Mankement: An RPG-setting that reflects what it is.

In this post I will try to define what a TTRPG is to me and how I can show that in my setting. I will then give you an overview of my current setting Mankement by relating it to the system I am working on and its development. 

A weird world of flavour: The CHARCUTERIE BOARD is here

 I was part of a GLOG community project. You can find the finished product here:

Clickety Click

Also available on itch.io. It's free! 

 

Thank you to Oblidisideryptch for arranging this project. I am glad I took part in it, eventhough I had no experience actually running the GLOG prior to playtesting my submission. 

Fantasy Languages: What if you can talk to anything?

I love language, it fascinates me. Both the more technical stuff as well as its pure literary potential, I just think language is dope as hell.  

However, language in fantasy is boring. I like my fantasy fantastical, but somehow language in fantasy is less interesting than some theories linguists have of how real world language is supposed to work. Even the full-on con-langs, impressive as they might be, are just normal languages and are in effect no different from using any other language players can't speak yet.

From a gameplay perspective, fantasy languages are also riddled with problems. Most of the time they don't seem to facilitate interesting choices (you either already know the language you encounter or you don't), they tend to be rather gatekeepy (only those who know the language can directly interact) and for all that effort you don't get the 'feeling' of speaking a different language, because we are all still talking the same language as before. 

How to actually run Empassa: where the Gods rule

''There's no particular exertion needed now.  When he has the document asserting the defendant's innocence, guaranteed by a number of other judges, the judge can acquit you without any worries, and although there are still several formalities to be gone through there's no doubt that that's what he'll do as a favour to me and several other acquaintances.  You, however, walk out the court and you're free."  "So, then I'll be free," said K., hesitantly.  "That's right," said the painter, "but only apparently free or, to put it a better way, temporarily free, as the most junior judges, the ones I know, they don't have the right to give the final acquittal.  Only the highest judge can do that, in the court that's quite of reach for you, for me and for all of us.  We don't know how things look there and, incidentally, we don't want to know."