.. title: Recent Reading; S&S RPGing; Tékumel RPGing
.. slug: 2005-03-05
.. date: 2005-03-05 00:00:00 UTC-05:00
.. tags: old blog,recent reading,tekumel,sword & sorcery,fiction
.. category: oldblog
.. link:
.. description:
.. type: text
Recent Reading
--------------
+ *Witherwing*, by David Jarret; Warner Books, September 1979. This is
one of those books that is more interesting for the glimpses of the
underpinnings of the setting than for anything that the characters do
or that happens to them. Enjoyable in an abstract way, for someone
interested in Swords & Sorcery fiction.
Sword & Sorcery Roleplaying
----------------------------
I read *Witherwing* because, like Gardener F. Fox's Kothar__, it was in the
reading list of Sword & Sorcery books in the *Sorcerer & Sword*
supplement for the *Sorcerer* roleplaying game, both which were
written by Ron Edwards. It was listed as one of the references for the
“Mutant-Future” example setting. *Sorcerer & Sword* (as is typical
of *Sorcerer* and its supplments) approaches Sword & Sorcery very
differently from most roleplaying games: it concentrates on the
original Sword & Sorcery authors (for instance, it considers only
those *Conan* stories actually written by Robert E. Howard, which by
now is probably the smaller part of the *Conan* series), includes RPG
mechanics only for things that can't be handled by concepts from other
RPGs, ignores the loot and level basis of the widespread monster-
killing style of roleplaying, [1]_ and only including things that will
be directly useful in play. This later means, for instance, that there
is no detailed, specific background material included, since it takes
than stance that most of that material is never used in play. Instead,
there are examples of starting with a minimal setting and creating the
details during play.
In any case, I thoroughly recommend *Sorcerer & Sword* for anyone who
is playing grim, intense, Sword & Sorcery-based roleplaying games.
And as source material for “Mutant-Future” games, *Witherwing* is
full of ideas.
Tékumel Roleplaying
--------------------
I've read more of `Guardians of Order
`__'s new *Tékumel: Empire of the
Petal Throne* roleplaying game and it is *very* good. I've noticed a
few typos so far, but nothing serious, and the game itself seems
pretty clearly explained. Moreover, the world background material is
very good. The old *Swords and Glory*, Volume 1, the *Tékumel
Sourcebook*, [2]_ still has more detailed information, but the new game
provides a distilled essence that provides enough detail for newcomers
to understand Tékumel and have some idea of how to play a character
from the setting. It concentrates on Tsolyánu, which is the area of
Tékumel on which we have the most information, and has information
for the more common non-human races as well.
Mechanically, the system is derived from the
`Guardians of Order `__
`Tri-Stat `__
game system,
although it uses 1d10 instead of 2d6 or 2d\ *X*, and it uses 6
stats, instead of 3. The list of attributes available to starting
characters has been simplified and specialized for Tékumel and the
skills list has been expanded and specialized for Tékumel. Magic is
handled separately with a system that seems to capture the flavor of
Tékumel's ritual and spell-based magic very well. Character creation
includes those social aspects that dominate Tsolyánu culture: clans
and careers in the legions, temples, or government, as well as an
extensive subsytem for dealing with resources, a subject which can be
complicated in Tsolyánu since property tends to be owned by the clan
rather than individuals, as well as smaller subsystems for dealing
with teamwork, respect, and favors.
Overall, I'd say the game is somewhat crunchier than BESM (there are
stat requirements for weapons and some careers, and spells can have
multiple levels with different enhancements and various specialties),
but much, mucher lighter than *Swords & Glory*, *Garásiyal*, or 3rd
edition *Dungeons and Dragon*.
Verdict so far: the new game makes me want to play *Tékumel: Empire
of the Petal Throne*, and provides the right material so that it's
possible to see how to do so.
.. [1] This does not mean, as some have assumed, that the author is
against loot and level gaming: he elsewhere praises *T&T*, which is
one of the most loot and level based games of all.
.. [2] Which is still available from `Tita's House of Games
`__, by the way, and well worth it for
the Tékumel aficionado.
__ link://slug/2005-02-21-recent-reading-and-viewing#kothar
.. *Last edited: 2020-11-30 20:18:18 EST*
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