Any DMs ever try this?

[Crothian]

Escalate the threat. Don't take away voice, take away language. They try to speak -- no sound. They try to write -- useless squiggles. They try to read -- the letters jump around the page.

Again though if the players are not good at pantimime or something it will get very tough. They could just start talking in the third person, not having their characters talki but still be fine even though their characters are not.

At Origins I played a mute character and for one session I went over the top and had fun. But if all your players are not going to do this is could be very boring for the ones that feel left out.

 

[Agent Oracle]

Escalate the threat. Don't take away voice, take away language. They try to speak -- no sound. They try to write -- useless squiggles. They try to read -- the letters jump around the page.

Mute-Dyslexia is a terrible affliction

Actually, the had an episode of Batman (the animated series) where his world was... idyllic. He was married, his business was successful, and his parents were alive... except for the fact that every time he looked at a piece of paper it was... gibberish.

In the end, it turned out that he was asleep, and his mind was being controlled by the Mad Hatter (mind control baddie). He realized it because when you're asleep, reading is impossible. (it has something to do with separate hemispheres of the brain or whatever)

Maybe that could happen to the players. They go in to assault some powerful adversary, The enemy hits them with his big spell and... they all save. then proceed to hand him his arse. Then they are hailed as heroes. Women throw themselves at the lecherous fighter, the wizard is granted tenure and position at the university. Life becomes very, pleasant, but dull. Dead dull. Dull enough that there are no more monster raids or anything. Just lots of people wanting them to be happy.

Make sure to mention that the PC's are suddenly all illiterate. the wizard shoud notice first, or else the cleric. It'll be tough.

 

[Contrarian]

I like this idea.

I think you do really need some sort of clever twist or purpose to it--ideally one that the players can eventually discover and turn on its head--or else I think it'll just end up being an annoying and pointless restriction. Like, "Hey, let's all play characters with no limbs!"

OK, I thought about it. Let's try this:

There's got to be a Lovecraftian Bad Guy(s) (LBG) responsible -- maybe some single otherworldly thing, or maybe an otherworldly race. Doesn't matter. What matters is tha the LBG brain is so alien that its thoughts "leak out" and corrupt the minds of mere mortals so that they speak and write (but not understand) the LBG language. (In this version, it isn't necessary to take away the PCs ability to read normal language, as long as nobody can write in it -- in fact, you may want your PCs to be able to read some ancient tome discussing LBG.) The LBG knows this side effect of its presence leaves mortals unable to organize against it, and counts on the confusion to help it do evil stuff (take over the world, eat people, whatever).

So, if the PCs have the ability to "speak" the LBG language, why don't they make any noise when they try to talk? Because the LBG doesn't have vocal cords -- the LBG is telepathic. The PCs, being mere mortals, can't use the telepathic language correctly. Except the PCs are heroes, so of course, they'll eventually figure out the secret to beating the LBG isn't to resist the brain-warping thoughts -- they have to embrace them. For the big climax, the PCs have to risk soul and sanity in order to become (temporarily) telepathic themselves, which lets them take on the LBG in a fair fight. (For the ultimate Twilight Zone/Buffy twist, just being able to transmit non-LBG thoughts could be a weapon against the LBG.)

Too much?

 

[JVisgaitis]

Too much?

I don't think its too much. Crothian is right in saying that this is only suitable for certain groups, but I'm definitely going to try and work it in. We have plenty of Lovecraftian creatures in our world, so having this ability be used by one of them won't be very difficult.

 

[RangerWickett]

I tried a musical game once. Didn't work out quite right. Then again, I don't exactly know what I intended.

I might try it in my next game, since it will involve plane-traveling a bit. I could have the party visit a plane where song manifests as reality, like in Bollywood flicks.

 

[paradox42]

On a different note, I've never understood the whole "can't read in your sleep" thing. I've always been able to read in my dreams. Can other people really not do that?

Oh, and while I might contemplate doing an adventure like this (no speaking allowed) in a face-to-face game, I'd never do it in my current campaigns as they're run online. I mean, sure the players could use the /me command with every action to describe their nonverbal gestures and such, but it just wouldn't have the desired effect IMO.

 

[diaglo]

my old group gamed a whole session in Klingon.

took a few months of prep work by each of us. but it was a blast.

 

[Mallus]

Let me get this straight. You're asking if a game of D&D, which is primarily made up of speaking words aloud would work if the player character couldn't talk? The only thing that would be allowed is player-to-DM speech?

It would effectively wipe out player-to-player interaction. That would be bad.

Nice in theory, terrible in practice.

 

[JVisgaitis]

Let me get this straight. You're asking if a game of D&D, which is primarily made up of speaking words aloud would work if the player character couldn't talk? The only thing that would be allowed is player-to-DM speech?

That's what I'm saying yes. And if you seem so scared of the thought, let me just say lucky your not in my group. There are a lot more ways to roleplay then through spoken words. Sign language and pantomime can be a lot of fun with the right group and if done very sparingly. Your probably not an ideal candidate for this which is fine. To each his own.

As to wiping out player interaction, I disagree 110%. If your players aren't open to trying to communicate without talking maybe so. If they are, it actually makes interactions between players even better.

 

[JVisgaitis]

On a different note, I've never understood the whole "can't read in your sleep" thing. I've always been able to read in my dreams. Can other people really not do that?

Seems odd, but I can't actually recall ever reading anything in a dream... I never heard of anything about the theory, but wouldn't that be easily debunked since:

ppolee raed by vusiizitloan?

My old group gamed a whole session in Klingon.

Now that I would have loved to have seen/heard. I think you should write all your posts in Klingon... Hehehe.