Friday, September 28, 2012

Preview: TFT Tekumel

As a preview of my project, here are a couple things from my TFT Tékumel manuscript you might be interested in. A few spells and talents.

Tékumel Spells for TFT

Plague (Thrown Spell): The subject is infected with a horrid disease, rendering them incapacitated immediately. They die after 2 turns, if Cure Disease is not successfully cast on them. Persons touching the victim or the body must make a 3d/ST saving roll to avoid catching the disease. Cost: 3 ST. IQ: 11. Temples: Avánthe, Dlamélish, Sárku.
The Vapor of Death (Special): A wave of poisonous gas flows out from the front of the caster. It moves at 1 megahex per turn, and the caster must be sure the wind is still or blowing away from the caster’s party. All persons caught in the cloud get 3d/ST saving rolls, and, if successful, the subject takes 1d damage. If the saving roll is failed, the subject dies unless a Neutralize Poison spell is cast on them within 2 turns. Cost: 5 ST / +1 per turn. IQ: 14. Temples: Hrü'ǘ, Ksárul, Sárku, Vimúhla.

Tékumel Talents for TFT

Navigator (2): Can navigate on land or at sea using the position of the planets to determine direction. A navigator is required if a ship ventures away from the coast. A navigator can also use a water compass to find magnetic North.
Mundane Talents (1): Baker, Barber, Bootmaker, Bricklayer, Butcher, Carpenter, Carpetmaker, Cook, Dyer, Farmer, Fisherman, Glassblower, Grocer, Mason, Miner, Paper-and-Ink Maker, Perfumer, Potter, Rope-and-Net Maker, Sailmaker, Tailor, Tanner, Weaver, Winemaker, and Wheelwright.

Enjoy!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

The project: Tekumel with The Fantasy Trip

I have finished the list of TFT Talents for Tekumel. In TFT, Talents are both skills, like Calligrapher, and abilities, like Acute Hearing. A few talents were removed, such as Horsemanship and Guns. The list of talents were updated from the list of skills from EPT. My friend, Bill Seurer, developed a set of additional Talents for TFT, and I've added these to the list as well.

Now, I'm compiling the Spell list. I've taken the original TFT spell list and removed the spells that don't fit into Tekumel. I've added spells that Bill Seurer developed years ago, as well as a score of Tekumel-specific spells I wrote up several months ago. I have another twenty or thirty spells to write up. Then the list needs editing.

I was able to get good scans of the original books and then decent OCRs of those scans to base my Talent and Spell summaries. It saved wear and tear on my books and fingers. 

The next step, once I finish the compilation of the spells, is to summarize the combat system. Then I need to write the adventure. I figure about three to five weeks to finish. Wish me luck.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

EPT and TFT

I'm writing a conversion of the role-playing game The Fantasy Trip (TFT) for use with the Tekumel world setting. I'm basing this conversion on Empire of the Petal Throne (EPT), since it is simpler. Let me give my reasoning for using TFT.

The Fantasy Trip was the first role-playing game Steve Jackson wrote for Metagaming Concepts. Based on his Melee and Wizard board game, it is a simple, yet elegant, system that features IMO the best tactical map combat system in any RPG (if anyone knows of a better system, please comment here). TFT uses three primary attributes -- Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence -- with no secondary attributes, and has Talents, which combine skills and advantages into a single category.

I played TFT twice a week for two years in college and loved it. The best face-to-face campaign game I've ever been in. About twelve years ago, I played a one-on-one game with a GM over email using Cyberboard and the GrailQuest microquest, and it was a spectacular success. The best online gaming experience I've ever had. So, I have a soft spot in my heart for TFT, even though I've been a big supporter of GURPS for two decades. Actually, one of the reasons I became deeply involved with GURPS was the GM for that college TFT game said he was using GURPS after the demise of Metagaming and the stop in TFT production.

I have two goals. First, I've already written a TFT Tekumel conversion that merely points out the differences between TFT and the Tekumel version of TFT. 90% of this document is an expanded spell list with all the wonderfully quirky spells from EPT, re-codified as TFT spells. It just needs a few more spells and some playtesting to finish it up.

My second goal is a complete game of TFT Tekumel with full descriptions of Talents and Spells, all rewritten to be at least reasonably legal -- about the equivalent of the character section of In the Labyrinth with a few notes about combat, like the use of Eyes.

I will keep you informed of my progress.