Prehistoric Pitch

#1

I viewed a documentary today, regarding how language works, its origin etc.

So I got an idea for a game/experiment. Play as a caveman/cavewoman, in a small clan that's just on the cusp of inventing their own language.
There would be no internal monologues or thoughts allowed. Only external expressions and direct actions together with the few words we start with along with any words we can invent and collectively agree on. And when I say external expressions, I don't mean "Grok looked angry." Describe instead just what you are doing, frowning, baring teeth, throwing things around etc.

In a world where there's no headshaking for no or nodding for yes. Where there's no words for colors. Did you know that in some places in Asia they didn't until recently make any distinction between blue and green? They used the same word for it, and as a result they weren't able to distinguish between those two colors. I find that very interesting.

Even if this doesn't attract enough interest for a game, I would love a discussion on the matter of language.

Now names. Ideally I wouldn't want to start out with any names. I don't think animals have names for themselves in their heads. But of course part of communication is needs. If you coordinate a hunt, you may need a certain member of the tribe to do a specific action at a specific time. Wild dogs, lionesses and wolves seems not to communicate while hunting, but their success rate is pretty small in either case. Elephants do communicate in the more traditional sense though, both by sound and by vibration, but who can really tell what's going on in someone else's head? Heck I find that hard even with humans for the most part.
Not to mention that it would be hard to follow when everyone's referring to themselves as I and to everyone else as simply pointing at someone unnamed, so names may end up being a neccessity since pbps are played blindly. But it would be nice to avoid the stereotypical Groks, even though most syllables initially will be grunts. Maybe the names are physical differencies, like bright eyes, broad chest or something.

I welcome your thoughts.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#2

Actually, I'm quite interested in languages in general (although mostly it's limited to the 2 languages I actually speak which are Chinese and English) although my status is a wobbly non-gamer/would-be gamer at the moment.

My interest in languages is usually in terms of appreciation for prose but things that draw me also include things like how particular phrasings arise and the original context etc. But what Goss you are suggesting is interesting in that I think it would get the participants mining into non-verbal communication in details first.

I think names based on physical characteristics are sensible and I also think that maybe early sounds produced, besides grunts, might involve mimicking of animal sounds since these are what cavemen have exposure to. These are just what came out from the top of my head.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#3

Ni hao. :) If I had infinite time, I would learn every language.

I know what you mean, when you're teaching someone else, you tend to realize things about your own language that you had never considered before. And when you look at related languages that share a common base.

Good idea. Do you think the names could be in English denoting their actual meaning or should everything be refered to in the made up language? For instance Him-hunt-well instead of Mwr-huhu-ohm or something. :P It would make it easier to remember maybe but dunno if the opposite would make it feel more authentic.

I've been playing around a bit. Two words for hunt, one for a successful hunt and one for a failed hunt. Huhu or something similar to mimic the panting sounds of exertion, and ohm and gwr for a pleased sound of eating and a complaining growling belly. And then to specify, mimicking the animal's noise. How does that sound?

I feel it doesn't neccesarily have to be set on earth and the tribe doesn't have to be human either. It would probably make for a more interesting game if the animals and enviroments encountered aren't what one would normally expect, and it would also avoid the expected gender roles of hunter and gatherer.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#4

In terms of the names, I think there's an easy 3rd way approach which is to put the English meaning in OOC and then use the made-up language throughout. Or get players to tag a bracket after their names containing the English meaning.

What you came up in terms of the actual sounds in use sound sensible and certainly more than I could think up. The idea that the cavemen are not on earth or even human is excellent. It would make things a bit harder (well, depending on how different from earth/humans it really is), I think, but I seem to be a somewhat crazy woman who always goes for ideas that are out of my own element :lol:

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#5

Usually, laziness wins out. I dunno if tagging brackets would be something people would stick with. Maybe if it was so the initial posts served to teach what it means, and then it could be dropped.

Probably only different enough for the enviroment to provide some surprises every now and then and maybe a hidden twist or two for the story. I guess I would have to setup some loose guidelines for the world before any thesauruses can be made. But you don't think it sounds too silly? I guess most words have kind of a basic nature. Onomatopoetic words are another thing, like how can people from different parts of the world have such distinctive ideas about how animals sound for instance.

So what words would a loose clan-like extended family need besides words for hunting, which probably ought include some directions or something. But how does one name a direction? Why is it called left and right anyways. And how does one convey a direction from one observational point that only applies for someone with a different perspective, besides just... pointing somewhere. Maybe stick to pointing...

Oh yeah, so I was thinking, since they're primitive, they probably would have no concept about what causes pregnancies, and as such, they wouldn't have any concept of what a father is. But since it's kinda hard to ignore being birthed by someone, they know what a mother is. And a mother would remember who her children are. So how do you show that someone is your child? You take their head and shove it to your breast, that's what. :lol:
So yeah, that kind of physical communication would probably be the most common, grooming, hugging, hitting, shoving. There would probably be a male and a female alpha, basing lots of it on chimps and apes. But I still want to avoid some of the less savory parts of such directness, which is why I feel it's a good idea to not make them physically human.

