Thread 96100139

What words do you use to make your game magical? How can you improve your DMing and playing skills with words? Post your favorite obscure word.

WORDS
WORDS
WORDS

>Slattern
>noun: 1. An untidy, dirty woman. 2. A woman who is negligent of her dress or house; one who is not neat and nice. 3. A slut.

it's not as good to use fancy new words, as it is to use regular-old words in new exciting ways
>the wind-whipped peaks of Death Mountain pierce through the clouds
>the dwarf burps up a cloud of pipe-smoke which hovers distractingly just above his head
>the merchant's wares jingle cheaply as he rummages for your promised reward

Using words that your players don't know results in them either not mentioning it and then acting on false assumptions or stopping you mid sentence to ask.

This happens enough in games to make me deliberately limit my vocabulary because I can't use fucking Halcyon or Thurible or Cataphract and it's pissing me off.

When dealing with simpletons one should focus on clarity over eloquence.

>>96100194
>because I can't use fucking Halcyon or Thurible or Cataphract
use those words to name stuff, then

I once described "cracks spiderwebbing along the golem's body" when one of them hit the stone golem with a crit and they immediately freaked out and said "spiders??!? what?" and that was the last time I tried to be creative with a description in that way.

>>96100139 (OP)
Adjactive verb/noun naming conventions are my bread and butter for NPC generation.
>William Stinkwallow
>Mary Busyfingers
>Marty Grayknuckle
>Elizabeth Roundbottom
>Urk Groggyfuck (orc)
>Priscilla Longswallow
>Dick Largepackin
>Steve Stinkquiver
>Mondo Blastcheddar

>>96100234
>He doesn't have his golems full of spiders like a tarantula stuffed exploding cactus

I keep everything as simple as possible and always use as few words as I can to communicate what I need to. Anything that gets in the way of clear and unambiguous communication is getting in the way of my function as a GM.

>>96100194
Why not just say peaceful / idyllic, incense burner, and heavy cavalry?

>>96100257
NTA but I also find it EXTREMELY annoying that I was forced to learn archaic and obscure vocabulary in English studies only for that knowledge to be worthless outside of a classroom setting or reading extremely dated literary works.

>>96100274
Why would you expect otherwise? The purpose of language is to communicate. If a word doesn't succeed in communicating a meaning to another person, there's no reason to use it.

>>96100280
That's reductionist. If the only concern were communicating meaning, poetry wouldn't exist and most other literature wouldn't exist. A word is more than just its raw meaning.

>>96100251
>>96100257
>>96100280
unusual words are useful. common words lose their subtleties from overuse.

>it's up to the listener to intuit the meaning of words.
>it's up to the listener to understand the meaning of words.
: two sentences with very different meanings.

The GM isn't writing poetry or a novel. His job is to communicate the experiences of the player characters to the players so that they can make decisions based on that information.

>>96100319
If your players don't know what a word means, it doesn't communicate any meaning, subtle or otherwise. So by your own reasoning, you shouldn't use them.

>>96100319
Also, words can't lose anything from overuse. The definition of a word remains the same no matter how many times you repeat it. If that wasn't the case, the word "the" couldn't possibly have a coherent meaning.

Looking up words has never been easier. If a player is competent to learn and play an RPG, he's competent to crack open a dictionary once in a while.

>>96100341
>The definition of a word remains the same no matter how many times you repeat it.
oh, really? swag

>>96100349
Yes, really.

>>96100280
Agree that clear and effective communication is the point of language. An advanced vocabulary is like having a massive color pallet to play around with. You might have a color that has symbolic meaning associated with it on hand for a more exact meaning, but the average Joe is just gonna see red without giving a shit about the deeper meaning of Vermillion.

It's worse in vocabulary though. The average Joe isn't even going to know that Vermillion means red. So just call it red.

You are going to be painting flat, boring scenes, but at least people will understand what the fuck you are painting on a fundamental level.

>>96100355
There is no deeper meaning of vermillion. You're simply mad that you can't impress people by using words that aren't as impressive as you think they are.

Vermillion means red.

If you can't paint an interesting scene without the use of dimestore words, the problem does not lie with the limited vocabulary of your audience.

>>96100355
I didn't know what the phrase "clad in sable armor" meant but I am glad I heard it

>>96100341
>The definition of a word remains the same no matter how many times you repeat it.
Which is why we speak exact same language as our ancestors did 500 years ago.

Oh, wait...

>>96100353
oh, you're just stupid. oh well

>>96100368
Right, I'm sure you think it's repetition that changed the meanings of those words, instead of linguistic drift. You affectation of stupidity is very convincing to everyone.

>>96100341
How about this.
>Literally
>used for emphasis or to express strong feeling while not being literally true

>>96100372
Ironic.
>>96100377
Its definition didn't change because of repetition. I can repeat the word 50 million times right now and its definition will still be the same.

And remember, the post I was replying to specifically said that words "lose their subtlety" via repetition, and of course failed to define what that actually means, or how it would ever be relevant in the duration of time of a game session.

>>96100382
>Its definition didn't change because of repetition. I can repeat the word 50 million times right now and its definition will still be the same.
how would you feel if you hadn't eaten breakfast this morning?

>>96100363
Vermilion is a hyponym of red. They are not synonymous.

