So recently my friend decided to DM AD&D. I have a busy schedule these days, but I figured I would attempt to play with them when I can. Of course, as any good player, I decided to research things to get ideas on how to play my character and wugnot. One thing you need to keep in mind is that I intend to play thief, but pretend that I am a ranger or something like that. Basically, my party doesn't know I am a thief. I am doing this not only because it would be funny, but also a challenge. I have to figure out ways to use my abilities while making sure the other party members don't catch on. Not to mention it is more realistic on a role-playing stand point as a real thief won't just walk up to some random party it just let on who he/she really is. Trust has to be built.
Any case, something I found often was people being against thieves in D&D. Their arguments are thus:
1) Thieves are not a needed class. The abilities of a thief is something everyone can do. What about a Merchant or something else? Why have a separate class for them?
2) The ability system of the thief for OD&D, AD&D, and wugnot is a skill increase system which seems out of place for the game.
3) In combat, it sucks. It is all about the sneak attack.
4) A thief in the party prevents others from trying to solve the problem themselves. Thus giving the thief a lot of spotlight. There is traps? Send the thief in. (Mini-game begins). There be enemies with information? Send thief in to spy. (Mini-Game begins). Need some more money? Send the thief out to pick some pockets. (Mini-Game begins)
5) The people who play them often step on other players toes. Such as stealing from their own party members, backstabbing their own party members, and taking extra loot for themselves.
Okay, now I am pretty sure that the thief class was not a part of Dungeons and Dragons when the game first came out, but I know that the class coming into being was something done more on player choice. My guess, is that people needed someone who had a better chance to do thieving abilities well. So I am a believer that thieves are needed, if not all the time, some of the time as a hire-able NPC. With that said, I could be biased on this, but these are my opinions against these arguements:
1) While, true, most every PC out their will have the ability to do some thief skills to some means or another, the question is "Can they do it well?" It seems like a simple task sneaking up on someone, but when was the last time you went sneaking around? When was the last time you knew someone who was good at sneaking around? My friends and I has played real life games where you need to be stealthy to win. One of my friends is really good at sneaking around.The only hope the rest of us had on hearing him was if he slipped up now and then. Otherwise, he made no noise. And if he did, you wouldn't think anything of the noise he made.
So, it goes without saying that some people are simply better at certain tasks than others, no matter how simple the task seems. There are many things that can cause someone to fail a task that a thief can do. When you sneak around (if you ever), one thing that will often hinder amateurs is their heart. Most people will get excited at the chance that they will get caught. Their heart pounds on their chest, and this nervousness can cause them to make mistakes. Naturally, anyone sneaking around is going to be worried in some way about getting caught, but someone who is good at it will be able to control that fear.
Furthermore, if someone wants to argue that "Anyone can do thief skills," I bring the counter-argument to the table that "Anyone can do anything." Sure, a mage sucks at swing a sword around, but will he do it well? No, he was not trained at it, and has not been using the sword for as long as a fighter has. In theory, anyone can learn spells too, but their success rate is low since they haven't had the study and practice a mage has. In real life, this goes for the same. Anyone can learn history. Anyone can learn math. However, can a non-history major research and dig up materials as fast and as effective as a History Major? Can a non-Math Major work magic with numbers as well as a Math Major? Well all learn and specialize in our own separate fields. In fact, many fields has even more specific specialization. Go to a hospital. You will find many doctors who specialize in one field or another. So what is so weird about someone being good at being a thief?
Lastly, for the issue of not having separate special classes like Merchant, there is an official class Merchant in the Republic of Darokin Gazetteer and their are many homebrew classes in sources like the Dragon magazine. (The Bard class came into existence in a Dragon magazine, I seem to remember)
2) I do agree, that the abilities of a thief seems out of place NOW. Nowadays, the AD&D thief abilities could look something similar to something from Third Edition. However, back then, that was just a specialization for the class. It was a means for the Thief class to be something separate from the other classes. I can see how some people may feel that it feels weird because of the amount of customization you can put into a Thief character. Couldn't you customize other character too? Wasn't it up to you to use what spells you wanted to use for a Mage or a Cleric? Wasn't it up to you to use what weapons you want to use for a Fighter? Granted, Third Edition had a bunch more ways to customize characters with just the core rules to your own liking, but that is now. D&D back in the day was new, and some of the rules were more like experiments. Basically what I am saying here is that D&D changed majorly over the years. It is hard to look at it through the eyes of players 40 years ago. (Yes, it has nearly been that long).
