Thread: Questioning chirine ba kal

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Gary and Dave's NPCs were as smart as they needed to be... but pretty much anybody who was more than an ordinary person was very smart.

That's the impression I get from hearing about stuff. I think that is one thing that makes that style seem more confrontational than what I tend to run. The GM may be smart (usually is) but the NPCs?

An awful lot of historical rulers, robber barons, gang lords, and such just don't seem all that bright. Some are, but some just aren't.

And so many people/beings spoke "The Secret Tongue of the Priests of Ksarul" it became a running joke.

The "Secret Tongue" thing is something invented by the Tsolyani Rosetta clan that teaches languages. Like 99.9% of advertising copy it's slightly exaggerated.

Gary was very, very influenced by Dying Earth. EVERYBODY was out to shaft you.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Gary was very, very influenced by Dying Earth. EVERYBODY was out to shaft you.

It's funny though, when I remember Jack Vance's stories, I recall a lot of the opponents, while out to get you, weren't necessarily all that bright, especially when compared to some of the protagonists.

True enough. This may be one of the ways in which "D&D is first and foremost a GAME" is manifest; simulating a world was less important than the battle of wits between referee and players.

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

True enough. This may be one of the ways in which "D&D is first and foremost a GAME" is manifest; simulating a world was less important than the battle of wits between referee and players.

Exactly. Battle of wits was our original style. Sadly, in our group, the "battle of wits" DMs tended to also be known as Death & Despair DMs. Getting to any level above 2nd or 3rd tended to be a rare accomplishment.

Personally I got tired of running that style sometime in the 1970s. Not all players enjoy the battle, and killing PCs was just too easy as the DM for it to entertain me. I started adding NPCs who had their own goals, but those goals didn't have "#1 - Shaft the PCs" on their list. Not to say that some NPCs wouldn't shaft the PCs. Either because the NPCs were evil, or greedy, or just couldn't resist taking advantage of PCs who left all the loot unguarded. But you could find NPCs who were at least as loyal as the PCs. (Not that "as loyal as the PCs" is always a very high bar.)

Eventually I found that figuring out what made the NPCs tick so you could negotiate effectively and figure out how far it was safe to trust them was a lot more fun for me as a player and the same seemed true for a fair number of people when I GMed. So since then, I try to hit something that is more world simulation and less game. And I challenge myself by testing my GM juggling skills rather than my ability to out think or out strategize the players.

Originally Posted by AsenRG

The question is, did you send the card eventually?
And was the Overlord just as batty?

Do I smell a Kickstarter?

Before the advent of energy weapons the phrase "sweeping casualties" meant something different, didn't it?
Back then, you'd sweeping them in the report. Which is a sign of negligence.
After energy weapons, it's a sign that you'd rather have them living again. Which is a sign of caring about your troops, if anything.
Interesting how technology of your enemies changes the language...
(No, no particular conclusion from this, I just thought it's funny).

Sounds like a true gentleman! Manners should be kept in everything and so on. Small wonder he was hired as a butler!

I'd probably have to evacuate the flat we're living in.

Well, sometimes the NPCs win, sometimes they lose. At least Phil had players who know when to cut their losses and run.

Yes. A screwdriver that produces screws out of nowhere and drives them in the whole even when the whole is smaller than the screws...
The normal everyday technology of high-technology races is just begging to be re-purposed, isn't it?

Although it could be, if read like an impersonation of the aforementioned Thunru'u butler!

Is there a miniature of Princess Vrisa as a honest seafarer for the best of both worlds?

No; I didn't get the chance.

The Overlord was actually pretty reasonable. Don't wreck the place, and he was cool.

No, no Kickstarter. The biggest mistake I ever made in my life, and the only one that I truly regret, was getting involved with the business side of Tekumel. The only reason why I am alive today, three years after the brain bleed, is because I pulled the plug on that whole sordid mess and did not renew my contract with the Tekumel Foundation. Let somebody else try; I did it for over thirty years, and I think I've paid my dues.



Imagine Jeeves as a Thunru'u, and you have it!

Agreed; I have a very patient spouse!

And we cut and ran a lot, too...

Yes, it does, an we had a lot of fun doing so. Used to give Phil a good laugh, too!



No, sorry. Just three of her in armour at various points in her career, and the one of her in her party dress that Phil designed for her. Wouldn't be too hard to do, though; hmmm...

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Hello,

As far as intelligent creatures/monsters go, the ones that are capable of speech, what language would they normally speak? The language of the Imperium? A forgien one? An ancient tongue? Their own language? I know Priest Harsan was learning the language of the Thunru'u in MoG. They also spoke to each other in Tsoly�ni. I'm curious about some of the other creatures that you guys encountered at the Professor's table(excluding those that speak the secret tongue of Ksarul,etc). For example the Sro?

Also which creatures besides the inimical ones gave you gents the most trouble?

Thanks,

H :0)

All of the sentients we encountered usually spoke their native languages, and usually the most common human language in the area that they lived in. It took a while for us to realize this, and then it all clicked in for us; these are the descendants of the people who got stranded on the planet when it got dropped into the pocket dimension - think tourists in transit stuck in an airport - and who managed to survive somehow.

Sro, for example, speak what we humans call Irkutz - the language of the dragons. There's a script for this, that looks nothing like any of the human languages and - I think so, anyway - Phil's nicest font. We did find out (the hard way) that Gertie, the great golden dragon of Blackmoor, also speaks Irkutz; dragons, it seems, are able to move between the planes. (Or, at least Phil and Dave did it between Tekumel and Blackmoor.)

Sentients, the way Phil played them, were (in effect) NPCs, and could have the same skills and abilities as PCs could. This made them very, very effective opponents!

Of the non-sentients, the fungus creatures were all the worst to deal with...

Originally Posted by Gronan of Simmerya

Gary and Dave's NPCs were as smart as they needed to be... but pretty much anybody who was more than an ordinary person was very smart.

Phil's NPCs and nonhumans spoke an amazing mix of languages. I remember one Thunru'u spoke Tsaq, which was ancient Yan Koryani. And so many people/beings spoke "The Secret Tongue of the Priests of Ksarul" it became a running joke.

Agreed!

Everybody took the Secret Language of the Priests of Ksarul becaue it was in the book and sounded cool; it became a running joke as the 'lingua franca of Tekumel". So Phil had the Secret Secret Language later on, and then when we learned that we had the Really Secret Language. And Secret Decoder Rings, too. Gods, we had fun with the Squareheads over the years! (They called us Vimuhla worhippers 'Matchheads from our flame crests...)

Originally Posted by Hrugga

Secret indeed...!!! Thanks!!! :0)

H

It's Secret. Really, really secret. Just like everything over at the Temple of Ksarul.

Today marks the third anniversary of my brain bleed, on September 15th, 2012. I am still alive; my blood pressure has been 'human normal' now for the better part of two and a half years. I am doing well, aside from not being able to tolerate extreme temperatures (and fools, Gronan says) and being tired most of the time, so I won't complain.

The whacking big scar on the back of my head where they drilled into my skull and vacuumed it out - it made the oddest noise, from where I was sitting at the time - still itches, and I have to wear a fancy hat when it's cold to keep my head warm.

Life is good; I'm still here.