I is for the Isles of the Excellent Dead

Not a physical location as such, but rather a spiritual one.

The Tsolyáni believe that the "Spirit-soul" - or Báletl - one of the Five Selves that make up every person, is the part that completes the final journey after death.

"It is this part of a being which journeys on after death to the Isles of the Excellent Dead and thence to the Farther Shores of the Paradises of Teretané. As it travels, the Spirit-Soul sheds its burden of identity and memory in order to be born anew upon ever more distant planes of consciousness."

The Tékumel Source Book, By MAR Barker

Balétl [bah-LAYTL] - the Spirit Soul

This is the last of the character stats. The Balétl, or Spirit Soul, is that part of the soul that continues after death, travelling as it does to the Isles of Teretané - also called the "Isles of the Excellent Dead" and the "Farther Shores of the Paradises of Teretané."

The Spirit Soul can be contacted by a Medium, however, as it makes the journey it sheds it's identity so the longer the delay after death the less chance of success there is.

Similarly there are spells that will return the Balétl to it's body - they also have time constraints after which they will be ineffective.

Still other spells will banish a Spirit Soul from one body, leaving an empty shell into which another Soul can be inserted.

The Balétl stat provides base dice that are used in these interactions: communicating with the Spirit Soul, bringing it back from it's journey, etc. The Medium uses his Balétl score to first attempt to find the Soul being sought, and then when communicating with the Soul it is used again.

The Pedhétl [pay-THAYTL] - the Psychic Reservoir, or Power

The Tsolyáni refer to the Pedhétl to as "the Enemy". It is said to represent the raw emotions possessed by an individual. Additionally, it represents the amount of other-planar power stored in the individual that may be used for casting magic. This capacity is stated to be fixed; as such, Pedhétl is the only stat that cannot [normally*] be increased after a character is generated.

In game terms it is used as the basis for casting magic, providing the base dice used to determine success or failure. It can be drained during spell casting, making subsequent spells more difficult to cast until the mage has rested. This is determined as part of the casting roll. A really bad roll can result in a spell backfire.

The basic procedure is:

Start with base dice equal to Pedhétl. Add or subtract any situational dice. The final number of dice are then rolled looking for successes in the normal fashion. (1-3 = success, 4-6 = failure)

To successfully cast a spell the mage must achieve two things:

1) attain at least one success;
2) the total of the mage's Hlákme(Intellect) stat plus the number of successes rolled must equal or exceed the spell difficulty level.

Any dice that roll a '6' are removed from the mage's psychic reservoir for the duration of the scenario.

If more '6's are rolled than successes then a backfire is said to have occurred.

By a happy coincidence, the spell difficulty level is the level of the spell in the old Gamescience "Swords & Glory" Players guide. ;-)

* allowing for the inevitable exceptions! ;-)

Hlákme [HLAWK-may] – the Intellect

I’ve been having a “re-think” about the Intellect. From the source descriptions, this is the character's conscious mind, intellect and sense of self. My impression had been that it didn’t include one’s knowledge and memories, which were – I thought – part of the Balétl (or Spirit Soul.) This interpretation leads to problems with certain spells, however, particularly those that cause another Soul to inhabit a body and also Necromantic spells that re-bind the Hlákme to a slain body. The problem has to do with how does one cast spells in that state, or what knowledge does one have. I began to question where the memories and knowledge lay.

Then I realized that I wasn’t looking at it from a Tsolyáni point-of-view. I was trying to be too much of a “God Learner”, to borrow a term from Gloranthan gaming. Basically, I wanted to know too much, rather than be content with “this is the way it is.”

What happened was I realized that the Shadow Self functioned with full intelligence, memories and knowledge – at least the related spell descriptions don’t suggest otherwise.

So if the Shadow Self possesses all one’s knowledge and memories, then so to does the Spirit Soul, and so could the Hlákme. So when a necromancer causes one’s Hlákme to re-inhabit a copse then that person is not returning without his former knowledge and memories. Similarly, when a Spirit Soul is placed into another body, it is not without its memories and knowledge.

Where the differences lie, is – I believe – more subtle than what I had first thought. I imagine the astral projection of a mage must feel somewhat different – detached, perhaps, because the intellect, that normally drives and motivates the individual is not immediate, unless one assumes a connection is maintained to the Hlákme via the spell.

No connection exists with the Spirit Soul after it is sent into the Unending Grey. Once one is slain, the Hlákme stays near the corpse, so the Spirit Soul, while processing one's knowledge and memories must only have a semblance of one's former personality. This is hinted at in the source material when describing how difficult spirits can be to contact, and how there are time limits on sorcerer's ability to make contact.

