Official Rules
Swords & Glory
Swords & Glory proved to be very strong on background material, but the three Volumes originally planned were never completed. Volume 1 is widely considered the most comprehensive book of Tékumel background material available, however.
Publishing History
Gamescience, Volume 1 (boxed), 1983
Gamescience, Volume 2 (boxed), 1984
Volume 1 began reprinting as two books (blue and brown covers) by Different Worlds Publications, August 1987 and December 1988. The third part of this reprint was produced by Tita’s House of Games in 2004.
Author
Professor M.A.R. Barker
Description
Volume 1: Boxed set with 136 page book and one map full colour sheet with four maps on it (same map as original Empire of the Petal Throne). An extremely detailed look at the world of Tékumel that is still invaluable as a Sourcebook—history, races, culture, society, laws and customs, languages and much much more. No game mechanics. The book suffers from small print and no indexing.
Volume 2: Boxed set with 240 page book, 12 page pamphlet, 16 page pamphlet, 8 page character sheet and 2 20-sided dice. Character generation, spells, game mechanics. An incomplete game system for adventuring in Tékumel, as Volume 3 was planned but only finally completed and released recently.
Volume 3: GM’s Guide: never completed.
Supplementary Books
Index to Swords & Glory Vol. 1
Because the Gamescience Swords and Glory, Vol. 1, lacks an index, Thomas Thompson wrote one which proved to be an indispensable guide to navigating through the worldbook.
Reprints of the Swords & Glory books are available from Tita’s House of Games.