I've noticed that there are two typos that i cant seem to fix. and are coming up as *****. It should have been 'main******' and 'living'; no idea what's going on. I am not on my usual machine or server, though...




it should be 'main

Quote from: chirine ba kal;949175I've noticed that there are two typos that i cant seem to fix. and are coming up as *****. It should have been 'main******' and 'living'; no idea what's going on. I am not on my usual machine or server, though...




it should be 'main

Something is going on with the words l.i.v.e. and s.t.r.e.a.m. it may have something to do with all those ad posts filled with video feeds of boxing matches that hit the site yesterday.

Quote from: CRKrueger;949176Something is going on with the words l.i.v.e. and s.t.r.e.a.m. it may have something to do with all those ad posts filled with video feeds of boxing matches that hit the site yesterday.

Oh, really... Missed all that, but it does make sense... Thank you!

Ruun question. If they are set to guard Object A and not let it leave the location and someone sneaks it out or whatever, will they pursue essentially forever until they get it back (or until they are destroyed or lose track at least)? I guess the same goes for undead guardians? And I assume they would remember the thieves if they came back to the same locale?

Quote from: Greentongue;948709On the Other Hand, my first impression of Tekumel was a game like the graphic novel "Den".
A blend of super tech and cosmic horrors in a far future world.
There are human countries most notable because of the primary colors of their armor.
You start as a refugee arriving in a small boat and with luck and smarts become a Notable Hero!
The whole complex social order thing was boiled down to Levels and Classes.
So it was painted with a broad brush. Who cared? Let's explore this place where we didn't already know what to expect.
Where anything we had read adventure books about growing up, could be stuck in and seem to fit.

Those that sat at the knees of The Master were few and far away.
=

Whereas my first impression was: " Thank God, no fucking orcs, elves or dwarves."
By the time I had "discovered" Tekumel I had had my fill of the Tolkienesque tropes which dominated mainstream fantasy RPG's at the time, and probably still do. It was like a breath of fresh air to me, and I never looked back. I doubt I could even run or play in a non Tekumel milieu these days, as my interest would probably not even last for the gaming session.

Shemek

We're back!

The Missus and I have been off on An Adventure, and are now back here at our little house in the Northwoods. Many tales of exciting deeds and jolly fun will be told, and photos of loot and treasure to be shown. In the meantime, back to our regular programming...

Quote from: Big Andy;949226Ruun question. If they are set to guard Object A and not let it leave the location and someone sneaks it out or whatever, will they pursue essentially forever until they get it back (or until they are destroyed or lose track at least)? I guess the same goes for undead guardians? And I assume they would remember the thieves if they came back to the same locale?

Very interesting question - let's see if our mishaps might help...

Ru'un are, of course, powered by other-planar energy, so will be able to pursue - as you say - a guarded object forever. About the only way to escape them would be to go into a magical dead zone and run them out of their stored battery power - they do have short-duration batteries that last about a month or so - or destroy them at the outset. This is assuming that they can track the object, however; we guessed that many of the valuable devices of the Ancients being guarded had 'tracking ships' in them from what we saw, and otherwise once the Ru'un lost sensor contact with the object they tended to freeze up and just sit there. Sensor range seems to be a couple of kilometers - out to the planetary horizon, in Phil's games, as it was easy to remember. And yes, they do remember what they see, which can get very awkward as they bark nasty questions at you in a long-dead language whilst poking you in the ribs with their boltguns.

Mru'ur and other undead are, thankfully, both 'dumber' and 'less motivated' then Ru'un, and generally will not pursue anybody outside of their shrines. We guessed that this might be because of the sorcery that created them and keeps them 'alive'; either way, once you shook them off, they'd go back to the Temple of Sarku from whence they came, and we were pretty much free and clear. On the other hand, if there was a living Priest or Priestess of Sarku directing them, things got very dicey very fast as the living sentient gave them directions.

Solutions: Ru'un - avoid if at all possible; if not blast them. Mru'ur - blast them first, along with any directing sorcerers.

Does this help?

Quote from: Shemek hiTankolel;949345Whereas my first impression was: " Thank God, no fucking orcs, elves or dwarves."
By the time I had "discovered" Tekumel I had had my fill of the Tolkienesque tropes which dominated mainstream fantasy RPG's at the time, and probably still do. It was like a breath of fresh air to me, and I never looked back. I doubt I could even run or play in a non Tekumel milieu these days, as my interest would probably not even last for the gaming session.

