Yes, I imagine this is one of the more common conlangesque
applications.  Another in the RPG milieu (hm.  Meta-milieu?) would be
languages of magic (in place of Harry Potterish dog-Latin).  As long
as the spells are short and easily pronounced (and the player, unlike
the character, can jot them down on a character sheet rather than
memorizing them), this can add an air of immersion to the sessions.


On 10/27/07, David J. Peterson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Geijss wrote:
> <<
> I was looking for any tips you would be willing to give, as well as
> knowing
> if this is something with which I could add something to my world.
>  >>
>
> I imagine many more people have done this than have created
> languages.  It certainly is a nice way to personalize a role playing
> game.
>
> For advice on limited languages used for the purposes of naming
> (a.k.a. a naming language), I'd go check out Jeffrey Henning's
> page on creating your own naming language:
>
> http://www.langmaker.com/ml0102.htm
>
> Given that you intend this to be for place names to be used by
> other players, I would recommend the following:
>
> -Stick to sounds that your players can comfortably pronounce.
> Language is cool, and there are tons of sounds to play with, but
> since your goal is to play a role playing game, not to have others
> learn a language, ease of pronunciation should be a goal.
>
> -Since you're primarily going to be using this for place/character
> names, try to make each name distinct.  "Erin" and "Karen" and
> "Baron" are different names in English, but since we have hundreds
> and thousands, it's fine if a few sound alike.  In a limited language
> with maybe no more than a hundred names (if that), to have
> two commonly-used names sound alike can lead to confusion,
> which could disrupt the flow of the game (which is the ultimate
> goal).
>
> -Though longer names are more fun, I'd recommend having
> more commonly-used names be shorter, so that time isn't
> lost pronouncing Drakforaldonaritos Castle a dozen times in
> a conversation.
>
> -Common endings can be useful to help classify things.  For
> example, /-ton/ and /-burg/ are common city endings in
> English, so even if you've never heard of Middleburg, you know
> right away it's a city name.  If in your RPG you, for example,
> have two different opposing factions, you could create different
> city suffixes for each one--say, /-tel/ for one and /-goz/ for
> the other--and then when a player hears a new city name,
> like Dalgoz, they'll know right away whose city it is.
>
> -Along that line, if you have different races/species in your
> game, you might want to create different naming languages
> for each.  Further, if you come up with rules and common
> nouns, as Henning suggests, players can invent their own
> names, and still have them fit in with the racial/species-specific
> naming language.
>
> The above are by no means rules; just suggestions.  Let us know
> how it goes!
>
> -David
> *******************************************************************
> "sunly eleSkarez ygralleryf ydZZixelje je ox2mejze."
> "No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."
>
> -Jim Morrison
>
> http://dedalvs.free.fr/
>


-- 
Mark J. Reed <[log in to unmask]>