Ugly Mechanics

In Tekumelani fandom, game mechanics are a distasteful, declasse topic. Well, so are sewer systems, but getting by without 'em is ever so slightly distasteful itself. In the spirit of open inquiry, here are the systems I know of for running Tekumel campaigns, in no particular order:

(No, I'm not going to rate them. I might be declasse, but I'm not suicidal. Pick whatever will work best for your campaign. Click on the corresponding Tsolyani numeral for information on where to get it.)

	Empire of the Petal Throne -- the original, dating back to 1975. D&D-derived, character class and level-based system. Out of print, but available through various used game dealers. TSR. Official.
	Swords & Glory -- a skill and proficiency-based system. Volume 1 is actually a sourcebook with world background only; perhaps the one "must have" book for anyone interested in Tekumel. Volume 2 contains game mechanics, while Volume 3 has information for the GM. (Don't confuse these with Books 1-3 of Volume 1, the first two of which were printed separately by Different Worlds.) Volume 1 is available through used game dealers, and will soon be reissued in electronic form. Volume 2 is almost impossible to find in the original printing, and has been re-released by Carl Brodt. Volume 3 is available only in manuscript form; three or four copies are known to exist (this author has one). Gamescience. Official.
	Adventures on Tekumel -- a set of solo adventure gamebooks, with a skill and proficiency-based system. (You can learn almost as much about Tekumel by going through these as by reading Swords & Glory Vol. 1.) Not really a rules system. In print. TOME. Official.
	Gardasiyal -- a skill and proficiency-based system derived from Swords & Glory Volumes 2 and 3. Gardasiyal does not have a character generation system; at a minimum, you'll need the first Adventures in Tekumel book. If you buy and use all of the solo adventure books with Gardasiyal, you get what must be the most detailed, albeit costly, character generation system in existence. This is what we did, and it worked well. In print. TOME. Official.
	Tirikelu -- a skill and proficiency-based system written by Dave Morris, a British Tekumel fan. Serialized in The Eye of All-Seeing Wonder, and also available in electronic form on the Web. Unofficial, but specifically designed for Tekumel.
	GURPS -- it's Generic! It's Universal! And Brett Slocum has written Tekumel supplement material for it. Published in Pyramid magazine, and available in electronic form on the Web. Unofficial.
	RuneQuest -- Sandy Petersen has adapted RuneQuest for use with Tekumel. Unlike the other entries here, I know nothing about it except that the adaptations are available on the Web. Unofficial.
	Torg -- someone has written a world description for Tekumel for use with the short-lived, sort-of-multi-genre game Torg. I haven't looked at it; it's available on the Web. Unofficial.
	AD&D -- and so we come full circle... Available in electronic form on the Web. Unofficial.

What did we do? We used Gardasiyal, with the solo adventures as a character generation system. We've modified the system a bit -- especially around experience and skill acquisition -- and we've added some stuff back in from Swords & Glory Vol. 2 about career advancement and social standing. We've also added some unofficial material on sword and unarmed martial arts styles which was originally written by Patrick Brady for GURPS.

Why? Because I really, really liked the idea of using the solo adventures for character generation, as well as player orientation to Tekumel, and Gardasiyal dovetails with the simplified system used in the AoT books very well. Since I intended to run a highly political campaign, the fact that Adventures on Tekumel creates high social standing characters was perfect. The changes were made to adapt the system to our group's tastes, and are explained elsewhere in the Administrivia section.