>>96100389
We aren't discussing a hypothetical scenario. Linguistic drift and repetition are two different things that have nothing to do with each other, and repetition is not what changes word usage in a population. Try again.

>>96100398
I'm just trying to sus out how low your fucking IQ is that you can't get a good grasp on this thing

>>96100404
You're the one that can't grasp linguistic drift, clearly.

>>96100363
Vermillion is bright shade of red associated with life, eternity, and prosperity in Eastern cultures.

Different colors and shades have different meanings, but the point is that people like you do NOT know this and it's a waste of time trying to include such things in games because you wouldn't catch the meaning or would misinterpret it.

>>96100420
So what? Your players don't care. If you really need them to know so badly, you can just say "this thing is a shade of red associated with [list of properties] in this culture". You don't have to sound like you're jerking yourself off to your special words you learned in middle school all the time.

>>96100398
Oh shit.
We've been talking to a literal NPC.

Now I feel stupid even wasting the effort.

>>96100398
>nothing to do with each other
How can linguistic drift occur without repetition?

>>96100420
Second sentence is pretty funny by the way. I certainly do know this, and quite a lot more than you. Your vocabulary is neither extensive nor interesting.

>>96100436
Name the hypothetical scenario being discussed. Quote it.

>>96100434
I just said that.
Holy shit this guy might actually be illiterate.

>>96100447
No, you didn't. The word "care" does not appear in your post. You said they don't know. That's false. Christ, you can't even remember what you wrote in your own posts. No wonder your writing is so bad.

>>96100446
Nah, arguing with retards is a pointless affair.

>>96100363
>Vermillion means red.
>>96100438
>I certainly do know [the nuance of vermilion], and quite a lot more than you.
Why are you contradicting yourself?

>>96100453
Thanks for agreeing that no hypothetical was suggested.

>>96100456
Not a contradiction, sorry. A particular shade of red is red. Why are you arguing in bad faith? Too much cowardice?

>>96100452
You just keep digging that hole.
I wonder how deep you will go.

>>96100470
You're the one in the hole, of course. You didn't say care. Keep digging.

>>96100469
No, a particular shade of red is not semantically equivalent to red. You are vindictive and a liar.

>>96100483
It is, of course. You lose, liar.

>>96100257
Because it's hard to guess what words people do and don't know. Especially since my players are STEMlets who have a 50/50 shot of knowing really obscure shit at any given moment.
Niche (the architectural version) is beyond these people but Magnanimous ain't? It's baffling.

>>96100483
Brother, you are arguing with a clearly retarded NPC who must have banned from Reddit or some other hell hole recently. Let it go, you will just lose IQ points talking to him and he will be just as dumb as when you started.

So use the words that require the fewest assumptions. If you have any doubt that they would know something, use a different term. In the worst case, you might have to explain a word. Oh no, how horrible. I really don't see what the issue is.

>>96100505
Vermillion is red, 60 IQ samefag nigger.

>>96100507
>Oh no, how horrible.
don't you mean "Oh no, how bad"?

>>96100515
If you don't know what horrible means, sure. I'm happy to explain it, since that's a basic part of communication with other people.

>>96100505
I think assuming he's just an idiot is too charitable, but yes, I'm done engaging with him.

>>96100521
so, it's fine to use complicated words.

>>96100535
Nope.

>>96100524
You concede the point, then. Idiot.

This thread has made me conclude that making frequent use of complicated words is good because normal people will be happy to learn something and seething anti-intellectuals will out themselves immediately.

>>96100551
>implying these people even play games
that's being charitable. Nobody who bemoans the word "cataphract" should even be here to begin with

>You enter a room with cyclopean walls and rough stone hewn floors. In the center, upon a large ornate and gilded thrown, sits a man of imposing height and broad frame wearing gothic plate the color of a starless night sky with his hands resting on the pommel of a great sword whose tip is resting and unknowable distance in the rock beneath it.
Vs
>You enter a room with rock walls and floor. There is big guy in black armor sitting in a chair in the middle.

NPC boy thinks the latter is peak game design.

>>96100582
>ornate and gilded thrown

>>96100597
Yeah, my phone is retarded.

It also randomly changes "an" to "and" a lot. Makes and deletes words that it doesn't think belongs making me come off as a midwit (just try changing that midwinter). I loathe auto-correct and AI learning because it cannot comprehend something that isn't third grade level writing.

>>96100551
You will never be interesting and your vocabulary will never impress anyone.

>>96100560
Just the opposite, of course.

>>96100582
There is nothing impressive or interesting about the first passage. You're not a skilled writer.

>>96100621
Why don't you turn off auto-correct?

>>96100171
Cromulent post, very stout

>>96100228
But eloquence never forget if you give them Clarence buns

>>96100139 (OP)
C-could somone suggest some nice words to use in a game? Something neat and eloquent? Please?

>heinous
>/hā′nəs/ adjective Wicked; abominable."a heinous crime."
>Very unappealing; ugly. "showed up wearing that heinous shirt." >Hateful; hatefully bad; flagrant; odious; atrocious; giving great offense; -- applied to deeds or to character

>>96100582
>the color of a starless night sky
"black" nigga. wearing black gothic plate. maybe "deep blue black"