Playing in Punth

 OR, A Primer for the Primer

NB - the below is all untested. It is trying to provide a suitable framework to make the Primer usable, but the Primer rather than the system presented came first. 

There are really two ways to set a game in Punth. To have players create characters from outside Punth (or they could be Ka-Punth) and have them go in, or to have them create Punthite characters.

Punth was originally conceived as part of a larger world (see Ch. 7) - the Terrae Vertebrae of this blog. Other than in that Chapter and a few scattered other references, I have tried to make Punth able to be slotted into another fantastical setting. The Babel-myth elements and Near or Middle Eastern basis makes it perhaps an odd fit if you were to slap it down right next to, say, fantasy equivalents of Vietnam or the Tlingit lands - both in terms of culture and environment. However, I would contend that the meat of Punth is in the Codes and the position of the Qryth: the specifically Babel-like elements could be reduced, reformed or repositioned, as could the Near Eastern portions.

The question will be, how much of the Primer do you issue to players? 

If they create Punthite characters, the only in-character conversation they should do should be in the Codes. Ch. 5 and Ch. 6 are deliberately linked to the Character creation process of The 52 Pages (and probably aren't that far distant from other systems). Ch. 8 will be needed at this point also. Parts of these could be issued to players at creation. Ch. 9 is most useful for play, and will likely come up as you go along. Ch. 1's foundation story and creed and Ch. 2  act as introductions to Punth as the Codes would describe it. These could be introduced into play early, in a 'We will all rise and recite the Oath of Allegiance' sort of affair. 

Here's the contents of the Primer, with a schedule of how you could issue it to players playing Punthites.

Ch. 1 - Foundation & Creed - Soon in the Game

Ch. 2 - Entrance into Punth & Marriage - When desired

Ch. 3 - Punthite Justice - When desired

Ch. 4 - Trade in Punth - Soon in the Game

Ch. 5 - Arms and the Qryth - Character Creation

Ch. 6 - Occupations in Punth - Character Creation

Ch. 7 - Religion and Foreign Affairs - When desired

Ch. 8 - Names - Character Creation

Ch. 9 - Conditions - Character Creation

Ch. 10 - Goals - When desired

[If you go to, say, Ch. 5, you will spot the table of military encounters at the bottom. This is as much inspirational as mechanical, but is more for the GM's use. Chapters of the Primer as referred to for player use above probably don't need to include these, and I shall probably produce a document where these materials are separated.] 

Introducing Characters from outside Punth into Punth probably starts with the introductory hooks at the beginning of some of these blog posts: 

The land of the unbelievers, the fallen. A great desert, with who knows what lurking beyond. Where ten crusades have faltered. The Land of Punth.

South of the great mountains, south of the border provinces of the Empire lies Punth.  The tribes of the deep desert co-exist with the Ziggurat-Cities along the river, all under the eye of their alien lords.

Who are these strange folk? From where did they come?

Having thus whetted the appetite, the possibility of entering Punth can take place. Characters could enter tutored or untutored. The Codes are (for convenience) meant to be in a regional 'Common', if with a few variations in terms of dialect. Therefore, even the Untutored can read and speak the Codes once they see or hear them. Characters can communicate in Common (or other mutual languages) and not be understood by those who only use the Codes. 

Tutored here doesn't necessarily mean anything academic: it could be a sailor who knew Punth, or a merchant who trades there, or a diplomat or intelligencer briefing you on how to blend in. Ch. 7 (adapted if necessary) is presumably a must. Other than that, access to a Chapter will depend on the tutor - it is unlikely that a merchant will be able to teach you all (if any) of Ch. 5.

Untutored, of course, could imply any number of things: an unprepared expedition, a misfiring teleport spell, a pressgang. What it does mean is that the characters have little knowledge of Punth and none of the Codes. 

