The relationship between Feist's stuff and Tékumel is a long-standing bone of serious contention in certain quarters. More precisely, the extent to which Feist himself knew that he was "borrowing" ideas from Empire of the Petal Throne is what's at issue and that's not something about which I can judge, since I simply don't know.
Reminds me of a guy in Living Greyhawk who would play 4 of the same character (same name/class/etc) all so that the Living style of play (limited play ops to avoid leveling out too quickly) wouldn't break 'the narrative'. He then would write books based on the adventures of 'Odilon the Bard' (ie his character inserted as hero in the LG module storyline) and actually print and sell them in gaming stores.
Funny stuff! Only thing is, I followed the link and got an eyeful of that *stupid* Shannara (sp? guess what? don't care) cover with Zeppo the Unibrow Elf and Bighand Hammernose the Dwarf. Thanks for nothing man.
Actually Feist had relatively little to do with the shared-world Midkemia campaign. He was not one of the gamemasters, and his contributions consisted of being set in the newbie ghetto of the West Coast (which was outside of the central region and main campaign emphasis). He asked if he could write a story set in the world and was told he could do whatever he liked as long as it was set there. Which is why you suddenly had the cadet branch of the Royal House suddenly popping up in the fringes of nowhere...
As for Tékumel, one of the actual gamemasters of the campaign used Empire of the Petal Throne as an alternate dimension. According to Feist, when I chatted with him about it once, he had no idea of the use of the original source, but since the whole fabric of the original world was "stolen" wholesale from other people, that is not particularly surprising. Since then the subject has become rather touchy [understatement] on both sides and I wouldn't mention it anywhere near any of the proponents of the two sides.* <grin> The fact that there are obvious legal considerations has just hardened the conflict.
Although I do regret that the success of his Midkemia stories meant the death of the Midkemia campaign and halted their production of their own variant rule set. From the drafts I'd seen it would probably have been of intrest to Old School D&Ders.
* as an example of how rabid the fan base can be, one person who shall remain nameless once accused David Brin of stealing the name Duke of Bas-Tyra in The Practice Effect from Feist. [His Grace was actually David's character from the Midkemia campaign.]
Huh, I totally forgot about this writter that he was also D&D fan. His "Magician" is very good book (I think it reached main-stream literature level). N.B. Betrayal At Krondor is a classic cRPG. Thx for reminder, James!
Kinda Tekumel inspired, too, innit?
ReplyDeleteThe relationship between Feist's stuff and Tékumel is a long-standing bone of serious contention in certain quarters. More precisely, the extent to which Feist himself knew that he was "borrowing" ideas from Empire of the Petal Throne is what's at issue and that's not something about which I can judge, since I simply don't know.
ReplyDeleteI liked the Pern cover!
ReplyDeleteAs a big fan of Feist's Magician, all I can say is "lulz".
ReplyDeleteHehehe...
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a guy in Living Greyhawk who would play 4 of the same character (same name/class/etc) all so that the Living style of play (limited play ops to avoid leveling out too quickly) wouldn't break 'the narrative'. He then would write books based on the adventures of 'Odilon the Bard' (ie his character inserted as hero in the LG module storyline) and actually print and sell them in gaming stores.
Funny stuff! Only thing is, I followed the link and got an eyeful of that *stupid* Shannara (sp? guess what? don't care) cover with Zeppo the Unibrow Elf and Bighand Hammernose the Dwarf. Thanks for nothing man.
ReplyDeletebrilliant. You all saw the RPG covers gallery too, right?
ReplyDeleteActually Feist had relatively little to do with the shared-world Midkemia campaign. He was not one of the gamemasters, and his contributions consisted of being set in the newbie ghetto of the West Coast (which was outside of the central region and main campaign emphasis). He asked if he could write a story set in the world and was told he could do whatever he liked as long as it was set there. Which is why you suddenly had the cadet branch of the Royal House suddenly popping up in the fringes of nowhere...
ReplyDeleteAs for Tékumel, one of the actual gamemasters of the campaign used Empire of the Petal Throne as an alternate dimension. According to Feist, when I chatted with him about it once, he had no idea of the use of the original source, but since the whole fabric of the original world was "stolen" wholesale from other people, that is not particularly surprising. Since then the subject has become rather touchy [understatement] on both sides and I wouldn't mention it anywhere near any of the proponents of the two sides.* <grin> The fact that there are obvious legal considerations has just hardened the conflict.
Although I do regret that the success of his Midkemia stories meant the death of the Midkemia campaign and halted their production of their own variant rule set. From the drafts I'd seen it would probably have been of intrest to Old School D&Ders.
* as an example of how rabid the fan base can be, one person who shall remain nameless once accused David Brin of stealing the name Duke of Bas-Tyra in The Practice Effect from Feist. [His Grace was actually David's character from the Midkemia campaign.]
Huh, I totally forgot about this writter that he was also D&D fan. His "Magician" is very good book (I think it reached main-stream literature level). N.B. Betrayal At Krondor is a classic cRPG. Thx for reminder, James!
ReplyDeleteJ
Fantastic stuff, I'm glad I'm not the only one who hated Covenant!
ReplyDeleteWhere's the link for the RPG covers? I'm being stupid...
brilliant. You all saw the RPG covers gallery too, right?
ReplyDeleteOn the same site or elsewhere?
If only Traveller was as interesting as Firefly.
ReplyDeleteIf only Traveller was as interesting as Firefly.
ReplyDeleteUnsurprisingly, I'd say the exact opposite.
Aha, the RPG Net forum thread, I haven't read that for ages, thanks! That's the last half hour of work sorted :D
ReplyDelete