3) I cannot deny that a Thief is not the best choice if you wish to go the combat heavy campaign. While a simple breeze could kill a mage, the mage at least has the abilities to command the elements into a destructive force. The thief...well...Sneak Attack Bitch. It is very hard to deny this truth right here. However, when I think of a Thief, I don't think of them as combatants. Since most of thievery is based on the fact you don't get caught, combat for a thief should be more focused on being fast and not playing fair. Which is why the backstab ability for the Thief makes sense as it centers around that idea. To me, a Thief that goes around killing everything in their path is a poor Thief anyways. Why have sneaking abilities if you don't need to use it as everyone is dead? A Thief should be able to avoid combat all together. So, since your life was spent around the concept of evasion, why would your combat abilities be good? I know there are people in real life who can do stealth and combat, but those people are trained in those fields. Think of this in gameplay that they gained levels over time.
4) This argument I can't fairly say anything against as the first thing I think of when someone hogs all the spotlight in a D&D games is, "BAD DM! BAD!" A DM should figure out ways to make every character shine in some way. Every challenge a DM comes up with should be able to be solved by using someone's abilities in the party. The DM can even make a series of challenges that relays on everyone's unique abilities. I think I see what they are arguing about though. I think they are saying that the Thieves abilities are something that are time consuming. Furthermore, as the Thief is better at his abilities than everyone else, it is easy to just rely on the Thief and just watch the Thief flaunt his abilities around. I still see this as "BAD DM! BAD!" One, just because you can come up with many reasons for someone to roll, doesn't mean you should. Sure, you can make it hard to pickpocket someone by having a couple of rolls to make it successful (pickpocket, sneak, hiding, ect. ect) But why? A rule I learned early is to don't use the dice too much. Yes, the players may succeed more, but your job is to provide challenges, not to throw enough at them to make it possible to fail at every task. If a Thief has a very high chance to pickpockets, let them. Also, if someone succeeds at one Move Silently check, why ask him to keep making Move Silently checks? Two or three checks is fine, but 20 or 30 checks? How long are they freakin moving silently? If you want to make something challenging for a Thief, make it an interesting show for the others. Something the others can enjoy watching, but don't do it too much. Put those points in for when it is crucial for the Thief to succeed. If it is not exciting, don't make it needlessly complex (after all, we shouldn't make rolls to breath every second of the day...)
Also, on the matter of the rest of the party relying on the Thief's abilities too much, I still say "BAD DM! BAD!" The traditional dungeon that you would expect to go through will have Loot, Monsters, Doors, and Traps. So, if the DM stays unoriginal, he could just throw in a bunch of traps for NO REASON and a bunch of lock doors for NO REASON and a bunch of monsters for NO REASON.
DM: You see a locked door. It is obvious that it hasn't been open for years. It will take several rolls for the Thief to open it.
Thief: Kay! *roll, roll, roll* Success! again...
DM: In a room that has no other doors in it, you see a horde of goblins.
Party: WHY!?!
Really, why? Why make a dungeon that does not make sense? If there are traps every step of the way, why haven't the monsters activated them? Why is a dragon living next door to a vampire? You don't need to have all that stuff to have a good dungeon. You just need something that can challenge the party. It is good to have something that uses the thief abilities once in a while, but don't make it needed to have a Thief in the party to complete a dungeon. I often avoid this by having puzzles or riddles in my dungeons at some point. That why, the party can work as a group to solve them.
5) Players that do that, intentionally do things to mess with other players, will do that with any class. It is just that with a thief, it is easier to do that with as you can send secret notes to the DM and get away with it. Some players hear the word "Thief" and think they should just cause whatever mayhem for the lolz. I personally think this is bad role playing as a real Thief would want partners who he could semi-trust (and vice versa) His reputation may make it hard to trust someone fully, but he shouldn't go around causing his partners to mistrust him. It is just bad form, and bad for security. Even if you play a Chaotic Evil Thief, you should be smart enough to know that you need partners that you can trust to be successful.
Now, Out Of Character, the person is likely just being a jerk. While, it is possible to have fun with a player like this, if the other party members (or DM) are not having fun, then something is wrong, and the gaming group needs to discuss these problems. D&D takes up too much time for someone to not be enjoying it. The game needs to be designed so that everyone playing can have fun. Also, keep in mind that everyone's idea of fun is different.
