Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Anyone had any success with class, profession, or organization secret signs/runes,cant?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="MNblockhead" data-source="post: 9063566" data-attributes="member: 6796661"><p>For secret codes I often use the Masonic cypher: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigpen_cipher" target="_blank">Pigpen cipher - Wikipedia</a></p><p></p><p>But you can may a variety of grids (Z shape with a line down the middle, etc. to get different types of glyphs) and instead of letters have each spot represent a general warning or notice to those that learned the cypher. I find you can make some symbols that fit within a fantasy setting, but also feel more real as they would be easier to remember without having to have anything written on paper. </p><p></p><p>Another trick I use is to take chinese characters or radicals and stylize them a bit. Just look up the character for a word and made some stylistic changes. Too obvious if you have players who read Chinese, and it might be problematic for published material, but is another shortcut for making symbols on the fly. Even better, use ancient Chinese oracle-bone script (a/k/a shell-bone writing). <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script" target="_blank">Oracle bone script - Wikipedia</a>. I know there are fonts out there for it, but I just copy them with my poor penmanship, which is fine for representing something that's supposed to be carved into wood or stone. For a list of some: <a href="https://omniglot.com/chinese/jiaguwen.htm" target="_blank">Oracle Bone Script (甲骨文)</a>. I don't stick with the actual historical meanings, just use for inspiration. </p><p></p><p>For real-world burgler symbols, this Daily Mail article from 2013 gives some modern, and also includes examples of older hobo symbols for comparisons. These are real-world examples that could be easily be used in just about any setting: <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2259445/Police-reveal-symbols-used-burglars-help-fellow-criminals-target-rich-vulnerable-homes.html" target="_blank">The secret language of crime: Police reveal symbols used by burglars to help fellow criminals target rich and vulnerable homes</a></p><p></p><p>Also, here is a very recent article from China Daily with examples used by modern thieves in China: <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-01/18/content_14465481.htm" target="_blank">Burglars leave their 'mark'|Society|chinadaily.com.cn</a></p><p></p><p>Of course, in real life, groups of thieves would be changing their marks fairly frequently. In game, that could mean a history check as well as an investigation check. Even back in the day, I didn't treat thieves cant and symbols like alignment language or druidic, or even like the secret symbols and phrases used by cults and secret societies. They are far more fluid. If you are not actively part of the group using them, a thief (in 5e) would get advantage on deciphering them in my games, but would not automatically be able to understand any thief symbol.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MNblockhead, post: 9063566, member: 6796661"] For secret codes I often use the Masonic cypher: [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigpen_cipher"]Pigpen cipher - Wikipedia[/URL] But you can may a variety of grids (Z shape with a line down the middle, etc. to get different types of glyphs) and instead of letters have each spot represent a general warning or notice to those that learned the cypher. I find you can make some symbols that fit within a fantasy setting, but also feel more real as they would be easier to remember without having to have anything written on paper. Another trick I use is to take chinese characters or radicals and stylize them a bit. Just look up the character for a word and made some stylistic changes. Too obvious if you have players who read Chinese, and it might be problematic for published material, but is another shortcut for making symbols on the fly. Even better, use ancient Chinese oracle-bone script (a/k/a shell-bone writing). [URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script"]Oracle bone script - Wikipedia[/URL]. I know there are fonts out there for it, but I just copy them with my poor penmanship, which is fine for representing something that's supposed to be carved into wood or stone. For a list of some: [URL="https://omniglot.com/chinese/jiaguwen.htm"]Oracle Bone Script (甲骨文)[/URL]. I don't stick with the actual historical meanings, just use for inspiration. For real-world burgler symbols, this Daily Mail article from 2013 gives some modern, and also includes examples of older hobo symbols for comparisons. These are real-world examples that could be easily be used in just about any setting: [URL="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2259445/Police-reveal-symbols-used-burglars-help-fellow-criminals-target-rich-vulnerable-homes.html"]The secret language of crime: Police reveal symbols used by burglars to help fellow criminals target rich and vulnerable homes[/URL] Also, here is a very recent article from China Daily with examples used by modern thieves in China: [URL="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-01/18/content_14465481.htm"]Burglars leave their 'mark'|Society|chinadaily.com.cn[/URL] Of course, in real life, groups of thieves would be changing their marks fairly frequently. In game, that could mean a history check as well as an investigation check. Even back in the day, I didn't treat thieves cant and symbols like alignment language or druidic, or even like the secret symbols and phrases used by cults and secret societies. They are far more fluid. If you are not actively part of the group using them, a thief (in 5e) would get advantage on deciphering them in my games, but would not automatically be able to understand any thief symbol. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Anyone had any success with class, profession, or organization secret signs/runes,cant?
Top