"You of polite anonymity are invited to science-fantasy adventure 100,000 years in the future. On Te'kumel, demons and devils are real, magic possible, politics treacherous, slavery, sacrifice and assassination routine..."
Here at last, for DunDraCon (The West Coast's Premier Game Convention), is a game I intended to run at DunDraCon 38, but had to retake a certification exam (blast), and again at DDC 39, but 5e came out and I participated running a game celebrating that release, so here we are two years later. (heck I was even in my forties back then!)
The project is as I left it back in November 2013. The rules booklet for players is almost complete, I have two panels to finish for my judge's screen, and prepared scenarios for mercenary, mission, and (almost) Jakallan underworld. Ha, sorry, if the team wants to run arena battles at first level probably that's not going to end well for the combatants (if only because, gosh darnit, stupid arena combat may confuse my brain with DarkSun).
Anyhow, it was very nice of Mark Schynert to spotlight the game again. Empire of the Petal Throne really is a rarity in the annals of RPGs and should receive greater attention.
Hailing from a decade when the lines between sci-fi and fantasy were blissfully more fluid, EPT garnered a reputation for the complexity of language and social conventions in the setting. Essentially, the conceit is a non-European flavored feudal realm, preferring instead metaphorical expression from India and the South and Central Americas. At it's heart, however, Empire of the Petal Throne is a game with incredible options for exploration and adventure as a direct result of the genre-bending, millennium-spanning background.
Unfortunately, character death remains a real possibility. Thus in whatever scenario pursued by the adventurers I won't dwell on the language and social "niceties" so much and rather keep a stable of NPC nearby for a player to sub-in once PC bids aeternum vale.
 |
| (click through link and scroll waaay to the bottom for DDC game listing) |
