As a last note, it is worth noting that when Prof. Barker first started, he used EPT as the framework for introducing Tekumel, and only over time as players build up their own sense of how things worked, did the rules change. The changes made over time were responses to what was supposed to be a "fun" way to play, not necessarily anything else.
Thanks.
Ah. I was getting the impression from vague hints here and there that EPT as a rule system was written as an introduction to Tekumel for *other gametables* and that *he himself* did not use mechanics remotely like D&D or in EPT.
A final brief question for clarity. Did his game mechanics & rules then evolve from EPT into what became Swords & Glory II or at *his table* did his mechanics go in some other direction and Swords & Glory II was for *other gametables*?
Ah. I was getting the impression from vague hints here and there that EPT as a rule system was written as an introduction to Tekumel for *other gametables* and that *he himself* did not use mechanics remotely like D&D or in EPT.
A final brief question for clarity. Did his game mechanics & rules then evolve from EPT into what became Swords & Glory II or at *his table* did his mechanics go in some other direction and Swords & Glory II was for *other gametables*?
Just to be clear, the game rules that Prof. Barker used to introduce players to Tekumel back in 1975 were very very similar to the published Empire of the Petal Throne rules. Afterwards, based on the experience gained from his two gaming groups - the Thursday Night Group and the somewhat less-known "Tuesday Night Group" (there was some overlap in membership between the two over time) - he went on the develop Swords & Glory, later Gardasiyal. But aside from the presentation of the rules themselves, Prof. Barker's own refereeing style moved gradually over time to "roll some dice" (low good/high bad). So it's not as though there was a lot of "structured" consideration given collectively to these changes - it was more organic and evolutionary, with use of rules to help explain or resolve things when it was deemed necessary.
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Re: You, too, CAN run Empire of the Petal Throne « Reply #32 on Aug 8, 2011, 4:18pm »
Part Five - The BIG Picture View of Things
By this time, you've had a chance to look at the background material, consider the "life course" of the average player-character, and have had a look at the kinds of non-humans that inhabit parts of Tékumel. Let's now step back from that "player-centric" and look at another grand resource available to you: the maps of Tékumel and Jakálla:
Eastern Map: depicts Tsolyánu, Yán Kor, various smaller states, and the western edge of Salarvyá, as well as the northern seas and the Deeps of Chanayága and Háida Pakála. Western Map: depicts Mu'ugalavyá, Livyánu, Shényu, various smaller states, as well as the Tsoléi Isles. Map of Jakálla: this depicts the City Half As Old As the World, and the assumed initial locale for the start of your campaign.
Of these three maps, we'll start with the first two. Again, the mistake some beginning EPT referees make is to assume they have to figure out everything about all of these foreign lands, as well as Tsolyánu before they can begin running their campaign. There's actually a much easier approach to take, as I will detail below.
But for right now, take a moment to look at the large area maps. In each of the Five Empires, you have lots of geographic features, as well as cities, towns, and the rivers and ever-present Sákbe roads which connect them. Don't get too wrapped up in detail, but for right now, let's just remember that there are places of mystery in many locales:
Quote:
Sec. 1200. The Underworld Scattered over Tékumel are innumerable half-buried, half-forgotten ruins. There are fragments dating back to the prehuman ages, when the Ssu and the Hlyss vied with one another for control; there are tunnels of melted rock and steel constructed during the days of man's first glory; there are jumbled heaps destroyed by the cataclysms which rent Tékumel when the planet was cast into outer dimensional darkness; there are catacombs and subterranean labyrinths dating from more recent empires, cities, temples, pyramids, and fortresses dedicated to the lost and unremembered gods of half a hundred kingdoms. (pp. 64-65)
The semantic meaning of this quote, carefully reduced down to its basic essence, is simple: This place is bursting at the seams with adventure opportunities. By itself, this can be pretty overwhelming: I'm supposed to come up with megadungeons all over?? I can't do that! Ah, but to start with, that is unnecessary. As I mentioned in the first Resource Interlude, "you can impart a great deal of flavor just by making connections between places, people and things." We'll use this insight to begin building your campaign.
I'll digress for a moment. One of the really fun aspects of setting up a D&D campaign is figuring out where important NPCs - particularly villains - are located, what resources they have, etc. Besides that, there are various miscellaneous magical items and artifacts that need to be placed in various locations, hidden away in long-lost locales, guarded by insidious traps and fearsome watchers. EPT is no different. Besides treasure, EPT provides a wide range of magical items:
"Eyes": these items are analogous to staves and wands, and are -for our purposes - relatively common. Scrolls and Amulets: these items range from fairly common to quite rare. Magical Weapons and Armor: useful and relatively common - though it is possible to create some very unusual swords and similar weapons with the charts as presented. Magical Books: in a world like Tékumel, is it any wonder that ancient tomes in half-forgotten scripts are uncommon and often quite valuable? Miscellaneous Magical Items: these are VERY RARE, often one-of-a-kind items, often quite powerful. It is these items and the books which are of immediate interest to us.
