Also, welcome to theRPGsite.

RPGPundit

Wow! That's a nice game room!

Tekumel is a game that I have always wanted to play, but never managed to find a GM for. Earlier this year I was going to join a play-by-post game over at the 0D&D board, however both games collapsed just as I was getting ready to begin.

I have Swords & Glory Volume I, along with a really nice map of Jakalla. There was an RPG book published that went along with that, yes?



Welcome to The RPGSite!

Welcome to the site Jeff. Very interesting blog. I keep forgetting how hard core you Tekumel guys are. Very cool stuff.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: chirine ba kal;337068http://chirinesworkbench.blogspot.com/

This is one nice blog, Jeff.
Also? Welcome to theRPGsite!

While you don't have to be Hard Core to play it, the Hard Core players scare the crap out of people that have a passing interest. Makes it harder to recruit new players.
:eek:
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Well I didn't mean hard core in a negative way but I understand why some folks would raise an eyebrow at the costumes and such. But then again most gamers hard core or not, scare the crap out of me.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: RPGPundit;337073Also, welcome to theRPGsite.

RPGPundit

Thank you! Fascinating place!

Quote from: GameDaddy;337077Wow! That's a nice game room!

Tekumel is a game that I have always wanted to play, but never managed to find a GM for. Earlier this year I was going to join a play-by-post game over at the 0D&D board, however both games collapsed just as I was getting ready to begin.

I have Swords & Glory Volume I, along with a really nice map of Jakalla. There was an RPG book published that went along with that, yes?


Welcome to The RPGSite!

Thank you for the compliment about our game room! We had a lot of fun putting it together, and making it as comfortable as possible. Out of sight off to the left of the picture is the refrigerator for soft drinks and bottled water and the sound system. The shelves are all on casters and can be moved to give more room, but we usually don't bother.

There is a Swords and Glory Volume II, which is in print at Tita's House of Games. Volume III is in the works, I think, but you'd have to ask Carl Brodt, the proprietor of Tita's.

Quote from: David R;337080Welcome to the site Jeff. Very interesting blog. I keep forgetting how hard core you Tekumel guys are. Very cool stuff.

Regards,
David R

Thanks! Don't mistake me for a 'normal' Tekumel gamer, though; I'm considered way over the top by most of them.

Quote from: Benoist;337081This is one nice blog, Jeff.
Also? Welcome to theRPGsite!

Thanks! I try to keep it current with what we're doing, and I really need to get more of the photos we have up on-line for people. I really enjoy building things, as you can see, and that's what I think I enjoy the most. The look on peoples' faces when they come down the stairs and see the newest miniature is really priceless!:)

Quote from: Greentongue;337082While you don't have to be Hard Core to play it, the Hard Core players scare the crap out of people that have a passing interest. Makes it harder to recruit new players.
:eek:
=

I quite agree with you! The costumes and miniatures attarct a lot of attention, but I always tell people that they don't need any of that kind of stuff to enjoy Tekumel. I try very hard to not overwhelm people with all the possible detail when they ask; I normally invite them to come to one of the game sessions and let them just watch. If they like what they see, then quite often they become regular players. I then work them into the culture very slowly, letting them get used to things gradually and with a lot of fun along the way. It takes a while, but I think the players enjoy it more and they certainly stay with the game for quite a long time.

Quote from: David R;337083Well I didn't mean hard core in a negative way but I understand why some folks would raise an eyebrow at the costumes and such. But then again most gamers hard core or not, scare the crap out of me.

Regards,
David R

Agreed; see my previous post. The costumes serve to get attention, but we're careful to emphasize that we do them for the fun of doing them, not because they're needed for the game. Likewise for the miniatures, too.

I also agree with you on your point about most gamers. I used to play a lot of historical miniatures, but I got very weary of the politics and bickering that seems to be the favorite pastime of many of the HMGS membership. I like to build the models and paint the figures, and I just don't feel the need to put a lot of time and energy into what I consider side issues.

I will also admit to being a little picky about who I GM for; membership in the group is sort of by invitation, but anyone in the group can bring guests in for game sessions. If the guest works out well, they'll be offered a seat at the table. Most of the people in the photo of my group started this way, actually.

Quote from: Greentongue;337082While you don't have to be Hard Core to play it, the Hard Core players scare the crap out of people that have a passing interest. Makes it harder to recruit new players.
:eek:
=

Yes and no. Yes, the hardcore guys scare the fuck out of normal people. If they demand that you learn a make-believe language to play, then they're fuckheads.

But I don't know if Tekumel itself is very open to amateur players besides that. Even if the players themselves weren't fuckheads, the setting seems to demand that you study all kinds of shit above and beyond what a normal human being would think worthwhile for a fucking game.

RPGPundit

No argument if you are talking about the new improved versions. If you meant the original TSR release, not so much.
It was/is not that different from the D&D of the time. You could add details as wanted over time and since you started as a barbarian just off the boat, you were not expected to know much of anything.

Also keep in mind that Back In The Day high character mortality was expected. So, being hacked down for irritating a citizen with your lack of manners just motivated you to become a citizen yourself. Which in the original rules wasn't that hard to do.

(The original was more Pulp and less Sim.)
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I've lurked around Tekumel boards for well over a decade now and have never heard of anyone being told they need to learn Tsolyani to play.

Certainly it is useful to be able to remember the names of 20 deities, 5 empires, some race and monster names and a few big NPC and place names - but I can't see how that differs from playing any serious RPG that's not set in a default pseudo-western Europe.

There is certainly vastly less to remember than there is in the current incarnation of Glorantha where Greg Stafford and whoever his current favourite acolyte of the month is just can't stop themselves from renaming and retconning everything important every time they get round to actually publishing a new sourcebook.

In contrast Tekumel has been remarkably stable as a setting since the Swords and Glory Sourcebook was published in the early eighties - there may be a new emperor but as befits such a conservative setting nothing fundamental has been changed just for the sake of it.  

And aren't you currently running a pseudo-Polish campaign? and unless you happen to be a Pole yourself Polish names are way more unpronounceable than Tsolyani ones.  

Sure if you study a bit you can learn the basic rules of pronunciation and be able to actually say Łódź or Szczecin or Mikołajczyk - but isn't that 'learning a language' just so as to be able to play?