Online Tekumel Community Resources

Tékumel has a long history of an active community. In the late 1970s through the 1980s, the official fanzines (Tékumel Journal, Journal of Tekumelani Affairs, Imperial Military Journal, The Imperial Courier) kept the designers in touch with the players. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the community went digital and the mailing lists (Tékumel Digest, The Blue Room, and the Tékumel  ahoo! Group) took over. Nowadays, Tékumel  has a pretty active set of communities online. This post will survey them.

Tékumel Website and Forums

The official Tekumel website is a gorgeous creation, one of the best game-related sites I've ever seen. It is a fount of information about the world and games of Tekumel. I has adventures, rules, encyclopedic articles, art, and more. 

It also has the Tekumel Forums, a place to discuss all things Tekumelani. The folks ther are friendly and helpful. Check it out, read some posts, and respond. 

Tékumel-related Yahoo! Groups 

A variety of groups exist on Yahoo. The main Tekumel group is active, and the miniatures group is pretty active as well. Many of the other ones need more activity. Check out the archives. 

• tekumel: The main Tékumel group. Active. The archives hold great amounts of fun discussion. Anything new gets announced here. This is a must-read list.
• apatekumel: Visitations of Glory, the Tékumel Amateur Press Association (APA). No issues since Feb 2008. The files section contains most of the issues of the apazine, as well as Tekumel.com. If you need an adventure, the issues have tons of great material.
• tekumelnovels: Discussion of Man of Gold and Professor Barker's other novels. Last message in 2009.
• tsolyani: For the discussion of the Tsolyáni language. This summer they had a VOIP teleconference.
• MightyImperialDeeds: A group for posting your game reports in the style of Imperial Dispatches, as was done in the fanzines of old. Only one message, but a new one is pending. (I just sent a Dispatch that I wrote for a recent game and posted on my website. When I saw the description of this group, I sent the Dispatch in to the moderator.)
• savage_tekumel: A group for developing a set of Savage Worlds rules for Tékumel. The author of this rule set posted drafts in 2009. Nothing has been posted since then.
• TekumelArt: For the dissemination of fan art related to Tékumel, as well as discussion of various methods of producing said art, such as electronic means. Not much traffic.
• TekumelMinis-War: This group is for talking about Tékumel miniatures and wargaming. The new figures have helped revitalize this group, which has recent activity.
• tenebrousplaces: This group publishes Tenebrous Places: The Magazine for People Being Pursued by the Undead, a stylish graphic magazine with a humorous slant, as well as other graphical constructs of the moderator. It's been a couple years since the last post of substance, but the archives are well worth looking at. Very funny stuff.

Tékumel Facebook group

The Tekumel Facebook group is gets a fair amount of traffic. If you use FB a lot, check it out.

Tékumel Google+ Community

The Tékumel Google+ Community is brand new and quite active. I really like how it's taken off and brought new people into the Bethorm of Tekumel. 

Archives of Previous Communities

The Blue Room Archive Search Engine -- a search engine into the Blue Room Archive, a mailing list maintained by Chris Davies in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Massive amount of good content.
The Tekumel Digest -- mailing list maintained by me during the early 1990s.
Shadowlands BBS archive -- a BBS maintained by James Roach in the 1990s with some Tekumel content.
alt.games.frp.tekumel archives -- a USENET group from the 1990s.

So, there's no excuse if you are feeling alone and isolated in your love of Tekumel. There are many places to hang out with new friends.