The immediate task is to begin figuring out where various items are located. Fortunately, Prof. Barker has provided you with some notations about that as part of the descriptions of the items themselves, e.g. one of the Clockwork Automatons of Qiyor is "in the hands of the Mu'ugalavyani" while one of reputedly fifteen Mallets of Inimitable Fealty is possessed by "a senior noble of the Royalist Party." With such clues as a starting point, begin to locate various items, using the lists of Miscellaneous Magical Items and Magical Books as your guide, and the maps to provide locations of places of mystery.
Once you have your list of items and where they are located, you can add more detail by answering the reporter's "W's" about each one: What is the item? Where is it located? Who possesses it (if anyone)? When was it placed there? Why? and so forth. Your answers only need to be a line or two, but they become seeds for much more elaborate adventures:
Quote:
The Mighty Wall of Thumis #3 of 7: stolen by priests of the Temple of Wuru after the Fall of Ganga, and placed in a now-lost crypt under the city of Pijnar, guarded by undead. A scroll kept in the Great Library of Tumissa, written in Classical Tsolyani, records the placement. Lord Fu Shi'i would pay a great deal for this item.
The number of items is sufficiently small, and the range of potential locales sufficiently large, that you ought to have lots of possible related adventures detailed fairly quickly - especially if you add in current events to complicate matters. For example, how might the potential war between Tsolyanu and Yan Kor affect access to the Mighty Wall of Thumis, as it is deep under the capital of Pjiena, soon to be threatened by the legions of Baron Ald? What about other potential interested parties? Are there unknown guardians? What if the entire matter is a false front, leading to an entirely different secret? Of such things are adventures and campaigns made.
By building this up through some careful distribution, you avoid having to construct Underworlds willy-nilly, and instead can allow the interests of the player-characters provide you with ample notice of when you need to plan out the "hidden depths" of your campaign.
Next time: Part Six - Looking a little more closely
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Re: You, too, CAN run Empire of the Petal Throne « Reply #33 on Aug 10, 2011, 11:52am »
Part Six - Looking a little more closely
By this stage, you've started distributing magical items to various locations. It's worthwhile to remember that not ALL of them need to be placed somewhere on the maps of the Five Empires: there are various other locations on Tékumel where they might go, e.g. the City of the Red Tiled Roofs, home of the iniquitous Vriyágga, or the Secret City of Schyák in N'lyss. You may also want to keep some items "undiscovered" for potential later discovery or random distribution. Since Underworlds are often associated with cities, however, it is a good idea to take a closer look at the various towns and cities depicted on the maps. In particular, size and age are important factors to consider, remembering the custom of Ditlána, in which cities are rebuilt every 500 years. We can look at Tsolyánu and classify cities and towns accordingly:
Metropolis
Jakálla, Tumíssa, Khirgár, Púrdimal, Béy Sy
City
Thráya, Fasíltum, Sokátis
Small city
Butrís, Tléku, Úrmish
...and so on (the rest is left as an exercise for the aspiring referee).
Larger cities and towns may be expected to have larger Underworlds as a result of their size. Age is another factor to consider. Tsámra is the oldest city mentioned (pg. 3), with Jakálla a close second (pg. 4). Fasíltum is of great antiquity, along with now-lost Purdánim. With these factors in mind, it is possible to imagine the ebbs and flows of trade and commerce, potential important historical sites, and adventure possibilities. (There is no particular need to become overly involved with imaginary demographics and the like, however.)
Using the material in Empire of the Petal Throne and particularly the map of Jakálla, we can fairly easily predict the elements common to every metropolis, city and major town in Tsolyánu. Each will have the following:
Walls and fortifications of some sort The Governor's Palace (pg. 113), often within its own citadel. The four branches of the Imperial government: The Palace of the Realm, the Palace of Ever-Glorious War, the Palace of the Priesthoods, and the Palace of Foreign Lands; each will be sized according to its relative necessity and importance (pg. 39) City guard barracks (pg. 113) Temples and shrines to the gods; size and relative importance of each governed by the surrounding urban history and culture. (pg. 113) A Foreigners Quarter; size and population governed by location and size of the overall urban conglomeration. In the Foreigners Quarter there will be markets, hostels and guest houses (pp. 37, 113-114) A Necropolis or City of the Dead (pg. 114) An Imperial slave market (pg. 38) A Hirilákte arena (pg. 8) Clan houses and clan-based businesses (pg. 113) Sákbe roads forming connections with other cities and towns (pg. 7) An Underworld of some sort (pg. 65)
Additional likely elements include Imperial legion barracks, harbors, secondary roads linking outlying villages, etc. As a new referee, you can use the above list as a framework for developing any city or town. Again, the trick lies not in doing this for every city and town, but instead using adventures and events in your campaign be a guide for where to focus your efforts.
