Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

There's a lot of that.

Also, to be charitable, the meaning of "tactics" can include a great many things. I see even a D&D combat as a small unit skirmish, so things like establishing a holding line, anchoring your flanks, watching behind you, and using light troops to exploit flanks are important.

If you think of combat as a series of one-on-one duels, though, "tactics" might mean
" You are using Bonetti’s Defense against me, ah?"
"I thought it fitting considering the rocky terrain."
"Naturally, you must suspect me to attack with Capa Ferro?"
"Naturally, but I find that Thibault cancels out Capa Ferro. Don’t you?"
"Unless the enemy has studied his Agrippa… which I have."

Which is a perfectly defensible, but very, very different, use of the word "tactics."

Well, small-unit tactics and individual tactics have to differ, somehow, Glorious General!

What I really want is something to show the sharp deliniation between the tournament or dueling field and the battlefield; from a situation where some notion of honor and propriety holds as opposed to "kickin' and gougin' in the mud and the blood and the beer."

I've been thinking more and more about introducing two combat systems in my homebrew: one for "social fights", which aim to establish dominance - and one for "hunting fights", which aim to kill or disable with minimum risk.
I'm not there yet, but it's hard to resist the temptation...

Or to quote Lois McMaster Bujold's Curse of Chalion, “I don’t duel, boy. I kill as a soldier kills, which is as a butcher kills, as quickly, efficiently, and with as least risk to myself as I can arrange.”

(Chirine, you have GOT to read that)

And Tekumel, I'm happy to say, worked that way. Korunme engaged with a fencing master to learn arruche, the art of two weapon fighting, and practiced diligently to become quite good at it. But when the trumpets sounded and the battle began, it was "kill the other sons of bitches in the most expedient manner possible before they kill you."

And that, Glorious General, is the difference between the two in a nutshell: duelling versus masacre. Even when both are done with swords, the difference in the underlying psychology makes even the technique different.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I don't read much anymore, my General; I have gotten tired of being told that what I like in fiction is '-ist' of some sort; the TOR books thing about the authors I knew and loved pretty much killed my interest in the F/SF genre.

I've been re-reading old French crime stories, classical legends and early pulp books lately. Luckily, other countries' authors aren't infected with the Extreme Correctness Syndrome, either.

H.R.Haggard didn't know what "political correctness" is; his protagonists, however, often behave more like what I'd term "decent human beings" than some propponents of said concept.

All I can do is shrug. Stupidity also comes and goes in waves. Sooner or later, this one, too, shall pass.

Originally Posted by AsenRG

I've been re-reading old French crime stories, classical legends and early pulp books lately. Luckily, other countries' authors aren't infected with the Extreme Correctness Syndrome, either.

H.R.Haggard didn't know what "political correctness" is; his protagonists, however, often behave more like what I'd term "decent human beings" than some propponents of said concept.

All I can do is shrug. Stupidity also comes and goes in waves. Sooner or later, this one, too, shall pass.

Agreed; I do the same, and follow Gronan's "No gaming is better then bad gaming" advice. People (three 'old friends', to be specific) stopped being what you call 'decent human beings' in order to pursue their personal political ends, and made the game group a very uncomfortable and unhappy place for everyone else - including me. The trends in gaming and publishing I've seen get started of late add to my malaise, and about the only thing I still manage to do is get into the workshop and build a little something every now and then.

And I think you're right. This too shall pass; I survived the Satanic Panic, back in the day, and it would seem that I've out-lived most of the idiots that I've had to deal with over the years. Gaming, like F/SF fandom, is a version of 'short attention span theater' and there's be yet another sea change coming along in a few years...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Agreed; I do the same, and follow Gronan's "No gaming is better then bad gaming" advice. People (three 'old friends', to be specific) stopped being what you call 'decent human beings' in order to pursue their personal political ends, and made the game group a very uncomfortable and unhappy place for everyone else - including me. The trends in gaming and publishing I've seen get started of late add to my malaise, and about the only thing I still manage to do is get into the workshop and build a little something every now and then.

And I think you're right. This too shall pass; I survived the Satanic Panic, back in the day, and it would seem that I've out-lived most of the idiots that I've had to deal with over the years. Gaming, like F/SF fandom, is a version of 'short attention span theater' and there's be yet another sea change coming along in a few years...

A few years at most, a few months are also possible.

Also, if some trends in game publishing keep going the way they seem to, I'm going to start recording our sessions, and uploading them somewhere. A lot of people will have violent fits, I can predict!

Originally Posted by Hrugga

It is too bad that this sort of thinking seems to be at the forefront of many aspects of everyday life...