Tutored or Untutored, there is still a schedule at which the Chapters of the Primer should reach players: 

Ch. 1 - Foundation & Creed - Soon in the Game

Ch. 2 - Entrance into Punth & Marriage - On entrance

Ch. 3 - Punthite Justice - When desired

Ch. 4 - Trade in Punth - Soon in the Game

Ch. 5 - Arms and the Qryth - When desired

Ch. 6 - Occupations in Punth - When desired

Ch. 7 - Religion and Foreign Affairs - On entrance

Ch. 8 - Names - Soon in the Game

Ch. 9 - Conditions - Soon in the Game

Ch. 10 - Goals - When desired

***

I would like to make clear that the Primer by no means is meant to declare the whole of the Codes - that would likely be a work at least the size of a thick novel. The Primer is meant to make play in Punth possible and to introduce the Codes to players. From this position, people at the tabletop can introduce new Codes; if the GM is doing so, then they may be slipped in however convenient. If players are doing so, a veto system would be appropriate ('I'm not sure that's quite how Code 7.36.79 goes...shall we check with the scribe?'). 

Obviously, no Code is meant to be specifically advantageous for any one group ('When Three Men, an Elf and Two Fauns enter the land, the time of the Sky Princes is over!'). Faking a Code would require an ignorant or young Punthite, as well as the Charisma-related ability (or magic) to effectively sell this new 'Code'. This would not last long in one of Punth's cities!

The following list of questions is for GMs using the Primer to decide for themselves: 

• How sincere are the Qryth in their role as leaders - do they live by the Codes themselves?
• Can (and do) the Qryth communicate by other means than by the Codes?
• How competent is the rule of the Qryth?
• What is the nature of the Ka-Punth's revolt against the Qryth? 
• If the Qryth were to die off, would the state of Punth maintain itself in roughly the same fashion?
• If the Qryth were to be contacted by their home planet, would they be welcomed home? Or have they been so thoroughly culture-warped and gene-twisted that they would never wish to?
• What was the Sorcerer-King trying to accomplish?
• Can Punthites wield magic? Or must they rely on outsiders, willing or otherwise?
• Do the djinn have any genuine power, or are they only unquiet spirits?
• Do the djinn have any collective plan to regain their former power?

Punth: A Primer Ch. 10 - Goals

This looks to be the final post of the Primer proper; two other posts are in the works to round things off.

Punth! Aristocratic republic of former astronauts. Long roads dividing a howling desert. Scribe schools engaged in mass call-and-repeat lessons in the baking sun. Gendarme patrols, regular as clockwork. Polychrome pillars and glazed bricks. Long-necked herbivores pulling carts; six-legged steeds for the Sky Princes. 

(Newcomers may wish to seek wider context here and here).

The Primer thus far has talked about professions, conditions and tactics: now we talk about Goals. Some of this will doubtless repeat earlier parts of the Primer, but it this Chapter still seems necessary. 

Security By the might of the Sky Princes are these lands secured.

Safety Shelter, plenty and benevolence: these sustain a sheltering, plenteous, benevolent populace. 

Find a Community The longing for a home is the longing for Correct Thought and those who speak it.

Find a work-team To be idle is to decay.

Prestige To be known as a vessel of Correct Thought allows transmission of Correct Thought.

Accomplishment The application of might and wit is properly praised.

Perpetuate Culture To the offspring of the Codes, let there be taught the Codes.

Expand Culture Where Correct Thought is not, there is only fruitless toil. This is no proper state for the populace.

Expand Territory Correct Thought has no borders. 

Find a new home Neither men nor land should be idle, but idle men and idle land may be set together and transformed.

Reform By the refiner's fire, both gold and the populace may be remade.

Re-invigrate/Repair Water refreshes the spirit; water with earth makes mud; from mud are shaped bricks; bricks restore the house.

Destroy Might joined with righteousness surpassed all other things. 

Defeat Cast folly into the dust.

To Die Well To die for the populace can be as worthy as to live.

Punish Malice is thwarted in the Servants of the People.

Harmony, Coordination From the scribe, instruction. From the labourer, action. For the populace, joy. 

Prosperity Where bellies are empty, let them be filled. Where granaries are empty, let them be filled. Where granaries are ruined, restore them.