Take example my Thief. I am hiding the fact that I am a thief, and won't really being using my abilities unless I feel like it. Some gaming groups would get mad about that. They would be arguing with me about why I not using my abilities and so forth, but with this gaming group, I know that they will get a good laugh at it. I also know that they will understand that I am doing it for the challenge and for the role-playing aspect. They also know that despite the fact I might be role-playing an unhelpful character, Out of Character I would be contributing what thoughts and ideas I can for the party. However, that is them. And we have been gaming together for a while.
Basically, what I am getting at is that a lot of stress and headaches with the "backstabbing thief" can be avoided if people just talk to one another.
Well, all that is my thoughts about people being anti-Thief. In the end, I will admit that if the gaming group has doesn't want Thieves, there is no point in crying and complaining about it. I would expect the same from anyone who is Anti-Thief. Sorry for standing on a Soap-Box here, but I just wanted to share my thoughts.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Tool's Journal I
20th Flaurmont, 994 AC
-Yeah, that house is gone. At least the girl's unhurt. Taking her to her dad's.
-Oh look, Jonas Leech is holding her dad hostage. Jerk.
->Captain Red hand
-Turns out BG (Benedict George) was an assassin in his youth, and he used secret wizard assassin powers to "remove" Jonas Leech. We're good now.
-Dingleberries the Bard and his magical kazoo! (A random NPC that they demanded to have a name and wugnot. I told them they can make it up.)
-Anyway, BG gave us some extra for being awesome and finding this stuff. Good job me.
-Captain Redhand is still out there with loot! Jerk. Ah, screw him.
-Allen helped us out by booking us passage back to Darokin City. Good kid. And we got 5,000 gold. That's awesome. We're awesome.
2nd Yarthmont
-We got back to Darokin City. Woooo.
-Time for.......SHOPPING!!!! Yeah!
-Also a picnic. I wont at cake.
11th Yarthmont
-Done resting. Time to find a job so we'll have more cake and picnic money.
18th Yarthmont
-Mao found some old guy who saw the Elf War in 500-something AC. Turns out he was a super-mage or something cursed with super-age.
-Needs us to destroy an old golem so that he can die. Gotta strike its weak point for instant destruction. He can get us to the old keep where the golem is.
(At this point, he wrote down to puzzles I gave them that they needed to complete to unlock the way to the keep)
-Suddenly, rock golem! Had to give it a heart attack. In its heart. With my arrow. Mao yelled something. Dunno what that was about.
-Super-mage died. That was the point though. Anyway, he said stuff about power and dying, but then.....SWEET LOOT!
To clarify a bit more. When this session started back up, they were almost done with the previous quest. We just had to stop right before the end because it was time for some of us to go to work. After they finished, I gave them a short quest to give them a short boost of exp (to hurry them along, and to make up for the few bogus leads they have been going on). The quest basically makes up for the loot that they have not been getting the past several sessions. Before I gave them the quest, they went on picnic to have some role-playing fun. I didn't catch all that happened in the picnic. The only thing I really caught was that they blew up a cake.
The New Campaign
After so problems with the last campaign, I had to get the players to start a new one with new characters. They decided to start the new campaign off in the Republic of Darokin in 994 A.C.
One character is called Tuladin Feadil. His nickname is Tool. He is a wooddrake from the Dreamlands in Alfheim. In the Dreamlands, everything more or less has immortality (cuz that is how fairies roll). However, Tool was born without the ability to get reincarnated. Meaning, when he dies, he died. The fairies didn't like this gloomy feel about him, so they asked him to leave. (His character is keeping a journal). His personality is fast talking, self centered, greedy, prankster. He tries to keep the fact that he is a wooddrake a secret by staying in elf form for the most part.
The next character is O'olish Amaneh. Everyone calls him Bear (or Mr. Bear) because that is what he looks like. He comes from the Eastern Borderlands of Darokin, North-West of Selencia. He has been alone for as long as he can remember. Also, for as long as he can remember, he has been a Werebear. Because of this, he looked older than he really is for a long time. He kept himself isolated from civilization for the longest time, bears being his only friends. He started making money as a lumberjack to get himself materials he couldn't get otherwise. While doing this, he learned of people we adventure across the land to explore, find treasure, become heroes, ect. He didn't mind being by himself for the rest of his life, but he kind of wanted to figure out where he came from. He figured that being an adventurer is a good way to do this. His personality is that he is a man whose actions speak louder than his words. What words he does say is to the point. He is calm until something bothers him.
