Sunday, June 6, 2021
Wandering DMs Interview
For those keen to hear my goofy voice and even goofier thoughts, you can check out the full interview I did with the Wandering DMs. I had a good time chatting about science fiction and fantasy, Tékumel, and the new science fantasy campaign setting I working on.
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It was an entertaining interview and very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to see you facially hirsute however!
It's my pandemic beard. I figured, since I can't really go anywhere, I might as well give it a go. I'm not sure it'll stay once things return to normal, whatever that means.
DeleteCan empathize with that. I've still got a week till my second shot and haven't seen a barber since last January. I'm going to lose three pounds when I do finally get a haircut. Which is going to require searching for a new barber, since my old one retired during the pandemic.
DeleteOne of the worst things about getting old is the increasingly difficulty of finding a barber who's not younger than you are...
Enormous fun, and quite thought provoking. Wish for many of these in the future!
ReplyDeleteOnly 29 minutes in so far, but the anecdote about Tékumel being “beaten” was new to me. Is there a source for that? I would be interested to read more.
ReplyDeleteThe story was told to me by one of the players in Professor Barker's campaign. I don't know that it's ever been presented in published form anywhere.
DeleteI thought that was interesting too. I assume the PCs managed to get the whole star system put back in its original universe, and I guess you could end things there since the Tekumel of the game would be in for so much change that it would become almost unrecognizable. Me, I'd make that the start of things instead - managing re-contact with whatever interstellar civilizations are out there now, dealing with some of the inimical species who may suddenly have their own allies showing up, solving the mystery of what erased so many systems in the first place and going on to return those stars to our reality. That's campaign material for a lifetime right there, although definitely leaning more toward open scifi than the secret variety.
Delete"Returned Tekumel" would certainly a neat branch of tree of time to check out even in a more traditional campaign.
The players in question reassembled the Egg of the World, which returned the Nu Ophiuchi star system and all its planets, including Tékumel, back into "normal" space. Beyond that, I unfortunately don't know much more.
DeleteThere are many fascinating facets to this story.
DeleteIt illustrates the competitive mindset that could be found more often back then. I usually think about exploring a setting, rather than "solving" it. (Although I do want to run a classic Traveller campaign that "Illuminizes" the traditional Third Imperium setting.)
And that seems more like a point-of-view of players, rather than characters. Why would a bunch of people (multiple PCs) who grew up on Tékumel think it natural to upend their world, relighting the lamps in the sky with whatever other consequences this might bring, and which the PCs couldn't anticipate?
That they could even accomplish this seems odd. What was special about this moment in history that allowed these characters to reassemble the Egg when those who still had memory of science couldn't, before the Time of Darkness? And wouldn't there be a lot of opposition from those defending the status quo: gods, Undying Wizards, not to mention the earthly political structures if they got word, etc.? That PCs could enact such a change to the world is practically apotheosis.
Had Barker planned from the beginning for this to be possible or was he reacting to his players and improvising? Given how much time and effort he put into developing this world, I would think the latter. How much did this campaign change Tékumel from earlier conceptions?
Excellent interview. Really enjoyed it James. I also wanted to add the comment here, I made on Yootoobz.
ReplyDelete'd wager that Star Wars was the instigator for "The Split". While it was certainly Sci-Fantasy, it's massive popularity/breaking of barriers changed SF/Fantasy entertainment forever, in all mediums. That said, it was most certainly evident in the 1980s. I do not recall the bookshelves and such being separated until a few years after Star Wars.