My Newbie Game, commentary and thoughts

[Viking Bastard]

I actually think it's better that he's homebrewing it. It's personalized, less generic, yet things from other "worlds" can still be dropped in.

And I just like making stuff up.

Also, I know this seems an odd question, but when you game, do you game in English (I assume the material is not available in your tongue)?

For rule stuff, a lot of english gets thrown around. For in-game stuff, no.

Back in the day, we mixed English and Icelandic a lot in or out of game, resulting in a pidgin game lingo only we understood, but this time I decided to keep everything in-game strictly in Icelandic.

The place names and such I mentioned in my posts are anglicized versions of the names I use in-game. It does give it a different feel, if only because Icelandic is a pretty transparent language, unlike English.

Thrymreich = Þrymríki = Thrymr's State
Thrymgard = Þrymgarður = Thrymr's City

Thrymr/Þrymur being the founder of the old empire.

Morkinstadh = Morkinstaðir = Rotten Place
Hruni = Hruni = Collapsed (real place name!)

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

And I just like making stuff up.

I understand completely, as so do I

For rule stuff, a lot of english gets thrown around. For in-game stuff, no.

Back in the day, we mixed English and Icelandic a lot in or out of game, resulting in a pidgin game lingo only we understood, but this time I decided to keep everything in-game strictly in Icelandic.

The place names and such I mentioned in my posts are anglicized versions of the names I use in-game. It does give it a different feel, if only because Icelandic is a pretty transparent language, unlike English.

Thrymreich = Þrymríki = Thrymr's State
Thrymgard = Þrymgarður = Thrymr's City

Thrymr/Þrymur being the founder of the old empire.

Morkinstadh = Morkinstaðir = Rotten Place
Hruni = Hruni = Collapsed (real place name!)

First off, thanks for answering my strange question.

I find this very interesting, on several levels. I love languages, though sadly, I only speak English, a half-assed amount of Canadian French, and know a few words of several more, but certainly not enough to communicate much.

I am also currently running a viking-style game, and I'm trying very hard to get the flavour right. Your info on place names is immensely helpful, and good to know that I've basically been doing it with the right idea (if not exactly proper form all the time). I know my pronunciation is probably abyssmal.

I also just have a fondness for Scandinavian (& Northern European), culture in general, so I'm being a bit of a 'fanboy' here.

 

[Aulirophile]

Assuming the Ranger is an Archer, she'll stop feeling inadequate in a few levels. Probably the same turn she crits an elite on one out the four attacks she made that turn and it drops.

 

[Brys]

I've always explained the Warlord as a drill sergeant. They know how to fight but they spend most of their time yelling at other people to "get in there and hit something", while calling you a maggot.

Their healing is more like an adrenaline rush - they don't make you feel better about yourself, they make you more afraid of failing. Obviously that fluff depends on how you describe wounds. If you describe a PC as having his intestines spilling onto the floor, the warlord yelling at them won't magically sew the wound shut

 

[Viking Bastard]

I am also currently running a viking-style game, and I'm trying very hard to get the flavour right. Your info on place names is immensely helpful, and good to know that I've basically been doing it with the right idea (if not exactly proper form all the time). I know my pronunciation is probably abyssmal.

Some shorthand for you:

Most place names are really just explanations of what they are. Reykjavík, for instance, means Smokey Bay, because it was a bay that was smokey. Ísland (Iceland) was named so because it was a land that appeared icy (it isn't that icy, really, but the first impression stuck). Eyjafjallajökull is a glacier (jökull) in Eyjafjöll (Island Mountains).

Others:
Akureyri = Field Creek = a creek with some nice fields.
Kópavogur = Seal Pup Cove = it had a lot of seals.
Hafnarfjörður = Harbor Fjord = had the best natural harbor in the area.
Hveragerði = Walled Hot Springs = because it's a bunch of hot springs walled in by mountains.

Etc.

I think a lot of Norse feel can be produced this way (literal place names, so to speak), without having to get into full faux-norse lingo, but here is a simple rule for quick anglicized norse-style place names: Prefix (noun or adjective) + suffix (geographical phenomenon).

 

[Viking Bastard]

Assuming the Ranger is an Archer, she'll stop feeling inadequate in a few levels. Probably the same turn she crits an elite on one out the four attacks she made that turn and it drops.

The ranger is having no problems, but the warlord and the wizard do. The warlord because she struggles with the class concept and the wizard because she just has problems in general.

The ranger is doing fantastic.

 

[Aulirophile]

The ranger is having no problems, but the warlord and the wizard do. The warlord because she struggles with the class concept and the wizard because she just has problems in general.

The ranger is doing fantastic.

Misread. XD

Tell her Warlords are Enablers/Force Multipliers. They hand out bonuses that make attacks better, and then enable allies to make more attacks. Or, colloquially, "Barbarians hit things with their axe, Warlords hit thing with their Barbarian."

Controllers are generally the most complex class to play effectively, might not have been the best option to give someone like that the Wizard.

 

[Viking Bastard]

Misread. XD

Tell her Warlords are Enablers/Force Multipliers. They hand out bonuses that make attacks better, and then enable allies to make more attacks. Or, colloquially, "Barbarians hit things with their axe, Warlords hit thing with their Barbarian."

That's an excellent rule/tactical explanation. That doesn't really help, but thanks none the less.

Anyway, it's moot. She's changing to a cleric and has a bitchin' character concept to go with it.

Controllers are generally the most complex class to play effectively, might not have been the best option to give someone like that the Wizard.

They chose their characters from a pool—I didn't assign them. In fact, she fought for the wizard. She's really into Harry Potter.

The problem isn't rule related; I think she'd have the same issues with whatever character she could have chosen. I've talked to some of the other players to help her out more; to help her find her groove.

 

[Nemesis Destiny]

Some shorthand for you:

Most place names are really just explanations of what they are. Reykjavík, for instance, means Smokey Bay, because it was a bay that was smokey. Ísland (Iceland) was named so because it was a land that appeared icy (it isn't that icy, really, but the first impression stuck). Eyjafjallajökull is a glacier (jökull) in Eyjafjöll (Island Mountains).

Others:
Akureyri = Field Creek = a creek with some nice fields.
Kópavogur = Seal Pup Cove = it had a lot of seals.
Hafnarfjörður = Harbor Fjord = had the best natural harbor in the area.
Hveragerði = Walled Hot Springs = because it's a bunch of hot springs walled in by mountains.

Etc.

I think a lot of Norse feel can be produced this way (literal place names, so to speak), without having to get into full faux-norse lingo, but here is a simple rule for quick anglicized norse-style place names: Prefix (noun or adjective) + suffix (geographical phenomenon).

Thanks again, Viking Bastard; very helpful.

I remember last year when "the Volcano" was erupting, the newscasters had a heck of a time with it - very amusing. One of the programs on BBC about it even featured a rough pronunciation guide that was ridiculous and funny (Eye + Fiat [the car] + Yogurt + [Angela] Merkul). Then they had an Icelandic folk singer on to do a song about it in English. It was cute.

 

[Viking Bastard]

I remember last year when "the Volcano" was erupting, the newscasters had a heck of a time with it - very amusing. One of the programs on BBC about it even featured a rough pronunciation guide that was ridiculous and funny (Eye + Fiat [the car] + Yogurt + [Angela] Merkul). Then they had an Icelandic folk singer on to do a song about it in English. It was cute.

The Icelandic media had a lot of fun making fun of the foreign press' attempts.