Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Probably. I've had the same situations; the all time over-the-top one was when guy called me at AGI, wanting to know where his order was, and telling me that unless he got his Tekumel stuff right away, he was going to kill himself. I got the details of his order, and it transpired that he'd mailed it the day before from his home on the East Coast; we hadn't gotten it yet. I told him we'd pack up a duplicate order and send it that day, but also that we did say in all our publications that the customer should allow two weeks for shipping and handling - this was in 1981, remember. Shipped the order, and called his local police and explained the situation and suggested that they do a welfare check on him.

And people wonder why I don't want to be on the retail / commercial / publishing end of gaming...

Oh holy crap, was that that loon down in ... where was it, Texas?

Originally Posted by AsenRG

Thank you for the other answers, Uncle, those are crystal clear! But while the mace thing was clear as well, I'd like some more explanation for how the "regaining bonuses" worked with the mace.

Did you know the history of the item already, and just had to recognize it? Did you have to go and research it in long-forgotten tomes in ancient dungeons? Did you have to perform a ritual, or a specific deed, in order to "connect" to it?

Or maybe it was a combination of the above, or something else entirely?

Something else entirely. Dave asked why I preferred a mace, and I told him that it was an ancient family heirloom, going - supposedly - back to the time of the Dragon Lords. He took this and ran with it, and my new friendship with A Certain Gigantic Golden Dragon came into play; Said dragon took the mace, and re-tempered in her dragon's breath, and voila! Pluses restored, and the locals were yea verily Mightily Impressed with both her, it, and me.

I made the whole story up on the spot, to explain why a relatively unknown and minor priest was running around Tsolyanu with such a weapon; it'd been the results of the dice rolls on the EPT table, back in 1976, and Phil 'suggested' that I come up with a good story as to why I had the thing.

"It's on his card, so it's legit." Barker to Arneson, 1982 or so.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Oh holy crap, was that that loon down in ... where was it, Texas?

Nope; different person. East Coast.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Something else entirely. Dave asked why I preferred a mace, and I told him that it was an ancient family heirloom, going - supposedly - back to the time of the Dragon Lords. He took this and ran with it, and my new friendship with A Certain Gigantic Golden Dragon came into play; Said dragon took the mace, and re-tempered in her dragon's breath, and voila! Pluses restored, and the locals were yea verily Mightily Impressed with both her, it, and me.

I made the whole story up on the spot, to explain why a relatively unknown and minor priest was running around Tsolyanu with such a weapon; it'd been the results of the dice rolls on the EPT table, back in 1976, and Phil 'suggested' that I come up with a good story as to why I had the thing.

"It's on his card, so it's legit." Barker to Arneson, 1982 or so.

OK, that was both funny, and totally in-genre!

Did he always proceed like that? Or were there other weapons or other items that had histories pre-determined by Arneson that you had to research?

Originally Posted by AsenRG

OK, that was both funny, and totally in-genre!

Did he always proceed like that? Or were there other weapons or other items that had histories pre-determined by Arneson that you had to research?

I doubt it; we were a special case, being very well-established characters from another campaign, and we arrived with a heap of what could be described as 'Saturday Night Specials'. We were also playing with Dave in sort of a gap in his gaming career, where the original Blackmoor campaign was on long-term hold and about all he was doing was the occasional game for friends. I would have expected that as people in those games, as in the original campaign, would have had to research an item or consult a sage about it in order to more effectively use the item. Such is the oral history, as related to my over the years by some of those players.

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Probably. I've had the same situations; the all time over-the-top one was when guy called me at AGI, wanting to know where his order was, and telling me that unless he got his Tekumel stuff right away, he was going to kill himself. I got the details of his order, and it transpired that he'd mailed it the day before from his home on the East Coast; we hadn't gotten it yet. I told him we'd pack up a duplicate order and send it that day, but also that we did say in all our publications that the customer should allow two weeks for shipping and handling - this was in 1981, remember. Shipped the order, and called his local police and explained the situation and suggested that they do a welfare check on him.

