I'm not sure of which bit I'm most proud of...

when I picked up the "phone" and said "Hola?  Yo soy Jose Jimenez."

or

"Yeah, I'd like two large sausage and mushroom, and one small anchovy special, and an order of garlic toast."

Here's a question for Chirine or Gronan (or both).

So in EPT we are treated to an "example of play" that features an implied TPK at the hands of the demon Kurritlakal and his 1,000 progeny. From a marketing point of view, odd to use something that smacks of TPK as your example of play, but anyway.....

Is that encounter in any way based on an actual in-play incident in the Professor's campaign?

Quote from: Zirunel;962395Ha! Great story, thanks

You're welcome. This episode was an example of the kind of 'power gaming' that we saw entirely too much of in the Twin Cities, back in the day, especially at the Fifth Precinct gaming club - which is mentioned in Fine's book as the 'Golden Brigade'. Lots of 'I-have-to-win-you-have-to-loose' gaming, which is where he picked up his zero-sum philosophy of game theory. We, in our group at the University, played a very different game based on long-term strategies. In this particular case, it was screamingly obvious what the GM's pre-programmed outcome was, for the over-arching game he was playing. We, on the other hand, looked at what the objective of the GM's proxies / invading hordes were, and negated it through sheer gamesmanship. We achieved our objective, and negated the attempt at a zero-sum game.

Over the decades, people have repeatedly forgotten that I am a very serious student of game theory - and not the GNS one. This particular incident was a very good example of an asymmetric conflict, something that requires a very quick bit of thinking outside the box. I did, and Gronan - also being in the same mode as I was (and still am) - fought our little fight with weapons that our opponent had no experience of and was totally unprepared for.

I play for very, very different objectives and goals then most people do, and it's astonished me that over the years very few people have ever asked me what's my real game and what I'm after. They tend to project their hopes, dreams, and fears onto me, assuming that I am striving for the same things that they are. It's cost a lot of people a lot of games, and still does.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;962423I'm not sure of which bit I'm most proud of...

when I picked up the "phone" and said "Hola?  Yo soy Jose Jimenez."

or

"Yeah, I'd like two large sausage and mushroom, and one small anchovy special, and an order of garlic toast."

I'd say that invoking Bill Dana's Reluctant Astronaut was the better of the two, but I'm partial - as were the Mercury Seven, for that matter! Order the pizzas, on the other hand, was just inspired...

Quote from: Zirunel;962444Here's a question for Chirine or Gronan (or both).

So in EPT we are treated to an "example of play" that features an implied TPK at the hands of the demon Kurritlakal and his 1,000 progeny. From a marketing point of view, odd to use something that smacks of TPK as your example of play, but anyway.....

Is that encounter in any way based on an actual in-play incident in the Professor's campaign?

Agreed about the marketing, but that's Dave Arneson's influence; Dave was right up front about telling people that unless he'd killed half the party in the first thirty minutes of the game session, he'd failed as a GM.

No, not to my knowledge. It'd have to be before 1975, and I tend to think Phil wrote it as an example of play only.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;962453Agreed about the marketing, but that's Dave Arneson's influence; Dave was right up front about telling people that unless he'd killed half the party in the first thirty minutes of the game session, he'd failed as a GM.

No, not to my knowledge. It'd have to be before 1975, and I tend to think Phil wrote it as an example of play only.

Ok thanks. What about Kurritlakal's underground hangout? Is that a "real" location? Jakalla underworld maybe?

Quote from: Zirunel;962455Ok thanks. What about Kurritlakal's underground hangout? Is that a "real" location? Jakalla underworld maybe?

Yes, it is, and it's in Jakalla's Underworld. It's a popular tourist spot, at least in Phil's campaign. Been there, got the soiled kilt. :eek:

Quote from: chirine ba kal;962451Over the decades, people have repeatedly forgotten that I am a very serious student of game theory - and not the GNS one. This particular incident was a very good example of an asymmetric conflict, something that requires a very quick bit of thinking outside the box. I did, and Gronan - also being in the same mode as I was (and still am) - fought our little fight with weapons that our opponent had no experience of and was totally unprepared for.

It's also a case of "you win a war by defeating your enemy's will, not killing every soldier."  Victor was still in high school at this time, and just as much of a twit as when I was when I was his age... AND Chirine and I knew that he got flustered rather easily.  So we totally ignored all the ironmongery floating up in space and proceeded to engage the adversary where he was the weakest... psychologically.

