Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Had quite a bit of fun, yesterday; went to a picnic where my opponents in the RPG campaign that I'm (playing the formerly NPC bandit chieftain) were there, and I had quite a lot of fun doing a bit of gamesmanship - in my best Don Corleone voice, of course.

There was some parsing out of "sleeping with the fishes", but I did a little role-playing and demonstrated what large barrels full of watre could be used for - we're way out in the steppes, so I understood that they were being player-characters and trying to exploit what they thought was a mistake - and then they got pretty purturbed when I showed them that the barrel also had my stock of fish for dinner.

My, oh, my, did the room get quite quiet all of a sudden...

It appeared, from the drift of the conversations, that I have quite the reputation as a Fearsome Adversary With Whom It Is A Bad Idea To Trifle. Well, he said modestly, I do try to make an effort. I was hugely amused; the potato salad also went over a treat.

It was a very good day.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Yeah. It was pretty entertaining to see all of them having very obvious second thoughts about killing my people. I think the GM made a casual off-hand comment to the effect of "I wonder what the bandit chief will think about this?" which reminded them that they are playing against a live opponent and not just some randomly-rolled NPCs. I am enjoying it all, I think I can say...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I have no idea why that posted twice; I tried to delete it after it happened, but my browser locked up and refused the request. The site also told me that I couldn't do it, either. So, back on now, and it seems to have been cleared. Sorry about the double post.

No worries. I was happy to have an opportunity to tease you.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Yeah. It was pretty entertaining to see all of them having very obvious second thoughts about killing my people. I think the GM made a casual off-hand comment to the effect of "I wonder what the bandit chief will think about this?" which reminded them that they are playing against a live opponent and not just some randomly-rolled NPCs. I am enjoying it all, I think I can say...

Good.

The late Sir Terry Pratchett coined the term "narrativium," that being an element whose existence makes stories turn out the right way.

The folks we are speaking of are used to a "high-narrativium" world; that is, "We are the players, therefore our characters are the protagonists, therefore the story will turn out in our favor."

The notion that "it ain't necessarily so" does not occur to them.

Originally Posted by Greentongue

I'm trying a reboot of an EPT game on RPoL. In the thread where I am reporting it's progress...
http://odd74.proboards.com/thread/11...jakalla-harbor=

Greentongue, any more of this fine bit of writing and budding adventure of yours?
It's very evocative and I would love reading more of it.

--

Chirine,

What would it take for a bunch of clanless out-of-towners, claiming Engsvanyali ancestry, to be made into a clan?
Assuming it happened, would a special ceremony take place to mark the creation of this new clan, or would the writing and stamping of a lot of paperwork suffice?

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Good.

The late Sir Terry Pratchett coined the term "narrativium," that being an element whose existence makes stories turn out the right way.

The folks we are speaking of are used to a "high-narrativium" world; that is, "We are the players, therefore our characters are the protagonists, therefore the story will turn out in our favor."

The notion that "it ain't necessarily so" does not occur to them.

Ah. That explains a few things. And makes this all the more enjoyable...

Originally Posted by Neshm hiKumala

What would it take for a bunch of clanless out-of-towners, claiming Engsvanyali ancestry, to be made into a clan?
Assuming it happened, would a special ceremony take place to mark the creation of this new clan, or would the writing and stamping of a lot of paperwork suffice?

Well, first off there'd be heaps and heaps of expensive research into their family tree to determine which 'extinct' clan they'd belong to; eventually, it would be determined that LO!, they were all actually members of the long-lost Clan of Such-and-such, long thought to have died out during the reign of Arglebargle IV or Somebody Else, and thus a clan ripe for rebirth - with the right palms greased, of course. As you say, much paperwork would be written and stamped, many many scribes would get fees, temples would get donations to assure the favor of the gods upon the reborn clan, and there would be literally days of elaborate ceremonies, feasting, rituals, and general carrying on to assure everybody that the clan was back in business and well and truly off to a good start. See also the stories in "Deeds of the Ever-Glorious", when a legion is reborn; done that myself, several times.

I'd plan on spending a good half million kaitars on this; they might want to try to get into an established clan, as it'd be a lot cheaper. On the other hand, you could get a good couple of month's worth of games out of this...

Originally Posted by Greentongue

I'm glad you find it entertaining.
We are up to OEPT13: Behind Door Number One in the game on RPoL the reports are from. =

I read through this, and it feels just like those nights out at Phil's. Very, very good stuff, and I really liked it!

Originally Posted by Greentongue

It may not be the Tekumel that the "professionals" are used to as I'm playing it with people that have never heard of it before and trying to play it like it is my first time.
(An exercise in nostalgia.)=

I have mixed feelings about this; on the one hand, I am delighted that you and your players are having so much fun. On the other, something in me died at the notion of 'professional Tekumel'.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I have mixed feelings about this; on the one hand, I am delighted that you and your players are having so much fun. On the other, something in me died at the notion of 'professional Tekumel'.

Think of it this way. One meaning of professional is you got paid. And in one sense, peanuts still counts as pay.