A few other things to consider would be that there wouldn't be much room for gear and loot other than sharp rock and sturdy club. :P So that's worth keeping in mind. The best thing would be if the whole creating the language thing could stand as its own selling point.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#6

Well, if people are too lazy with brackets, then I guess we will stick with one-liners on what names mean in OCC and use the made-up names.

I think your approach- only having small deviation from Earth to have surprises is a good approach else it might be free rein for the imagination but too unruly. I think guidelines would be good and very needed too.

Game-wise, I think building up your own vocab could be fun to the right people and I certainly think it of interest to me both in a serious (as in hobby-wise way) and light-hearted way. I can't really speak for anyone else.

In terms of vocab, these are what I come up off the top of my head:
- day and night (or maybe just night expressed as sound/gesture for sleeping)
- can eat? (thinking that they might forage and this phrase however expressed in used in context of unknown flora)
- possession as in mine, yours (may be just finger pointing)

And yes, avoiding the unsavoury parts are a good idea :thumbup:

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#7

Dropping off some notes.

This is what I imagine the humanoids as;

A batlike face with sharp teeth, skin like a shark, four digits. Strong bones and sinews, lots of musclemass.
Physiology between genders don't differ much, equal strength. Testicles are inside the body, the penis comes in a sheathe
like on dogs. No external genitalia means no weaknesses. Breasts don't need to be prominent in order to produce milk so
no weaknesses from that either. Scent is probably important seeing as they appear very similar. Omnivores though
predominantly carnivorous. Vocal chords, lips and tongues are similar enough that their speech pattern shouldn't differ
much from humans. Heavier and sturdier with a faster metabolism, yet still equally dexterous and agile as humans.
Two sets of eyelids like on cats. Brains are slightly smaller than humans but are more well protected as the skulls are thicker and squishy fatty liquids
surrounding it protect it from impacts. Not sure if they should have sweat glands or just pant. Hair isn't as prevalent as on humans but they do have some. Not sure about their inherent temperature, but it would be kind of boring if they didn't need to wear clothes.

Some fauna found in the world;

Dwrdmm - emphasised with slapping/stomping the ground
A giant carnivourous beetle covered in hair with an acidic spit and a sharp horn. Its body is full of blisters of nitrous
oxide aka laughing gas.
Gwrwar - emphasised with a claw-like swiping motion
A highly intelligent four legged beast that hunts in pairs. More prevalent during blizzards, hunts by dusk and dawn. Has
long flowing tendril like whiskers and a hypnotic stare.
Movasj - emphasised with a wavy stirring motion
A boneless creature that slithers on the ground like a shadow and engulfs pray. Hunts at night.

And some words;

Tapping your open mouth with your fingers and then rubbing your belly means edible. Tapping your closed mouth and then
doing a closed fist squeezing motion over your belly means inedible.

Separating between sleep and night. A tilted head and hands in front of your eyes while rapidly exhaling means sleep.
Hands in front of your eyes and a chirp can mean night.

Both hands raised to form a closed ball of the fists means midday, when the sun is at an apex.

Crouching and then getting up with spread arms means morning.

Possesion would probably just be they take what they feel is theirs or what they want to have, of course the alphas would
get first ding on all stuff.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#8

Cool, and we want more, precious...sss (can't help it, Strolen got me onto this Gollum mimicking biz :P)

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#9

More what? Just more in general? :P I'll be dropping off ideas as they occur to me and arrange them later, but mainly I want this to be a collaborative effort, so don't be shy to contribute. And anyone else wanna join in, feel free.

Brothers and sisters should also be a known thing, probably signified by a hug, which would then be unique among families, or maybe just simply knowing that some kinship exists, i.e. sharing a mother.

And if a word for the world needs to exist, think about how simple we named our planet. So it will probably be something along the lines of Urr. Tapping the ground with two flat hands, just to signify the ground they stand on.

Alpha
Beta
Delta
Omega

These are the social classes within the tribe/clan. Each gender has their own social ladder, you can advance on either, but for example, if a female becomes a beta on the male social ladder, she might invoke jealously from the female alpha etc, however intrigue is always encouraged. And it's all about juggling, making allies with those higher up on the rung and within your own rung, without pissing off the wrong people.

Players will be starting out as Delta or Omega. These classes have no words in their tongue, it's just something they know instinctively. The pecking order determines protection, who gets the best pieces of food etc, what you would expect. Anything lower than omega is an outcast and will be rejected from the clan. The clan consists of about 30-60 individuals, spread out among the genders and age groups.

