Category: Gaming

Gaming · Poetry

ddudd gws nih no im jemen

Finn Cullen1 Comment

In a spirit of madness during a recent RPG session I had an Elvish NPC say a few words in his own language, offering his culture’s name for a mythic beast mentioned by one of the player characters. In the split second before the dialogue I decided that the human culture’s name for this mythical beast would be a derivation (unknown to them) of the older Elvish name. The beast was a griffin that emerged from the sea near the PC’s home (an addition to the campaign mythology by that player) known simply as “The Grey” so in that moment of improvisation I had the Elf NPC refer to it as “Gar Ai Meddin” (the dd being a voiced “th”) translating that as Hawk of the Ocean. I could see how “Gar Ai” became “Grey” and job done.

So far so normal for me. But I enjoyed the sound of “Gar Ai Meddin” – it sounded suitably faux-Welsh and alien to the ears, but pleasingly euphonic. Gar I decided was Hawk (though it also reminded me of the Old English Gar meaning Spear, and that was apt I thought, comparing the swift dive of a hawk with the swift flight of a spear) and Meddin was literally Deep Water.

That I decided meant that “Medd” was water, with an affix meaning “Deep”

I should have left it there.

I didn’t. A week or two later and with the help of vulgarlang.com a wonderful site that does all the heavy lifting when it comes to building the framework of a constructed language, I now have a workable Elvish language (they call it “Siwn” which means “Lesser Light” as language to them is a way of experiencing the world) with a functional grammar, structure and about 4000 words of vocabulary.

It’s a crazy waste of time and effort since I have no intention of using it more than tangentially in play, but it has been fascinating in seeing how much of a culture you can discover by forming their language. These Elves for instance revere the concept of light as revelation. Consequently their words relating to inspiration, truth and goodness all derive from the root “Si” meaning light. Their words for making, shaping and creation are all derivations of words for speech and language, and so on. I honestly think that if no syllable ever crosses my lips during play (and I don’t intend to inflict it on my players) I’ve learned some valuable stuff about the rare Elvish race in my campaign setting.

I’ve even dabbled with translating a poem that already existed in the setting, composed a century or two ago by the same Elvish NPC, into this new language — and in the process discovered that Elvish poetry doesn’t rely on end-rhymes but rather end-sounds…

The first stanza in English:

Namer of names, her words were light
And sunshine pierced the deepest dark
Whene’er she spake, where e’er she went
In deepest gloom a kindled spark
Would shine and brighten blackest night

And in Siwn

Minin aiminem vi ddem si had
vur alsi si idd mach alin vavrwd
Re vi siwnˈdasad, ˈMisme vi ˈruhed
Ho alin mach na ragle vassad
Dwn vur almarmach odlaj

You can see the full language breakdown at the campaign’s WorldAnvil page HERE and play with the dictionary if that sort of thing appeals to you.

The title of this article by the way translates roughly to: “Too much time on my hands”


Gaming · Thoughts

Tonic

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Gin and Tonic Cocktail Recipe

I can’t believe it’s been two months or so since I last updated this blog. A lot has happened, or to be precise a lot has happened to many many people but very little has happened to me. Under the lockdown resultant from the pandemic I’ve been working from home since the end of March and apart from a week of feeling dreadful early on with all the classic symptoms of Covid-19, I and my family have all been fine. Did I have the dreaded ailment? In the absence of testing there is no way of knowing and of course there is no guarantee that having had it provides further immunity in any case. It would be an odd exception to the normal coronavirus properties if immunity was achieved after an infection.

Continue reading “Tonic” →
Gaming

Hack, Slash, Cut, Thrust

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I’ve been roleplaying since shortly before the great flood and come across a lot of RPG systems that handle task resolution in many and varied ways. One of the big ones is always the combat system – even in rules-lite games the combat system is (usually but not always) more complex than the rest of the game system with more granular options. There are of course exceptions and some games go for the universal mechanical approach that treats combat scenes just like any other scene.

The normal approach I think grew out of D&D’s roots inside the wargaming hobby and though the RPG scene (including D&D) grew quickly past the simple recreation of fantasy skirmishes there has been a big focus on the combat scene as the core activity of many role playing game sessions.

Personally I’ve never been a big fan of combat for its own sake. Even when I play Fighty McFighter type characters I don’t want the game session to be taken up with lengthy combat encounters in which there is little scope for roleplaying other than pithy one liners and then the wait for the chance to roll a dice comes round again. I have fun doing it of course, with a decent GM and a group of friends taking part it can make a great night, but my advancing chronological existence and demands on my time mean my game sessions tend to be limited to 2-3 hour blocks and I don’t want the bulk of that to be taken up with rolling dice to see how quickly an abstract count of enemy resources can be reduced to zero. Combat in fantasy fiction is exciting (or should be) and is more about the emotions and characters of the participants than it is about describing the endless back and forth of blows, parries, minor wounds etc (or in the case of Runequest, major wounds and the loss of limbs)

What I’m leading up to with this musing are some thoughts I’ve had about what elements make a combat encounter interesting. There are lots of factors of course including a memorable area in which it takes place, with environmental effects, fascinating characters as opponents and allies, and of course appropriate stakes.

