Monday, February 20, 2012

Original EPT Now Available

Victor Raymond asked me to pass the following along, on behalf of the Tékumel Foundation:
The original manuscript for Empire of the Petal Throne is now available from DriveThru/RPG Now.  Known as the "green cover" or "mimeo" version, it was produced in the Spring of 1974 in a limited and confidential run of fifty copies for the world of Tékumel, the creation of Professor M.A.R. Barker.This is the first time this original manuscript has been published or made available to the general public.  The PDF product now available for purchase was prepared from a copy taken directly from Prof. Barker’s archive, and is presented with each facing page containing the text of the original manuscript.

This version is a precursor to the game published shortly later by TSR, Inc. and contains a number of significant differences.  However, it is in many ways is substantively similar to the later TSR publication, and is being produced more as a historical document than as a different product.   Print-on-demand versions are in development and expected to be available by mid-March. "Tékumel" is a trademark of M.A.R. Barker; for more information about Tékumel, visit www.Tekumel.com. 
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Posted by James Maliszewski at 9:26 AM
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11 comments:

  1. Geoffrey McKinneyFebruary 20, 2012 at 10:25 AM

    Very cool. I'm going to wait for the POD.

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  2. velaranFebruary 20, 2012 at 12:59 PM

    This is awesome!(And timely, I'm reading Prof. Barker's Flamesong right now.) I'm looking forward to the POD manuscript, myself. It'd be too sweet if it was a 70's style repro...

    It's great that the Tékumel Foundation is offering a glimpse into the past of a true classic from the Golden Age of RPGs to both old and new fans of the Empire of the Petal Throne setting! One day I hope to run an EPT game, and I've been looking into the original TSR set, so this couldn't have came at a better time for me.

    Here's hoping more foundational documents of the dawn of the hobby see the light of day in the years ahead, especially for historical preservation purposes. I for one will snap them up, that's for sure! :-)

    Thanx for passing the message along!

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  3. NecropraxisFebruary 20, 2012 at 2:28 PM

    POD for me too. I hope they offer a nice POD + PDF bundle option.

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  4. Victor RaymondFebruary 20, 2012 at 3:16 PM

    POD+PDF bundle is definitely in the works.

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  5. Gavin NormanFebruary 20, 2012 at 4:56 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Gavin NormanFebruary 20, 2012 at 4:57 PM

    Any EPT experts know how different this is to the version released by TSR? Is it still basically D&D, or are the rules quite different?

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    Replies
    1. Victor RaymondFebruary 20, 2012 at 11:02 PM

      Textually, it is very similar to the TSR version. However, it is arranged differently, and a good deal of the source material has enough differences to make for some interesting textual analysis.

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    2. Gavin NormanFebruary 21, 2012 at 3:09 AM

      Thanks! I don't have the TSR version either, so subtle differences will go right over my head :) I'll buy this then when it comes out in print... looking forward to it!

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  7. Philosophical slumberFebruary 20, 2012 at 7:39 PM

    this is just amazing.

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  8. Victor RaymondFebruary 20, 2012 at 11:02 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  9. UnknownFebruary 21, 2012 at 2:52 AM

    I am going to buy this right now. I have been very excited waiting for this since I first heard about it. Thanks for the heads up.

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