Shadowdark Shadowdark General Thread [+]

[zottel]

Necromancer Class Playtest PDF just dropped.
€: includes the class, talents, weapons, spells, and mishaps, from a quick glance.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Okay, explain...

I am not a fan of most fantasy names, with their apostrophes and not-found-in-the-wild structures. When I'm making names for roleplaying games -- and I use a lot of names, and even make random name lists ahead of time much of the time -- I start by typing in a bunch of keywords or literal meanings for names into Google Translate and click on all the languages that seem like they might be a good fit.

When in doubt, I lean on Esperanto, because there are no native Esperantans whose language and culture I'm appropriating, and the names often sound pretty good, when their meaning isn't too clear in English.

In some cases, I have to go further afield for my languages -- I've been using an English-to-Klingon website for years for my orcs, for instance, which apparently no one has picked up on.

The end result is that everything hangs together pretty well and the words all feel like they belong in the same world and culture, because they do.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Necromancer Class Playtest PDF just dropped.

Discord or email?

 

[zottel]

Discord or email?

E-Mail.

 

[Velderan]

End of the month release for CS#5 and cutoff for late pledges is February 28th.

 

[Scribe]

End of the month release for CS#5 and cutoff for late pledges is February 28th.

Neat little update snuck in on the KS page.

We also have new rules coming for bastions (think a lightweight implementation of strongholds) and warbands (lightweight mass combat) so your players can engage fully with the living world of the Western Reaches!

Check a few more things off the list!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

The explanation about the screens is helpful (more details are in the comments on Kickstarter).

At this time, I don't see the need to back what turns out to a Western Reaches screen. The news that there's going to be a revised OG screen with new art and better layout is interesting but, again, until I see what that looks like, I'm good with the original, which I really like.

I love that the spell cards are moving out of tuck boxes into something more substantial. If I end up running store games in 2026, I will likely invest in the spell cards just to make life easier for everyone.

 

[overgeeked]

I am not a fan of most fantasy names, with their apostrophes and not-found-in-the-wild structures. When I'm making names for roleplaying games -- and I use a lot of names, and even make random name lists ahead of time much of the time -- I start by typing in a bunch of keywords or literal meanings for names into Google Translate and click on all the languages that seem like they might be a good fit.

When in doubt, I lean on Esperanto, because there are no native Esperantans whose language and culture I'm appropriating, and the names often sound pretty good, when their meaning isn't too clear in English.

In some cases, I have to go further afield for my languages -- I've been using an English-to-Klingon website for years for my orcs, for instance, which no one has apparently picked up on.

The end result is that everything hangs together pretty well and the words all feel like they belong in the same world and culture, because they do.

Same. I don't use Google Translate, but that's a good idea. Check out the Nomicon. It's a great resource. I've also made XL spreadsheets from various sources and thrown them into an NPC generator. Click a button and 100 random NPCs popup. Mostly works, but kind of a shotgun or spaghetti at the wall approach.

 

[Reynard]

Necromancer Class Playtest PDF just dropped.
€: includes the class, talents, weapons, spells, and mishaps, from a quick glance.

It looks like a fun class, and some of the spells are inspired.

 

[Retros_x]

I am not a fan of most fantasy names, with their apostrophes and not-found-in-the-wild structures. When I'm making names for roleplaying games -- and I use a lot of names, and even make random name lists ahead of time much of the time -- I start by typing in a bunch of keywords or literal meanings for names into Google Translate and click on all the languages that seem like they might be a good fit.

Thats such a great idea! I have the same problem, fantasy names often sound too... fantastic to me. Like not based on any culture, just random syllables slapped on to each other. Translating to languages like esperanto or klingonic is inspired.