Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #414
Wordplay as Character Inspiration
Contents:
This Week's Tips Summarized
Wordplay as Character Inspiration
- Word Games
- Number Of Syllables
- Word Length
- Rhythm And Rhyme
- Other Languages
What's Your Favorite RPG
- Tri-stat dX
Readers' Tips Summarized
- Suspenseful Sound Effects
- Further Thoughts On D&D 4th Edition
- Bloggers' Opinion On 4th Edition
- Mary Sue Characters
- Medieval Name Resources
Johnn Four's GM Guide Books
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A Brief Word From Johnn
The One Sentence NPCs PDF Is Here
700+ entries from the contest are now available for download
as a very cool GM tool. Some entries were edited out, and
others were changed a bit to suit the format, and now we
have a looooong list of fast NPC concepts you can draw from
while GMing or designing.
Here you go.
Check Out The One Sentence NPC Generator
I put all the PDF entries into a random selector to help you
pick a few for next game. Try it out.
One Sentence NPCs Contest Winners
Congratulations to the random-draw winners of the contest.
Everyone has been contacted, and here's the list to cross-
check in case my e-mail to you was filtered:
- Aki Halme Alphonso Warden
- Ben Overmyer Bruce Greenwood
- Dadamh Dave T. Game
- Elizabeth Sabin Felonius
- Francisco Arriaga greywulf
- impClaw Jorge Carajal
- Kaeltik Kavonde
- Milarky P G
- Pahl Paul Darcy
- Stanford Prescott StingRay
- Ted Swalwell The_Gun_Nut
- Zelgar
My Review of the D&D 4th Edition DM Screen
Just got my DM screen for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition,
and I'm pretty pleased with it. I took some pics and posted
a review over at DungeonMastering.com. Check it out.
September has arrived. Time to get serious about RPGs again!
Cheers,
Johnn Four,
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
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Wordplay as Character Inspiration
By Hannah L.
I recently roped a friend into running a Wushu game
for me. Wushu characters have a small handful of Traits, and
also a Weakness, which can be anything you can think of,
from Angel of Death to Charismatic to Kung-Fu to Queen of
England to Zoologist.
I knew I wanted Swashbuckling and Skullduggery, but I was
having trouble deciding on a third Trait and finding a
Weakness. Since I already had two 'S's, I decided to go with
the pattern, and ended up with a pirate named Saber who is
skilled in swashbuckling, skullduggery, and sailing, and has
a weakness for seduction.
My friend did the same thing, but with 'N's. This was
difficult, but turned out for the best, as we would never
have thought of Navigation otherwise. We ended up with
interesting characters who don't overlap too much, and
between them can take on just about everything.
It occurred to me that a similar method could be used to
come up with character traits for other games. While it
won't have the mechanical impact of Wushu's Traits, it's
still a good way of coming up with a personality sketch for
a character you wouldn't otherwise have imagined.
There are many ways that you can use wordplay to help define
your character, besides alliteration. Following are a few
suggested tips.
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1. Word Games
Play a game of Scrabble. Describe your character based on
the words on the board at the end of the game. Whoever laid
down a particular word gets dibs on using it for their
character. If they don't want it, it's up for grabs.
This works for similar board games like UpWords, any of the
Scrabble variants, and to a lesser extent, Boggle. In
addition to board games, you can use spoken games, assuming
you write the words down.
Spoken word games involve things like naming a word that
starts with the same letter as the last named word ended
with. For example, a chain of words might be, "Acrobat,"
"Teacher," "Rebel," "Light," "Temple," and so on. Be aware
that this particular game usually ends up including a
disproportionate number of words that start with 'E.'
Online games such as TextTwist can also generate interesting
word lists.
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2. Number Of Syllables
Try creating a character whose traits can all be expressed
in words or phrases that are the same number of syllables.
Let's say I'm trying to make a rogue-like character. I want
Lock-Picking, but now I have to find a way to express
Stealthy in three syllables. Silent Strides? Silent Movement
seems more reasonable, and that lets me do Acrobatic and
Charismatic, but now I've lost Lock-Picking and
Backstabbing.
This fits easily into Wushu, since you can define your
Traits with any words you want, and don't have to fit into a
predefined list of skills. For other games, you can just map
your final word list to existing skills.
For example, in most editions of D&D, Silent Movement would
fit right in. Lock-Picking isn't itself a skill, but it fits
perfectly with Open Lock. Acrobatic could be Tumble, or
perhaps Balance or even Jump. Charismatic might mean I try
to end up with a high Charisma, or maybe I just put a few
extra ranks into social skills like Diplomacy and Bluff.
