09-26-2014, 09:41 PM
Havard Wrote:I just got this boxed set called Adventures on Tékumel: Gardásyal - Deeds of Glory (long title!)
I already have the Tri-Stat book and the EPT one. I have just unboxed Gardasyal, but it looks like it contains a lot of stuff. The map is beautiful.
Does anyone else have this box? Chirine I am looking at you
Whats the general verdict of this box compared to the other sets?
-Havard
First off, I'm sorry I missed this when you posted it; I'm not very active on the forum, I admit, and I never thought to look in this particular topic. I hope I can make amends...
Ah, "Gardasiyal". I have very mixed emotions about this game. First off, it was not what it said it was - it is not a "complete game". You need several of the earlier "Adventures on Tekumel" books to create a player-character, and you need the earlier "Swords and Glory, Volume One - The Sourcebook" for the world setting. What was published is also not the complete game as written; it's about half there, in comparison to the actual manuscript. It is, on the other hand, as close as we'll ever get to a finished version of the incomplete "Swords and Glory, Volume Three - The Referee's Manual"; if you had both of the other two volumes of S & G, you'd be able to run a very detailed RPG campaign. You'd also never get anything done, frankly; the game mechanics are very, very, very complex.
The map is nice, but lacks the advertised hexes for movement. As art, it's great, and I treasure my copies; as a game aid, it's not very useful. The multitude of art sheets with all the 'archtypical' player-characters is very amusing to me; somebody gave the set of photos of my players from 1987 to the artist - we were all at a local F/SF convention in our costumes - and we all appeared as our alter-egos in the artwork. The really funny giveaway is Leonard Schmidt's moustache, seen on one of the characters.
I have two copies of this game in my archives, as well as all of the "Adventures in Tekumel" books, and I've never been able to use them in games. The artwork is good, and I use that to show people what Tekumel looks like. The boxed set is mostly of interest to collectiors and game designers, I suspect...
Again, I'm sorry I missed your original post!
- chirine