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Episode 17, “No NPCs on Tékumel”
Welcome to The Hall of Blue Illumination, the podcast dedicated to the world of M.A.R. Barker’s Tékumel. In this episode, our hosts discuss Prof. Barker’s now-infamous declaration, “There are no NPCs on Tékumel.” Essentially, what the Professor meant is that the players’ characters aren’t particularly special as far as the greater world of Tékumel is concerned. Our hosts examine ways to follow this approach in your own games.
[00:01:02] Prof. Barker was particularly straightforward about this. Why should players in a fantasy game with no other frame-of-reference treat NPCs as “less real” than the PCs.
[00:01:49] In fact, the NPCs were perhaps “more real” to Prof. Barker because he knew who they were.
[00:01:59] We’ve discussed this before: Tékumel presumes that the players aren’t the most important people on the world. They’re just a handful of millions of people going on about their lives in Tékumel. The world is much bigger than they are.
[00:04:00] How do you say “scuzzbucket” in Tsolyáni? [GPD: If this humble scribe could be so presumptuous as to make a suggestion, Múbakh hiWaskhékh.]
[00:05:06] When the Professor writes about various NPCs and other personages of Tékumel, you can see that these are “people the professor knows,” in that he attributes to them the same sense of personal complexity that you would to a real person.
[00:05:57] This should be encouraged. The “more real” the referee presents an NPC, the more real players’ interaction with that NPC will be.
[00:07:00] Consider your NPC’s place in the wider world. Who are they? A little bit of effort goes a long way. James relates his experiences with gaming groups where players have become attached to a minor NPC and ended up taking the campaign in a new and more interesting direction.
[00:09:40] Having a prepared list of Tekumeláni names so that you can name NPCs on the fly is a great way to add depth in the moment. Victor relates that he’s encountered referees who have given names to NPCs that are in fact the throne names of emperors and empresses.
[00:11:10] There’s no publication that one can go to for a simple list of names. Someone really should simply catalog the names used across Tékumel publications for this purpose. [GPD: But see Béthorm, pp. 24-5, § 3.5.4 and 3.5.5]
[00:12:11] Keeping track of referee characters. Our hosts discuss how they keep track of PCs and NPCs. Professor Barker kept characters on index cards, which were color-coded by the god the character worshiped.
[00:18:56] A fu
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Welcome to The Hall of Blue Illumination, the podcast dedicated to the world of M.A.R. Barker’s Tékumel. In this episode, our hosts discuss Prof. Barker’s now-infamous declaration, “There are no NPCs on Tékumel.” Essentially, what the Professor meant is that the players’ characters aren’t particularly special as far as the greater world of Tékumel is concerned. Our hosts examine ways to follow this approach in your own games.
[00:01:02] Prof. Barker was particularly straightforward about this. Why should players in a fantasy game with no other frame-of-reference treat NPCs as “less real” than the PCs.
[00:01:49] In fact, the NPCs were perhaps “more real” to Prof. Barker because he knew who they were.
[00:01:59] We’ve discussed this before: Tékumel presumes that the players aren’t the most important people on the world. They’re just a handful of millions of people going on about their lives in Tékumel. The world is much bigger than they are.
[00:04:00] How do you say “scuzzbucket” in Tsolyáni? [GPD: If this humble scribe could be so presumptuous as to make a suggestion, Múbakh hiWaskhékh.]
[00:05:06] When the Professor writes about various NPCs and other personages of Tékumel, you can see that these are “people the professor knows,” in that he attributes to them the same sense of personal complexity that you would to a real person.
[00:05:57] This should be encouraged. The “more real” the referee presents an NPC, the more real players’ interaction with that NPC will be.
[00:07:00] Consider your NPC’s place in the wider world. Who are they? A little bit of effort goes a long way. James relates his experiences with gaming groups where players have become attached to a minor NPC and ended up taking the campaign in a new and more interesting direction.
[00:09:40] Having a prepared list of Tekumeláni names so that you can name NPCs on the fly is a great way to add depth in the moment. Victor relates that he’s encountered referees who have given names to NPCs that are in fact the throne names of emperors and empresses.
[00:11:10] There’s no publication that one can go to for a simple list of names. Someone really should simply catalog the names used across Tékumel publications for this purpose. [GPD: But see Béthorm, pp. 24-5, § 3.5.4 and 3.5.5]
[00:12:11] Keeping track of referee characters. Our hosts discuss how they keep track of PCs and NPCs. Professor Barker kept characters on index cards, which were color-coded by the god the character worshiped.
[00:18:56] A fu