vicky_molokh- unsilence Monica

@JBH Just because other RPG settings were done in a given manner does not mean that's necessarily good/best done that way. In fact part of my question is caused by the common complaints about 'how it is usually done' in that context.

@Trish Yeah, I'm really inclined to expect JB007 RPG to be a major precedent-setter for metagame genre conventions in RPGs.

I also have a suspicion that it may have been older, e.g. James Bond 007 RPG mentions spending hero points to perform cinematic feats (or at least a Wikipedia article about it does so; I don't have the rule book in front of me).

It seems like a pretty old term of art, dating at least to GURPS 3rd edition.

> It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot and I’m not sure I’ve read someone actually explaining what they mean by that.

/me waves its pedipalps in greeting.

@Matthieu There are hundreds of questions for [dragons], surely the [vampires] may grow up if they're not strangled in the cradle?

(Side note: I find the English translating of 'gesture' as 'sign' in language names somewhat puzzling.)

There's also the consideration of when people see iconicity only after being explained it. E.g. UGL's 'bed flexing' gesture looks very much like pantomime after you know what a bed is shown as, and what the implication of the movement is.

@Exempt-Medic Just as some spoken languages seem to contain more onomatopoeia than others. But that's not the same as a language being fundamentally based on it.

@linksassin To elaborate, what I meant is that you are likely limited to either learning one of the real-world languages, or making one up. But if you go for the former, you effectively followed the translation convention similar to 'when you speak Elvish in-game, you speak French as a player', which some groups like and some don't. (You should of course consider your party's stance on the matter.)

In relation to your idea of just making up some conlang bits: beware of porting over your native language's syntax and other features to your conlangs, even despite a cross-medium shift.

Because the question pretty much started with the assumption of a non-normal treatment of one group of languages.

@linksassin I . . . am unsure if I could figure that out from the question as asked. I'm actually unsure if maybe this is an XY problem here.

@linksassin I suspect you wouldn't like to use either approach with a spoken language, based on what you wrote above.

Well, I'm not sure if it's obvious, but one thing to keep in mind that sign languages are not pantomime (though 'iconic' morphemes do exist which are close). So . . . your options for depiction (instead of translation) boil down to either pantomime (inaccurate) or the visual equivalent of what the Sims do with spoken languages (also inaccurate, but more obviously so).

@linksassin Well, not sure if it counts as a matter of respect, but it might be close: you wouldn't say 'the local settlers use a spoken language', you would actually name which of the spoken languages they use, right?

@ThomasMarkov I don't know, of the bits and pieces of AD&D languages I've seen, they seem suspiciously Anglomorphic, except with funny fonts.

@NautArch Errrrr, it varies.

It seems to me very much like a case of 'how do I RP non-Latin languages', at which point it's very unclear why non-Latin languages are treated differently.

@ThomasMarkov Sign languages certainly have some different features than spoken languages (e.g. directional-hanging pronouns, whatever they're called), but once you get past the initial surprise of a different mode, you'll find that just like other languages they still have vocabulary, syntax &c.

@SPArcheon Ambition isn't necessarily a bad thing anyway. Sure, it gave us Genghis and Lucifer, but it also gave us Einstein and Prometheus.

twitter.com/twoscooters/status/1619371708540157954/photo/1

@AndrasDeak--СлаваУкраїні 'Hands in the style of Albrecht Durer'.

@SPArcheon AI can't into metal?

@SPArcheon Ancient artefact! Mirror of Ice or something.

Humans drawing Blood Elves, that is.

@SPArcheon Strange, I'm pretty sure I've seen plenty in human art.

Ah.

Inpainting?

@SPArcheon Manual edit?

@SPArcheon Though now I'm amused by the third row of teeth.

@SPArcheon Definitely does.

Now this looks good.

Vaguely following the shape of modern beverages . . .

Ah, in that sense, sure.

I don't know, I'm picky about illustrations for my RPGs even when I have time to request iterations and specific adjustments, I probably would never accept on the fly image generation for that reason.

@SPArcheon This looks like text generation based on a pattern. I suspect something like that exists.

@SPArcheon I don't know, seems recognisable, but also stylistically rigid, like it just slaps on a portrait onto stuff.

Ah, found it.

Where are the prompts entered anyway? I am wildly out of the loop.

@SPArcheon Not sure if more Alien or Tyranid/Zerg.

@SPArcheon Seems ike AIs still have issues with eyes even more so than humanoids do.

In light of what kind of week it was, now the wednesday toads will be like this.