Look for goodies forgotten in the basement of the clan-house
Go have a look at those ruins that they just found on the family farm
Bury poor Cousin Woofel in the family tomb in the Underworld
Explore that cool shiny tower that appeared one night on the family farm.
Take a trip on the tubeway car - Cousin Woofel said it was perfectly safe!

Does this help? I have lots more, if you like...

Originally Posted by Bren

Bingo!

Perfectly fair point. People shouldn't play games they don't enjoy. The game you and Chirine have described sounds far more entertaining and more like something I would have enjoyed then and still would enjoy today.

And as I said, that's what my teenage self would have wanted to do. It's not something I recall actually doing or even needing to do. One reason I didn't need to do that was because I was known for being good at tactics and for being sufficiently confrontational that the people in our extended group who had griefer tendencies chose to mess with someone else and to do it when I wasn't around. Of course it also helped that none of our gaming groups included assholes the size of astronomical bodies.

Now that I did not know and had not guessed. Tsolyanu always seemed more China/Indochina crossed with Mesoamerica to me. That's very interesting. Also it makes your choice of Egyptian miniatures make more sense.

Hah! Agreed!

The Engsvanyali Empire of the Priest-kings was very much in the mold of Ancient Egypt, and a lot of those attitudes carried over into modern times. Phil said that 'modern ' Tekumel was very much South Asia, so you are right up there with him on this. The Mesoamerican influence dates back to the earlier Bednjallan Imperium, and again some of this still holds true today.

My miniatures 'visual shorthand' is to use Mesoamerican stuff for Bednjallan, Ancient Egyptian for the Engvanyali, and South Asian for modern times. Both the Dark Fable and Crocodile Games figures fit in with Phil's Tekumel 'design sense' so I use a lot of them.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

The Engsvanyali Empire of the Priest-kings was very much in the mold of Ancient Egypt, and a lot of those attitudes carried over into modern times. Phil said that 'modern ' Tekumel was very much South Asia, so you are right up there with him on this. The Mesoamerican influence dates back to the earlier Bednjallan Imperium, and again some of this still holds true today.

My miniatures 'visual shorthand' is to use Mesoamerican stuff for Bednjallan, Ancient Egyptian for the Engvanyali, and South Asian for modern times. Both the Dark Fable and Crocodile Games figures fit in with Phil's Tekumel 'design sense' so I use a lot of them.

Ah, layers of prehistory with earth analogs for the various cultures. I like that.

So OG's character romanced and married a good clan girl. Did they have good clan kids or the sort of hooligans and hellions one might more reasonably expect as sharing in the OG genes?

So did Chirine also get married? Same question if so.

How much total game time elapsed for your characters?

Originally Posted by Bren

Ah, layers of prehistory with earth analogs for the various cultures. I like that.

So OG's character romanced and married a good clan girl. Did they have good clan kids or the sort of hooligans and hellions one might more reasonably expect as sharing in the OG genes?

So did Chirine also get married? Same question if so.

How much total game time elapsed for your characters?

Well, it does make things easier when people see stuff - this is information that they would know in character, so make sure to give it to them. From a cultural standpoint, it also gives players a starting point from which to envision things.

You know, I don't know; I'd have to check the files. Of he could simply tell us...

Yes, Chirine is a happily married family man. Lady Si N'te (the Senior Wife and Lady of the House) has borne two wonderful children, who have inherited his ability with sorcery and her gifts as one of the telepaths of the Temple of Mretten. The domestic establishment also includes the brood of adopted adult children, who also serve as officers in the legion - it's my legion, and I'll hire who I want to.

May I let Her Ladyship add something?

"In my husband's culture, the mark of a great lord is his being able to support a large family; as his Senior Wife, it is my position to make sure that this happens in a proper manner. I am blessed by the Goddess Mretten with some very clever and intelligent friends, all of who are also friends of my husband; since my husband is a great lord of some repute and renown, I have therefore brought them into the family so that my husband is properly seen to and enjoys a high degree of status. It also helps with the twins; they are a bit of a handful, at times. Everyone benefits; I am surrounded by my closest friends, my husband has a proper household, and the children are properly looked after. It is all very practical, I am told, and I find that it makes my work running my household much easier as I enjoy such skiiled assistance."

