Editing M. A. R. Barker (section)

==Tékumel==
While at Berkeley, Barker had not set aside his world creation project. Indeed, despite stepping back from an active role in [[science fiction fandom]],<ref>{{cite web | last = Raymond | first = Victor |title= A Brief History of Roleplaying Games |date= 1994 |url= http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/whatis/history/earlyhistory.html |access-date= October 14, 2009}}</ref> he had commenced "proto-gaming" with a group of like-minded science fiction fans including fellow linguist [[William F. Shipley|Bill Shipley]]<ref>{{cite book | last = Lamb | first = Sydney M. |author2=Webster, Jonathan | year= 2004 | page = 23 | title= Language and Reality (Open Linguistics)| publisher= Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. | location= London & New York | isbn= 0-8264-6820-9 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vrlPUxB2_JwC }}</ref> and Victor Golla, producing elaborate documents to support the exploration of that shared world.<ref name="Drag4Cover">{{cite journal | last = Barker | first = M. A. R. | title = Land grant to the Shipali Family of the Protectorate of Kerunan (Cover) | journal =[[Dragon (magazine)|Dragon]] | issue = 4 | page = 1 | publisher = [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] | date = December 1976 }}</ref>

Having watched the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' games started by Mike Mornard, one of the original testers for D&D, when Mornard moved to Minneapolis from [[Lake Geneva, Wisconsin]], Barker resolved to create his own ruleset based on his own created world and the game mechanics from D&D. After six weeks, this was self-published in August 1974 as ''[[Empire of the Petal Throne]]'' and play commenced forthwith, including such occasional members as [[Dave Arneson]] – who singled out Barker and Tékumel as being his favorite [[Dungeon Master]] and roleplaying game, respectively – from early days.<ref name="Spiegel">{{cite magazine | last = Lischka | first = Konrad |title= Der vergessene Tolkien |trans-title= The Forgotten Tolkien |magazine= [[Der Spiegel]] |date= October 6, 2009 |url=http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/spielzeug/0,1518,649336,00.html |access-date= October 13, 2009}} [http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=38708&p=791084#p791084 (English translation)]</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title = Interview with Dave Arneson | journal =Fight On! | issue = 2 | pages = 63–64 | publisher = Ignatius Umlaut | date =Summer 2008 }}</ref>

Once [[Gary Gygax]]'s attention had been drawn to Barker's work, it was decided that [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] would publish a revised version of the game mechanics along with a condensed version of his [[campaign setting]]. ''Empire of the Petal Throne'' was published by TSR in August 1975 for [[Gen Con]] VIII, making it the third role-playing game from TSR.<ref name="designers">{{Cite book|author=Shannon Appelcline|title=Designers & Dragons|publisher=Mongoose Publishing|year=2011| isbn= 978-1-907702-58-7}}</ref>{{rp|8}} In a December 1976 editorial for ''[[Dragon (magazine)|The Dragon]]'' magazine, editor Tim Kask drew comparisons between the world of Tékumel and [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s [[Middle-earth]] not in terms of literature created, nor that his work was derivative of Tolkien's, but rather regarding the in-depth detail in the setting, mythos and linguistic backgrounds and concluded that "In terms of development of detail, I think EPT [Empire of the Petal Throne] has it over Middle Earth in the matters that most concern gamers"<ref name=Drag4Kask/> since it had been developed by a "wargamer", whereas Tolkien had no such background and having died prior to the release of D&D was thus unable to address this new pastime personally.<ref name="EPT">{{cite book | last = Barker | first = M. A. R. | year=1975| title=Empire of the Petal Throne | publisher= [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] | location=[[Lake Geneva, Wisconsin]]| asin=B000G9WH5Q }}</ref>

Barker disliked the limited support TSR gave to the setting, and after 1977 he took his Tékumel setting back from TSR and ultimately brought it from one publisher to another: Imperium Publishing (1978), [[Adventure Games]] (1981), [[Gamescience]] (1983–1984), Tékumel Games (1983–1986), [[Different Worlds Publications]] (1987–1988), TOME (1991–1994), Tita's House of Games (1997–2002), Zottola Publishing (2002–2003), and [[Guardians of Order]] (2005).<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|8}} Barker had a personal friendship with Dave Arneson, which led to Arnesons's company Adventures Games releasing several books for Tékumel, such as army lists, maps and reference material.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|39}} DAW published the novel ''[[The Man of Gold (novel)|The Man of Gold]]'' (July 1984) by Barker, which took place in Tékumel.<ref name="designers"/>{{rp|238}} His second novel, ''[[Flamesong]]'' (1985), was also published by DAW.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.blackgate.com/2012/03/30/mar-barker-nov-3-1929-march-16-2012/ | title=M.A.R. Barker, Nov 3 1929 – March 16, 2012 – Black Gate | date=March 30, 2012 }}</ref>

Despite having had a head start on other in-depth campaign settings and seeing his game released no less than four times with various supplements and magazine articles, many of which he contributed to, and having authored five books using the same setting, Barker's Tékumel in both roleplaying and literary domains is still well known to only a relatively small audience, leading German magazine ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' in 2009 to publish an article on Barker's life entitled "{{lang|de|italics=no|Der vergessene Tolkien}}" ("The forgotten Tolkien"). The article quotes friends and acquaintances who posit that this may be, at least in part, due to the unfamiliarity of the setting<ref name="EoASW4">{{cite journal | last = Brady | first = Patrick | title = You're not in Kansas anymore | journal =The Eye of All-Seeing Wonder | issue = 4 | page = 3 | publisher = Dave Morris | date =Spring 1995 | url = http://www.tekumel.com/eoasw4_02.html | access-date = October 14, 2009}}</ref> compared with Western society, echoing Fine's observations from 1983, and possibly even that Tékumel was released to the gaming world too early on, when players had only just started to experiment with their own invented worlds rather than fitting their play into preconfigured, non-literary domains with novel backgrounds.<ref name="Fine"/><ref name=Spiegel/>

In 2008, Barker founded the Tékumel Foundation along with many of his long-time players "to support and protect the literary works and all related products and activities surrounding [his] world of Tékumel and the Empire of the Petal Throne." The Foundation acts as his literary executor.<ref name=Spiegel/><ref name=AuthorizationLetter>{{cite letter|last1=Barker|first1=M. A. R.|subject=The Tékumel Foundation|recipient=Whom It May Concern|date=August 4, 2010|url=http://www.tekumelfoundation.org/authorizationletter.pdf|access-date=March 23, 2022}}</ref>