Brandon's Impotent Rage
11th July 2014, 01:04
Anyone else interested in this game?
http://s1.postimg.org/7dywcy4hr/Empire_Petal_Throne20001.jpg
It's an old, pioneering RPG that was created by Professor/Designer/Renaissance Man M.A.R. Barker (the M.A.R. stands for Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman. He converted to Islam in the 50s).
Barker was, in every way, like the American version of J.R.R. Tolkien (pretentious initials and all). He developed this alternate world that he worked on sense he was a child. He wrote stories, drew and painted illustrations and maps, carve figurines, and even create a fictional language (he was a professor of Urdu and South Asian studies at the University of Minnesota). He wrote five novels that took place in Tekumel (I own two), and drew several images (including the image up top).
There are a couple of things that set Tekumel apart from other RPG campaigns:
-It's ostensibly a science fiction setting disguised as a high fantasy. The world of Tekumel is a far away planet that was colonized by humans tens of thousands of years before the game's timeline. The pseudo-primitive/feudal setting is a result of massive technological and cultural decay due to some massive, mysterious intergalatic phenomenon in the distant past that trapped Tekumel and its fellow planets in an alternate dimension.
-Unlike most modern RPGs, the mythos has virtually zero influence from Norse/European mythology and culture. It's almost entirely inspired by South American/Chinese/South Asian and Arab cultures and mythology. All of the non-human races are completely original creations of Barker's own design. There are no analogues or Orcs or Elves here.
(Ever wondered where Raymond Feist and his group came up with the idea for Kelewan in the Riftwar books? Now you know.)
-It's notoriously complex in both setting and play. The original game's rules (before Barker came under the influence of Gygax and Arenson's ADnD) were inspired by old-school war games and simulations, and it shows to an extent in the modern game.
http://s1.postimg.org/7dywcy4hr/Empire_Petal_Throne20001.jpg
It's an old, pioneering RPG that was created by Professor/Designer/Renaissance Man M.A.R. Barker (the M.A.R. stands for Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman. He converted to Islam in the 50s).
Barker was, in every way, like the American version of J.R.R. Tolkien (pretentious initials and all). He developed this alternate world that he worked on sense he was a child. He wrote stories, drew and painted illustrations and maps, carve figurines, and even create a fictional language (he was a professor of Urdu and South Asian studies at the University of Minnesota). He wrote five novels that took place in Tekumel (I own two), and drew several images (including the image up top).
There are a couple of things that set Tekumel apart from other RPG campaigns:
-It's ostensibly a science fiction setting disguised as a high fantasy. The world of Tekumel is a far away planet that was colonized by humans tens of thousands of years before the game's timeline. The pseudo-primitive/feudal setting is a result of massive technological and cultural decay due to some massive, mysterious intergalatic phenomenon in the distant past that trapped Tekumel and its fellow planets in an alternate dimension.
-Unlike most modern RPGs, the mythos has virtually zero influence from Norse/European mythology and culture. It's almost entirely inspired by South American/Chinese/South Asian and Arab cultures and mythology. All of the non-human races are completely original creations of Barker's own design. There are no analogues or Orcs or Elves here.
(Ever wondered where Raymond Feist and his group came up with the idea for Kelewan in the Riftwar books? Now you know.)
-It's notoriously complex in both setting and play. The original game's rules (before Barker came under the influence of Gygax and Arenson's ADnD) were inspired by old-school war games and simulations, and it shows to an extent in the modern game.