Another character is Elliwood. He is a adventuring merchant from Darokin City. He broke away from his family to make something of himself one his own. He is not a strong fighter, so he needed to find others who can do the fighting for him. He is portrayed as a polite shrimpy character who is often nervous.
There is also a Ylaruam called Selim-al-Jusif of the Yam. Everyone just calls him Fez. The short version of his backstory is that he broke away from the clan that he was a part of (with his elders permission) since he has always felt that he was to be needed elsewhere in the world. His character does not take well to other cultures, so he is not a real people person. In combat, however, he fights hard to defend his comrades.
Next is Gamzee Fulkin. He is a cleric who is not yet aware which god he prays to. There is a lot of interference, and he cannot make direct commune with his god. He traveled from temple to temple in an effort to figure out where the "miracles" came from. Finally, he decided to become an adventurer in hopes that his travels might reveal where the "miracles" come from. He hasn't open his eyes completely for as long as he remembers since he does see the "miracles." He is very peaceful with everyone and everything. (Hugs a tree, hugs a chair, hugs an angry dog, ect.) However, this doesn't mean that he won't fight. It is more like that he is willing to make friends if the other party is willing to be friends. Of course, this attitude does creep some people out.
Lastly is Mao Practice (hardy har). He is a Mage from Glantri who was kicked out of the Mage School. He was kicked out because, though he was smart and understood the concepts, he could never actually cast a spell correctly. Before he was kicked out, they did tell him that he should find some people to adventure with in hopes that he might find out why magic seems to not work that well for him. He is a pyromaniac thinks all problems can be solved by blowing them up. Other than that, he comes off as an angry person, but that is just because he thinks many others around him to be imbeciles.
They meet because they all chipped in to buy a map that would lead to some lost treasure (perhaps). The treasure lead up somewhere in the mountains. Most of the sessions where just them climbing. After they completed that quest, they decided to stick around with each other and be an adventuring party. They got a rumor of some lost temple of in the the North East portion of the Malpheggi Swamp that might have treasure in it. They were going to use a boat to get part of the way there, but there was a small problem with that plan....a storm that steered the boat down the wrong river and caused it to crash into the swamp. Fun. At any rate, the sole survivor from the wreak (beyond the party, of course), traveled with them, and asked if they could help him complete some of the delivery that they had on the boat. They agreed and Alan Walker traveled with them for the rest of the quest. They came across a druid who questioned them. The druid told them that he has been suspicious of any who travel across this area because there was a temple that was emitting great evil in the part of the swamp that he watches over. He asked the party to see if they can take care of it since they were head towards it anyways. They got to the temple and found it to be empty except for several snake eggs. When they found the center of the temple, they were attacked by some snake-man thing. After they killed it, they found out that this was a ruse to lure adventures in the sacrifice them for some ritual. When they left the temple, the druid buried the temple under plants to prevent it being used again. He rewarded the characters and speed them on their way. They went to Athenos to complete the delivery, but they found that someone is preventing them from completing the shipment. They looked into it, and found that Jonas Leech, and assistant to Benedict George, was taking goods that was suppose to be shipped to them, claiming them as lost goods, and smuggling them to a pirate called Captain Redhand. They informed Benedict George about this, and he told them that they still needed some more evidence. They decided to go to Jonas Leech house to investigate. There, they found pirates hanging about. After they killed them, they found the daughter of a politician that Jonas Leech had kidnapped to help keep people off of him. The rescued her, and upon leaving, destroyed the house......our heroes....that is when Tuladin started to keep a journal.
One character is called Tuladin Feadil. His nickname is Tool. He is a wooddrake from the Dreamlands in Alfheim. In the Dreamlands, everything more or less has immortality (cuz that is how fairies roll). However, Tool was born without the ability to get reincarnated. Meaning, when he dies, he died. The fairies didn't like this gloomy feel about him, so they asked him to leave. (His character is keeping a journal). His personality is fast talking, self centered, greedy, prankster. He tries to keep the fact that he is a wooddrake a secret by staying in elf form for the most part.