In addition to these though there need to be meaningful choices within the scene itself other than simply “Run at each other repeatedly and roll dice till one of us falls over” – and as a starting point I’ve come up with the following breakdown which I’ll try to apply when I’m planning scenes in which combat may occur:

If the PCs heavily outmatch the opponents

  • What could go wrong to give the PCs a challenge?  
  • What relevant choices are the PCs given to demonstrate their character?
  • What could be presented as a challenging option to gain a greater advantage for after the combat?

If the PCs are heavily outmatched by opponents

  • What happens to quickly demonstrate that the PCs are outclassed?
  • What challenges exist for the PCs to be able disengage from the combat?
  • What very challenging option might exist with which the PCs can improve their position?


IF the PCs are of equivalent power to opponents

  • What happens to demonstrate that the opponents are a real threat?
  • What choice can be made to gain the upper hand and what is the potential cost of that?
  • What choice can be made to disengage or de-escalate and what is the potential cost of that?

These are just the skeletons of ideas so far. I’ll flesh them out as I go and post about what happens.

Finn’s first novel A Step Beyond Context is available on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com and a few others as well. It’s a punchy genre-busting mystery with a heroine who is a Regency lady, a high tech mercenary and much more.

Gaming

Ramblers… let’s get rambling

Finn Cullen1 Comment

First things first, if you have any interest in roleplaying games at all then go at once and subscribe to the Grognard Files. Don’t wait, delay or hesitate just go subscribe. I’ll tell you just why in this post but you may as well be downloading your first episodes while you read.

The Grognard Files is a gaming podcast hosted by the inimitable Dirk the Dice, a gamer of many years experience from Bolton, in Lancashire in the northwest of England. Despite the fact that he’s from the wrong side of the mountainous Pennines that divide Lancashire from Yorkshire (“build the wall, build the wall,” the Yorkshire tribes chanted to their strange deities at the dawn of time) his life in gaming corresponds pretty closely with that of yours truly.

Dirk got into gaming in the early 1980s and played through a wide variety of games with his friends and other local groups. He (and they) entered a bit of a deep freeze but recently came back to the scene.

The podcast covers retrospectives of some older games and his experiences playing them. He interviews gaming luminaries (“from back in the day and today”) and invites comment from his fellow host (Judge) Blythy often going into the whys and wherefores of the rules and systems being discussed.

In more recent episodes they’ve moved on to cover more contemporary games and trends in the hobby and their insights accord so strongly with my own that I’ve found myself listening to the podcasts with the sense that I’m sitting with my own buddies and talking things through.

The episodes are fun, engaging and informative with a streak of laconic humour running through them particularly when Dirk and Blythy are discussing something contentious in the room of roleplaying rambling. They clearly have a lot of affection for each other and know each others’ foibles well, The recent segment where Dirk sheepishly admitted to having bought some merchandise he didn’t need (“well that doesn’t sound like you at all”) owning up to Blythy about a wooden, rune encrusted Strike Rank tracker for Runequest was a thing of beauty.

Any negatives? Only one. Since becoming a listener I have spent more money on new games than I have done in ages – and enjoyed every penny worth. On the basis of the enthusiasm shown by Dirk, Blythy et al for Runequest – both the original and the re-released version (skipping over the poor Avalon Hill reboot in the mid 80s) I’ve thrown myself headlong into Glorantha for the first time and am planning a campaign. Purchases so far – the core rulebook, the gamesmaster pack, the bestiary, the Glorantha sourcebook… damn you Dirk you’re costing me a fortune!

But despite that, and believe me no Yorkshireman disregards expense except with good cause, I recommend the Grognard Files to anyone who has an interest in this crazy hobby. It’s informative and inspirational, but most of all it’s a fun way to spend time.

You can find more information and the podcast itself HERE. If you do like it remember to rate it and review it on iTunes so it gets more prominence there, which it really deserves.

And as a thank you to Dirk for the show here’s a picture of the actor Caroline Munro with whom he seems to have a mild obsession bordering on the cultic. I don’t know what Runes she’s affiliated with but I imagine Dirk is working toward being a Rune Lord in her service.

Image result for caroline munro sinbad

Finn’s first novel A Step Beyond Context is available on Amazon.co,uk and Amazon.com and a few others as well. It’s a punchy genre-busting mystery with a heroine who is a Regency lady, a high tech mercenary and much more.