Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by CRKrueger

Hey Chirine/Gronan:

Barry Blatt's 'These Mean Streets'
Is this thing accurate, either to the Tekumel in BookSpace or the Tekumel at Phil's table?

I've now read this.

My first impression is that it takes mostly the more extreme elements of Phil's works and uses them to create a viable game scenario. It works very well as a 'one-off', but is is a little too 'grimdark' and 'gritty' for the level and intensity of what I saw happen in Phil's games with our group. I didn't see anything like this, in my time with Phil.

Capsule review: good game scenario, which is what it is, and difficult to sustain long-term campaign basis. Good backstory stuff, though.

Originally Posted by Greentongue

I, for one, Thank You for it.

While I have no problem creating my own version of Tekumel, it is nice to pull things in "whole cloth" when possible.
Adds/keeps a flavor that I likely would not have thought of and makes it interesting for me, not just the players.
=

You're welcome. It's what I'm here for, and why I tried so hard to archive what Phil created.

I've noticed that there are two typos that i cant seem to fix. and are coming up as *****. It should have been 'main******' and 'living'; no idea what's going on. I am not on my usual machine or server, though...




it should be 'main

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I've noticed that there are two typos that i cant seem to fix. and are coming up as *****. It should have been 'main******' and 'living'; no idea what's going on. I am not on my usual machine or server, though...




it should be 'main

Something is going on with the words l.i.v.e. and s.t.r.e.a.m. it may have something to do with all those ad posts filled with video feeds of boxing matches that hit the site yesterday.

Originally Posted by CRKrueger

Something is going on with the words l.i.v.e. and s.t.r.e.a.m. it may have something to do with all those ad posts filled with video feeds of boxing matches that hit the site yesterday.

Oh, really... Missed all that, but it does make sense... Thank you!

Originally Posted by Greentongue

On the Other Hand, my first impression of Tekumel was a game like the graphic novel "Den".
A blend of super tech and cosmic horrors in a far future world.
There are human countries most notable because of the primary colors of their armor.
You start as a refugee arriving in a small boat and with luck and smarts become a Notable Hero!
The whole complex social order thing was boiled down to Levels and Classes.
So it was painted with a broad brush. Who cared? Let's explore this place where we didn't already know what to expect.
Where anything we had read adventure books about growing up, could be stuck in and seem to fit.

Those that sat at the knees of The Master were few and far away.
=

Whereas my first impression was: " Thank God, no fucking orcs, elves or dwarves."
By the time I had "discovered" Tekumel I had had my fill of the Tolkienesque tropes which dominated mainstream fantasy RPG's at the time, and probably still do. It was like a breath of fresh air to me, and I never looked back. I doubt I could even run or play in a non Tekumel milieu these days, as my interest would probably not even last for the gaming session.

Shemek

We're back!

The Missus and I have been off on An Adventure, and are now back here at our little house in the Northwoods. Many tales of exciting deeds and jolly fun will be told, and photos of loot and treasure to be shown. In the meantime, back to our regular programming...

Originally Posted by Big Andy

Ruun question. If they are set to guard Object A and not let it leave the location and someone sneaks it out or whatever, will they pursue essentially forever until they get it back (or until they are destroyed or lose track at least)? I guess the same goes for undead guardians? And I assume they would remember the thieves if they came back to the same locale?

Very interesting question - let's see if our mishaps might help...

Ru'un are, of course, powered by other-planar energy, so will be able to pursue - as you say - a guarded object forever. About the only way to escape them would be to go into a magical dead zone and run them out of their stored battery power - they do have short-duration batteries that last about a month or so - or destroy them at the outset. This is assuming that they can track the object, however; we guessed that many of the valuable devices of the Ancients being guarded had 'tracking ships' in them from what we saw, and otherwise once the Ru'un lost sensor contact with the object they tended to freeze up and just sit there. Sensor range seems to be a couple of kilometers - out to the planetary horizon, in Phil's games, as it was easy to remember. And yes, they do remember what they see, which can get very awkward as they bark nasty questions at you in a long-dead language whilst poking you in the ribs with their boltguns.

Mru'ur and other undead are, thankfully, both 'dumber' and 'less motivated' then Ru'un, and generally will not pursue anybody outside of their shrines. We guessed that this might be because of the sorcery that created them and keeps them 'alive'; either way, once you shook them off, they'd go back to the Temple of Sarku from whence they came, and we were pretty much free and clear. On the other hand, if there was a living Priest or Priestess of Sarku directing them, things got very dicey very fast as the living sentient gave them directions.

Solutions: Ru'un - avoid if at all possible; if not blast them. Mru'ur - blast them first, along with any directing sorcerers.

Does this help?

Originally Posted by Shemek hiTankolel

Whereas my first impression was: " Thank God, no fucking orcs, elves or dwarves."
By the time I had "discovered" Tekumel I had had my fill of the Tolkienesque tropes which dominated mainstream fantasy RPG's at the time, and probably still do. It was like a breath of fresh air to me, and I never looked back. I doubt I could even run or play in a non Tekumel milieu these days, as my interest would probably not even last for the gaming session.

Shemek

This. I loved Phil's Tekumel, ad still do, for these very reasons. Not that I mind elves, though; know a lot of them.