Greetings friends, gamers and webtravelers. I always have the best of intentions in getting the Mazes up and going again but life has been busy of late.
I do have some content to upload and will try to do so after tax season.
We have enjoyed a very long campaign with a very eclectic gaming group for the last nine months or so, and I say eclectic because it has a diverse mix of game experience and ages. Our youngest player is nine, we have a preteen boy, a teen aged girl, and several middle aged folks. So it has been very interesting from that vantage.
It has also been loads of fun and I have been working for over a year now on the material in the hopes I can soon offer a simple set of rules and a campaign module.
Now I'm kind of hungry to play some Tekumel!
A keeper for me from this campaign is an innovation I introduced to deliver myself from the headaches DM's face sometimes in mediating party relations, decision making and treasure sharing: The Thane.
The Thane is basically the party Caller for those who know what that is, as well as the official party leader and final arbiter of party decisions and treasure distribution. In the setting, it is a warrior culture and the Thane can be challenged only under four conditions that must all take place:
1. By right of arms in a non-lethal duel, though deaths can occur accidentally.
2.Only if the Challenger has at least half of the party's support.
3. The duel can only be fought at the beginning of each of the four major seasonal festivals.
4. It is nonmagical. Wizards must have a stand in.
With the Thane protocol in place, I am effectively removed from all party squabbles, any people not happy with leadership must contend for it and have some support, and if trouble does arise, it is settled in a game scenario during festival.
Drawbacks are obvious, but this has eliminated disputes over magic items and treasure in our games. It has also eliminated endless dithering over choices and path decisions. Liberty is given at times under certain conditions to not follow the Thane's edicts but you cannot try to sway others.
Give it a try if you are having problems in this area (and all groups see this from time to time, it's only human!)
Peace and good games.
