TSR Edition Cover
Introduction
In December 1976 The Old Guard started selling “Legions of the Petal Throne” miniatures sculpted by Bill Murray (more on those in a future post). The Old Guard advertisement promised upcoming miniatures rules, which were released by TSR in October 1977, also under the title “Legions of the Petal Throne.”
Old Guard Advertisement in The Dragon #4
The rulebook, which is divided into basic (qadárni) and advanced (qadárdàli) rules, drips with Tékumel flavor. Two reprints of articles from The Dragon provide background on Tékumel warfare. The rules include a military magic system distilled from the earlier War of Wizards, as well as many notes on the peculiarities of the military forces of the five empires. An appendix includes statistics for each legion of the five empires, many small nations, and some non-human forces. The book also includes great artwork by Sutherland, D.A. Trampier, and Tom Wham, who also helped edit the rules.