If you're using a point-based system for character building,
you might consider offering a few extra points to players
who choose an especially adventurous number of syllables, or
who find really creative ways of describing certain
attributes.
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3. Word Length
Limiting traits by word length is similar to syllables, but
more difficult. "Smart" has five letters, and so does
"Quiet," so I have a good start on an intelligent, stealthy
character.
"Strong" is six letters, so that's not an option, unless I
find a shorter synonym. Buff? Too short. Tough? Similar, but
not quite. Still, it's a good trait to have, so I'll add it
to my list of ideas.
At least I know I can't be a coward, since that's six
letters. Small is five letters, so maybe I'm short or
scrawny? Lucky is also five letters, but Wise is not.
Neither is Honest.
Sneak is five letters, and it looks like I'm on my way to
developing a cunning, unusually tough Halfling Rogue. Hey,
rogue is five letters, too! How about rich? No. Wealthy?
I'll work on it.
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4. Rhythm And Rhyme
Find words and phrases that all rhyme with one another, or
all fit into iambic pentameter. Or both. This one is tricky,
but can be a lot of fun.
A character could be stealthy, wealthy and healthy. Or they
could be hale, with skin that's pale, wield a flail, and
wear chain mail.
Perhaps they're sometimes guilty of haste and waste, but
have taken a vow to be chaste. They could be strong as an
ox, cunning as a fox, scarred from a childhood pox, and
spend their free time scaling rocks.
If meter is more your style, try haiku or limericks to
describe your character. This requires having some idea of
where to start, but you'll probably end up coming up with
new ideas in the search to find words that fit the meter.
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5. Other Languages
English alliteration might be too easy for you, so what
about other languages?
A popular favourite in fantasy is Latin. I'll pick the words
ignis, ingens, ignoscens, and ignavus. These translate to
"fire," "huge," "forgiving" and "cowardly/lazy," so I have a
character who has fire magic, or perhaps is just a
pyromaniac, is tall and solidly built, and very forgiving,
but also lazy or a coward.
Something to look out for in certain languages are prefixes.
The Latin prefix "per" intensifies the word it is attached
to, so if I were trying for alliteration with the letter
'P,' I could easily end up with an overpowered character
concept.
Any of the other methods listed above can also work in other
languages, with varying degrees of success based on the
language chosen. Rhyme won't work so well in Latin, but it
has plenty of meters to choose from. Word length? Sure.
If you have a group of linguaphiles, you might even combine
them. Sure, your Acrobatic and Charismatic character can
pick locks - if you can find a four syllables long phrase
for "lock picking" in another language.
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What's Your Favorite RPG? Tri-stat dX
From: Hannah L.
I like kicking down doors as much as the next gamer, but
when I want a little more story and a bit less crunch, I
turn to tri-stat dX.
Tri-stat has a point-based character building system, with a
wide variety of Attributes and Skills that let you create
just about any conceivable power. The system scales based on
what die type you use, from d4s for caveman-level games, to
d10s for superheroes and d20s for gods.
The system's greatest strength is also its greatest
weakness: you can do just about anything. Powergamers can
easily abuse the system, so if that's your group, tri-stat
probably isn't for you. But if you want to create unique
characters with flexible powers and mechanically interesting
flaws, tri-stat is fantastic.
The core rulebook is all you need to play. There's a bit of
a learning curve, but once you get past that, it's an easy
system to improvise with.
It's published by Guardians of Order, or rather, it was -
the company went under, and White Wolf picked up the
licenses to at least some of the games. Luckily, the core
rules are still, as they always have been, available as a
free PDF.
You can also pick up the print version of the core book, as
well as settings for fantasy and cyberpunk, in a variety of
places online.
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Readers' Tips Of The Week:
Have some GM advice you'd like to share? E-mail it to johnn@roleplayingtips.com - thanks!
1. Suspenseful Sound Effects
From: Monstah
I've seen plenty of good soundtrack tips for games. Here are
two suggestions: "The Truth and the Light, Music from the X-
Files", by Mark Snow, and "The Call of Cthulhu" soundtrack,
by Troy Sterling Nies, Ben Holbrook and Nicholas Pavkovic.
The first is the official TV series soundtrack, and the
second is from the 2005 fan movie adaptation (both of which
rock, by the way).
They're both instrumental - X-Files features some occasional
dialogue, but it's mostly for mood - and they're both tense.
