Non-humans for TFT Tekumel

Now I've converted some of the alien non-humans for my TFT Tekumel game in a couple weeks. Here is a preview of some of my designs.

Pé Chói (The Listeners)

In the western forests of Tsolyanu live the Pé Chói, beautiful insectoids with considerable magical talents. These six-limbed beings are 6’ to 7’ tall, they have two legs and four arms, and they are capable of using all four arms at once. They have fan-shaped external ears and a long jaw. They easily join human society, rising nearly as high as humans within the bureaucratic hierarchies. Pé Chói seek revenge on those who kill their kind without provocation.
Pé Chói characters start with ST 8 DX 10 IQ 8 and 8 extra points. They have an MA of 10. Pé Chói chitin stops two hits, and they also make armor and weapons suited to their unique anatomy. Their lower set of arms are at -2 DX, and when attacking with more than two arms, all attacks are at -4 DX.

All Pé Chói can learn spells and talents at normal cost. The race’s excellent hearing and sight gives them natural Alertness. They have a psychic connection to members of their own race, which allows them to detect the death of one of their own within a 3 mile radius. Beyond that, they have an innate awareness of all living things, allowing them to perceive the presence of lifeforms within a range of 2 yards (same effects as Detect Life spell, except Pe Choi can tell the difference between animal and plant life).

Gray Ssú (Enemies of Man)

These rather shaggy, six-limbed beings are one of the native races of Tékumel, cousins to the Hlüss. These magically adept beings live in their subterranean cities north of Salarvyá. Their bodies exude the odor of musty cinnamon, they speak in high chiming voices. Needing only small blue lights, the Ssú can be found in the tunnels and installations of the ancients, looking for the remnants of old technology. 

Grey Ssú start with ST 10, DX 8, IQ 8, and 8 extra points to spend. They have an MA of 10. They rarely wear armor, but warriors will often use shields. Ssú have two arms and four legs, the front pair having crude manipulators (-2 DX) making them capable of being used as hands. They have a keen sense of direction underground, as well as good night vision. All Grey Ssú can learn spells and all talents at normal cost. Grey Ssú can hypnotize victims within five meters, making them obey metal commands (treat as a Disbelieve action -- the Ssú makes 3d/IQ roll  to succeed and the target gets a 3d/IQ roll to resist). Only the death of the commanding Ssú can free one so enthralled. Ahoggyá, Swamp Folk, and Tinalíya are immune to this effect.

Tekumel Bestiary for TFT

I've been converting some critters to TFT for my upcoming game. I started with my GURPS conversions and compared them to the EPT versions, as well as Justin Grabowski's TFT versions from my web site. I thought this would be a great time to for a preview. Here are two for your enjoyment.

 

Qól (The Serpent-headed Ones)

Originally created by the Temple of Ksárul, these intelligent humanoid mutants have flattened, snake-like heads and tentacle arms. Qól are often used as tomb guardians, or may be found wandering in the Underworld, singly or in groups of up to thirty.

They have ST 9-12, DX 11, IQ 8 with an MA of 8. Their scaly skin stops 2 hits and they often wear armor and use weapons and shields. Qól have good vision in darkness, but they fear bright lights -- sudden intense light will stun them (-2 DX) for 2 turns. Their poisonous bite does 1d-1 damage and a 3d/ST roll is needed to avoid an additional 2d damage from the venom. They carry weapons and arrows which are poisoned with the same venom. Qól will only attack if they outnumber a group. 

Marashyálu (The Whimperer)
These creatures of the Underworld are masters of illusionary disguise. They were created by the ancients as treasure guards. They often appear as helpless women or children, or wounded comrades, crying and begging for help.

ST 20-25, DX 12, IQ 7, and an MA of 10. Their strong bodies stop 4 hits of damage. Marashyálu hypnotize their victims and are able to target all within a megahex in front of them, making them fight their comrades. All must make a 3d/IQ roll to avoid being entranced. If a Marashyálu takes its victim away to an undisturbed location, they will suck the bodily juices of the victim by inserting their feeding tube into a body opening, doing 2 hits per turn.

