Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Well actually I was talking to Chirine but I'll take anybody's answer.

Mostly it's due to a tendency I've found from some people who've played too many computer games or too many later tabletop games influenced by them -- there are people who just don't seem to conceive of the fact that they might lose.

I've been lucky thus far. I have never run into these types of players, but if I do I'll follow Asen's lead and help them to find another game more likely to meet their expectations.

Shemek.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

You're very welcome!

I always worry that I'm being a bore by running on and on and on with my answers.

Not as far as I'm concerned. Personally, I'd sooner have an answer with a lot of information than a yes or no answer. Besides, the size of this thread seems to suggest that you're not boring anyone who's actually interested in hearing about " Ye olden days."

Shemek.

Originally Posted by Neshm hiKumala

As regard clan housing, this is what I'm using for my rural clan design: the Zacuala, a type of apartment compound found in Teotihuacan. Here's a link. There are others like it out there. The Tetitla design is very good too.

Of course, I'm going to adapt these designs to my needs, by adding extra entrances to the building for instance. But that compound (1) is based on an actual functioning dwelling design, (2) allows for various lineages from the same clan to live under one roof (one could also have different clans of similar status living under one roof), and (3) corresponds to my idea that rural clan dwellings would be more spread out than their urban counterparts.

Once I'm done designing it (not now as I'm too swamped with work), I'll upload it to Brett Slocum's Yahoo Tekumel Group.

Thanks for the link. Very nice!
Why not post it here as well?

Shemek

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Well actually I was talking to Chirine but I'll take anybody's answer.

Mostly it's due to a tendency I've found from some people who've played too many computer games or too many later tabletop games influenced by them -- there are people who just don't seem to conceive of the fact that they might lose.

Mmmm. Gotcha.

Never had a problem with people getting bent about the risk of their PC's getting killed; the people I've had in the game room - with the exception of the 'senior players', who have a whole different set of issues I had to deal with - all come from a F/SF background and who have a pretty good grounding in the tropes associated with being 'an adventurer'. They can immediately relate to Conan or John Carter, and along the way in the process of seducing them to The Dark Side they learn about Sinbad and his ilk.

I guess the one thing that has surprised me over the decades has been just how forgotten the world that you and I were immersed in has become. Frank Frazetta, when he's not being demonized, is a name nobody recognized. Ditto for Gordy and Cliff Simak - if you ain't Lovecraft, or something a lot more modern - like from the last three to five years, at most - you ain't.

Having said that, taking these people on an epic voyage of discovery into the rich and varied history of F/SF and the gaming that is spawned has been a lot of fun and a delight to see their faces light up as they encounter Scheherazade and her companions. We had a rich world outside of gaming that spilled over into our gaming, and by and large this seems to have been lost in the years that followed. When I saw a guy asking for a Roman 'suppliment' for a popular game system, I died a little; back in the day, Gary or Dave or their ilk would have just run the game session 'cause they had an idea what the Roman Empire was. Yes, 'adventures' are risky; read the pages of National Geographic to see the results when things go wrong...

< shrug > So it goes; time and tastes change, as do the mores and tropes of the host society. I don't mind it; what I object to is the insistence that I must do Something because of those changes. I am quite startled that I have to publish warnings about nekked 1" lead people, because some gamer gets offended. In short - and sorry for the digression! - I much prefer to game with non-gamers, as they simply accept the world-setting as it is, and 'play it where it lies'...

One thing that modern pop culture has going for it are numerous television shows set in fantasy or medieval like worlds where people die like flies...
Game of Thrones
Vikings
The Last Kingdom
Spartacus
etc...
I'm sure there's a lot of shit like MTV's Shannara too, but there's also novels like Black Company that people may have read. So there might be some cultural touchstones out there, just not the same ones.

As far as MMO players go Gronan, just tell them the game plays like a Hardcore PvP Server with Permadeath rules.

Originally Posted by CRKrueger

One thing that modern pop culture has going for it are numerous television shows set in fantasy or medieval like worlds where people die like flies...
Game of Thrones
Vikings
The Last Kingdom
Spartacus
etc...
I'm sure there's a lot of shit like MTV's Shannara too, but there's also novels like Black Company that people may have read. So there might be some cultural touchstones out there, just not the same ones.

As far as MMO players go Gronan, just tell them the game plays like a Hardcore PvP Server with Permadeath rules.

I can agree with this, and I think it's true of most people that I run into. Video and digital media seem to be the norm; printed media is pretty rare, in my experience, which the exact opposite from the world that I knew. 'Reading' for enjoyment is unusual, from what I've seen. Times change.

Well, this is largely my reaction to what I've seen in certain places, like the game where Chirine was subcontracted as the Bandit King (c) (tm) (reg us pat off). It seems like tactics is simply unknown to a lot of people, and more, that using tactics against them is "unfair" somehow.

What it boils down to is the whole notion of "We're the player characters! CHARGE!" hits me like tinfoil on a filling.