I am going to start Dming a Skull&Shackles campaign fairly soon but I ran into a sort of problem. I noticed that multiple characters on the Wormwood(such as Grok, Rosie Cusswell and Riaris Krine) are described as using vulgar language very frequently.
I personally do not like to curse, and the FLGS that the game is going to be run at has rules against cursing. I'm still intending on running this campaign, but I'm wondering a bit on how to get around that problem.
How would you reccomend that I RP these characters if I'm not able to curse?
|
There have been a few helpful threads about pirate cursing in this forum. There are lots of ways to add flavorful cursing that doesn't offend modern sensibilities. Great suggestions here. Write down a few go to phrases or make up your own in the same vein and you can have all the humor with none of the vulgarity.
For grok just don't curse it doesn'r really matter for her. For Rosie change it to a silly exclamation she puts in her sentences that makes her distinctive and probably drop her last name. For Rianis think of a drill sergeant, maybe the one from Biloxi blues who doesn't swear that much, just tries to make the privates feel inferior, call them pond scum, worthless, soft, and landlubbers for example.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Shadowborn gave you video of what I would have suggested.
There is also the Battlestar Galactica approach. That was a fracking good show.
There is also the Narnia approach. In C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Lewis described the collection of evil creatures as so horrific and evil if I described them here your parents would not let you read this book. So it is fair to say that the gist of what Rosie says and then describe it as so horrifically profane that all of you must make a will save to blush.
Thanks guys! Some good things to think about... hmm which one to choose though?
|
I used several different ones. Grok doesn't cuss, in my game she's more maudlin and sad (especially when drinking). Rosie just speaks very abrasively, and in a heavy Scottish accent. She's rude, but I don't use actual profanity for the most part. For Riaris, I just tell the players what their PCs can manage to make out amid all the indescribable profanity.
|
|
Have you ever read a Tintin comic with Captain Haddock in it? The man was supposed to swear often, but couldn't as the comic was aimed at younger audiences. Hence, "Blistering Barnacles!" and similar.
Or, you can just gloss over the whole thing by adding bits into your narration such as, "Rosie just responds at you by swearing, turning, and stomping away" or "Riaris looks you up and down, lets loose a volley of foul language, and points to the rowboat," or whatever's appropriate. It'll make the other volleys of foul stuff during her training exercise seem almost less bad, by comparison!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The early Batman Series come to mind....
You know, if you make them actually remember Pirates of the Carribian, there wasn't much in the way of cursing in that movie. Remind them that flavorful pirates don't have to curse like a sailor. :P
Have you ever read a Tintin comic with Captain Haddock in it? The man was supposed to swear often, but couldn't as the comic was aimed at younger audiences. Hence, "Blistering Barnacles!" and similar.
Arthur Ransome does this too in his Swallows and Amazons books—his characters use a lot of pseudo-nautical oaths that are flavorful without being obscene or blasphemous, like "Great gaping Guillemots!" or "Shiver my timbers for a tame galloot!"
|
You know, if you make them actually remember Pirates of the Carribian, there wasn't much in the way of cursing in that movie. Remind them that flavorful pirates don't have to curse like a sailor. :P
I was going to mention this as well. While cursing can add to the story for a group of mature gamers, it's certainly not necessary and you can certainly create great atmosphere without it.
I often DM at a local game story and there can be kids there who are doing something like playing Yu-gi-oh or something of that nature, and often times they will get curious as to what the adults are doing, so I strive to make sure that we don't create a hostile environment for them; so I'm pretty used to playing like this, and to be honest, I like it better. Swearing is the bastion of the creatively impaired.
I just started WWM of SnS, and I'm leaving profanity out entirely - and the stereotypical pirate accent, as well. I think the former isn't necessary to good storytelling; and the latter lends itself to too much campiness. I can easily state that a given NPC "launches into a tirade of vulgarities that make some of the old salts blush and turn away..." and then go back into game-speak, and all is well.
That's my suggestion and my thought.
|
There is always the Pirates of Dark Water standby: Noi Jatut... I still have no idea what it's supposed to mean, but either half of the phrase or the whole thing is used for every curse on the series... My pirate in S&S makes frequent use of it, as well as the (for my group) standard Farscapese (Frel, Dren, Yotz...), and the occasional "frak", and then there is always "Goes off on an unintelligible rant in what might be cyclops..."
Hope some of that helps.
I just introduce her as Rosie Cusswell, as say yes she does. Doesn't mean YOU have to! You can always just give inference to it w/o actually going there if you don't wish to. My language got worse and now better over the years so I try and keep a family table these days myself.
|
Swear like a Pirate Generator
OR
Use a page from the Farscape play book and use/create substitute words that sound close enough to the profane word be recognized as such.
Frakkin', Dim, Hades, etc.
do a "Firefly" and curse in made up chinese (or anything asian). The inflection is all that counts, tight ?
you "Ling-chat Gai Fen scoundrel !!!".....
Have you ever read a Tintin comic with Captain Haddock in it? The man was supposed to swear often, but couldn't as the comic was aimed at younger audiences. Hence, "Blistering Barnacles!" and similar.
Or, you can just gloss over the whole thing by adding bits into your narration such as, "Rosie just responds at you by swearing, turning, and stomping away" or "Riaris looks you up and down, lets loose a volley of foul language, and points to the rowboat," or whatever's appropriate. It'll make the other volleys of foul stuff during her training exercise seem almost less bad, by comparison!
"Billions of bilious blistering blue barnacles in a thundering typhoon!"
Similarly, the Mandarin 'swears' in Firefly translated into colorful epithets rather than direct vulgarity--"All the planets in space flushed out my bum", for one example.
My characters have enjoyed Yosimite Sam esque rassa frackin, or just describing her speach as foul. Trust me leave it to them to fill in the blank.
The 90s cartoon The Pirates of Dark Water.
Skut-pango! Those jitatten kreld-eaters have escaped us for the last time!
(Also "Noy jitat!," "Chongo-longo," and "Naja dog!")