Episode 6:  “Empire of the Petal Throne, Part 1”

Welcome to The Hall of Blue Illumination, a podcast dedicated to the world of M.A.R. Barker’s Tékumel.  Scott has recently started an Empire of the Petal Throne game, so in this episode we discuss some of the more abstruse aspects of the 1975 rules set.

Our hosts close out the episode with pronunciations of the names of the Five Gods of Stability.

Show Notes:

[00:01:20]  In Scott’s youth, he believed the 1975 rules set inferior to more modern rule systems.  But now he now realizes that EPT is a wonderful game as written.

[00:02:45]  What is meant by “bonuses to hit dice” with respect to Basic Talents?  Hint, it’s not like D&D.  Instead, these bonuses are to your “to hit dice” i.e., your attack roll. (See EPT §§ 411-412, p. 15; § 710, p. 30)

[00:07:37]  Rules for finding secret doors and detecting traps.  (EPT § 412, p. 16; see also EPT § 1210, p. 62)

[00:10:22]  Constitution modifiers in EPT do not modify hit points.  (EPT § 413, p. 17)

[00:13:30]  Constitution scores can affect one’s ability to use eyes, or to be revivified.  (EPT § 413, p. 17)

[00:16:20]  Unless you’ve picked up the original playtest rules, you won’t know that Comeliness wasn’t an original EPT statistic.  This provides a window into Professor Barker’s approach to roleplaying.

[00:20:09]  Real world analogs to Tsolyáni foods, tsi’il, hmá, and hmélu.

[00:20:52]  In a “fresh off the boat” campaign, how do you reconcile the civilized Tsolyáni skills in § 420 with foreign player characters? 

[00:25:19]  How do you reconcile high rolls for original skills (which can yield patrician skills) with plebian characters, and vice versa? (EPT § 420, p. 18)

[00:27:16]  EPT’s skill system predicts the non-weapon proficiencies of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.

[00:28:06]  The chance of succeeding at a skill is determined by rolling on the Chances of Spells Working Table (EPT § 434, p. 21).

[00:29:10]  James reveals one of his house rules: occasionally, he transposes high Basic Talent sco