Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

From Hrugga:

Uncle, It has been awhile. I hope you are well. A few questions...

Enjoyng the new job, sweltering in the heat, surviving. Playing a lot of "Close Action!", these days.

I know that vampirism on Tekumel does not exist as it does here. Is there lycanthropy on Tekumel(or any types of were-creatures) that you may have encountered?
On the one-quarter of the planet we have been all over, no to both. On the other hand, have a look at the lists of creatures in EPT - there are a lot of 'native' lifeforms that are functionally the same, and then you have all the 'visitors' from other Planes. So, no, we don't get Count Dracula, but we do get the lovely ladies in the Accounting Department. (Book Six, second half.)

What do clan mothers tell their children to be careful of besides Ssu, Hluss, or the other inimicals, when they want them to behave?
They use the list in EPT; it has all the nasties needed to scare the kids right out of their wits. (Unless they're my kids, then they take it all in stride. There's a reason why I have grey hairs, these days.)

Is there any common folklore or legends(besides those of the Twenty or the epic heroes of old) common on the planet?
I don;t know about 'common', per se; every region has their own local folklore and customs, and a wise traveller learns them. I assume you're speaking of things like The Strife of the Two Brothers, up in Yan Kor?

Thank you,
You're very welcome!

Originally Posted by Greentongue

It continues to amaze me how players can turn neutral non-humans or non-Players into enemies.
You would think the effort they spend doing it would be better spent gaining them as allies.
=

Because 30 years of gaming history have taught them to think of NPCs as vending machines; either you stick coins in and get adventuring gear out, or you stick swords in and get XP out.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Because 30 years of gaming history have taught them to think of NPCs as vending machines; either you stick coins in and get adventuring gear out, or you stick swords in and get XP out.

Glorious General, that is the best description of the "NPC experience" I've seen. I think DM laziness and or inexperience led to this situation. Personally, I have always played the NPC's and monsters as if they were my personal character(s). Never thought to do otherwise. I guess that's why my players approach every encounter with respect. Pushing around NPC's doesn't go too far in my game, unless the has the "legal" right to do so.

Shemek.

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Ahhh Uncle, since you mention it...could you tell us a bit about The Strife of the Two Brothers...��

Thanks,

H:0)

I second that request.

Shemek.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Been to both, courtesy of dear old Harchar. What do you want to know?

So, why is it called the Isle of Eyes, and what's up with the Lost City: does anyone/thing live there, any goodies there. What happened to the party when you went to these places?

Shemek.

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Glorious General, that is the best description of the "NPC experience" I've seen. I think DM laziness and or inexperience led to this situation. Personally, I have always played the NPC's and monsters as if they were my personal character(s). Never thought to do otherwise. I guess that's why my players approach every encounter with respect. Pushing around NPC's doesn't go too far in my game, unless the has the "legal" right to do so.

Shemek.

This goes back to the boom of D&D in the early 80s. People ignored rules on morale, ignored rules on monster reaction, ignored alignment languages, ignored any rule that didn't directly relate to "kill everything that moves," and then bitched that the game was so bloody.

I've said before that turning over the game to 13 year olds pretty much guaranteed that you'd get Lord of the Flies; but as they got older they decided to blame the game instead of the shitty way they played.

I have another question - we've just finished the Bethorm scenario "High & Dry", so I'm writing a follow-up (the PCs found the hidden "treasure map"). I'm thinking of something along the lines of:

1/ go find the treasure, whatever it is.
2/ Explore an ancient building in the forest (tubeway station)
3/ have some encounters with the locals.

Now, my mind went to the fact that Ssu use the tubeways, so I was wondering, if there are some Chnehl living in the forest near the tubeway, would the Ssu interact with them, could they train them in some way to be a bit more disciplined in order to try and use the Chnehl as patsies to attack a nearby Sakbe tower? Could the Ssu build a new pyramid structure in the Chnehl village? If so, what would it be like, inside and out? Any good ideas for interesting treasures for the PCs to find?

Of course, being a forest I'm also assuming that there may be some Dzor nearby, and either Kayi or Teqeqmu...

thanks in advance (!) Mark