Indeed, that's a strong point of this book all around. Randomization and design are both strongly represented, and this is easily adapted if a GM and players really prefer one or the other model. A character's race, clan, and profession determine a range of possibilities and limits for the character, and skills, specializations, advantages, and disadvantages come with a point cost to flesh out a character as one intends to play it. This is a good combination and balance of class-based and point-based character development. I haven't played Tri-Stat much in the past, but I like what I see here.
The rules are a variant of the Tri-Stat system. This helps present a richer picture of the cultures, races, and environs of this world. There's some fine art, and though it ranges in quality, none is disappointing and the quantity is ideal. It's an attractive book - Solid hardcover, including a foldout map inside the back cover (though I wish they hadn't used glue - that did stain the inside of my cover), rich with artwork. Tsolyanu expectation and criticism will be high and presents an added layer to roleplay and story building. Remember, adventurers in classic stories are often those who flout society's expectations, and their stories put them at odds with their surroundings. A character's clan, profession, and social status limit behaviors that are socially acceptable - but don't let this limit your roleplaying. One caveat for GMs and roleplayers: Tsolyani society is quite rigid Roleplayers expecting wide personal freedom on a par with modern Western culture will be surprised. Travel in Tekumel is after all rather difficult. Players may be as familiar as they wish, or the GM may wish to introduce them as youth familiar only with their neighboring communities. Historical context and present societies are richly developed - a GM will want to read carefully and learn well. From maps to religion, Military to clan and family, the societies of Tsolyanu are well described and explained. Human culture in Tsolyanu is beautifully presented. As concisely as this is written, I look forward to expansions presenting neighboring lands! I'd be happy to see some of these races presented in worldbooks written from their own perspective! (That said, players can find excellent help toward these ends on Brett Slocum's Tekumel page, which is listed in the book's bibliography.) I will also note that this book is limited to Tsolyanu, and has little to offer with regard to other lands in Tekumel. If these were writeups of isolated human cultures, I'd call them culturally biased. The authors expect a human-centered campaign, and non-human races are written from the perspective of an outward observer.
#Tekumel empire of the petal throne Pc
Some work would be required to approach these as PC races, however. This is probably a good idea for many roleplayers, but some of us with abstract minds might enjoy playing the part of the highly political Pachi Lei or the linear-minded Tinaliya. The writers do an excellent job explaining each race physically, culturally and game-ably - though they encourage the GM to use alien races only as NPCs, largely due to communication barriers and a presumed difficulty on the player's part to play from the perspective of remarkably alien cultures and bodies. Races is strained by the inability of one or the other race to comprehend or to enunciate the language of another. (Talislanta ain't the first with 'no elves!') Non-human races on Tekumel are an essential part of the society, though they are strange, alien, and would be treated as monsters if we saw them on our streets today. This is not roleplaying in an imagined Europe, or anything directly resembling earth. Suffice it to say this is a remarkably foreign environment. Of course, this is a slim outline of Tsolyani prehistory. In this time their cultures, languages and lives have changed significantly. Humans (largely Asian, African and South American), along with many alien races, have lived on this planet for 30,000 years since. "burnt out the stars", cut off interstellar communication, and destroyed much higher technology. The planet had grown to become a bustling interstellar port before a grand cataclysm The planet they found was life-supporting but hot and harsh, and they settled in the most habitable region available - now known as Tsolyanu - to found a new society. 60,000 years ago humans fled here after a nuclear war. The world of Tekumel is distant from our own, both in time and space. Barker's classic world of Tekumel - compiled, updated and beautifully presented for a 21st-century audience. After thirty years, it's all in one book - Professor M.A.R.
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