Strength Might is won be devotion and wisdom. These come from the Codes. 

Good of the Qryth The might of the Sky Princes is wondrous and perfusive!

Good of Punth The lands and teachers of correct thought must be sustained.

Justice Who must rise first? The mighty. Who shall be raised up? The just.

Learning Correct thought is the pathway to all abilities that may be considered natural.

The Qryth: A Class for The 52 Pages

Half as big again as a full-grown man. Hunters; Soldiers; Magistrates; Central Planners. Green four-armed aristo-commisars, acting out Star Trek cargo-cult legends in colourful stone ziggurats!

Details of their history are found elsewhere (the background of Punth is found here and here); for now, I shall concentrate on physical features. Ten foot would be moderately tall for a Qryth. They possess two forward facing eyes, but set in what would be the forehead on a human. Skins tones vary between shades of ochre and green, but rarely approaching the bright green of grass or the solid dark green of moss. The Qryth are hairless, but have been known to use animal pelts in (perhaps unconscious) imitation of body hair. 

They possess four arms and two legs, the arms being set either side of the torso. The lower, slightly smaller set of arms is commonly used for fine-detail work or in expressions of intimacy. To greet someone with the upper arms only is - in fact and in verse - to propose a formal, distant relationship. The musculature of the limbs is somewhat helical to the viewer. 

The Qryth give birth to live young, although they do not suckle them and are, accordingly, breast-less. Eggs are swapped between Qryth, rather like seahorses. This is a private affair - though it is possible that Qryth mores have been shaped in this regard by their time in Punth. Likewise, the organs of generation are generally concealed. Male and Female are adopted as terms of convenience. This has relatively little bearing on the matter of Qryth behaviour: they are Sky-Princes before all else.  

Qryth youths go fairly promptly from parents to creches to isolated boarding schools. Given how few the Qryth are, their children are gathered together to create a lasting Qryth identity. 

One hundred years is a not uncommon age for the Qryth to reach - though having made your century is grounds for retirement. After the age of sixty (or thereabouts) the Qryth develop a distinct sheen and set of streaks to their skin, rather like the bark of a hornbeam. 

Qryth names are discussed here, in Ch. 8 of the Primer. 

This class should function with a party of adventurers from outside Punth or inside. Rogue Qryth are exceedingly rare, but this should not stop them from appearing on the tabletop. As much as Qryth do have a fairly rigid set of social roles, hunting trips, solo journeys and other forms of independent action are not unknown. 

In a Punthless and Codeless setting, adjust as necessary. 

So, to the mechanics - using, as before, The 52 Pages (download, author's blog).

***
THE QRYTH

Size: 2

Move: 15

HP - d8+1+ CON +/-.

Attack Modifiers - +1/+1
Mind Save 5 + WIS +/-
Speed Save 7 + DEX+/-
Body Save  5 + CON +/-

Knowledge    Notice Detail   Hear Noise   Handiwork   Stealth   Athletics
      [X]                           [X]                    [X]                    [X]                      [ ]                 [X]

Must start with Background word Punth. This encompasses a Desert background, plus the unique traits of that land. Qryth prefer the warm and suffer in colder climes. 

Four Arms: A Qryth can carry more things at once than other people, though this does not translate to STR 18 encumbrance. They can, however, effectively wield a two-handed weapons and a shield simultaneously, or reload a Heavy Crossbow in one turn. A Qryth could carry two two-handed weapons, but would be obliged to use them alternately. 

Stealth and Size: The Qryth are used to trying to conceal themselves in the desert, though their size can work against them. Indoors, naturally, this becomes harder. A Qryth can go on all fours (legs and lower arms), making them lower but longer. Thus they can go inside human-size dwellings and still use the upper arms to fight or work - but this is relatively strenuous and going round corners is difficult.

If a Qryth below Lvl 3 has to spend a game turn like this, they take Fatigue Damage.

Some Qryth soldiers, akin to commandos, specialise in this sort of unglamorous work.

