I’m re-reading M.A.R. Barker’s novel Man of
Gold and it’s drawing me back into the rich, complex,
distinctly non-western roleplaying game world of Tekumel. I’ve
discussed this setting before (“Tekumel: The Lands of Joyful Addiction”) and how, despite the vast depth of the game world, I
can never quite dive into it at the gaming table, at least for very
long. After some reflection I’ve identified several reasons for
this, not necessarily limited to Tekumel but particularly to games
with esoteric settings. They all feed my growing list of elements I
feel necessary in a good roleplaying game core rules set beyond
basic, intuitive, yet easily adaptable mechanics (no doubt fodder for
future Hobby Games Recce posts). But I want to concentrate on one
aspect often missing from the various incarnations of Tekumel-based
roleplaying games that could help make them and other games more
easily accessible: adventure seeds and outlines.
