Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Bren

I could have sworn that was in the original TSR EPT rules. I know we knew that back in the 1970s and we had to have learned it from somewhere. As far as I know, none of us played with the Minneapolis or Wisconsin crowds.

The three oddities about EPT to my recollection were (1) essentially no metal, armor and weapons made of that weird hardened chlen hide stuff, (2) no riding beasts in the major Empires, and (3) magic was really tech with the weird eyes and subway cars and stuff. Definitely swords and planets or like a lot of Andre Norton's or Leigh Brackett's stories.

I believe you are right - it'd be in the historical introduction section in EPT. Phil also expanded on this in S&G I, too.

Yep, those three features are Tekumel's unique 'signature items'. In the context of the fantasy literature of the time, they were really odd; in the context of space opera or sword and planet, they're kinda par for the course...

Originally Posted by Greentongue

If this was ever "wrapped up" it may help new players.
You, too, CAN run Empire of the Petal Throne

Agreed! I'm not sure that there's an easy or good way to do this. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Originally Posted by econobus

Thanks. I get that feeling! In a world where the "North Woods" starts in Ann Arbor you all must have been in the true back of beyond, which is a shame because I think of the Twin Cities scene as being such a more vibrant fandom in general. Your people should have been free decades previously but that's just the Aten in me talking.

Got to keep this gamey, I guess. Um, did anyone ever interact with the Gods of Pavar directly, or were they more like abstract cultural fixtures that peasants venerated sincerely, philosophers classed as "entities" and nobody met face to face?

1. The center of gravity of the middle was in Ohio; getting anyone from the royal court up to the Twin Cities was like pulling teeth. The principality-in-embryo simply didn't have enough people to be viable for decades; no people, no groups, and those that did exist were very few, very small, and very far between.

2. Why, yes, we did all the time. But then, we were the top of the cream of the crop of the elite, and so we tended to see more of the gods then anybody else. Most of the people of Tekumel were like what you postulate; the gods were abstractions, more then anything else. Mind you, I would have rather had the meddlers stay abstractions, but they tended to want to get their tentacles into everything...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

I believe you are right - it'd be in the historical introduction section in EPT. Phil also expanded on this in S&G I, too.

Yep, those three features are Tekumel's unique 'signature items'. In the context of the fantasy literature of the time, they were really odd; in the context of space opera or sword and planet, they're kinda par for the course...

Certainly not any weirder than the Mars books of Burroughs, Tharks, air plants, flying battle ships, and the beautiful Deja Thoris laying an egg for her and John Carter's child.

I wonder how much of an influence the Ace reprints and the Science Fiction Book Club had on extending the knowledge and influence of the earlier swords and planets and space opera fiction of the 20s, 30s, and 40s? I wonder if there is anything like that today for young people?

Originally Posted by Moracai

When you mention that you always leveled after a training period, one person quite recently told me that he read somewhere (as you see this is all umphteenth hand hearsay) that it was Gary who decided at some point that "fuck this, you can level when you get the XP". In his rules what I've read it was always stated that you need to level up in a town.

OD&D, the three little brown books in the woodgrain box, says nothing about "where you level up." I'm not familiar with any later versions of the rules.

In actual play, you got XP when the adventure was over. Since Gary always made sure that a night of playing ended with everybody in some sort of safe haven... town, inn, castle, what have you... we essentially got XP at the end of the night, and if you leveled, you leveled there and then.

I'm not sure where "need to level up in a town" came from, but as I said I have no familiarity with anything after the first printing of OD&D.

Originally Posted by Old Geezer

OD&D, the three little brown books in the woodgrain box, says nothing about "where you level up." I'm not familiar with any later versions of the rules.

In actual play, you got XP when the adventure was over. Since Gary always made sure that a night of playing ended with everybody in some sort of safe haven... town, inn, castle, what have you... we essentially got XP at the end of the night, and if you leveled, you leveled there and then.

I'm not sure where "need to level up in a town" came from, but as I said I have no familiarity with anything after the first printing of OD&D.

So in essence OD&D sessions ended with crunch, but Tekumel sessions began with crunch?

Edit - if someone leveled that is.