Qryth Anatomy: Healers from outside Punth will struggle to assist the Qryth. They can turn a Mortal wound to a Critical one, but they cannot Speed Recovery.

There is a One in Ten chance that a particular poison will not effect a Qryth.

Languages: A Qryth starts with twos Languages: the Codes and the script of Punth. 

Any language slots a Qryth player might otherwise possess are 'banked' until later levels. 

In the event that the Qryth are hiding a secret about how they speak, it is assumed that any Qryth would be cautious about saying as much. At least a few levels worth of cautious. 

Hirelings and Henchmen: Outside Punth, normal rulings apply. 

Inside Punth - it is always possible for a Qryth to find Hirelings or Henchmen, CHA notwithstanding. Social problems may arise from this, but not mechanical ones. 

Armour: Outside Puth, all Armour must be made specially for the Qryth. Extra costs will apply.

A Qryth may start with Light or Partial Medium Armour.

Level Advancement: +1 Melee, +1 Missile every Even Level
                                    +1 to all Saves every Odd Level

A player that wishes to roll up a Qryth must have at least 13 STR.
                                    
***

Suggested backgrounds and other details: Typically, a Qryth would be expected to be a Soldier, Magistrate, Tactician, Logistician, Pedagogue or Scholar-Poet. The first four of these will have a fairly formal rank structure (as before, a Qryth fighter would be known by certain high and ancient names  - Astronaut, Espatier, Star Commander, &c. Vertebraean usage tends to refer to a Qryth Knight, Commander, Marshall.)

The Qryth have a heavily ritualised, legendary idea of their own history. This extends to the various remaining gadget relics in their possession.

They tend to be ill-informed about magic and religion (both in terms of fine detail and how they fit into a wider picture).

***

The literary and socio-political inspirations for the Qryth have been covered fairly explicitly elsewhere (though I shall make a dedicated Appendix N post one day), so I shall here post a few bits for the look of the Qryth. Hopefully having read the above, you will have a mental image of your own, but a few reference points seem worthwhile.

Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom stories offers the first inspiration for the look of the Qryth. The Green Martians (also Tharks) are the main reference. The Thri-Kreen of Dungeons and Dragons have a slight influence, but little more.  The Qryth are not insects.

Green Martians, are of course green, four-armed, fifteen-foot barbarians. This image found here.
(The 'Barsoom' tag on Jewel in the Skull is useful, but be warned that you will
see numerous mostly-naked folk in various things that might be considered clothing)

Some depictions have them more bestial than others.
Image found here; art by Richard Corben.

Others appear to be 1.5 green bodybuilders.
Image found here; art by Joe Jusko.

My preference is for the Qryth to be on the leaner side - and, of course, without tusks. The 2012 Barsoom adaption John Carter opts for something thinner than the above.  

From the 2012 film John Carter.

I rather like this concept art for the same, by Dermot Power (his website).
This image, and others like it may be found here - do take a look.

[Notes and pictures on the Qryth architecture found here]

EDIT: I am properly reminded by a post at Vaults and Van Gogh of the Green Martians as portrayed by The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I've always time for Kevin O'Neill's art detailed art; these are vast and bulky, with skull-like faces, staring eyes and prominent teeth and tusks. Here they are off to fight the Martians from War of the Worlds.

Punth: A Primer Ch. 9 - Conditions

Punth! Square cities by the bending river. Gene-mod oxen pull the ploughs. Goatherds gather their flocks into elevated shelters for fear of carnivorous leaping lizards.  Sentries with khaki fatigues and long spears.  

(Newcomers may wish to seek wider context here and here).

Punth has seasons, weather and varous social and physical conditions to communicate, same as any other land. Now, whilst those in the same community comprehend elements of this implicitly or by non-verbal cues, the incomer may not (be they Punthite or otherwise). Thus, a list of expressions from the Codes may be used to communicate these certain set of notions. 

***

Cold Chill as the desert night is the people without a code.

Heat The heat of noon is to be preferred to Incorrect Thought

Wet As full of water as the Codes are full of merit.