What does this mean?

In BOJH terms, the Hlákme (or Intellect) stat is used for anything requiring the mind - spell casting, language use, social challenges. In this it functions much as the Bákte (Body) does for physical challenges. A rating of Hlákme 4 provides 4 dice to which dice are added or subtracted for situational modifiers and Traits or Flaws. Opposed challenges involve a “roll-off”, with each side looking for successes. This would normally consist of one or more “rounds” until only one side (or neither) is left with successes. The number of successes indicates the relative level of success.

Spell casting also utilizes the Pedhétl and so is done slightly differently.

Certain spells will have effects dependant upon how they manipulate the Hlákme or Balétl.

Lastly, as mentioned, when a person dies the Hlákme becomes dormant adjacent to the body and may be re-inserted by necromancy.

Chusétl [choo-SAYTL] - the Shadow Self

As stated before, the Chusétl is the dream-self of the character. The character can enter this state through his own dreams and nightmares; through a spell such as Etherealisation; a drug-induced trance or the predations of some creature such as Succubi/Incubi or the Demon Pa'íya [paw ~ EE-yaw]. In all cases the astral projection of the character is represented by his Shadow Self and all interactions while in that state use this Character Stat. No magic can be cast by the Chusétl, and injuries suffered are suffered physically by the Bákte. If the Shadow Self is slain so is the character. Likewise, when an individual dies so does the Chusétl.

In game terms, Shadow Self dice are used just like any other Character Stat, with the restrictions and consequences outlined above. It is used for all challenges undertaken while in the astral state, regardless of the stat normally used for resolving them. As spell casting is not possible, Pedhétl is unlikely to be used, though it could still be drained by negative encounters with certain creatures.

Bákte [BAHK-tay] - the Body

In a Band of Joyous Heroes, Bákte [BAHK-tay] - or the Body, is the character stat used to describe the character's physical abilities. It is used in opposed physical challenges such as strength or agility test, and will modify unopposed challenges. It is also the primary stat used for melee combat, where is provides a character's base melee dice.

That is, Bákte 5 = 5 base dice.

In opposed challenges both sides roll dice looking for "successes". A successful roll is a roll of 1-3, with a roll of 4-6 indicating failure. This is par for the course for those familiar with THW rules sets.

If both sides rolled one or more successes they discard the failed dice and re-roll the rest, again looking for successes. In melee, this constitutes a melee round - some Talents allow one to modify the dice based upon melee rounds so this is important to understand. (Perhaps I should call it a "challenge round" as some Talents may modify other challenges. Hmm...)

This continues until one or both sides has zero successes. In general, zero successes for both means the opponents are evenly matched. This marks the end of the challenge for the turn. If only one side has zero successes then this means their opponent has landed a solid blow or gained an advantage. How many successes one has left when the other runs out determines the level of success.

In melee the results are typically: OD (Obviously Dead) or OOF (Out of the Fight), and occasionally ADV (Advantage). The latter gives the victor bonus dice next melee round and usually some other effect like knocking the opponent down or disarming them. OOF means the loser is down and out. He will need to recover before he can fight again, either after the action or by being healed. The nature of the injury is not defined and is as much determined by his recovery roll. OD means that there is a lot of blood and he is dead. Obviously Dead! In the case of Heroes this may not turn out to be the case after all is said and done (but he sure looked a goner at the time!) For ordinary Grunts, however, it is "game over man!" ;-)

Character Creation in A Band of Joyous Heroes

As previously posted, characters in A Band of Joyous Heroes are defined by a series of ratings or stats, which reflect the Five Selves that make up the Tsolyáni concept of the Soul. They will also be defined by their Temper, which is a measure of the character's courage or martial disposition; good and bad traits, known as Talents and Flaws; and a characteristic known as Noble Action. Other information is important as well: name, gender, lineage and clan, rank and status are all important bits of information that must be determined.

To start with the basic stats, the first step is to determine a concept about what your character is to be like. A sorcerer or warrior, are important choices right off the top - or scholar or whatever.

In the final version, we might even start by determining clan and status, but for now we are just looking at stats.

