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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 21, 2008 11:52:41 GMT -6
I try to avoid making too many house rules, although one or two are likely to creep in later.
So far the main one is when rolling attributes: I allow players to move points on a one-for-one basis from a higher "donor" stat to a lower one, so long as the lower stat never exceeds the "donor."
I also treat the Comeliness stat rather more like Charisma, taking it to be how generally attractive (in looks and manner) a character is to a Tsolyáni, but haven't bothered renaming it. In the past I've toyed with a General Knowledge score derived from a PC's Level, but found it unnecessary.
Experience points are awarded for all manner of things, not just combat and Kaitars, but I tend to make that up as I go ;D
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Post by bigjackbrass on Feb 7, 2008 11:44:27 GMT -6
My favorite part of running EPT is definitely watching the players experimenting with the Eyes. It's especially good when the player tries to use real-world "out of character" knowledge and apply it to trying to work out just what an "Eye" does. Which is how one of my players froze his character by using an "Eye" as a hand-grenade...
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 19, 2008 16:32:34 GMT -6
For my new game I've taken the original notion of the "barbarians" fresh off the boat and added a slight twist. Inspired by thoughts of cargo cults and the Prince Philip Movement of Tanna (a brief description of which can be found on Wikipedia) I have set the PCs the task of taking a tribute from their island home to the God-Emperor.
The backstory is that the island was accidentally discovered by a shipload of Tsolyani who claimed it for the empire, repaired their ship and headed home (but may perhaps never have arrived there), leaving behind one priest who tried his best to educate the islanders and introduce them to religion and culture. Years later, with their culture now a mish-mash of Tsolyani, native beliefs and outright misunderstandings, our naive heroes are off on a sacred mission to deliver their tribute. This gives some logical background to the task of the players learning about Tekumel.
I had the players choose many of the details, with the result that we have three Sarku-worshippers taking a slave to be sacrificed in front of the Emperor. All they know is that the Tsolyani ship headed off "in that direction" and they'll be doing the same... Already there have emerged differing attitudes and ambitions between the characters, which doubtless will change again as they begin to encounter intrigue and politics on their quest to Avanthar.
Session one went very well and ended with our heroes, newly shipwrecked, about to meet the head of a coastal village, a man who has a sad story to tell them.
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 16, 2008 13:57:08 GMT -6
My Empire of the Petal Throne game starts tomorrow night. Although I have been playing around with various things Tékumel for ages the last time I actually ran EPT was probably fifteen years ago. That game was memorable for the player who convinced himself that an Excellent Ruby Eye was a grenade - I think that his character still stands in the underworld to this day, frozen in time ;D
Because "old school" games are generally quite open and easy to alter I have found only a few definite changes I'll be making for the upcoming game, mainly in changing "Good and Evil" to "Stability and Change" and giving XP for considerably more than just killing and looting - pretty standard stuff, in other words.
Most of the gamers in the group are keen on story games and things such as Everway and Amber Diceless, so getting them to deal with Armour Class may be quite a challenge!
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 5, 2008 15:02:47 GMT -6
It was announced a few days ago on the Tekumel mailing list that The Man of Gold and Flamesong are at last to be published in Zottola editions too. That will then be three editions of the first book, but doubtless I'll buy them anyway! (It was published in the UK by Century Hutchinson just after the original US release)
The three recent books feel slightly more like game fiction than the first two, I feel, and do not stand alone so well, but they make for an enjoyable read. Flamesong remains my favourite, despite the "whirlwind tour" aspect that thorulfr accurately described. It's nice to get a view of the tensions and activities within the Tsolyani military, for one thing.
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 16, 2008 13:47:42 GMT -6
This also came up during an audio game of D&D I ran for some friends (I shan't link to it, since it's a rather jokey attempt to run non-D&Ders through an old dungeon using the rules exactly as they appear in the books, rather than allowing much interpretation) and we were fairly clueless as well. My favourite suggestion was that it referred to general hardship - stubbing your toe, running out of milk, discovering your wife in bed with the Postman and so forth
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 13, 2008 6:06:37 GMT -6
Oh, and bigjackbrass: have an Exalt to get you started. Thank you kindly
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 12, 2008 17:51:51 GMT -6
...(thus playing into the robed wizard and hawt enchantress tropes). And I think we can all agree that this is vital!
