Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Yes, I think so. It has all sorts of very powerful and very visually impressive spells in the game, and it is the foundation stone of all the later magic systems in the various RPG rules sets. Spells move toward the opponent, and they get to cast counter spells to try and stop the attacks. It gets tense pretty quickly, and you have to be alert and decisive; otherwise, you get dead and the betting is wonderful.

I built a miniatures set for this game, with sorcerers and spell effects all done up in 25mm. Nobody's interested in playing it, though - the game is "too old fashioned" for people, I've been told. Might want to do it with suitable action figures and LED lights and stuff on a really big board...

Sigh.

Of course, I must confess that I wasn't all that interested... not because the game was "old fashioned," but I've never been that big on magic. 44 years of this hobby, and I could count my magic using characters on one hand.

Well, as Phil used to say, "That's what makes horse races."

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

If I show up at the shovel shop dressed in full Imperial General garb complete with helmet, breastplate, greaves, hemi-demi-semi informal early late midafternoon hip cloak, battle spats, and jeweled eye-shields,* the shopkeeper is going to think I'm lost and courteously attempt to give me directions back to the military district.

The hell he will, Glorious General; you know better then that. (and yes, I understand you're making a point, which I do agree with, but...)

The shopkeeper will smirk politely and sell you his very best (and most expensive) Mk. 26 Imperial Shit-shovel, one each, Imperial Generals, for the use of, and ask politely which front of the fighting you off to. And I'll be right behind you, buying the Mk. 14 Imperial Shit-shovel, one each, Military Sorcerors, for the use of as we're off on yet another nasty little 'odd job' for the Imperium.

Seriously, though, very good point; we just do things a little differently in these parts, speaking s a Chakan...

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Sigh.

Of course, I must confess that I wasn't all that interested... not because the game was "old fashioned," but I've never been that big on magic. 44 years of this hobby, and I could count my magic using characters on one hand.

Well, as Phil used to say, "That's what makes horse races."

Yep. This is one of those nights where I am pretty sure that my kind of gaming is one with the trilobites...

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

The hell he will, Glorious General; you know better then that. (and yes, I understand you're making a point, which I do agree with, but...)

The shopkeeper will smirk politely and sell you his very best (and most expensive) Mk. 26 Imperial Shit-shovel, one each, Imperial Generals, for the use of, and ask politely which front of the fighting you off to. And I'll be right behind you, buying the Mk. 14 Imperial Shit-shovel, one each, Military Sorcerors, for the use of as we're off on yet another nasty little 'odd job' for the Imperium.

Seriously, though, very good point; we just do things a little differently in these parts, speaking s a Chakan...

Well, I was working under the assumption that we were bright enough not to be buying our own camp equipment. I assume all those forms you have me sign must be good for SOMETHING.

Of course if we've just been spooted out yet ANOTHER nexus point with nothing but our ragged kilts, all bets are off. Then the hard part will be finding somebody who will believe our identities, or be able to at least partly verify them. (Well, the shorter one is definitely a member of Incandescent Blaze and the taller one is obviously a Karakan worshipper, so that much of their story is true. Check and see if we have any outstanding warrants we can doctor to fit these two while I stall for time.) Once again, "where do you look like you belong?"

Originally Posted by chirine ba kal

Yes, I think so. It has all sorts of very powerful and very visually impressive spells in the game...

That was it. I remember the moving spells. Stuff like walls of fire or stone rolling or sliding towards you. The concept was cool, can't honestly recall what I thought of the execution though. IIR Microgames seemed to be the fad around then. I recall playing a lot of Steve Jackson's OGRE game.

Wow, amazing the things you think your forgot that you haven't quite...

I built a miniatures set for this game, with sorcerers and spell effects all done up in 25mm. Nobody's interested in playing it, though - the game is "too old fashioned" for people, I've been told. Might want to do it with suitable action figures and LED lights and stuff on a really big board...

I'm thinking that would make an interesting background activity with some sort of intrigue - betting shenanigans, passing important secrets, or maybe an assassination designed to look like an accidental failure of the protection for the spectators. I seem to vaguely recall there was supposed to be some kind of protection for spectators...though I may have just imagined that in as a logical requirement.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

A lot of life on Tekumel pivots around the question "Do you look like you belong here?"
<snipped some good examples>

That is a point I find I have to reinforce in some of my games. A lot of players/people just don't easily or naturally think about attire and demeanor in that way. No doubt this is abetted by the move to much more casual business and leisure attire world wide. And the US is definitely way out front on this one.

Originally Posted by Bren

That is a point I find I have to reinforce in some of my games. A lot of players/people just don't easily or naturally think about attire and demeanor in that way. No doubt this is abetted by the move to much more casual business and leisure attire world wide. And the US is definitely way out front on this one.

We went to France in 2007. I vividly remember waiting to board the plane to Paris. The French passengers all were dressed very well, and the American passengers looked like a Kmart exploded. "Clothes that fit" in the US seems to have come to mean "there is no such thing as too loose."

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Well, I was working under the assumption that we were bright enough not to be buying our own camp equipment. I assume all those forms you have me sign must be good for SOMETHING.

Of course if we've just been spooted out yet ANOTHER nexus point with nothing but our ragged kilts, all bets are off. Then the hard part will be finding somebody who will believe our identities, or be able to at least partly verify them. (Well, the shorter one is definitely a member of Incandescent Blaze and the taller one is obviously a Karakan worshipper, so that much of their story is true. Check and see if we have any outstanding warrants we can doctor to fit these two while I stall for time.) Once again, "where do you look like you belong?"

Kilts? We got kilts

Normally, we'd be lucky to have our skins intact, after one of Phil's little jaunts through the Planes Beyond.

Seriously, though, you do have a very good point about 'looking like you fit in'.

Originally Posted by Bren

That was it. I remember the moving spells. Stuff like walls of fire or stone rolling or sliding towards you. The concept was cool, can't honestly recall what I thought of the execution though. IIR Microgames seemed to be the fad around then. I recall playing a lot of Steve Jackson's OGRE game.

Wow, amazing the things you think your forgot that you haven't quite...

I'm thinking that would make an interesting background activity with some sort of intrigue - betting shenanigans, passing important secrets, or maybe an assassination designed to look like an accidental failure of the protection for the spectators. I seem to vaguely recall there was supposed to be some kind of protection for spectators...though I may have just imagined that in as a logical requirement.

That is a point I find I have to reinforce in some of my games. A lot of players/people just don't easily or naturally think about attire and demeanor in that way. No doubt this is abetted by the move to much more casual business and leisure attire world wide. And the US is definitely way out front on this one.

Yes, there are wards to keep the punters from getting killed; these are provided by the arena staff.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

We went to France in 2007. I vividly remember waiting to board the plane to Paris. The French passengers all were dressed very well, and the American passengers looked like a Kmart exploded. "Clothes that fit" in the US seems to have come to mean "there is no such thing as too loose."

Same here, going to the UK. Everybody thought the Missus and I were Germans, half the time, and Russians the other half. Which I thought was funny, actually.