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Tékumel
''Tékumel'' is a fantasy world created by American linguist and writer M. A. R. Barker over the course of several decades from around 1940. In this imaginary world, huge, tradition-bound empires with medieval levels of technology vie for control using magic, large standing armies, and ancient technological devices. In time, Barker created the tabletop role-playing game ''Empire of the Petal Throne'', set in the Tékumel universe, initially self publishing it in 1974. Later, Barker wrote a series of five novels set in Tékumel, beginning with ''The Man of Gold (novel), The Man of Gold'', first published by DAW Books in 1984. Sources Barker, like the better-known J. R. R. Tolkien, considered not just the creation of a fantasy world but also an in-depth development of the societies and languages of the world. In other words, the setting also provided a context for Barker's constructed languages which were developed in parallel from the mid-to-late 1940s, long before the mass-market ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Man Of Gold (novel)
''The Man of Gold'' is a 1984 science-fantasy novel written by M. A. R. Barker and published by DAW Books. It is the first novel set on the fictional world of Tékumel – also featured in Barker's role-playing game ''Empire of the Petal Throne'' (1974) – and tells the story of a priest of Thumis named Harsan, a scholar who becomes involved in the quest for the eponymous artefact of a past immensely ancient. Barker became acquainted with DAW editor Donald A. Wollheim through their shared interest in miniatures. ''The Man of Gold'' was licensed to the London publisher Century Hutchinson, which released a UK edition in 1985. The novel was also translated into German and published under the title ''Der Ungewöhnliche Goldmann: Abenteuer in Tekumel'' by Goldmann Verlag in 1986.The Tékumel Novels ''Tékumel Collectin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Empire Of The Petal Throne
''Empire of the Petal Throne'' is a fantasy role-playing game designed by M. A. R. Barker, based on his Tékumel fictional universe. It was self-published in 1974, then published by TSR, Inc. in 1975. It was one of the first tabletop role-playing games, along with ''Dungeons & Dragons'', and was the first published RPG game setting. Over the subsequent thirty years, several new games were published based on the Tékumel setting, but to date none have met with commercial success. While published as fantasy, the game is sometimes classified as science fantasy or, debatably, as science fiction. History Origin University of Minnesota professor M. A. R. Barker, a scholar of ancient languages, had spent decades crafting a fantasy world called Tékumel, writing thousands of pages of histories, describing its culture, and even constructing its languages. He served as adviser to the university's wargaming club, where a club-mate and role-playing game player Michael Mornard showed hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tsolyáni Language
Tsolyáni is one of several languages invented by M. A. R. Barker, developed in the mid-to-late 1940s in parallel with his legendarium leading to the world of Tékumel as described in the Empire of the Petal Throne roleplaying game, published by TSR in 1975. It is detailed in The Tsolyáni Language, Part I and II. It was the first constructed language ever published as part of a role-playing game and draws its inspiration from Urdu, Pashto, Mayan and Nahuatl. The last influence can be seen in the inclusion of the sounds ''hl'' and ''tl'' . One exact borrowing from a real-world source is the Tsolyáni noun root ''sákbe,'' referring to the fortified highways of the Five Empires; it is the same word as the Yucatec Maya ''sacbe,'' referring to the raised paved roads constructed by the pre-Columbian Maya. Another close borrowing is from the Nahuatl word ''tlatoani,'' referring to a leader of an Aztec state (e.g. Montezuma); it is similar to the clan-name of the Tsolyáni emper ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
War Of Wizards
''War of Wizards'' is a board game published by TSR in 1975. It was TSR's first publication for M. A. R. Barker's world of Tékumel. Development David M. Ewalt, in his book ''Of Dice and Men'', described how University of Minnesota professor M. A. R. Barker "made his game-design debut at TSR. A scholar of ancient languages, Barker had spent decades crafting a fantasy world called Tékumel, writing thousands of pages of histories, describing its culture, and even constructing its languages. He served as adviser to the university's wargaming club, and after Michael Mornard showed him Dungeons & Dragons, Barker wrote two games based in Tékumel; a tabletop role-playing game, Empire of the Petal Throne; and a combat-oriented board game, War of Wizards." History Originally published by TSR in 1975, it was reprinted by Tita's House of Games in 1999. ''War of Wizards'' predates TSR releasing ''Empire of the Petal Throne'' by a few months, making it their first ''Tékumel'' publication ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Arneson
David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947Minnesota Department of Health. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), ''Dungeons & Dragons'', with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's early work was fundamental to the development of the genre, developing the concept of the RPG using devices now considered to be archetypical, such as adventuring in "dungeons" and using a neutral judge who doubles as the voice and consciousness of all characters aside from the player characters to develop the storyline. Arneson discovered wargaming as a teenager in the 1960s, and he began combining these games with the concept of role-playing. He was a University of Minnesota student when he met Gygax at the Gen Con gaming convention in the late 1960s. In 1970 Arneson created the game and fictional world ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tabletop Role-playing Game