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 12, 2008 12:19:22 GMT -6
Speaking of metal armour, do you have any restrictions in mind for the magician with regards to weaponry and defensive items? It's less obvious in EPT, but later writings about Tékumel make it clear that magicians in that setting have a major weakness when in contact with metal: they can't carry more than a few coins and can be trapped by metal cells, even if they could normally teleport or shift dimensions. I've always liked that as a more justifiable restriction than the "you can't use anything bigger than a dagger" rules from D&D and T&T.
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 23, 2008 14:35:22 GMT -6
Well, there are several approaches to compiling an index. Leaving it out is one option, perfectly reasonable for a smallish work with good table of contents. Compiling it from a computer search of terms is the easy way to get a complete index, but it's far from perfect: The otherwise excellent tenth anniversary edition of the Fudge RPG has an index like this, but each entry has so many page references with no distinction between them for relevance that it's almost useless.
Ultimately, I think that there's no way of avoiding the fact that it takes hard work, judgement and some skill. The fact that Labyrinth Lord even has an index is a bonus point as far as I'm concerned, and it's not a bad effort aside from missing some of the very basic game terms. For a total newcomer that might be a very important point, although when I look at the excellent organisation and layout of the book compared to the things I worked my way through when I started gaming I think that you're maybe making the job too easy for beginners! ;D
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 23, 2008 12:13:57 GMT -6
My copy of Labyrinth Lord (a decidedly spiffy-looking hardback version with the alternative cover) arrived yesterday, and I must say that based on the quality of that book I'll be buying Mutant Future as soon as it's available.
The nostalgia aspect is very nice, but really it's what has been done to make it work as a completely viable, one volume game that impresses me.
Just one suggestion for Mutant Future: An improved index, although a pain in the backside to do, would be wonderful. The first thing I looked for in the LL index was "Level"... and it wasn't there. Nor were the next three things I looked for. Basic terms like that, which are very important to the game, probably deserve a listing.
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 9, 2008 15:02:16 GMT -6
A werebear walks into a tavern and says, "I'd like a gin and... ... ... ... ... ... tonic, please."
The bartender asks, "Why the big pause?"
(I'll get my coat...)
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Dice
Jan 6, 2008 13:47:25 GMT -6
Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 6, 2008 13:47:25 GMT -6
If I'm not mistaken the early Gamescience packages indicated the dice had a 1 - 2 year warranty against normal wear?! I really like the Gamescience Precision Edge Dice... I believe they did, which sounds odd these days but early polyhedral dice weren't especially good (in fact I seem to recall reading that the first sets were teaching aids and not actually intended to be used as dice at all) and I have a few very worn and battered examples in the old tin. How many people took Lou up on the guarantee I don't know, but he was a great salesman - a showman, really - and I expect that he sold a fair few sets on the back of it. And call me old-fashioned, but I like my d10s to have twenty sides ;D
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Dice
Jan 6, 2008 10:36:43 GMT -6
Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 6, 2008 10:36:43 GMT -6
The first set I ever bought are still in my dice tin, originally a set of clear "gem"-style dice from an unknown manufacturer they have gradually yellowed over the years. They don't see much use any more - they look as though they've been smoking Lucky Strikes for twenty five years.
Shortly after I bought them I managed to get hold of some Gamescience dice, though, and those are the ones I love. Not only have the clear ones not yellowed in the slightest they also show very little sign of wear, which is more than you can say for the TSR and early Games Workshop dice I had.
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 6, 2008 5:21:40 GMT -6
Which TWERPS supplements have you done? TWERPS Twek (with Niels Erickson) and Metaphysical Ninja Manic Chainsaw Vitamin Junkies are the two published ones; several others eventually appeared in the files section of the How To Do Everything Yahoo! group. I keep threatening to run some of these for my group, but in fact it's been years since I last played TWERPS
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Post by bigjackbrass on Jan 5, 2008 14:52:47 GMT -6
Hello ODDers!
I'm Jon Hancock (seriously... and you can't imagine how much of a pain that was when I lived in America), role-playing since around 1981 - one of the second generation, I suppose that makes me - and these days currently living in Manchester, England, and still gaming.
As well as providing a few cartoons for Dragon, Fortean Times and other magazines I have also written some gaming odds and ends, including a couple of TWERPS supplements, but my day job involves trawling through computer files for the Greater Manchester Police. You can see why I need this hobby, can't you ;D
Despite enjoying the current wave of "story games" I find that my real love is still for the old systems like Empire of the Petal Throne and Tunnels & Trolls, so I try to squeeze a few sessions of them into my current gaming groups when I can.
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