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<blockquote data-quote="Burrahobbit" data-source="post: 7651415" data-attributes="member: 38471"><p>I liked how languages were handled in Ravenloft, specifically the 3E White Wolf sourcebooks. Many of the domains in that setting were based on either a real-world cultural analogue or a specific mythological/literary source. The designers imported or incorporated linguistic elements from those sources (e.g., Romanian for the Transylvania-inspired Barovia, German for Falkovnia), and then, where analogues were not immediately apparent, they breathed some life and distinction into the domains by assigning them languages. </p><p></p><p>At one level, there was a good bit of winking or punning, especially in the original names of domains and towns (Dementlieu, Invidia), but the use of languages accomplished two very cool things: first, they gave a kind of shorthand to understand the various societies of the setting and their relationships - (Port-a-Lucine is Paris; Lamordia is a rocky, coastal Switzerland). Second, the analogues started to suggest ideas on their own: if High Mordentish is French and Low Mordentish is Anglo-Saxon, what does that say about my character who speaks the one and not the other? If Rashemani names are basically Turkic, how will people look at a guy named Cengis in a little village full of folks named Hans and Wilhelm? </p><p></p><p>This kind of real-world shorthand is nice, particularly for an RPG, where you can get a lot out of a quick connection. I'd be less enthused about a book full of 1-to-1 correspondences to real world languages (and not really accurate ones at that), but in a game, I think it works great.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Burrahobbit, post: 7651415, member: 38471"] I liked how languages were handled in Ravenloft, specifically the 3E White Wolf sourcebooks. Many of the domains in that setting were based on either a real-world cultural analogue or a specific mythological/literary source. The designers imported or incorporated linguistic elements from those sources (e.g., Romanian for the Transylvania-inspired Barovia, German for Falkovnia), and then, where analogues were not immediately apparent, they breathed some life and distinction into the domains by assigning them languages. At one level, there was a good bit of winking or punning, especially in the original names of domains and towns (Dementlieu, Invidia), but the use of languages accomplished two very cool things: first, they gave a kind of shorthand to understand the various societies of the setting and their relationships - (Port-a-Lucine is Paris; Lamordia is a rocky, coastal Switzerland). Second, the analogues started to suggest ideas on their own: if High Mordentish is French and Low Mordentish is Anglo-Saxon, what does that say about my character who speaks the one and not the other? If Rashemani names are basically Turkic, how will people look at a guy named Cengis in a little village full of folks named Hans and Wilhelm? This kind of real-world shorthand is nice, particularly for an RPG, where you can get a lot out of a quick connection. I'd be less enthused about a book full of 1-to-1 correspondences to real world languages (and not really accurate ones at that), but in a game, I think it works great. [/QUOTE]
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