Shemek

This. I loved Phil's Tekumel, ad still do, for these very reasons. Not that I mind elves, though; know a lot of them.

And I return from Vacation and other shenanigans work related!  Yay more cool Tekumel stuff to read in this thread, and help keep me excited and inspired for my game... which happened!

We had an adventure!  The PCs bungled things as only PCs can manage.  It was hilarious.  They are addicted to casting Fear Spells.  They are way less sneaky than they think, but do at least have some ability to plan and be sneaky, as they did hoodwink some guards and had a... creative plan to make the guards not  believable (after knocking them out via a sneak attack, they poured booze all over them and peed on them... eew).  They're cowards at heart, what group of PCs gets creeped out by mysterious chanting and does their best Brave Sir Robin impression and runs (bravely, naturally)?  And they managed to bowl over a young priestess of Sarku from a high lineage and High Clan* in their terrified flight.  Whoops.  After killing one of her guards in the process via a terror spell.  Poor sap went into cardiac arrest!  I can't wait for them to run into Tsurune at some point in the future in a more social setting, can we say awkward?

I'm being vague because I need to get my notes at home about the names and other stuff.  


*need to look it up, think it was High Hills clan though, which I hope is high!  I was extrapolating from some other info, so welcome more info on that!

EDIT:  And High Hills clan it is!  So definitely want more info on them as they're likely to be a bit of an antagonist for the time being!

Many of the books I read that talk about times that resemble those of Tekumel attach a lot of importance to clothing and style.
This is seldom reflected in the games I read or hear about.
Why do you think this is and what do you think we lose by not factoring this into our games?

How could the chasing of fashion be used in the setting?
Would this be interesting or totally outside most people's thoughts of fun?
=

Quote from: Dulahan;949820And I return from Vacation and other shenanigans work related!  Yay more cool Tekumel stuff to read in this thread, and help keep me excited and inspired for my game... which happened!

We had an adventure!  The PCs bungled things as only PCs can manage.  It was hilarious.  They are addicted to casting Fear Spells.  They are way less sneaky than they think, but do at least have some ability to plan and be sneaky, as they did hoodwink some guards and had a... creative plan to make the guards not  believable (after knocking them out via a sneak attack, they poured booze all over them and peed on them... eew).  They're cowards at heart, what group of PCs gets creeped out by mysterious chanting and does their best Brave Sir Robin impression and runs (bravely, naturally)?  And they managed to bowl over a young priestess of Sarku from a high lineage and High Clan* in their terrified flight.  Whoops.  After killing one of her guards in the process via a terror spell.  Poor sap went into cardiac arrest!  I can't wait for them to run into Tsurune at some point in the future in a more social setting, can we say awkward?

I'm being vague because I need to get my notes at home about the names and other stuff.  


*need to look it up, think it was High Hills clan though, which I hope is high!  I was extrapolating from some other info, so welcome more info on that!

EDIT:  And High Hills clan it is!  So definitely want more info on them as they're likely to be a bit of an antagonist for the time being!

This sounded like it was fun!!! And I expect that more mayhem will ensue, too!!!

Quote from: Greentongue;949846Many of the books I read that talk about times that resemble those of Tekumel attach a lot of importance to clothing and style.
This is seldom reflected in the games I read or hear about.
Why do you think this is and what do you think we lose by not factoring this into our games?

How could the chasing of fashion be used in the setting?
Would this be interesting or totally outside most people's thoughts of fun?
=

Well, if I may take a run at this, most people are pre-conditioned by what the most popular genre is set in - everybody knows what the 'medieval' world of D&D looks like and how people dress, so there's no need to cover the subject in any detail either in the rules set or in the game.

Personally, I think that a lot of this kind of thing constitutes what I'd call 'flavor' and 'charm' of a setting, and it is usually lost in the rush to get down to the killing for XP. But then, I happen to like these kinds of setting details - in any of my chosen settings of Barsoom, Tekumel, XVIII Dynasty Aegypt, or Ye Buccaneers -  as I'm actively out to recreate that world setting on my table for my players to marvel at. I think that it helps with that 'immersion' aspect of games, and again that's a personal preference.

