Quote from: chirine ba kal;843326It's like clothing - more and better clothing also indicates wealth and status. Inside the family quarters of the palace or clan house, things are usually very informal,

Much like Pharonic Egypt and ancient Sumer, clothing on Tekumel tells you a LOT about somebody.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;843451Is there a way to post the picture of you holding the map at my Gary Con game here? It's on my blog, in the Gary Con posts, but I'm not Internet-literate to figure out how to do it...

You mean this one?

Quote from: Bren;843460You mean this one?

Yes!!! That's the one!!! Thank you!!!

I was running the Jakalla Underworld, and having the fight of my life - these guys were really, really good!

The Missus has digitized all of Phil's maps, so I was projecting this particular map up on the way at about 5' by 4' tall. It made a very good 'tactical display', and we had my old figures out on the table for a marching order. It was a great game!

Quote from: Greentongue;843454As I told Gronan of Simmerya, effectively I'm trying to reconstruct the original game from "Postcards".  

When I run my fingerpainting version of EPT, I want to at least have as many broad strokes as possible within the lines of the original.

Having someone that played in the original and in a style that I expected for the setting, show me where those "lines" are, is very helpful.
I think someone that was in the original game as about as "authentic" as you can get for identifying what is "inside the lines".

Who knows, I may not be the only one that misses the simple pleasure of the old Sword & Planet stories.
Where things were black & white and Unknown!

***
From reading the first 2 novels, later available information is not a perfect fit for how I envisioned the world based on just the EPT rule book.
I get concerned with trying add in "authentic" things learned later that were not in the original rules.
Trying to determine if I would be better off just sticking with the original and all of its warts.  
Let others worry about the Perfect Tekumel.
Just swing my sword in the old fashion way.
=

Oh, right, gotcha.

Yeah, I'd agree with your way of looking at things. This is what the Glorious General and I keep muttering about - sometime in the early to middle 1990s, the way Tekumel was viewed really seemed to change. It stopped being the Swords and Planet world of adventures that we had grown up in, and became some sort of Serious Thing with all sorts of political overtones and political correctness.

There was a very strong tendency to 'Get It Right", and for 'Serious' 'Authenticity' to take over from 'just wing it'.

Phil wrote a lot about Tekumel, and then didn't use that material himself if it didn't suit the story arc or the plot line that he was following in the campaign. He was, first and foremost, a storyteller. and I miss that tremendously.

There is no 'Perfect Tekumel', no matter what some self-appointed expert might tell you; there is only the Tekumel of your dreams...

Gronan on the left, Chirine on the right.

And that area without much black in it in bottom right on the map, just above the water bottle?

That whole area is one enormous maze.  In ten square to the inch graph paper.

A maze.

One way in.  One way out.

Ten squares to the inch.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;843459Much like Pharonic Egypt and ancient Sumer, clothing on Tekumel tells you a LOT about somebody.

Oh, yes, exactly there, Glorious General!

And how can you tell he's a 'Glorious General'? 'Cause he's got a whacking big gold plaque on his chest that says so - the Imperial Gold of Glory, won on the field of battle. The thing weighs about four pounds, looks really ornate, and is a pain in the butt to keep polished - ask his orderly...

Quote from: Greentongue;843454A
Trying to determine if I would be better off just sticking with the original and all of its warts.  
Let others worry about the Perfect Tekumel.
Just swing my sword in the old fashion way.
=

NOW you're talking, my clan-nephew!

Have fun, make up some stuff, and use Phil's ideas for color and flavor.

Knock yourself out.  Hell, come to GaryCon and I'll play in your game!

Quote from: chirine ba kal;843468Oh, yes, exactly there, Glorious General!

And how can you tell he's a 'Glorious General'? 'Cause he's got a whacking big gold plaque on his chest that says so - the Imperial Gold of Glory, won on the field of battle. The thing weighs about four pounds, looks really ornate, and is a pain in the butt to keep polished - ask his orderly...