The next character is O'olish Amaneh. Everyone calls him Bear (or Mr. Bear) because that is what he looks like. He comes from the Eastern Borderlands of Darokin, North-West of Selencia. He has been alone for as long as he can remember. Also, for as long as he can remember, he has been a Werebear. Because of this, he looked older than he really is for a long time. He kept himself isolated from civilization for the longest time, bears being his only friends. He started making money as a lumberjack to get himself materials he couldn't get otherwise. While doing this, he learned of people we adventure across the land to explore, find treasure, become heroes, ect. He didn't mind being by himself for the rest of his life, but he kind of wanted to figure out where he came from. He figured that being an adventurer is a good way to do this. His personality is that he is a man whose actions speak louder than his words. What words he does say is to the point. He is calm until something bothers him.
Another character is Elliwood. He is a adventuring merchant from Darokin City. He broke away from his family to make something of himself one his own. He is not a strong fighter, so he needed to find others who can do the fighting for him. He is portrayed as a polite shrimpy character who is often nervous.
There is also a Ylaruam called Selim-al-Jusif of the Yam. Everyone just calls him Fez. The short version of his backstory is that he broke away from the clan that he was a part of (with his elders permission) since he has always felt that he was to be needed elsewhere in the world. His character does not take well to other cultures, so he is not a real people person. In combat, however, he fights hard to defend his comrades.
Next is Gamzee Fulkin. He is a cleric who is not yet aware which god he prays to. There is a lot of interference, and he cannot make direct commune with his god. He traveled from temple to temple in an effort to figure out where the "miracles" came from. Finally, he decided to become an adventurer in hopes that his travels might reveal where the "miracles" come from. He hasn't open his eyes completely for as long as he remembers since he does see the "miracles." He is very peaceful with everyone and everything. (Hugs a tree, hugs a chair, hugs an angry dog, ect.) However, this doesn't mean that he won't fight. It is more like that he is willing to make friends if the other party is willing to be friends. Of course, this attitude does creep some people out.
Lastly is Mao Practice (hardy har). He is a Mage from Glantri who was kicked out of the Mage School. He was kicked out because, though he was smart and understood the concepts, he could never actually cast a spell correctly. Before he was kicked out, they did tell him that he should find some people to adventure with in hopes that he might find out why magic seems to not work that well for him. He is a pyromaniac thinks all problems can be solved by blowing them up. Other than that, he comes off as an angry person, but that is just because he thinks many others around him to be imbeciles.
They meet because they all chipped in to buy a map that would lead to some lost treasure (perhaps). The treasure lead up somewhere in the mountains. Most of the sessions where just them climbing. After they completed that quest, they decided to stick around with each other and be an adventuring party. They got a rumor of some lost temple of in the the North East portion of the Malpheggi Swamp that might have treasure in it. They were going to use a boat to get part of the way there, but there was a small problem with that plan....a storm that steered the boat down the wrong river and caused it to crash into the swamp. Fun. At any rate, the sole survivor from the wreak (beyond the party, of course), traveled with them, and asked if they could help him complete some of the delivery that they had on the boat. They agreed and Alan Walker traveled with them for the rest of the quest. They came across a druid who questioned them. The druid told them that he has been suspicious of any who travel across this area because there was a temple that was emitting great evil in the part of the swamp that he watches over. He asked the party to see if they can take care of it since they were head towards it anyways. They got to the temple and found it to be empty except for several snake eggs. When they found the center of the temple, they were attacked by some snake-man thing. After they killed it, they found out that this was a ruse to lure adventures in the sacrifice them for some ritual. When they left the temple, the druid buried the temple under plants to prevent it being used again. He rewarded the characters and speed them on their way. They went to Athenos to complete the delivery, but they found that someone is preventing them from completing the shipment. They looked into it, and found that Jonas Leech, and assistant to Benedict George, was taking goods that was suppose to be shipped to them, claiming them as lost goods, and smuggling them to a pirate called Captain Redhand. They informed Benedict George about this, and he told them that they still needed some more evidence. They decided to go to Jonas Leech house to investigate. There, they found pirates hanging about. After they killed them, they found the daughter of a politician that Jonas Leech had kidnapped to help keep people off of him. The rescued her, and upon leaving, destroyed the house......our heroes....that is when Tuladin started to keep a journal.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Player's Own Creations
I love it when players make up stuff for the campaign that they are in. To help encourage them, I give them bonus experiance everytime they create something. The reward is based on how impressive the work is and how much work they put into it it. For example, a ten page story about your character would net you 1000 or 1/20 of the total experience you need from one level to another. (Whichever is larger) While a haiku while net you about 25 experience points. (Unless it is a really good one) I know 1000 experience points sounds like a bit, but I cannot think of a class that would level up with that number on the top of my head. If they go all the way, however, (like a live-action movie) then experience points will not suffice. I would have to give them something special...and maybe some self help books...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Darokin Language
Here are a few thoughts I had on the Darokin Language. The first thing I would like to address is the dialect. Darokin has three dialects that are distinguishable from each other. We have the Borderlands Dialect which includes almost all lands that are in the Borderlands and Selenica. We have Central Dialect which is the lands between Alfheim and Lake Amsorak. Finally, there is the Akesoli Dialect, which is everything left in Darokin west of Lake Amsorak.