Thirsty A dry interior is like a man with his bones only.

Hungry Neither trees nor men should be hollow.

Exposed, in want of Shelter To be roofless is to be skinless.

Wounded If the body is broken, who may avail?

Poisoned/Stung  Foreign substances degrade the body.

Ill Sickness is rife where Incorrect Thought dominates. 

Enchanted Just as the body, the mind may be imprisoned and trammelled. 

Short of Supplies Action must persist, whatever the conditions.

Prosperous The wealth of nations is found in a proclaimed code.

Stunned Codeless are those that fall head-first.

Dying The fruits of Correct Thought persist, though its proponents fall. 

Disgraced The Sky Princes cast down only those who offend. 

Praiseworthy Dutiful them that strive, twice so them that succeed. 

Dirty The dust may soil it, but Correct Thought clears all stains. 

Rain The earth is refreshed, thus so are its inhabitants.

Thunder A noise from the heavens, as the knell of the Sky Princes.

Clouds All things but the light of Correct Thought may be hidden.

Sunny Merciless is the gaze of the sorcerer.

Winds The howling of the dunes scours those who do not follow Correct Thought. 

Sandstorm A thousand in directed motion will flay a giant. 

Migratory animals Watch for the turning of the year, as the roaming beast does.

Troop movement Make room on the roads, in the houses, in all other efforts, for the soldiers of the state.

Goods movement Bring the sought commodities to where they are needed; not all work is creation. 

Qryth visit The Sky Princes foot-fall is a wondrous trumpet-blast.

Government bulletin When adjustments to standard policy must be made, envoys will tell it.

A death A useful life is all the epitaph one needs.

A birth Offspring raised in the code are a social good surpassing all others. 

Black City, Wicked City

I read most of the Erast Fandorin novels a while ago. They're Russian mysteries and thrillers by a chap with the nom-de-plume of Boris Akunin, translated by Andrew Bromfield. The titular Erast Fandorin is a detective and some-time secret agent in late nineteenth-early twentieth century Russia.

I would describe them as slightly pulpy; to illustrate, the titular Fandorin is something of a polymath and dandy, with a Japanese manservant. The tone shifts as well: one novel can deal with state machinations and the wholesale destruction of a Balkan war, another can deal with a genteel mystery on a cruise liner. However, they have value in opening up new fields for me. They make (say) pre-revolutonary Moscow, a well established setting, that much more granular. To speak uncharitably, there would be the temptation for an English-speaking author to weigh pretty heavily in on the shadows of Revolution, and while a full cast of agitators, secret police, reformers and revolutionaries is on display, it's not the only thing going on. Akunin's Sister Pelagia stories (an Orthodox nun, somewhat in the vein of Father Brown) have a rural setting that occasionally verges on the Arcadian (while still being in 1890s Russia). 

Anyway, I recently picked up one of the later Fandorin mysteries, Black City. It is largely set in 1914 Baku (the capital of modern-day Azerbaijan, as football fans discovered for themselves last year). An oil boom is in full swing. There is a whole series of social tensions: Tsarist authorities hunting for terrorists, Nouveau riche millionaires driving up prices, working classes toiling in heavy industry, Islamic customs brushing up against the course of progress, the ethnic tensions of the Caucuses....

Cover of the English translation
(Andrew Bromfield for Wiedenfeld & Nicholson, 2018)

All of this comes with a riot of set dressing: a winding Medieval quarter straight from the Arabian Nights, modern hotels, casinos and boat clubs, oil fields and the extravagant mansions of their owners. Costume takes in the traditional dress of the mountains, ornate pre-war uniforms, frock coats and sheepskin caps. Technology: speedboats, motor cars, film cameras, automatic pistols - and horses, folk remedies and Damascene knives. 

It's an influence to throw into your list of inspirations, anyway. This post, set between larger projects, also serves as a coincidental tip-of-the-hat to Against the Wicked City, recently resurfaced. Baku is certainly in the milieu of that metropolis.