A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game. The terms ''pen-and-paper'' and ''tabletop'' are generally only used to distinguish this format of RPG from other formats, since neither pen and paper nor a table are strictly necessary. Gameplay Overview In most games, a specially designated player typically called the game master (GM) purchases or prepares a set of rules and a fictional setting in which each player acts out the role of a single character. The GM describes the game world and its inhabit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Faster Than Light
Faster-than-light (also FTL, superluminal or supercausal) travel and communication are the conjectural propagation of matter or information faster than the speed of light (). The special theory of relativity implies that only particles with zero rest mass (i.e., photons) may travel ''at'' the speed of light, and that nothing may travel faster. Particles whose speed exceeds that of light (tachyons) have been hypothesized, but their existence would violate causality and would imply time travel. The scientific consensus is that they do not exist. "Apparent" or "effective" FTL, on the other hand, depends on the hypothesis that unusually distorted regions of spacetime might permit matter to reach distant locations in less time than light could in normal ("undistorted") spacetime. As of the 21st century, according to current scientific theories, matter is required to travel at slower-than-light (also STL or subluminal) speed with respect to the locally distorted spacetime region. Appar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nu Ophiuchi
Nu Ophiuchi (ν Oph, ν Ophiuchi) is a star in the equatorial constellation of Ophiuchus. The apparent visual magnitude is +3.3, making it one of the brighter members of this constellation. Based upon parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission, this star is located about from Earth. Properties Nu Ophiuchi has about three times the mass of the Sun and is roughly 330 million years old. The spectrum of the star matches a stellar classification of K0 IIIa, indicating it is a giant star that has exhausted the supply of hydrogen at its core and evolved away from the main sequence of stars. Unusually, it displays an anomalously low abundance of cyanogen for a star of its type. The star's outer envelope has expanded to around 14 times the Sun's radius and now radiates with a luminosity 123 times that of the Sun. This energy is emitted from its outer envelope at an effective temperature of 4,928 K, giving it the cool, orange hue of a K-type star. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terraforming
Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable for humans to live on. The concept of terraforming developed from both science fiction and actual science. Carl Sagan, an astronomer, proposed the planetary engineering of Venus in 1961, which is considered one of the first accounts of the concept. The term was coined by Jack Williamson in a science-fiction short story ("Collision Orbit") published in 1942 in '' Astounding Science Fiction'', although terraforming in popular culture may predate this work. Even if the environment of a planet could be altered deliberately, the feasibility of creating an unconstrained planetary environment that mimics Earth on another planet has yet to be verified. While Venus, Earth, Mars, and even the Moon have been studied in relation to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the Golden Race of humanity ( ''chrýseon génos'') lived. After the end of the first age was the Silver age, Silver, then the Bronze Age (mythology), Bronze, after this the Greek Heroic Age, Heroic age, with the fifth and current age being Iron Age (mythology), Iron. By extension, "Golden Age" denotes a period of primordial peace, harmony, ecological stability, stability, and prosperity. During this age, peace and harmony prevailed in that people did not have to work to feed themselves for the earth provided food in abundance. They lived to a very old age with a youthful appearance, eventually dying peacefully, with spirits living on as "guardians". Plato in ''Cratylus (dialogue), Cratylus'' (397 e) recounts the golden race of human ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and drama. From the twentieth century, it has expanded further into various media, including film, television, graphic novels, manga, animations and video games. Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror fiction, horror by the respective absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these genres overlap. In popular culture, the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient mythology, myths and legends to many recent and popular works. Traits Most fantasy uses magic (paranormal), magic or other supernatural elements as a ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conlang
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. A constructed language may also be referred to as an artificial, planned or invented language, or (in some cases) a fictional language. ''Planned languages'' (or engineered languages/engelangs) are languages that have been purposefully designed; they are the result of deliberate, controlling intervention and are thus of a form of ''language planning''. There are many possible reasons to create a constructed language, such as to ease human communication (see international auxiliary language and code); to give fiction or an associated constructed setting an added layer of realism; for experimentation in the fields of linguistics, cognitive science, and machine learning; for artistic creation; and for language games. Some people may also ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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