Meeting either of those would certainly give me nightmares. Enjoy.

TFT Tekumel Completed

I have finished TFT Tekumel. It is not in final form, but if anyone would like to review the rules and give me feedback, click the link below. I prefer folks who are at least mildly conversant with either TFT or Tekumel (any rules set), but a little blindtesting never hurts.

TFT Tekumel Manuscript

They keep saying there are no Tékumel adventures

I keep hearing that there is a dearth of adventures for Tékumel, but when I searched online sources for adventures, I was pleasantly surprised by how many well-crafted scenarios were available. This post is a survey of what's available with a link to comprehensive spreadsheet at the end.

If you're talking about published adventures, 'They' would be right. Three adventures were published, one by Michael Mayeau in 1981 (The Nightmare Maze of Jigrésh) and two by Mark Pettigrew in 1984 (A Jakállan Intrigue and The Tomb Complex of Nereshánbo). If you add in the three books of solo adventures from Adventures on Tékumel, which can often be adapted to a group, you are still left with a veritable paucity. (Reprints of all these are available from Tita's House of  Games.) Turning to magazines, I found only The Temple of the Doomed Prince by Phil Holmes aka Dave Morris published in White Dwarf #54. That's it for professional large run products. But that ignores a huge swatch of the marketplace and one extremely important for Tékumel: the fanzines.

The official fanzines, The Tékumel Journal, The Imperial Military Journal, The Journal of Tékumel Affairs, and The Imperial Courier, focused on encyclopedic articles on the temples, legions, non-humans, culture, astrology and numerology, and lands uncharted on the maps, as well as fiction. Not one adventure could I find.

Then we come to the Eye of All-Seeing Wonder, the British fanzine, published by Dave Morris and Steve Foster. From the first issue, with Michael Cule's excellent Welcome to Jakálla, a good "Fresh Off the Boat" scenario, this fanzine had at least one adventure in each issue, sometimes two or three. I used Welcome to Jakálla for a birthday party game last fall, though I replaced the trip to the ruins of Ngála with my own excursion down below. In total, in six issues, The Eye had eleven adventures and two campaign settings -- quite a haul. (Online versions of these issues are available on the exquisite Tekumel: The World of the Petal Throne website, the official Tekumel resource.)

Next on our trip around the Net we come to The Book of Visitations of Glory, an Amateur Press Association (APA) devoted to Tékumel. For those not familiar, the original idea of an APA was to publish a fanzine among a set of authors, who then commented on each others work in later issues. The famous Alarums and Excursions was the first roleplaying APA, started by Lee Gold in 1975. Visitations is circulated freely electronically, but retains the commentary aspect. In the seven years of its existence (2001-2008), thirteen adventures were published, including eleven by the prodigious Krista Donnelly. I played in several of these scenarios at U-Con over the years, so I know they have been thoroughly playtested.

Besides hosting the online versions of Eye of All-Seeing Wonder and Visitations of Glory, the official Tekumel site also has its own set of adventures. First is The Temple of the Doomed Prince, that ancient adventure from White Dwarf, a rare magazine indeed. Luckily, you don't need to locate a copy just to get this one four-page adventure. Against the Grain by Bob Dushay is a sequel to one of the adventures from The Eye # 6 (A Matter of Honor -- here updated slightly from The Eye version for consistency). If you happen to be in Mu'ugalavyáni, then you might take An Excursion into Old Cho'óchi, a short adventure by Dave Morris. Lastly is the inestimable Patrick Brady's The Silver Hma, where players investigate the theft of some silver ingots that were meant for paying legions fighting in the north.

These adventures should keep your group playing for a long time to come, and more scenarios await exploration in the Tékumel Adventure Index, the promised spreadsheet.

Tekumel Adventures

I'm going to write a couple Tekumel adventures and I'm soliciting some ideas for these adventures. What haven't you seen done that you'd like to see done?

Underworld? Politics? Military? High Seas? Undying Wizards? Pitchforks and chlen carts?