Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

It could very well be; I keep my nose out of the household's workings. Better that way, I've found.

Smart man, I should strive to learn from Chirine's example!

All children of all partners have the same legal status. There's no concept of bastardy in Tekumel.

That surprises me. Why?
I mean, any kid might be from multiple husbands, but what about a kid that's not from any of them?
Is Tekumel's sexual culture permissive, at all?

There is not a lot of difference between 'legal wives' and 'concubines'. These terms are English translations of the Tekumelyani terms, and are not entirely accurate. (I can look up the Urdu terms that Phil used, if you like; they are more accurate reflections of what he was talking about.)'Wives' are usually in more responsible positions of running the household affairs and the clan business(es). 'Concubines' are equally responsible for family affairs, but not so much for business affairs.

Again, why? It makes sense given the "no bastardy" concept, but why?

Yes. A smart suitor, male or female, makes sure to become friendly with and part of the existing family/clan structure and members. Coming in 'cold' very rarely works out, as the 'cold caller' has a much harder time fitting in.

Good.

The Temples, at least in the Five Empires, do not conduct marriages. All one does to 'get married' is file the form with the Imperium - the Palace of the Realm - and the spouses move in as has been worked out. Everything is handled by the clans of the newlyweds, and everything has been negotiated in advance. Usually, the new spouse moves into the more wealthy and more high-status clan's clanhouse; the various family may or not make moves as well, depending on the situation.

That's a smart detail. Luckily, I've had no marriages so far in my campaign, so my mistaken ideas aren't impacting anything.

Now, having said that, it is the custom to have the Temples of the various spouses appear at a party/feast and officially bless the newlyweds, asking the Gods to make sure that the relationship prospers. You'll get some pretty odd combinations, like a Priestess of Lord Sarku doing the blessings with a Priest of Thumis, or any possible combination of the Temples.

A priest of Thumis, a Priestess of Sarku and a Priestess of Avanthe enther a clan compound...

Does this help, at all?

Yes, of course!
Making me raise questions is the best help I can get as a GM. Even if there wasn't anyone to answer them: I'd find an answer that works. And they could be interesting answers.
And of course, in this thread you are providing them answers!

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

It was first written by Randall Garrett, the author of the "Lord D'Arcy" series, and first shown to E. E. 'Doc' Smith for his comments. Doc laughed his head off all through the convention they were both at, and suggested the ship's name, the Dentless, as a parody of his own Dauntless. Phil once mentioned that Doc had a great sense of humor, and didn't take himself too seriously; he used to dress up as a Grey Lensman at conventions - but as his own age, as a slightly 'over-the-hill' Lensman who had trouble catching the bad guys because he couldn't walk fast enough...

'Doc', by the way, is credited by the US Navy for the invention of the Combat Information Center for warships; we follow in the footsteps of giants...

This is a very nice detail.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

And, of course, parody was a highly prized form by Golden Age fantasy and SF writers... the Stainless Steel Rat, Star Smashers of the Galaxy Rangers, Bill the Galactic Hero, even Fafhrd & the Mouser have elements of parody, to mention nothing of Midsummer Tempest and Harold Shea.

It still is, IMO. At least if sir Terry Pratchet's popularity is anything to go by...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Everybody wants to keep the Imperium out of their affairs; once the OAL gets in the door, they tend to ask all sorts of questions. Everybody goes to pretty far lengths to keep the Imperium out - cheaper to hire player-characters to deal with the problem!


Zu'ur is a huge no-no, as it's going to attract the immediate and dire attention of the Imperium. A clan / temple/ etc. will move very fast, very hard, and very, very quietly to deal with this issue. They will do their best to hide the addict until they die or (rarely) recover, and kill the supplier as fast as they can find them. The alternative is having the OAL in for a visit, which gets very nasty very quickly. Adventures ensue, as you'd expect, and you have to deal with the Hlyss...

Is this what you're looking for?

PCs as disposable assets isn't a Shadowrun invention, I see!

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

"We boggies are a hairy folk, we love to eat until we choke;"
"Sing gobble, gobble, gobble!"
"Loving all like friend and brother, we hardly ever eat each other..."
"Sing gobble, gobble, gobble!"

I wonder, isn't this exactly what the hobbits in Bey Su are singing?

Originally Posted by Bren

"He would have finished him off then and there, but pity stayed his hand. It's a pity I've run out of bullets, he thought, as he went back up the tunnel..."

This pity has stopped many a slaying hands.

Originally Posted by Eric Diaz

I really should go back to work, but I wanted to thank Chirine for the thread, as well as Gronan and all others that have commented here... It's fascinating... Exactly what I'm looking for in my quest for "old-schoolness".

I'd like to join the thanks, if you don't mind!
Personally, I ain't got a quest for old-schoolness. It's just that I've tried pretty much every style of running and playing RPGs that's out there.
The one I've found works best for me and my group is sandbox, relatively old-school mechanics, with hefty doses of simulationism.

This is gold for me. I wish more GMs and players were like that.

IME, most are. Or maybe it's because I stop playing with the other ones.

Its somewhat hard for me to enjoy "story-oriented" games anymore, and so much of the answers I am looking for can be found in old games and tales. Hard to find people with the same mindset, thought.

Not in my experience. If you'd allow me an advice: find new people to get into the hobby. They often understand this style on an instinctive level, so unless you allow other GMs to "spoil" them, they tend to prefer it.
Sure, they might try story-oriented games, too, and you might even have fun with them for a while. But most people tend to go back to the old school style in the end.
Well, YMMV, of course, I can only speak based on my own observations!

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Tekumel has very different sexual mores from Earth, or at least late 20th century midwestern American Earth. For starters they aren't embarrassed by sex.

That much I've gathered. But EPT really doesn't go into much detail on those differences!

Neither are a lot of non-American cultures in real life, for that matter.

I know.

With multiple parents in a family, pedigree must be a minor thing.
Are people so similar that there is little variation between individuals?

"Filling the Need" instead of "Born to it".

Accomplishment of the The Clan is the distinguishing factor and not accomplishment of the Lineage or the individual?

Socialism at the Clan level with Clans valued by their use-value to the Imperium?

I assume a HERO is a welcome bonus to a Clan that any Clan would try to win away from another?
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