While sketch maps of cities are often seen as necessary, this is not really the case - indeed, the Tsolyáni do not have the concept of "mapping," instead preferring "pictures" of a place, with elements emphasized according to their importance, or abstract depictions similar to medieval or ancient guidebooks, such as a periplus or itinerarium. The cover of the original Empire of the Petal Throne box, for example, shows the city of Béy Sy (not Jakálla, as some have surmised in the past). Simply keep track of the relative location of different city places, and their important details.
Next time: Part Seven - Going Underground
« Last Edit: Aug 10, 2011, 12:08pm by badger2305 »
Joined: Dec 2007 Gender: Male Posts: 669 Karma: 35
Re: You, too, CAN run Empire of the Petal Throne « Reply #34 on Aug 10, 2011, 12:07pm »
I'm curious if there are specific questions about any of this, as I've laid it out so far. I've attempted to stay away from the more esoteric cultural elements of Tékumel as a setting up until this point, mostly because it is easier for a beginning referee to concentrate on various elements of the game and the structural pieces necessary to running it.
My plan for the rest of this is as follows:
Part Seven - Going Underground Part Eight - Developing "Scenarios" Part Nine - Things that make Tékumel unique Part Ten - Putting it all together
Makes sense to me. Might be good to have one or two explanatory posts about a few of the more unfamiliar (from a D&D standpoint) rules in EPT too.
Good idea! Help me out here - which ones were you thinking of? I'm so close to the rules in my own head that I might have a hard time coming up with examples.
Makes sense to me. Might be good to have one or two explanatory posts about a few of the more unfamiliar (from a D&D standpoint) rules in EPT too.
Good idea! Help me out here - which ones were you thinking of? I'm so close to the rules in my own head that I might have a hard time coming up with examples.
This has been something on my mind as I have tried to talk through the scattered small differences between OD&D and EPT with old school D&Ders in our Google Plus games.
A few that come to mind: skills (especially the class-specific ones), bonus spells (how you gain them in particular), spell failure, differences in combat rules, and divine intervention.
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Re: You, too, CAN run Empire of the Petal Throne « Reply #39 on Aug 11, 2011, 8:49am »
Resource Interlude
Today's offering is pretty straightforward: an examination of the role of the Gods in Tékumel, along with a listing of the various mentions of other deities and their relevance to game play.
crusssdaddy Level 5 Thaumaturgist member is offline
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Re: You, too, CAN run Empire of the Petal Throne « Reply #40 on Aug 11, 2011, 11:01am »
Wanted to get Book of Ebon Bindings based on the recommendations on this thread, but just heard back from Tita's House of Games that the last one got scooped up 3 weeks ago and there are no current plans for a new printing.
Going to have to gaze longingly at the demonic powers summary I just downloaded and work up the courage to drop $40 on Amazon for a used copy.
Wanted to get Book of Ebon Bindings based on the recommendations on this thread, but just heard back from Tita's House of Games that the last one got scooped up 3 weeks ago and there are no current plans for a new printing.
Going to have to gaze longingly at the demonic powers summary I just downloaded and work up the courage to drop $40 on Amazon for a used copy.
I understand. Right now the Tekumel Foundation is in the process of figuring out how best to make Tekumel materials available. There have been a dozen different producers of material over the years and its all in need of revision. Don't worry though - BOEB will be back in print soon.
I've attempted to stay away from the more esoteric cultural elements of Tékumel as a setting up until this point, mostly because it is easier for a beginning referee to concentrate on various elements of the game and the structural pieces necessary to running it.
I would bear in mind that your posts here have a wider appeal than aiding a 'beginning referee' to give Tekumel a run.
Aside from your target audience of experienced DMs hesitant to bring EPT to their gametable there are DMs like me who are experienced, who are somewhat acquainted with Tekumal from several readings but who will never run it because we always run our own material. Barker's world is no less fascinating to me because I won't run it. Quite simply, Barker's material is thoroughly enjoyable to read and your elucidation as a gamer at his table, by selection and emphasis serves to lift a veil.
As Im reading through EPT I amazed how dense the information is in the section 200 The World of Tekumel (pp. 8-14 DW ed.). The section answers many basic questions that might occur to someone reading his other works in the equivalent of about 20 pages of a novel and acts as a great starting point for further delving in Sword & Glory I. In a first reading of EPT that section should be read five times.
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