The Central Dialect is the one that most everyone recognize as Darokin Language. It encompasses a vast area due to easy mobility of the peoples who lived in that area. There is not much difference in the way Darokin is spoken as you travel to different locations within the Central Dialect region. In fact, the major differences you would find is how serious a tone some of the border cities have than a place like Darokin. As the people who live in a peaceful area are capable of enjoying laughter more than those of the border regions, they have a little more joy and mirth in their speak. This is not to say that those on the border reigons are serious all the time. They laugh and joke just like anyone else. However, because of the death they have seen, it is a little hard to be so flamboyantly joyous in speech when they have constant memories of someone who have died in their minds.
The Akesoli Dialect is different in a few ways from Central Darokin. The basic way that it works is that since Akesoli is so far away from Darokin (due to the lake) they don't pick up on the latest changes in dialect like everyone else does. In fact, Akesoli picks up changes on its own accord for the most part. Change that do happen because of Central Darokin tend to come from military personel stationed out there. Basically, what this leads to is words being said differently in Akesoli from the rest of Darokin. For example: If Darokin was spoken like English, they might say "danger" as we would. Akesoli might pronounce it like "dangah." Here are a few more examples (don't expect me to roleplay this as I am not a language genius, I am just posting this to give you some thoughts and ideas on how the world works)
"Dragon" -> "Drakon"
"Barrels" -> "Bar-ills"
"Water" -> "Uu-door"
"Fish" -> "Tish"
Basically, as you can see, you can guess what they are trying to say pretty easily, it is just that they have (not trying to call them stupid) a slightly less developed speech pattern.
Lastely, the Borderlands Dialect. As Darokin was basically made as a melting pot as immagrants, the Borderlands is a constant modern melting pot. People from surrounding nations constantly move in and settle here. The result is a language that is a mix of all these. While Darokin is still spoken, they will often use words or phrases that are a bit foreign for the rest of Darokin. The two primary languages that mix in the Borderlands (besides Darokin) are Ylarum and Traldarian.
The last thing to consider is the fact that most Darokins can speak two languages fluently. Darokin is a trading nation, they would want to speak the langauges of other nations.
The Central Dialect is the one that most everyone recognize as Darokin Language. It encompasses a vast area due to easy mobility of the peoples who lived in that area. There is not much difference in the way Darokin is spoken as you travel to different locations within the Central Dialect region. In fact, the major differences you would find is how serious a tone some of the border cities have than a place like Darokin. As the people who live in a peaceful area are capable of enjoying laughter more than those of the border regions, they have a little more joy and mirth in their speak. This is not to say that those on the border reigons are serious all the time. They laugh and joke just like anyone else. However, because of the death they have seen, it is a little hard to be so flamboyantly joyous in speech when they have constant memories of someone who have died in their minds.
The Akesoli Dialect is different in a few ways from Central Darokin. The basic way that it works is that since Akesoli is so far away from Darokin (due to the lake) they don't pick up on the latest changes in dialect like everyone else does. In fact, Akesoli picks up changes on its own accord for the most part. Change that do happen because of Central Darokin tend to come from military personel stationed out there. Basically, what this leads to is words being said differently in Akesoli from the rest of Darokin. For example: If Darokin was spoken like English, they might say "danger" as we would. Akesoli might pronounce it like "dangah." Here are a few more examples (don't expect me to roleplay this as I am not a language genius, I am just posting this to give you some thoughts and ideas on how the world works)
"Dragon" -> "Drakon"
"Barrels" -> "Bar-ills"
"Water" -> "Uu-door"
"Fish" -> "Tish"
Basically, as you can see, you can guess what they are trying to say pretty easily, it is just that they have (not trying to call them stupid) a slightly less developed speech pattern.