Her Ladyship runs the household; His Lordship (me!) runs the army.

Let's see; I started in 2354 AS, in 1976, and I'm still playing. Our time with Phil in his games went until 2368 AS - I'd have to double check - in about 1988. Phil gamed in 'real time' if it took a year in the game to get from A to B, it took a year in the real world to do it; we spent a lot of time on the road or at sea, having 'encounters' and adventures along the way.

It's now 2394 AS - Phil added 379 to the current Terran date to get the date on Tekumel - and Chirine is, in theory, enjoying his 'retirement' as he heads into his early sixties. The adopted kids, Mridan, Takhmin, Takhmet, Djel, and all the rest, have taken over the day to day running of things and often go off on adventures of their own; they, in turn, are raising a new generation of grandchildren to take over long after I'm gone.

If I may be permitted an observation: Phil may be gone, but the game continues...

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Yes, helps.
There is no such thing as too many.

So many other ideas are for the "Movers and Shakers" of society which a beginning character rarely is.
(When they are, they don't know the setting well enough or have "anthropology class" expectations.)

I like the, "Those nightmares you were having ... well this morning you awoke in that world.
The first thing you notice is that it is HOT and you are 'Not in Kansas Anymore'.
Strangely, it feels normal and maybe it was that other world you were dreaming about, not this one that is alien.
Something bumping your boat must have awaken you." ... type of game starts.

While "kill them and loot their bodies" is a traditional motivation, it is not something unique to Tekumel.
Nice to mix in sometimes but having setting specific things to do is a big plus.
=

Happy to be of help! That's what I love about Phil's world - so much to do, and so much to see and explore!!!

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Serious question, wouldn't you provide such information on the spot?
"You see someone using an unorthodox weapon quite willfully."
"Good for him."
"This means he's at least trained by an assassin clan."
"Oh. Didn't we get a noble angry last session?"
Typical conversation at our table. I'm always curious how other people play, though!
(Hey, it helps my games later!)


Fun fact, that's exactly the attitude towards law enforcement in totalitarian states with corrupt law enforcement.


Battles weren't supposed to be fun, last I checked.

If you were able to do it somehow, what would Karajan and Vrimulha think?

True. OG, how long was it IC before you got married off? How did you prove yourself as a valuable asset?

There was more than one player with photographic memory?

And I've also found that exotic settings help, contrary to a popular opinion.

So Mesoamerica follows from Egypt? Sweet! I've always liked the idea that they are related, which Thor Heyerdahl tried to prove with Ra and Ra II.
What can I say, I like the experimental approach to history.

Well, I always mention it - this is something that the players would know.

The Five Empires are totalitarian, and they make no bones about it. Law enforcement is indeed corrupt, which is why most people do it themselves.

As for ending the war, Lord Karakan and Lord Vimuhla would not care; they regard us humans as playthings, and there'll be another war along shortly. In my particular case, Lord Vimuhla is patient; I kill people for a living, after all. As I once remarked to a High Preist I know, "I am a ruthless killer so that I can be a devoted father and family man; the children are alive today because I make sure that any threats to them get dead in very short order."

I don't know who OG was talking about in Gary's campaign - you'll have to find out from him. Keep in mind that we played over a span of four or more decades - we played with a lot of people!

Agreed!

And keep in mind that Phil taught himself to read all three forms of Ancient Egyptian scripts when he was eight years old - he had a huge library on Ancient Egypt!

Originally Posted by Greentongue

I can't control the expectations of my potential players.

That is, in point of fact, incorrect. Your first obligation as referee is to clearly communicate your expectations to your players. Your second obligation is to help your players to formulate appropriate expectations. Part of the rationale for an exotic locale is that it is DIFFERENT.

Tsolyanu is a shame culture, not a guilt culture. That alone is a major difference.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

May I let Her Ladyship add something? <snip>

Phil gamed in 'real time' if it took a year in the game to get from A to B, it took a year in the real world to do it; we spent a lot of time on the road or at sea, having 'encounters' and adventures along the way.

Thanks for the extra info.

The gaming in real time is unusual. I've never done that. Time always moves faster or slower than real life. Unless there is a lot of travel, it moves slower.