Craig S., who played General Kadarsha, used to do this at the Little Tin Soldier Shop all the time.  As the battle would start he'd say things like "Ha ha I'm gonna capture your general and cut his peepee off" and other inanely juvenile taunts... and after about ten minutes of this something like 85% of the local players would lose their composure completely and charge blindly into Craig's refused center and get annihilated.

And they didn't LEARN.

Chirine, sorry to disrupt the thread, but I sent you a very time-sensitive email, can you please check it? Thanks!

Recently I found this http://tekumelcollecting.com/2015/03/17/previously-unknown-m-a-r-barker-drawing-found/ which shows this early MAR Barker illlustration

It dates from 1950 but is strikingly similar in subject and style to the 2 or 3 full-page illustrations Phil did that were published in the original EPT rulebook.

I find these pictures strangely compelling. Phil has a naive but vivid style and his use of hatching and line is excellent. In the EPT rulebook, the picture of the preparation for the human sacrifice is well-known (notorious?) and the grotesquerie of the evil-looking priest and the disembodied leering masks in the background is very effective.

So, why are there so few of these pictures by Phil? Did he only go through a short phase in which he expressed himself in this way? Do the pictures in the EPT book date from the same period as that fanzine illustration?

Quote from: chirine ba kal;962451I play for very, very different objectives and goals then most people do, and it's astonished me that over the years very few people have ever asked me what's my real game and what I'm after.

I'll bite. What is your real game?

Blaise

Chirine,

A bit of a strange question, but if you had to transfer a kaitar into today's currency (say dollars for simplicity's sake) how much purchasing power would it have? Is it that a kaitar buys as much as a dollar does today, or five dollars, or ten dollars, or more?
The reason I ask is that almost everything in EPT is "x" number of kaitars and very few items are given a price in quirgals or hlash. Is gold so common a metal that it's value is not as high as it has traditionally been on earth? Perhaps this is just unique to the foreigner's quarter of Jakalla where, presumably, gouging is the norm, or is it a " national" constant? Or is this Phil merely simplifying things?
 Thanks in advance.

Quote from: Shemek hiTankolel;962597Chirine,

A bit of a strange question, but if you had to transfer a kaitar into today's currency (say dollars for simplicity's sake) how much purchasing power would it have? Is it that a kaitar buys as much as a dollar does today, or five dollars, or ten dollars, or more?
The reason I ask is that almost everything in EPT is "x" number of kaitars and very few items are given a price in quirgals or hlash. Is gold so common a metal that it's value is not as high as it has traditionally been on earth? Perhaps this is just unique to the foreigner's quarter of Jakalla where, presumably, gouging is the norm, or is it a " national" constant? Or is this Phil merely simplifying things?
 Thanks in advance.

For the same reason that in OD&D a ten foot pole costs 1 or 2 gold.  Convenience in bookkeeping.

Quote from: Gronan of Simmerya;962460It's also a case of "you win a war by defeating your enemy's will, not killing every soldier."  Victor was still in high school at this time, and just as much of a twit as when I was when I was his age... AND Chirine and I knew that he got flustered rather easily.  So we totally ignored all the ironmongery floating up in space and proceeded to engage the adversary where he was the weakest... psychologically.

Craig S., who played General Kadarsha, used to do this at the Little Tin Soldier Shop all the time.  As the battle would start he'd say things like "Ha ha I'm gonna capture your general and cut his peepee off" and other inanely juvenile taunts... and after about ten minutes of this something like 85% of the local players would lose their composure completely and charge blindly into Craig's refused center and get annihilated.

And they didn't LEARN.

No, they didn't. I watched this happen on many, many occasions, and it always played out just this way. Quite a few of the locals here, back then, were very - and I do mean very easy - to out-think at the table for just this reason. Which is why I tended to play at CSA - more mature players, frankly, and resulting more mature game play. In the few games I played at the Little Tin Soldier Shoppe, it was very much like what Groan describes; if you'd tried it at Coffman, you'd get laughed at and your butt kicked all around the table.

Quote from: Baron;962462Chirine, sorry to disrupt the thread, but I sent you a very time-sensitive email, can you please check it? Thanks!

Answered, and thank you!