Lastely, the Borderlands Dialect. As Darokin was basically made as a melting pot as immagrants, the Borderlands is a constant modern melting pot. People from surrounding nations constantly move in and settle here. The result is a language that is a mix of all these. While Darokin is still spoken, they will often use words or phrases that are a bit foreign for the rest of Darokin. The two primary languages that mix in the Borderlands (besides Darokin) are Ylarum and Traldarian.
The last thing to consider is the fact that most Darokins can speak two languages fluently. Darokin is a trading nation, they would want to speak the langauges of other nations.
Wow, it has been a while
Man. I haven't posted in this place for almost a year. Well, lets get back to work. For you Merchant classes, I found this map that could help ya out a little if you ever intend to trade in the Serpent Peninsula.
http://arghis.free.fr/d&d/full_map.htm
If you don't know your geography of Mystara yet (for obvious reasons) then let me tell you that on the East side of the map, you will see a city called Akesoli. That is the western most city of Darokin. It sends and recieves goods across Lake Amsorak. It also recieves goods from the neighboring nations. Just so you know, the "safest" route to the Serpent Peninsula is via boat.
http://arghis.free.fr/d&d/full_map.htm
If you don't know your geography of Mystara yet (for obvious reasons) then let me tell you that on the East side of the map, you will see a city called Akesoli. That is the western most city of Darokin. It sends and recieves goods across Lake Amsorak. It also recieves goods from the neighboring nations. Just so you know, the "safest" route to the Serpent Peninsula is via boat.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Lettor from Velox I
From: Velox Stylxston
To: Theodore Stylxston, Pearl Islands
Dear Father,
I again apologize for leaving you with out any word and I also apologize for not writing to you for so long. I just wanted to let you know that I am well and found a mercenary group in Ethengar. We decided on the name “The Holders” and I am with many friends. One is named Gustav Rorschach (I don't really know how to spell his last name) and he is from Thtyatis just like I am, then there is Simon de'gry who is a mage. Then there is this really cool bird named thesies who is an owl I believe that the techinacal term is a Hisian. These were the first in our marry party then after a week or two came along a man by the name of Iago Rodero who is always drunk, I asked him about his past one time and he said “I'm too drunk to remember”. Then two mages from Alphtia of all places joined our group, by the names of Myst and Blaze, they constantly bicker and can be rather annoying at certain points but they usually volunteer to pay for expenses. Well we started in Ethengar but I'm writing this letter in Glantri, well thats because I have a job here. That is all I really want to say about this subject, oh I bought five horses and named them all I could give you their names but I don't want to boar you with some thing like that. One more thing I had a job at an Ethengar fair and after certain events I found a man claiming to be my uncle by the name of Fredrick…... I forgot his last name, but is this man really my uncle? If so why did you not tell me? And is your brother or mom's brother. I believe he is my uncle because he really saved my butt on more than one occasion. Well the last thing I'm going to say is that I am doing well, I hope you are doing well too and sorry for leaving you like I did but I don't like the merchant life this life suits me better. Hope your doing well
Love, Velox Stylxston
To: Theodore Stylxston, Pearl Islands
Dear Father,
I again apologize for leaving you with out any word and I also apologize for not writing to you for so long. I just wanted to let you know that I am well and found a mercenary group in Ethengar. We decided on the name “The Holders” and I am with many friends. One is named Gustav Rorschach (I don't really know how to spell his last name) and he is from Thtyatis just like I am, then there is Simon de'gry who is a mage. Then there is this really cool bird named thesies who is an owl I believe that the techinacal term is a Hisian. These were the first in our marry party then after a week or two came along a man by the name of Iago Rodero who is always drunk, I asked him about his past one time and he said “I'm too drunk to remember”. Then two mages from Alphtia of all places joined our group, by the names of Myst and Blaze, they constantly bicker and can be rather annoying at certain points but they usually volunteer to pay for expenses. Well we started in Ethengar but I'm writing this letter in Glantri, well thats because I have a job here. That is all I really want to say about this subject, oh I bought five horses and named them all I could give you their names but I don't want to boar you with some thing like that. One more thing I had a job at an Ethengar fair and after certain events I found a man claiming to be my uncle by the name of Fredrick…... I forgot his last name, but is this man really my uncle? If so why did you not tell me? And is your brother or mom's brother. I believe he is my uncle because he really saved my butt on more than one occasion. Well the last thing I'm going to say is that I am doing well, I hope you are doing well too and sorry for leaving you like I did but I don't like the merchant life this life suits me better. Hope your doing well
Love, Velox Stylxston
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