Raphael Pinthus Wrote:I would be very interested - but I fear I might turn out a "bad" regular player, because I usually work on weekends, and can't really adapt to the different time zone.
I'd be happy to join for a one- or two-adventure-sequence, though, if my schedule permits it.
In any case, stoked about seeing the videos of the gaming sessions! 
Thank you for your reply - and you needn't worry about being bad player, either. I am running this like the old 'Castle and Crusade Society" games, where you can drop in and out as you need to. You also don;t need to be 'at' games; we have 'hirelings' for you...
Here's an introduction to what I'm trying to do:
Hello!
First off, let me thank you for your interest in my idea of running a campaign ‘in the old style’! This is an introduction to what my idea is, and how we’ll try to do it.
Let me also thank you for your patience, too! My set of three adopted sisters lost their grandfather just before the holidays, and we’ve been very busy ever since – two of the three are here visiting from their home in Zurich, and staying with us as needed. We’re currently hip-deep in getting the memorial slide show for Grandpa Jack ready, which is why I am so late in getting back to everyone. We’re almost through, though, and we’ll be back up to speed shortly.
Right, then; let me outline what this campaign is and is not, if I may...
This is a classic 'play by mail' campaign, as was played by guys like Dave Arneson, Gary Gygax, Dave Wesely, Dave Megarry, and a host of others back in the 1970s. I have updated some of the technology, like using e-mail and the video conference features of Google+ and Skype, but it's the same style of games we played here in the Twin Cities back then. It's also the same kind of gaming that Prof. Barker used in his Tekumel campaign for some twenty years, but with some of the players being at his house on a weekly basis. This is, for all intents and purposes, an extension of Prof. Barker's 'meta-game', that he played with us and with others; game groups would send him their reports from their games, and he would include these in his games with us as rumors and events for us to interact with.
(See also the infamous "Lord Gamalu's 'secret mission' to the Southern Continent", which everybody in the Five Empires knew about. We got shipwrecked. It was a long swim home.)
The 'backbone of this campaign is Tony Bath's invaluable "Setting Up A Wargames Campaign", which is still in print and available; however, you will not need to purchase a copy! Prof. Barker used this for his on-going ‘meta-game’ that’s served for decades as the background for our adventures; before he published “Empire of the Petal Throne” in 1975, he generated some 1,500 people on 3x5 index cards, and used Tony Bath’s rules to run their careers. He would move their individual cards around in his card file boxes to show promotions, transfers, and other career moves, and we would meet these people as we moved around the Five Empires and explored his world.
Now, I want to be clear at the outset that you do not need to know anything about Tekumel; you don’t need to be a seasoned miniatures player, and you don’t need to be on either Google+ or Skype. All you need to have is a lively sense of adventure, and the willingness to send me e-mail once a week – more, if you want, and you have the inclination. I will process everyone’s e-mails on Fridays, and send out notices the same day; I used to do this in an ‘analog’ format, back in the day, and computers have made this work so much easier!!!
You will be playing an officer in command of some troops; as I like the ‘Braunstein’ game format, you will have your own objectives and missions. Your actions and orders will affect the other players, and I’m hoping that lots of games will result. Note that I am not saying ‘wargames’ or miniatures battles – those will happen, of course, but I am deliberately trying to emulate the style and flow of the games we played ‘back in the day; we didn’t draw much of a distinction between what people thinks of as ‘role-playing’ and ‘wargaming’, back then. We viewed it all as a spectrum of gaming that ranged from ‘small party of adventurers’ to ‘large battle-groups’; we played our games usually within the framework of a campaign run by a neutral party, and we had a whole lot of fun doing it.
I will be sending you a list of the various ‘positions open’, and you can pick what you’d like to play. I will then provide you with what missions, options, resources, and forces you have available, and then we’ll go from there. I will, as the campaign progresses, be sending you photos of what you see ‘on the ground’, and the reports you get from your own and other ‘sides’. This is, in effect, the classic D&D ‘domain game’, but writ large and set in Prof. Barker’s Tekumel.
As I mentioned, you do not need to know anything to start with; if there’s something that you should know, it’s my job to tell you. Likewise, I live on a 24-hour schedule; if you live on the other side of the globe, then I can deal with that. I have a classic Mastercrafters ‘World Clock’ on my desk, so that I can keep track of where you live and what your waking hours are. I will do my best to schedule games ‘on the table’ to work with your schedule, but you do not need to actually be ‘present’ to play; the gamers in my home group will be your assistants, comrades, and ‘hands’ – they’ll be happy to help you play, even if you are not going to be at the game itself.
Games will usually be fought out on my game table here at the house; it’s a lot easier for me, as all I have to do is set the terrain and get started. Really large games, should they occur, can be fought out at local game shops with the spare space – we’ve used both The Source and Fantasy Flight Games Event Center with great success. I’ll be providing the troops and the terrain – I work better when I have to get things done for games, so this will whittle down the piles of unpainted lead!
So, there we are – a short introduction. I’ll have more for you shortly, and I’ll also be posting all of this on my blog:
http://chirinesworkbench.blogspot.com/
Please feel free to ask me any questions, too!!!
Yours, chirine