May years ago, on my first day of sixth grade my homeroom teacher had all of us sit down at the begining of class. He started by saying good morning and asking a question. Who can tell me what it says above the classroom door? We all looked above the door. We all looked at each other. We didn't see anything(in fact there was nothing written there). No body, he asked. Well let me tell you what it says then, COMMON COURTESY...common courtesy. Remember that when you enter this room he said. I never forgot that day. I have even asked my own children this same question. Thank you Mr Grasso. He was firm, but fair. He was also my math teacher...

H:0)

PS I am off my soapbox. I know all of you here already know this. I guess I just felt like sharing this important event in a then young man's life...

Ah yes, common courtesy - the amazingly uncommon thing that saves you the need for having fast reflexes in ducking...
It was a good lesson. Alas, some people seem to have skipped that class entirely, and others insist on demanding common courtesy in an entirely uncourteous manner, thus defeating the entire point.

Originally Posted by Hrugga

It is too bad that this sort of thinking seems to be at the forefront of many aspects of everyday life...

May years ago, on my first day of sixth grade my homeroom teacher had all of us sit down at the begining of class. He started by saying good morning and asking a question. Who can tell me what it says above the classroom door? We all looked above the door. We all looked at each other. We didn't see anything(in fact there was nothing written there). No body, he asked. Well let me tell you what it says then, COMMON COURTESY...common courtesy. Remember that when you enter this room he said. I never forgot that day. I have even asked my own children this same question. Thank you Mr Grasso. He was firm, but fair. He was also my math teacher...

H:0)

PS I am off my soapbox. I know all of you here already know this. I guess I just felt like sharing this important event in a then young man's life...

I'd agree with this. I wish more people had had this moment...

Originally Posted by AsenRG

A few years at most, a few months are also possible.

Also, if some trends in game publishing keep going the way they seem to, I'm going to start recording our sessions, and uploading them somewhere. A lot of people will have violent fits, I can predict!


Ah yes, common courtesy - the amazingly uncommon thing that saves you the need for having fast reflexes in ducking...
It was a good lesson. Alas, some people seem to have skipped that class entirely, and others insist on demanding common courtesy in an entirely uncourteous manner, thus defeating the entire point.

All good points, and which I think need to be made every now and then...

Well, I had an interesting experience last night; I was visiting with friends, and there was some sentiment in favor of my running a Tekumel campaign for the new folks - with the help of the old folks - and we got into a discussion of rules and systems. I pointed out that I don't think that the players need to worry about that too much; the number-crunching is my job, as this is still 'open sandbox' / 'free Kriegspiel' play. Which I then explained, and then did a little demo game session set in Barsoom for everyone. It all went very well - one of the potential players asked about 'classes', and I said "What do you want to be?". That sparked a discussion of world-settings, and 'immersive play' as I've seen it discussed.

It all went very well; I didn't get in until one in the morning, just in time to get a little sleep and then to meet for breakfast a old friend who was visiting the Twin Cities.

So, lots of gaming; the new trireme from TRE Games is on the slipway, and the beam clamps in full use. It's been a very good weekend...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Well, I had an interesting experience last night; I was visiting with friends, and there was some sentiment in favor of my running a Tekumel campaign for the new folks - with the help of the old folks - and we got into a discussion of rules and systems. I pointed out that I don't think that the players need to worry about that too much; the number-crunching is my job, as this is still 'open sandbox' / 'free Kriegspiel' play. Which I then explained, and then did a little demo game session set in Barsoom for everyone. It all went very well - one of the potential players asked about 'classes', and I said "What do you want to be?". That sparked a discussion of world-settings, and 'immersive play' as I've seen it discussed.

It all went very well; I didn't get in until one in the morning, just in time to get a little sleep and then to meet for breakfast a old friend who was visiting the Twin Cities.

So, lots of gaming; the new trireme from TRE Games is on the slipway, and the beam clamps in full use. It's been a very good weekend...

Spiffy! Anybody I know?

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Well, I had an interesting experience last night; I was visiting with friends, and there was some sentiment in favor of my running a Tekumel campaign for the new folks - with the help of the old folks - and we got into a discussion of rules and systems. I pointed out that I don't think that the players need to worry about that too much; the number-crunching is my job, as this is still 'open sandbox' / 'free Kriegspiel' play. Which I then explained, and then did a little demo game session set in Barsoom for everyone. It all went very well - one of the potential players asked about 'classes', and I said "What do you want to be?". That sparked a discussion of world-settings, and 'immersive play' as I've seen it discussed.

It all went very well; I didn't get in until one in the morning, just in time to get a little sleep and then to meet for breakfast a old friend who was visiting the Twin Cities.

So, lots of gaming; the new trireme from TRE Games is on the slipway, and the beam clamps in full use. It's been a very good weekend...

Sounds great! I was expecting a similar reaction when you meet a new group, sooner or later...
So, can I just say that it was about time?