Departures from Canon
The Tekumel canon is rich in detail -- so rich that it is easy to make
mistakes without noticing. It is also easy to let this paralyze you; I've
talked to several potential Tekumel GMs who were afraid to run in the universe
because they didn't think they could get it right. Look, as Professor Barker
says, it's your game. You can do whatever you want in your
Tekumel. (And if he says it, it's, well, canonical. ;-)
We've tried to stay fairly close to the canon, though we've undoubtedly
made some mistakes. There are two types of departures from "reality:" those
where you change a known fact outright, and those where you merely fill in
unknown facts, and later find out you're "wrong." I'm sure I've done a lot
of the latter.
The one way in which we knowingly depart from known canon is that we include
a rich variety of martial arts and sword styles above and beyond the Ksarul
and Thumis martial arts, and the duelling swordsmanship, specified in the
Sourcebook and rules. Why? A couple of us are martial arts geeks, and this
material, developed by the oft-cited Patrick Brady, was just too cool for us
to pass up. And hey -- it could really be there on Tekumel, and we just
haven't heard about it yet... As you read this site, though, be aware that our emphasis on the Jakalla sword technique,
and some of the schools that teach it, is definitely non-canon.
