From Mystara to Tekumel: B/X Adventures in the Empire of the Petal Throne

I am aware that this blog is focused on Basic & Expert D&D and the world of Mystara (the Known World from the Expert set) so I will try to make this post a one-off. 

I reckon that the original Empire of the Petal Throne (EoPT) rules are close enough to B/X that it does not take much to convert or mash-up the two sets of rules. They are both derived from Original D&D, and as such have stats such as descending AC, Hit Dice, movement. I myself have the magenta rulebook (pictured above) so I will be working from that as the EoPT rules. 

Character classes in EoPT are Warrior, Magic User and Priest - these can considered equivalent to the Fighter, Magic User and Cleric classes of B/X. However, the treatment of spells is quite different. Here in EoPT rather than memorising and preparing spells in a Vancian way, priests and MUs have skills.  These are far fewer in number than B/X spells, though they are mostly usable once per day, becoming reusable after a rest. These skills are (in order of escalating power):

Magic User:

• Control of Self
• Illusion
• Clairaudience
• Clairvoyance
• Telekinesis
• Astrology
• Medium
• Nature Control
• Necromancy
• Control Underworld Creatures
• The Gray Hand

Priest:

• Know Two Modern Languages
• Know Two Ancient Languages
• Production of Light
• Detect Good/Evil
• Cure Light Wounds
• ESP
• Telepathy
• Protection From Evil/Good
• Cure Serious Wounds
• Control Person
• Remove Curse
• Revivify

Then there are the Bonus Spells, and I believe that priests and MU share the same list of bonus spells, split up into 3 groups of escalating power. How the DM wants to handle this is up to them. Personally I would ignore the skills-based magic of EoPT and give spellcasters of Tekumel the Vancian spells of B/X. Although this is quick and easy, I admit one loses some of the EoPT flavour. Perhaps some of the skills and bonus spells could be converted into B/X spells?

Thieves are conspicuous by their absence in EoPT. Are they just hiding in the shadows? Personally I would allow thieves to operate within Tekumel as normal. However, they are socially and legally in a tenuous position, so they do not make their presence known to the authorities and keep their activities as discrete as possible. They operate from the shadows, both figuratively and literally. Nonetheless I can see other DMs disallowing thief characters in order to maintain the Tekumel flavour.

Non-human races is where things get rather weird. Tekumel is intended as a deliberate break from the traditional inspirations of D&D. There are no dwarves, elves or halflings - instead there are a variety of alien races, ranging from the vaguely humanoid (Pygmy folk, Hlutrgu) to the utterly bizarre (Ahoggyas). From what I can tell, there are no rules for players to use these alien races as PCs. Although outside the scope of this post, I am sure it is possible to create rules to use them. Since B/X uses race-as-class, I would suggest that each race that the DM approves of should be given its own class. In fact, such races need not be limited to just one class - my own variation of B/X gives elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings a spell-casting class and a non-spellcasting class each. However, for a brand new world I would not try to introduce a whole slew of classes at once but perhaps create and introduce them one at a time perhaps testing them out as NPCs before allowing players to use them as PCs. 

Alignment is close to B/X D&D, with Stability and Change replacing Law and Chaos, and each side having 5 greater gods and 5 lesser gods.This shows the common roots of these games in OD&D.  Treating Law as Stability and Chaos as Change should be feasible. I get the impression that while Change definitely has evil tendencies, Stability is not always as benevolent as B/X Law - in AD&D terms Change is Chaotic Evil, while Stability is more Lawful Neutral. 

Movement is measured in inches, which hark back to OD&D's origins as an offshoot of Chainmail wargaming rules, and thus the measurement in inches would be on a tabletop with miniatures, not in the game world. But this can easily be multiplied by 10 to get the B/X movement in feet/yards.

Saving throws are against four categories:

• Poison
• Spells
• Paralysis/Hypnosis
• Eyes (see below)

These have some equivalence with B/X although fudging with unusual cases may be required. 

There are other rules, the majority of which are close enough that conversion should not be a problem.

The World of Tekumel 

Tekumel is alien and bizarre, in its wildlife, its culture, its languages, its architecture and so many other aspects. As I mentioned before, it is a deliberate avoidance of the Tolkein-based tropes and archetypes that had already (1975) become well-established in D&D. No Greek, Norse, Celtic or Egyptian mythological creatures such as dragons, centaurs, goblins or medusae. Instead Tekumel is an alien planet, settled by humans millenia ago and then catapulted out of Earth's universe into a different universe where magic works. There is a gradual shift between the earth-based species introduced by humans and the native wildlife, a sort of ecological war of attrition. 

Getting there is up to the DM, but there are various methods, including Spelljamming, World Portals, being transported by curses or Wish spells. 

Mundane equipment that new adventurers might buy is quite different due to the absence of iron, bronze or other metals Instead arms, armour and tools are fashioned from Chlen hide, great armoured beasts domesticated by humans.

Magic items have a different range and include magical books (not listed in B/X but touched on in AD&D) and Eyes (small, gem-like devices that offer a particular effect each, such as the Eye of Aerial Excellence that allows the user and some companions to fly). 

 Language is one area that I am not brave enough to delve into fully. The author, MAR Barker, like JRR Tolkein, used his fantasy setting as a basis for an entire fantasy language, Tsolyani. I admit that I just use it for proper names (individuals, settlement names etc) and alien species. Mind you, I suspect most fans of Tolkein are not fluent in Elvish. Barker also devised Tsolyani script, the fictional world's alphabet, which I am not going to learn, but it definitely adds to the world's sense of depth and otherness. 

Dungeons and the Underworld in Tekumel have a unique premise that I like but is difficult to implement in Mystara. Every few centuries, cities in the Empire of the Petal Throne are expected to undergo a process of Dintlana, or Renewal. This involves covering over the entire surface of a city and building on top of the covered remains. Although the lower buildings and their cellars and basements are supposed to be filled in, this is not always done properly, and chambers are buried deeper and deeper as the centuries and millenia progress. 

Culture is very much centred on tradition, rituals and rigid social structure of great and ancient empires (which fits in with the alignment system of Stability vs Change), the greatest of which is Tsolyanu, the titular Empire of the Petal Throne. It is loosely inspired by various Meso-American (who also did not use iron until Europeans came along) and south Asian cultures but then very much goes off in its own direction. 

Monsters include unique types of undead, as well as weird and inhuman intelligent races and animals, few of which resemble species on Earth (and then it is probably coincidence). Demons are mentioned but not really described though I'm sure a motivated DM could introduce them with appropriate stats. Turning undead is not mentioned as far as I can tell, so whether B/X clerics can have any effect on Tekumel undead is up to the DM. 

Clearly I have only given the briefest glimpse of this vast and fascinating world. Much more information is available both in the published game books available on DriveThruRPG, and  the Tekumel Foundation, as well as fan-generated material on the web. 

As far as this blog is concerned, I probably won't do more articles about EoPT/Tekumel - there is plenty of scope for more material, adventures and grand vistas on Mystara But as far as I cam concerned Tekumel is still in the same fictional multiverse as Mystara, and if your players are getting bored with the same old dwarves, elves and goblins, you can shake things up by dropping them into the great city of Jakalla with its sprawling underworld beneath. 

Art by Jeff Dee, source