Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by d(sqrt(-1))

Ok, so, the OAL. How tough would a typical member be? What sort of gear would they have? If they came to a bunch of PCs and said "Hand over (X) in the name of the Emperor", how would they back it up (apart from people being expelled/impaled etc)?

You need to look at this in terms of "you are living in a society," not "you are adventurers in a D&D game where brute force rules." Or to phrase your question differently,

"How tough would a typical member of US Army intelligence be? What sort of gear would they have? If they came to a bunch of people and said "The US Government is requisitioning this," how would they back it up?"

For that matter, when the IRS says "Pay your income taxes," how do they back it up? A typical IRS auditor probably isn't more than 2nd or 3rd level, after all.

My point is to look at the problem differently to reflect the ways that Tekumel can be played differently from the usual pseudo-medieval D&Desque fantasy.

The tax inspectors will not be packing anything, that's not their job.

If you give them trouble verbally, they will speak to your clan elders, who will sort you out in a hurry.

If you actually attack an Imperial servant, you have committed treason against the Petal Throne. If the local prefect has a sense of humor, he may simply post a bounty on your head and sit back and watch the amusement. Otherwise, they have tools at their disposal; I'm sure the OAL has operatives skilled in assassination.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

As a 19 year old kid from a small Midwestern farm town, it took me a LONG time to figure this out. I'd never even HEARD the word "baksheesh".

Gaming with Phil was most certainly an education, wasn't it? Wouldn't have missed it for the world...

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Color me confused. According to the copy of EPT rules that I have the Shedra have steel swords.
Now I had thought that the nano-bots used the iron from the corpse to extrude a thin film of steel over the composite blade following the ancient instructions coded in them.
There was even a possibility of "farming" Shedra for steel since it is so valuable but the Shedra swords themselves were not useful without the nano-bots.
It also explained how someone killed by one became one.
=

It's an artifact of thirty years of publishing. EPT has Shedra with steel swords because it gave a reason to attack them, a reason for players to get nice weapons, and gave the Shedra a bit of an advantage against PCs with chlen-hide weapons. Over time, Phil noted that certain temples have metals that are sacred to them, and which enhance the temple's sorcery. For Sarku it's copper, Ksarul and Dlamelish l silver, and Vimuhla the red gold of the Chakas.

You can play it any way you want to, of need to for the scenario.

About the nano-bots; this comes from the need on some folks' part to have everything explained in terms that they can relate to. If there are nano-bots, we don't know about them as PCs. Me, I don't worry about the mechanics of the thing; I play it as it lies.

Originally Posted by d(sqrt(-1))

The copper swords come from Jeff Dee's scenario. I guess it's partly because these are ancient Shedra 2000+ years old, and also perhaps because he didn't want to give out steel swords to starting characters.

I did wonder where Shedra got their steel swords from, but maybe it's a bit like the way Mrur changed. In EPT they must be burned to stop regeneration, but later on this was explained as necessary in order to prevent their controller from re-animating them.

I always assumed that newly created Shedra didn't really have anything though. Maybe there's a scenario there, where the PCs are newly created Shedra and they have to go and find some steel swords...perhaps Shedra can sense metals in some way so they can home in on steel stuff?

Like the idea of the nano-bots though.

See my previous response. I didn't much care if their swords were steel or copper; either way, I'm going to have to kill the little creeps. Either one works as it's 'inside the lines' of Phil's own game play. And, the Temple of Sarku is loaded with this kind of stuff, so they can issue either to the Shedra/

Always burned Mr'ur no matter what. If you don't, the bits and pieces continue to try to attack you, and the controlling Sarku people can keep them coming at you - maybe in bits, but they do keep coming. I was once chased for what seemed like ages by a skeletal hand, until I could get far enough away from it to strike a light off my lantern.

I hate Undead. Love to paint them up - I have lots and lots of them, as a GM never has enough Undead to menace the players - but I hate dealing with the cursed things.

I'd agree with new Shedra not having anything good. Which, of course, is why they attack the players...

Originally Posted by d(sqrt(-1))

Great stuff, thank you.

In terms of gear, how about Eyes, Amulets, etc? Would they be reasonably common in, say ranks 3 & 4 in your list? Any other interesting magic/tech? Trying to gauge the level of power of some of these guys.

I'm now really tempted to give one of the PCs something REALLY good, and see what offers come in and what they will take. Your comment about dancing girls makes me think of an episode in the recent BBC series of Sherlock where Watson gets married, and his wife turns out to be some sort of super-agent sent to keep an eye on Holmes.

You're welcome!

Daggers, like everybody else, and whatever stuff they thought they needed to get the job done. 'Detectives' usually don;t carry anything special, but the 'secret agents' might very well do so. How common? Depends on the threat level of what they are investigating, really. Could be anything from an Eye to the full assassin's kit.

Level? Pretty good. The uniformed and plainclothes type are about the same as most people, but the secret agents have to be good or they'd get dead. A lot depends on the level of your campaign; I'd make them a little better for the 'average' OAL person, and higher for the top people.

I'd love to see this, myself; had it happen a couple of times out at Phil's, with amusing and enriching consequences.

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Wow, most impressive sir! I like it. Grappling hooks are always a good thing for adventures, and for adventurers to have.

Shemek.

Thank you! Got the flags and flagstaffs done tonight, and started the weapons mounts. I didn't detail the decks with tread plate or anything like that, as they're mostly invisible under the figures' bases. I'll give it a dry-brushed bit of weathering and wear, and that'll be about it.

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Could you tell us a bit more about #4. I would be interested in hearing about those 4 on your staff. First wife one of them...? Thanks.

H:0)

It's an intelligence agency, as well as a police agency. Spies, assassins, and whatever else the Imperium needs to keep itself in power. Sort of like me; I'm the military side of the thing.

As for the three in my household... Uh, oh. You've done it now.

- He's forgotten us already, and -
- that after our big dramatic entrance -
- in Book Five, too. And then the part -
- we play in the rest of that book, and -
- then going into Book Six. At least -
- the twins love us. -

Three farm girls from around Bey Su, who's lineage is the same as their clans, and who wear mysterious amulets around their necks. And one of them is a very good sorceress and her two friends are very good warriors - at least, Vrisa thinks so! And while I am not trying to tell you how to run your life, I'd suggest doing something nice for the girls next time you're in town; when they get cranky, my life gets difficult.

No, Si N'te is not an OAL person. She's the First Dancer of the Temple of Mretten, in the Nyemesel Isles, and I have no idea why she puts up with me.

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

"We're The Sweeney, son, and we haven't had any dinner. You've kept us waiting, so unless you want a kicking you tell us where those photographs are."

Love this series! When I was a kid I used to secretly watch this show on Saturday nights, as me old dad would have given me a kicking if he caught me watching it back then Funny thing was I had no idea what the hell they were talking about half the time. Just loved the car chases. Well you brought a smile to my face tonight that's for sure!

Shemek

Wonderful! I never did get to see the series, as it never was shown here in the US. My model railway club in Wakefield has our annual dinner at the West Yorkshire Police Academy, and a bunch of our members are on the force. So, I get all the slang over the food...