|
|
Post by vito on Mar 26, 2012 7:30:18 GMT -6
Hi guys! Long time no see.
So I'm running what could very well be the first ever Carcosa game in Korea (as far as I know anyway).
I might make a podcast or something.
Anyway, I was wondering what sorts of languages might be spoken on Carcosa. I can't imagine there would be very many languages one would want to learn. Any of the pre-human languages might very well drive a man insane!
|
|
|
|
Post by crusssdaddy on Mar 26, 2012 8:21:37 GMT -6
This is from an old blog post:
When the Snake-Men created the 13 races of mankind, they imprinted within each the ability to spontaneously, organically develop a unique racial language. Why did they care if their lab rats could speak? No one knows.
There are 12 ‘mother tongues’ among Men, one for each color, excepting Dolm. There are several additional languages that have developed over the eons. Language notes in brief:
There are no alignment languages on CARCOSA.
Dolm Men do not have their own language; during childhood, they randomly imprint one of the 12 color languages. The reason for this is unknown.
Black Tongue is the primary language of Black Men and – due to abundant overlap with other languages – the unofficial lingua franca of CARCOSA.
Dark Black is a baroque dialect spoken only among a small, xenophobic polity of Black Men who desire utter distinction from all other races.
Grave Cant aka Bone Speak relies upon important visual cues only reproducible by Bone Men: subtle sparking displays among nervous tissues, prominent organ discoloration, and altered circulatory rhythms. It is essentially unlearnable by other races. Dolm Men who imprint Bone Speak typically devolve into animalistic savagery.
High Green and Low Green are two distinct languages, the former native to civilized Green Men and the latter a debasement in use solely among Green Primitives.
Blue and Red are near enough to be largely interchangeable. This linguistic familiarity explains the close cooperation between these two races.
Orange is sung among family and friends, spoken to anyone outside the tribe.
Purple is a barbaric cacophony of hoots, whistles, and screeches barely more advanced than the calling of apes.
Ulfiric is modulated to affect the emotional centers of the mind. Uniquely skilled speakers can evoke spectacular responses in weak-willed listeners: hypnosis, suggestion, charm, and more.
|
|
|
|
Post by Malcadon on Dec 27, 2012 3:14:00 GMT -6
I have been thinking about handling the learning of languages in settings where cultures are mixed and isolated, and languages are too deserved to be listed. Then it hit me: Why bother making long lists of languages, when the players can roll to see if they know the language of a newly encountered NPC (and the people of that NPC). How this works, is that when a player character encounters a new group of NPCs, the Referee rolls 2d6 and (after applying adjustments) consult the table below to see the extent of how well he can speak to them. Once the PC's level of understand has been established, he can communicate in that way from now on. After a full week of contact, the Referee can roll 2d6 (plus adjustments) to see if the PC can become better at the new language. On a 10 or more, the PC get better by one grade, or two grades on a 12 or more. On a 3 or less, the PC is stumped, and now requires a full month of contact before he/she can make further progress. Further more, the Referee may rule that the PC has a permanent (but superficial) accent or speech pattern with that language, even when he become a fluent speaker. This could be the dropping or swapping of a random vowel or consonant, or even a lisp, rasp, hack or grunt. Speech patterns includes things like dropping or swapping some words, contractions, talking like Yoda, and so on. Mind you, all this is also about adding some flavor to the game. This assumes that even if a character does not know a given language, he can construct the language from other languages he is familiarity with, so that a character can easily know a patchwork of languages and dialects. It also assumes that languages — be it verbal, written, hand-gestures, etc. — in general are simple and easy to learn. In the chaotic environment known as Carcosa (hell, even Gamma World), the characters would need to be flexible with their linguistics skills! Adjustments| +1 | Your Intelligence score is 16 or more. | | -1 | Your Intelligence score is 4 or less. | | +1 | You are the same skin color. | | -1 | You are the opposite skin color. | | +1 | The language is crude/primitive. | | -1 | The language is complex/elaborate. | | +1 | You have some context to understand it (a related language or lexicon). | | -1 | It is too foreign to you. | | -2 | It is totally alien to you (e.g. Alien Grays or Elder Race). |
| 2d6 | Result | | 2-3 | "I do not comprehend at all?" | | 4-6 | "I do not understand, but I'll figure it out." | | 7-9 | "I think I understand you... A little?" | | 10-11 | "I speak it fairly well." | | 12 | "I speak it fluently!" |
(hindered) The language is too complex to understand. It will take you a full month of contact before you can speak it a little. "I do not understand, but I'll figure it out." (non-speaker) You do not understand the language, but its not too complex to figure out -- after a week of effort. "I think I understand you... A little?" (broken) You know the language enough to convey only simple terms or ideas. e.g. you can say "I need food.", but you can't say "Have you eaten blue-fungus soup before?" Because you speak so poorly, you get -2 to all reaction rolls. "I speak it fairly well." (basic) You are familiar enough with the language to speak it normally, but with a noticeable accent or odd pattern. Complex concepts, like jokes, poems and metaphors maybe hard to understand or expressed. "I speak it fluently!" (fluent) You can speak it as your own tongue. You speak it so well, you get a +1 to all reaction rolls! Note: The added tags are for gaming notes (e.g. "Languages: Green-men of hex 2617 - broken. Blue-men of hex 0107 - non-speaker.") |
|
|
|
Post by Ynas Midgard on Dec 27, 2012 8:04:59 GMT -6
This is a great rule, consider it stolen; and have an exalt!
[OFF]I cannot resist saying that written texts are often easier to understand than spoken strings, because the former changes much less in a given period of time (compared to pronunciation). This, of course, assumes some relation of languages and that they are not transcribed with different sets of symbols.[/OFF]
|
|
|
|
Post by Malcadon on Dec 27, 2012 21:02:16 GMT -6
This is a great rule, consider it stolen; and have an exalt! Thanks! ;D Use it as you please. I cannot resist saying that written texts are often easier to understand than spoken strings, because the former changes much less in a given period of time (compared to pronunciation). This, of course, assumes some relation of languages and that they are not transcribed with different sets of symbols. You might be right. I added it on account of Conan's ability to read obscure text, and trying to apply the text into a verbal form. Looking at it again, Conan was not trying to pronounce the test, but trying to comprehend there meaning. Plus, if this system assumes that languages are generally simple, then the written form should be treated the same. With that, I will make adjustments to the... Adjustments. |
|