To determine the characters basic stats, roll 5D6 and assign one die result to each stat as you prefer. For example:

To create my wanna-be Warrior-Priest of Chegárra I roll 5D6, getting rolls of: 2,4,6,5,4

I then apply these rolls against The Five Selves:

Bákte [BAHK-tay] - Body = 6
Chusétl [choo-SAYTL] - Shadow Self = 4
Hlákme [HLAWK-may] - Intellect = 4
Pedhétl [pay-THAYTL] - Power = 2
Balétl [bah-LAYTL] - Spirit Soul = 5

Each stat will start with a value of between 3 and 5.

Any roll of '6' counts as a result of '5' and additionally, provides for +1 Talent to be selected later in the character creation process.

Each roll of '1' or '2' must be re-rolled. First, each provides a bonus of +1 Talents. Apply the results of the second roll. If the roll again comes up with a '1' or a '2' then the stat is assigned a value of '4'. In addition, a second roll of '1' or '2' indicates that the character has +1 Flaws.

In this example, I rolled a '6' which I assigned to Bákte(Body) as I think that is probably the most important stat for a Warrior Priest. This becomes a '5' and gains my character +1 Talents.

I also rolled a '2' which I must re-roll. I rolled another '5' which becomes my Pedhétl(Power) rating. My character also gains an additional +1 Talents.

The final result is:

Sample Warrior Priest:

Bákte(Body) 5
Chusétl(Shadow Self) 4
Hlákme(Intellect) 4
Pedhétl(Power) 5
Balétl(Spirit Soul) 5

Talents/Flaws: +2 bonus Talents, no additional Flaws.

The last step is a bonus that applies only to Sorcerer characters:

Roll 2D6. Any roll of 1-5 gains +1 Pedhétl(Power) yielding a possible +2 bonus.

This is because sorcerers are only chosen from those with the best magical potential. Note that the High Pedhétl talent can increase this value still further.

Pedhétl is the only one of the Five Selves that cannot increase in value after the character creation process is finished. All the others can be increased as the character moves along the path to becoming a Hero of the Age.

Next we will look at assigning Talents and Flaws.

Where was I?

Well, after over a month's lapse, I'm back at it again: working on A Band of Joyous Heroes! I left off where I was about to substitute Reputation(REP), as used by the THW family of games, with something with a little bit more of a Tékumel flavour. What I decided on was to use the "Five Selves" as the character's basic stats. Some attempts have been done in the past to do this - this is my effort:

The Five Selves

The "five selves" represent the Tsolyáni concept of the Soul. It is divided into five parts:

The Bákte [BAHK-tay] - The Body

The physical body. When the individual dies this is the part that stays behind and eventually decays. In BOJH terms, Bákte (or Body, if you prefer) will be used for anything physical - fighting, climbing, swimming and the like.

The Chusétl [choo-SAYTL] - The Shadow Self

This is the dream-self of the character that inhabits his dreams and can interact with illusions and the astral plane. In BOJH, certain spells allow the character's Chusétl (or Shadow Self) to go forth and interact with the world. No magic can be cast by the Chusétl, and injuries suffered are suffered physically by the Bákte. If the Shadow Self is slain so is the character. Likewise, when an individual dies so does the Chusétl.

The Hlákme [HLAWK-may] - The Intellect

This is the character's conscious mind, intellect and sense of self. It does not include his knowledge and memories which are part of the Balétl (or Spirit Soul, see below.) In BOJH terms, the Hlákme (or Intellect) stat is used for anything requiring the mind - spell casting, language use, social challenges. It might possibly get a bit grey at times, but we'll run with it for the time being. When a person dies the Hlákme becomes dormant adjacent to the body and may be re-inserted by necromancy.

The Pedhétl [pay-THAYTL] - The Psychic Reservoir, or Power

Referred to as "the Enemy", the Pedhétl represent the raw emotions possessed by an individual. Additionally, it represents the amount of other-planar power stored in the individual that may be used for casting magic. In BOJH terms it functions just as that, and is used as the basis for spell casting.

The Balétl [bah-LAYTL] - The Spirit Soul

The Balétl is the part of the individual that travels on to the after-life. It comprises all his knowledge and memories. The Spirit Soul can be communicated with after death through the use of magic. Spells can also be used to restore a Spirit Soul to it's body. Other spells can expel a Spirit Soul from it's body and allow another to inhabit it. If the Balétl is destroyed the individual ceases to exist - there is no after-life for them! Few things can totally destroy the Spirit Soul, fortunately. Only the Temple of Wurú possesses a spell that will destroy the Balétl. Called the Tathyánikh [tath-YAN-eek], or the Grey Hand, the spell makes high ranking sorcerers from the temple justifiably feared.

I'll provide a bit more how this will work in a little bit...