And people wonder why I don't want to be on the retail / commercial / publishing end of gaming...

So, I've got this one guy. Let's say he has an uncomfortable relationship with the truth and is probably fetal alcohol syndrome. Tried to tell a real veteran that he was special forces, couldn't name a regiment had no idea of what ranks are in the military. Came in once, while customers were in the store, and told me his soon to be ex-wife was charging him with sexual assault and he would probably be going to jail because he has three prior convictions*. Anyhow, this one time a couple cops come in because said soon to be ex-wife had called because he'd stormed out and she thought he was going to kill himself. As it happens he came to the store. One of the cops tried to imply I was selling him drugs, "unless you're running another business under the table here that undermines his medications" I wanted to rip the cop a new one but since they were there trying to prevent a suicide by taking a guy to the mental health ward, I bit my tongue. Corner I'm on, I get a few cops in now and then.

*I'm pretty sure it's true (but probably just groping not that that's good but he's an idiot not a mad dog rapist) but with this guy, well, it's hard to know what he'll say or what he thinks makes him look cool. He tried to tell me he was a bigwig in a gang once. I can believe a gang told him that and then let him take the risks.

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Using something like Meetup gatherings in your store could encourage people to shop or become the wrong type of hangout.

I never have gotten a good feel for what are popular public hangouts in Tekumel.
With everyone supposedly being so "clannish", seems like it would only be Public Events that would get people out of their clanhouses to mingle with others.
Besides strictly business dealings that is.
=

Alcohol, sex, drugs, entertainment and religion have helped the mingling across history and I can bet it would be true for Tekumel as well.

Originally Posted by David Johansen

So, I've got this one guy. Let's say he has an uncomfortable relationship with the truth and is probably fetal alcohol syndrome. Tried to tell a real veteran that he was special forces, couldn't name a regiment had no idea of what ranks are in the military. Came in once, while customers were in the store, and told me his soon to be ex-wife was charging him with sexual assault and he would probably be going to jail because he has three prior convictions*. Anyhow, this one time a couple cops come in because said soon to be ex-wife had called because he'd stormed out and she thought he was going to kill himself. As it happens he came to the store. One of the cops tried to imply I was selling him drugs, "unless you're running another business under the table here that undermines his medications" I wanted to rip the cop a new one but since they were there trying to prevent a suicide by taking a guy to the mental health ward, I bit my tongue. Corner I'm on, I get a few cops in now and then.

*I'm pretty sure it's true (but probably just groping not that that's good but he's an idiot not a mad dog rapist) but with this guy, well, it's hard to know what he'll say or what he thinks makes him look cool. He tried to tell me he was a bigwig in a gang once. I can believe a gang told him that and then let him take the risks.

Oh, my.

Originally Posted by Greentongue

Using something like Meetup gatherings in your store could encourage people to shop or become the wrong type of hangout.

I never have gotten a good feel for what are popular public hangouts in Tekumel.
With everyone supposedly being so "clannish", seems like it would only be Public Events that would get people out of their clanhouses to mingle with others.
Besides strictly business dealings that is.
=

Well, there are a lot of opportunities for meeting people. Getting invites to social affairs is one, another is being told to show up at official functions at the temple or somebody's palace. Clans throw big social events where they let just about anybody in, with only the most socially unacceptable people - like slavers - excluded. We used to have to show up at a lot of these clambakes, where having connections to the host was a big thing for both ourselves or the hosts - "why, yes, (insert name here) is a good friend of mine, and was able to come to the party! Isn't it wonderful that they're here! Etc."

So, 'hangouts' can include your temple, your clan house, your local government palaces, your legion headquarters, some of the merchant's shops you frequent - armorers are particularly noted for this, as are antiquities dealers and food and wine merchants - as having your august presence in the shop helps with sales: "Yes, of course noble one, I hope you will be kind enough to take some refreshment while the Highborn concludes her business with our house..." The person waiting gains status for being so polite, the previous customer gains status for being equally polite, and the merchant gain status for having such impressive clients...