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Post by greentongue on Dec 1, 2010 12:31:17 GMT -6
... "Not The Professor's Tekumel"?
How different could you tolerate?
What HAS to be included to be EPT?
What would ruin it for you?
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I'm flexible on what I think is EPT, less on the requirement to play in "The Professor's Tekumel" but, Elves break it for me.
I'd even play in Midkemia.
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Post by aldarron on Dec 1, 2010 14:09:13 GMT -6
Hmm. EPT without "tekumel" is actually fine with me. The cultures and histories are certainly at the heart of things for Phil., but I think as long as the monsters, character classes, gods, and magic stayed the same, it would still be EPT for me, even if it was set for example, on Mars or Venus or what have you.
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Post by thorswulf on Dec 1, 2010 22:34:11 GMT -6
I agree with Aldarron on what needs to be there as far as nuts and bolts go. I think the cultural context could be different, perhaps something along the Burroughs Venus, or an alternate Earth. As long as D&Disms are not present I think you could do it fairly well in any place really. I mean it could be pre-Shang China (that's pre pre Chi Dynasty and then some) or mythic China without the Chinese references. Big temples, hyper administration, and clan/family importance sounds like a fair approximation to me.
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Post by bluskreem on Dec 1, 2010 23:31:43 GMT -6
I'm not sure myself. Tristat Tekumel proved to me that the system is not what makes EpT. If you took Tekumel out of EpT it feel like D&D, no matter where you set it.
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Post by greentongue on Dec 2, 2010 12:23:29 GMT -6
To me, EPT was/is:
1. Science! at a high enough level to seem like magic. (no "magic" but SCIENCE!! instead)
2. Alien creatures that you had never heard of. (harder to do now without creating your own)
3. Non-European culture. (just enough different to not be "In Kansas" anymore)
4. ANCIENT ruins.
What is/was it for you?
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Post by ckutalik on Dec 2, 2010 12:57:11 GMT -6
I guess I don't fully understand still what would make EPT mechanically or thematically interesting enough if divorced from Tekumel. I dig on all the elements mentioned by others, but it loses something of what made it interesting as a synthesis of it all if Tekumel goes bye bye. I guess if I was going to do that I would go for using those elements to make something a little more from the ground up and original like Timeshadow's World of Urutsk or Planet Algol. Not a bad project, but a different beast from EPT (hell even the title leaves on wiggle room for it's cultural specificity). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for freeing the game from the weights of canon and the over-nuance of the past two decades (as much as it fascinates me as a reader). Personally, if I ever got a chance I might want to play a campaign that tweaked Tekumel's nose a bit. Maybe glossing over the setting minutiae and focusing back on Underworld expeditions, possibly with more emphasis on gonzo and humorous elements ala Jeff Rients' Big Dumb Tekumel Adventure ( jrients.blogspot.com/2010/02/jeffs-big-dumb-tekumel-adventure.html). Or maybe playing as John Carter or D&D bog standard castaway outsiders thrust into the world. Or putting a whole campaign on the other side of the globe from the Five Empires so I could introduce many of the interesting stuff, but make up my own cultures and the like. |
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Post by foxroe on Dec 3, 2010 20:57:03 GMT -6
The beauty of the original EPT is that it is much more open to individual referee interpretation. It gives you just enough background info to make it "Tekumel" but not so much that it's overwhelming. Even the rule system is great. It's definitely playable as is, but it's also easily substituted with other systems like OD&D or S&W. So it doesn't have to be strictly the Professor's game, but it can be a close interpretation and still feel like it should. Does that make sense?
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Post by bluskreem on Dec 3, 2010 21:23:34 GMT -6
You know what forget what I said. If someone in my area was running a game based on EPT mechanics in another setting I'd play in a heart beat. I wouldn't think of it as EpT, but I'd play eagerly.
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Post by greentongue on Dec 25, 2010 8:37:35 GMT -6
I mean it could be pre-Shang China (that's pre pre Chi Dynasty and then some) or mythic China without the Chinese references. Big temples, hyper administration, and clan/family importance sounds like a fair approximation to me. I'm comfortable with a Chinese based analog, and it is my personal default, but for ADVENTURE!, a more Swords & Planet approach seems like it would be packed with FUN. = |
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Post by thorswulf on Dec 25, 2010 21:05:01 GMT -6
Tekumel seems like Brackett's Skaith in some ways also. An advanced space traveling society that has worlds with medieval technology and a mixture of some weird science (albeit not much) seems to be the common thread at any rate.
One thing that Tekumel does with its setting is make it a mature setting that is neither apologetic for the cultural mores there in nor does it glorify them. Slavery, ritual sacrifice of human beings, and fairly open alternative forms of sexuality are difficult subjects for many game systems (Unless you play in the world of darkness....) to include, let alone become an essential part of civilizations. And yet these were very common occurances in many ancient civilizations. Really the Byzantine nature of Tekumel lies in the sheer volume of cultural information that most gamers don't usually dwell on. This is not to say that all game systems are different. Most modern systems seem to generate thousands of pages of sourcebooks that lots of gamers absorb easily enough. Perhaps the beauty of EPT is that it conveys so much with so little, and makes the reader crave more.
My name is Dwight and I'm a Tekumel addict....
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Post by greentongue on Jan 12, 2011 19:19:49 GMT -6
I posted my "Game Story" to serve as An Example of how EPT could be played. May not be the best game ever but there are few posted examples.
I believe my is not as intimidating as some of the Teknophile game descriptions I have heard of using the newer rules and setting details.
I want to do another in a more pulpy Sword & Planet style someday.
Hopefully others will follow my lead and provide samples for those that have heard of EPT but never played.
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Post by ckutalik on Jan 13, 2011 10:58:42 GMT -6
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2011 15:42:40 GMT -6
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for freeing the game from the weights of canon and the over-nuance of the past two decades (as much as it fascinates me as a reader). Personally, if I ever got a chance I might want to play a campaign that tweaked Tekumel's nose a bit. Tékumel's reputation for impenetrable alienness is undeserved, I think, though the history of obscure novels and failed games does a great deal to keep the setting inaccessible. Barker has been quite clear a number of places that "there is no need for 'your' Tékumel to be identical with 'my' Tékumel" (page 2 of the sourcebook). Adapt and assimilate as needed. That being said, you, too, may have encountered some distinct attitude from fans of the setting when something challenges their expectations, like a non-hostile "pet" Ssú! One shake-up of the setting I've thought could be a lot of fun is to bash Exalted style heroics in. Something gives you and your party mates serious power! Are you going to sit around punching Jakallan thugs or are you going to overthrow the Petal Throne itself? And let's not even get started on the institutional cruelties part of "noble" life! BTW introduction: I'm Yunus a.k.a. Taha, may have posted to this forum sometime in the past, but my recent resurgence of interest in EPT and old school play brought me here today. |
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arcadayn
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
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Post by arcadayn on Jan 15, 2011 7:45:46 GMT -6
Cool concept! I'll definitely be interested in his finished product. |
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