Each of the CDs has approximately 20 songs, which is plenty,
and they all set a different mood.
So about 40 moods in total. They fit (obviously) for sci-fi
and horror, respectively, but they're very good for any
suspense, horror or otherwise tense atmosphere.
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2. Further Thoughts On D&D 4th Edition
From: Brent P. Newhall
A friend of mine sat down at my table last night, and DM'ed
4th Edition for the very first time. First, a quick summary
of the session's events:
Our characters (an eladrin rogue, an eladrin cleric, a
dragonborn wizard, and a dragonborn warlock) were summoned
to the house of a local lord. His head servant explained the
lord had angered a hobgoblin slaver, who has threatened to
enslave the lord's teenage daughter. The characters were
engaged to escort the daughter to a town on the coast, and
an NPC warlord went along with the party.
We took a mountain pass, where we were ambushed by a large
party of hobgoblins, and an eladrin who spirited away the
girl from our midst. We killed the hobgoblins and captured
the eladrin, who explained that the lord's head servant had
ordered the attack, at which point we returned to the city.
We convinced the lord's guards the lord had been betrayed,
so we could sneak into the lord's manor. We were surprised
by the head servant, who attacked us. The chief hobgoblin
came out with the girl in his arms, at which point we fought
a pitched battle, and managed to knock out the head servant
and the chief hobgoblin, and saved the girl.
My friend liked how much HP everything has. Neither the
enemies, nor the players, drop in two hits. This allows the
battles to go on for at least five or six rounds, which
keeps them interesting.
He also likes that it's not as bad when a character drops.
The two times our PCs went below 0 HP, they were back up and
fighting within two rounds.
We talked about how difficult it is for the DM to keep track
of everything during combat. He felt he could arbitrate more
quickly in 4th Edition than 3rd Edition, because the rules
are simpler.
While he can't remember all the powers in 4th Edition yet,
he still couldn't remember all the rules in 3rd Edition. And
once you get used to the powers, they remain the same and
work consistently, as opposed to the often conflicting rules
of 3rd Edition. So, an overall win for 4th Edition.
He is concerned that players who are used to 3.5 will resist
4th Edition. Certain classes can't do as much massive damage
as they could before. They're more fun in 4th Edition, but
some existing players will grumble.
4th Edition will be significantly more fun for younger
players, since you get to use fun powers, and the rules are
simpler and more consistent. It should also be more fun for
older and more experienced players, once they get used to
it, because many powers reward coordinated teamwork.
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3. Bloggers' Opinion On 4th Edition
From: Maikl
I made a little survey among fellow (and also well-known)
RPG bloggers, asking them to express their opinions on D&D
4e, in three sentences. I must admit that writing on such
topic in just three sentences could have been tough to some
of them (Hello Chatty!) but they (nearly) all made it.
So, here, in no specific order, I present you: Bloggers'
opinion on 4th edition.
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4. Mary Sue Characters
From: Simon Ward
Mary Sue, sometimes shortened simply to Sue, is a pejorative
term used to describe a fictional character who plays a
major role in the plot on such a scale that suspension of
disbelief fails due to the character's traits, skills and
abilities being tenuously or inadequately justified.
Such a character is particularly characterized by overly
idealized and clichéd mannerisms, lacking noteworthy flaws,
and primarily functioning as wish-fulfillment fantasies for
their authors.
Perhaps the single underlying feature of all characters
described as "Mary Sues" is they are too ostentatious for
the audience's taste, or that the author seems to favor the
character too highly.
The author might seem to push how exceptional and wonderful
the "Mary Sue" character is on his or her audience,
sometimes leading the audience to dislike or even resent the
character fairly quickly; such a character could be
described as an "author's pet."
Mary Sue
There are some interesting litmus test links at the bottom.
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5. Medieval Name Resources
From: Mike Bourke
http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/arval/badpages.shtml
The very reasons why it's unsuitable for the purposes of the
group maintaining this website makes it a useful reference
for the rest of us.
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Johnn Four's GM Guide Books
In addition to writing and publishing this e-zine, I have
written several GM tips and advice books to inspire your
games and to make GMing easier and fun:
How to design, map, and GM fresh encounters for RPG's most
popular locales. Includes campaign and NPC advice as well,
plus several generators and tables
Advice and tips for designing compelling holidays that not
only expand your game world but provide endless natural
encounter, adventure, and campaign hooks.
Critically acclaimed and multiple award-winning guide to
crafting, roleplaying, and GMing three dimensional NPCs for
any game system and genre. This book will make a difference
to your GMing.
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