View source for Empire of the Petal Throne

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'''''Empire of the Petal Throne''''' is a highly nonstandard [[Tabletop Games|fantasy game]] created by M. A. R. Barker. He self-published the first version of the game in 1974. TSR published versions in 1975 and 1987, and Guardians of Order published ''Tékumel: Empire of the Petal Throne'' in 2005.

M. A. R. Barker was a world-builder on the level of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], and that shows in this game; Tékumel is ''not'' a [[Standard Fantasy Setting]]. However, thanks to the advertising that promised the game has no elfs or dwarfs, many people were hesitant about giving it a try; the game has never been a commercial success in any version.

Between 1984 and 2003, five tie-in novels set in Tékumel were published: ''The Man of Gold, Flamesong, Prince of Skulls, Lords of Tsámra'', and ''A Death of Kings''. 

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* [[Creepy Blue Eyes]] / [[Occult Blue Eyes]]: Blue eyes are considered creepy by definition, due to being highly uncommon and to being associated (at least in legend) with witchcraft. That said, {{spoiler|Tlayesha}} in ''The Man of Gold'' subverts the trope.
* [[Fictionary]]: M. A. R. Barker was also a linguistics professor, and he created Tsolyani and many other languages in great detail for the world of Tékumel. They are notably unlike European languages.
* [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice]]: The [[Cruel and Unusual Death|cruel and unusual]] version of this is the most ignominious version of the death penalty in ''[[Empire of the Petal Throne]]''.
* [[Lost Technology]]. Some examples of the previous human civilization's technology exist, but they're considered magical by the current medieval level society.
* [[Planetary Romance]]: For those who consider the setting to be science fiction of some sort, the fact that the universe has only one inhabitable planet makes the story Planetary Romance by default.
* [[The Stars Are Going Out]]: The [[Backstory|origin event]] of Tékumel. A superweapon split the Tékumel system into a parallel universe where nothing else exists.

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[[Category:Tabletop Games]]
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[[Category:Tabletop Games of the 1970s]]