In a larger sense, the vast majority of gamers only know about this from the artwork in their preferred set of rules; most of the gamers that I have spoken with over the decades have no real idea what anything in the past - which starts about 1990, or so - really looked like. The past is, for them, one of those alien placers that are not part of their lives, so "A difference that makes no difference is no difference."

I normally describe what somebody looks like or is wearing in all of my games, and it seems to help players a lot to have these visual cues. They seem to like it, too.

Quote from: Greentongue;949846Many of the books I read that talk about times that resemble those of Tekumel attach a lot of importance to clothing and style.
This is seldom reflected in the games I read or hear about.
Why do you think this is and what do you think we lose by not factoring this into our games?

How could the chasing of fashion be used in the setting?
Would this be interesting or totally outside most people's thoughts of fun?
=

Well, if I may take a run at this, most people are pre-conditioned by what the most popular genre is set in - everybody knows what the 'medieval' world of D&D looks like and how people dress, so there's no need to cover the subject in any detail either in the rules set or in the game.

Personally, I think that a lot of this kind of thing constitutes what I'd call 'flavor' and 'charm' of a setting, and it is usually lost in the rush to get down to the killing for XP. But then, I happen to like these kinds of setting details - in any of my chosen settings of Barsoom, Tekumel, XVIII Dynasty Aegypt, or Ye Buccaneers -  as I'm actively out to recreate that world setting on my table for my players to marvel at. I think that it helps with that 'immersion' aspect of games, and again that's a personal preference.

In a larger sense, the vast majority of gamers only know about this from the artwork in their preferred set of rules; most of the gamers that I have spoken with over the decades have no real idea what anything in the past - which starts about 1990, or so - really looked like. The past is, for them, one of those alien placers that are not part of their lives, so "A difference that makes no difference is no difference."

I normally describe what somebody looks like or is wearing in all of my games, and it seems to help players a lot to have these visual cues. They seem to like it, too.

Quote from: chirine ba kal;949860This sounded like it was fun!!! And I expect that more mayhem will ensue, too!!!

I think everyone had fun.  I did, though was a bit sulky they kept finding ways around the RP with characters I wanted to play out like said priestess.

I was also amused they kept finding ways to not do anything I expected them, then again, that's just a time honored PC tradition.  Expect only the unexpected from PCs, because if you expect them to take Path A, B, C, D.... or any number you can think of through z?  They'll somehow manage to find Path 553!

That said, anything more you can enlighten about the High Hills clan?  I wasn't even sure what 'level' (high, very high, medium, etc) they are, and just guessed high based on one of the NPCs in the bits about the city you sent me being highly ranked in a temple.  I didn't see them listed in S&G, Bethorm, or GOO Tekumel.

Quote from: Dulahan;949871I think everyone had fun.  I did, though was a bit sulky they kept finding ways around the RP with characters I wanted to play out like said priestess.

I was also amused they kept finding ways to not do anything I expected them, then again, that's just a time honored PC tradition.  Expect only the unexpected from PCs, because if you expect them to take Path A, B, C, D.... or any number you can think of through z?  They'll somehow manage to find Path 553!

That said, anything more you can enlighten about the High Hills clan?  I wasn't even sure what 'level' (high, very high, medium, etc) they are, and just guessed high based on one of the NPCs in the bits about the city you sent me being highly ranked in a temple.  I didn't see them listed in S&G, Bethorm, or GOO Tekumel.

Great time, it sounds like!

Lots of stuff in my archives that Phil did that didn't make it into published games - there's only so much you can include, and still stay inside pagecount.

High Hills is a locally-based clan, with lots of properties in the area around the city, and would be considered a 'medium-high' clan in the local area. Not so high 'nationally'; they'd be considered a 'medium' status clan in Jakalla, and a 'lower-medium' one in Bey Su. They are largely agricultural, but do have some strong mercantile interests and are well-connected with the shipping and transport clans. Good relations with the Imperium, and are considered to be "A good, solid, loyal clan" in Avanthar. Equally good relations with the temples, too, with lots of clan members in the priesthood - mostly on the Change side, but you do get some Stability people.

Nice clanhouse; nothing fancy or ornate, just comfortable and prosperous.

Anything else?