Remember the time Phil insisted that you'd keep your helmet on when reporting to me... until you pointed out that the flame crest was tall enough to tear open the top of the tent over the entryway?

Good times, good times...

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;843466Gronan on the left, Chirine on the right.

And that area without much black in it in bottom right on the map, just above the water bottle?

That whole area is one enormous maze.  In ten square to the inch graph paper.

A maze.

One way in.  One way out.

Ten squares to the inch.

Yep. It's an agony to get through, and nearly impossible to map due to all the twists and turns. It took us the better part of six months of gaming to figure out that there was only one way and and out.

And each square of that ten to the inch is ten foot... :jaw-dropping:

There are some really big spaces in the thing - as well as the Throne of Death, in the Hall of Death, in the Palace of Death, on the Island of Death, in the middle of the River of Death, overlooked by the Bridge of Death, and you get there by the Boat of Death.

Notice a trend, here? Our Phil was real subtle, at times, and this wasn't one of them...

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;843470NOW you're talking, my clan-nephew!

Have fun, make up some stuff, and use Phil's ideas for color and flavor.

Knock yourself out.  Hell, come to GaryCon and I'll play in your game!

Yep. I would too.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;843462Yes!!! That's the one!!! Thank you!!!

I was running the Jakalla Underworld, and having the fight of my life - these guys were really, really good!

At this point I want to point out that Chirine "plays fair."  That is, he'll (for instance) put an ambush someplace that will absolutely kill your asses if you blunder into it... but if you figure there's probably an ambush there and go around it, he will NOT relocate the ambush to make you hit it.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;843475There are some really big spaces in the thing - as well as the Throne of Death, in the Hall of Death, in the Palace of Death, on the Island of Death, in the middle of the River of Death, overlooked by the Bridge of Death, and you get there by the Boat of Death.

"The operative word, Mister Spock, is d-d-d-d-Death!"

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;843471Remember the time Phil insisted that you'd keep your helmet on when reporting to me... until you pointed out that the flame crest was tall enough to tear open the top of the tent over the entryway?

Good times, good times...

Yep. Come back with us now, to Those Thrilling Days Of Yesteryear in the old Thursday Night Group. The scene: Korumne's tent, near Castle Tilketl on the Northwest Frontier...

Jeff: "Er, Phil, it's a closed face helm."
Phil: "Well, protocol says you leave it on when reporting to your superior officer."
Jeff: "Okay, Phil; whatever you say."

Enter Chirine, stage left, and salutes.

Chirine: "Mwafful grndle niffle gwiddle, niddly!"
Korunme: "Say what, Chirine?"
Chirine: "Mwafful grndle niffle qwiddle, niddly!!!"
Korunme: "TAKE THAT DAMN HELMET OFF RIGHT NOW!!!"

Didn't let Phil live it down for the rest of the night, being young and cruel...

And Korunme issued his legion with open-faced helmets, too; take that, Phil!

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;843477At this point I want to point out that Chirine "plays fair."  That is, he'll (for instance) put an ambush someplace that will absolutely kill your asses if you blunder into it... but if you figure there's probably an ambush there and go around it, he will NOT relocate the ambush to make you hit it.

Well, yes. Is there any other way to play? I mean, we always assumed that the referee / GM was absolutely neutral, and intellectually honest. Yes, I would do my level best to kill you as I played the NPCs and monsters, but that's what they would do and is simply good role-playing.

Normally, I can exploit a party's weaknesses and dithering, and stay ahead of them by at least an hour of gaming. It's why I usually dread running RPGs at conventions - after over thirty years of this, it's kinda boring as the players make the same mistakes that I've seen a hundred times over.

These guys at Gary Con gave me nothing. Absolutely nothing. I had the fight of my gaming life with them, and I think I was able to stay maybe thirty seconds ahead of them the whole time. I came out of the game soaked in sweat, and completely exhausted.

It was wonderful!

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;843479"The operative word, Mister Spock, is d-d-d-d-Death!"

Yep; I'd agree with that!