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Grim posted:I always try to make a big deal about people speaking the right languages in Forgotten Realms games, but I think amongst my gaming group I'm the only one who gives a poo poo Ob-lob, from the Reign setting. The supplement featuring it has a whole chapter on it. Why? Check it: Ob-lob (or Fodandutikanitandu, which is the Fodandutikanitandu word for what they call their language) is a probably artificial language where a given word's importance is measured by how many syllables it has. The longest word is Ahazumpadorzahirvomeckneeramutruuzmecklotan - a sixteen syllable word for God. Coming in second is the fifteen syllable word for "world", third the fourteen syllable word for "ocean" (the Ob-lobs are a seafaring people), fourth the fourteen syllable word for themselves (Obotilobitanolonikututano) and clocking in at twelve syllables is "family", "sky" and "virtue". Eleven syllables is a verboten concept associated with death and ill-fortune. The best way to insult somebody in Ob-lob is to lengthen their name to eleven syllables and yell it at them. Ten is "Life". This carries on down to the one syllable words which are the least important. Notably, "Pu" which means everyday moral weakness. This tiered system of importance tells you a lot about the Ob-lob culture and what values they hold. Notably "Self" is a five syllable word and waaaay down below family and even the likes of "Law" and "Pride". Another notable word is the three syllable word for "Stupidity". Normally stupidity is like a one syllable word, but the three syllable version is reserved for unbelievable, you'll-never-live-this-down Hangover type stupidity. It's a good one, and one I often try to incorporate whenever Ob-lobs show up. Relatedly, Ob-lobs who haven't acclimatised to foreign cultures often get offended about being called Ob-lobs (the foreign shortening of the thirteen syllable mouthful) for an obvious reason: It's two syllables! Do these people think we're scum? Another fun piece of fluff is that they often have trouble saying the word "King" and end up saying something like "Kin-in-in-in-ing" because of its importance. Ob-lob names usually have 4 syllables, 5 if your parents were pretentious, 3 if they were really strict and wanted you to be humble. Their alphabet is a sort of runic, vaguely heiroglyphic one. Each word is either a line or a spiral depending on whether you're writing about mundane or spiritual matters, with a single unbroken line/spiral with symbols coming off it representing each word. I love the detail that's gone into writing the Ob-lob language. Language is hugely important in the Reign setting and the Language() skill is front and centre with things like Weaponry and Lie. It's relatively easy to splash into a language and have a decent chance of communicating with someone if they're willing to take extra time and speak slowly, so it's unlikely that the party will be completely unable to communicate with someone. At the same time, it's a significant investment to achieve mastery and get an accent, which I really like. Sadly, none of the other languages are detailed as much as Ob-lob. There's a shout out to the Imperial language for having the only sensible system of writing on the planet (still no spaces, punctuation or capital letters but way better than everyone else's) and a shout out to the Dindavaran written language for being so retarded that even they rarely use it (words are written according to pronunciation. To-may-to and to-mah-to would be written completely differently)
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Oct 1, 2014 11:44
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 08:31 |
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Kai Tave posted:In one of the supplements, I can't remember which but I think it's one of the earlier ones, there's some detail tucked away in a chapter of new advantages/qualities about a tiny little kingdom tucked away somewhere that's the only place in Reign's setting that understands the concepts of word spacing, punctuation, and how to read silently without vocalizing the words as you go. It's a secret they guard jealously the same way that Dindavara guards the secret of their Hanzo steel, and you can actually be from that country (or have been secretly taught by someone from that country) and buy the secrets of advanced literacy as a character advantage. Ahh, the Librarian-Kings of Salck. It should be noted in Reign that because written language is so primitive, everybody who is literate reads aloud. Everyone except the Librarians of Salck. The way reading and writing works in Reign mechanically is that to read and write you take a penalty to your Language() skill unless you take like half an hour and muddle your way through it like a preschooler or you have the Literate(insert language) Advantage. It's only a 1 point advantage but that's still like an intensity 2 spell or Indomitable (the advantage that lets you keep using limbs after they've been broken). If you have the Literate advantage you can then buy Secrets of the Librarians of Salck, assuming you can convince your GM, for 2 points. All this does is that you can read without speaking or moving your lips. This is roughly equivalent in the modern day to somebody skim-reading a piece of sheet music and being able to whistle it. It's somewhat eyebrow raising. The other thing the Librarian-Kings get is an Esoteric Discipline called The Eyes of the Crown of Salck. It's basically the Sherlock Holmes Memory Palace: The skill tree. At rank 1 you can make a roll to remember someone's face forever, at rank 5 you can remember everything since you bought it with perfect recall, forever. It's kinda cool but it's one of those things that you either have to be playing a Librarian-King or be able to sweet talk your GM into letting you be a special snowflake to have. Also with regards to the men riding side saddle thing, Reign has Muscle Wizards. It's a magic school called Equine Unity and it requires you to be able to ride a horse to buy. Therefore, it's almost completely exclusive to women. It's mentioned that they only very recently discovered that men could do it at all and that was due to some very weird circumstances. All muscle wizards are women. And what muscle wizards they are! Running on smoke, leaping fifty feet at a time, turning into wind and moving at 70mph, getting so many ranks in Body that you can break the dice cap of the system.
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Oct 2, 2014 16:08
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My main memory of my one abortive attempt to play Burning Wheel is that I built a knight, a 30 year old professional knight who had a liege lord, owned property, was landed, was the son of a noble, owned armor and weapons and horses and everything. He did not have enough money to buy a potato. Literally. I did not have enough starting money despite having deliberately picked options that would give me property, titles and patronage to buy a single meal of cheap peasant fare. What's more, trying to buy that meal would drain the last of my money, but if I tried and failed to buy that potato enough times, I would actually get money from somewhere permanently. I don't even know. I like the idea of Burning Wheel, in the abstract. It's just I feel like the rules are utter AIDS in the worst sort of fantasy heartbreaker way.
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Oct 28, 2014 22:18
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Jimbozig posted:I'm going to completely disagree with the posters above me and say that from what you've posted it sounds like you are the perfect audience to try it out. Three problem I've had with BW is simply that it turns some people off, and when that person is one of the regulars in your group, well... Guess you're playing something else. The game is not busted at all, but it totally assumes you know about failing forward and trusts you as a GM not to describe the expert marksman missing the barn door. If the expert rolls his 6 dice and manages to get no successes, then come up with some other twist that involves him failing to get his intent even though he obviously was capable of making the shot. Maybe somebody bumped him or somebody cheated him or whatever. There are lots of failed rolls, but when the GM is on the ball, that can be a big positive. And also most newbies forget to use the rules for working patiently or carefully and make the game harder by that omission. New players also lack the system mastery to marshal all available dice from helping, linked tests, etc. I dunno dude, I get what you mean but I feel like if the GM has to constantly throw the players a bone and twist the narrative to explain why these professional adventurers are retarded shitfarmers mechanically, and the players have to search and scrimp for all the bonuses they can get just to be effective, there's something wrong with the game. I really want to like BW and I want to give it a second chance, but that first game was such a negative experience all around I'm not sure I can convince the GM to run it again - and he's the one who bought Burning Wheel, Magic Burner and Monster Burner in the first place.
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Oct 29, 2014 01:03
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grassy gnoll posted:Basically play Mouse Guard. Also, claimed. Many thanks grassy gnoll.
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Oct 29, 2014 01:04
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 08:31 |
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Jimbozig posted:That doesn't match up with my experience at all. From what you've said here, that was probably true. What can I say, it was everyone's first time playing BW.
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Oct 29, 2014 13:41
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