I was thinking about what system to use, and I had this idea of a simplified narrative system loosely based on Fate. In which you basicly add descriptive tags to yourself to build up your character. And these should preferably be something that could work for you as well as against you. For instance, brother/sister to the alpha male/female. On the one hand, you'll be a little closer to power, and maybe get some support, but on the other hand it will breed jealousy, and there's always sibling bickering and all that. Then as the game progresses, you'll receive more tags, some temporary, e.g. hungry, wet, thirsty, and others more permanent, e.g. disfiguring scar, lost an eye etc.

And no dice rolls, at all. Something I learned playing Fate was that the dice just took away from the narrative. Instead, you'll be reacting and acting, taking narrative liberties to shape the world within the confines of the character you created, invoking the descriptive tags that your character possesses. Your actions will have either consequenses or benefits, that may or may not be immidiately discernible. The bigger narrative liberties you take, the bigger potential consequense/benefit. So for instance, if you say your character hurls a spear at an animal, maybe the animal gets enraged and turns on you. But if you instead say you hurl the spear and kill the animal, the consequense/benefit may come from somewhere else. Maybe someone gets jealous or impressed by your hunting prowess etc.

The immidiate danger would be abuse of the system, but we're all more or less adults on here, so I think it will be alright. At any case, it will be something even casual players can participate in, without losing any depth. I can guarantee a different experience, where the narrative and the creation of this fictional language takes priority to everything else. But also lots of intrigue and surprises.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#10

Copied from FAE.

Aspects in a Nuts hell
An aspect is a word, phrase, or sentence that describes something centrally
important to your character. It can be a motto your character lives by, a
personality quirk, a description of a relationship you have with another
character, an important possession or bit of equipment your character has,
or any other part of your character that is vitally important.
Aspects allow you to change the story in ways that tie in with your character’s
tendencies, skills, or problems. You can also use them to establish facts
about the setting, such as the presence of magic or the existence of a useful
ally, dangerous enemy, or secret organization.
Your character will have a handful of aspects (between three and five),
including a high concept and a trouble. We discuss aspects in detail in
Aspects and Fate Points—but for now, this should help you get the idea.

High Concept
First, decide on your character’s high concept. This is a single phrase or
sentence that neatly sums up your character, saying who you are, what you
do, what your “deal” is. When you think about your high concept, try to
think of two things: how this aspect could help you, and how it might make
things harder for you. Good high concept aspects do both.
Examples: Feline Captain of Cirrus Skimmer; Suncaller of the
Andral Desert; Chief Field Agent of IGEMA

Trouble
Next, decide on the thing that always gets you into trouble. It could be a
personal weakness, or a recurring enemy, or an important obligation—anything
that makes your life complicated.
Examples: Steel Assassins Want Me Dead; Cast Now, Ask
Questions Later; Gotta Look Out for My Little Brother

Another Aspect
Now compose another aspect. Think of something really important or
interesting about your character. Are they the strongest person in their
hometown? Do they carry a mighty sword known through history? Do they
talk too much? Are they filthy rich?

Optional: One or Two Additional Aspects
If you wish, you may create one or two more aspects. These aspects might
describe your character’s relationship with other player characters or with
an NPC. Or, like the third aspect you composed above, it might describe
something especially interesting about your character.
If you prefer, you can leave one or both of these aspects blank right now
and fill them in later, after the game has started.

Name and Appearance
Describe your character’s appearance and give them a name.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#11

Yes, more of everything, Goss. You can count on me to drop in any idea snippets I have as they occur to me but currently I'm trying to clean out my pledges including your own spouse challenge. I actually pledged two entries back then.

Anyway, back to this thread. I'm currently drawing blank myself but what you put down is a solid base. Hopefully, I will be able to springboard my own ideas off it.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#12

Urgh, yeah. That spouse challenge. >.< I think about it sometimes, one of few times I've actually broken my word, but then again I only promised myself... I think. Always been good at letting myself down. And everyone else seemed to be of the same mind as well, think we just got the one entry. Lots of stuff I want to write, but to actually sit down and write them... I dunno why, but they don't make time as they used to it seems, it keeps running out.

Mmm yeah, it may be that it would be easier to start on running foot than to just try and figure everything out beforehand, which is bound to fail anyways. We'll know more about the words we'll need once we get started probably. How are you feeling about my suggestions, the system sound good to you?

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#13

Well, yeah, only Longspeak finished his entry but mine is coming. Exact time unknown but it's coming. I have a whole work pile of subs lined up for the Citadel but yeah, some stagnate before they become sub-worthy. But I've set a goal of clearing out a whole bunch of subs on my work pile. See this thread: http://strolen.com/guild/index.php/topic,7188.0.html. So yeah, latest is end of this year.

Yep, I think the system is good for the purpose of focusing on language invention. Also good b/c light on rules.

One snippet that entered my head yesterday was that there might be different gestures (non-verbal language) for expressing whether something is yummy/yucky. Thinking that yummy could be either slurpy sound or licking lips with tongue while yucky might be scrunched face, crinkled nose, fanning the tongue etc.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#14

Oh I wasn't critiquing anyone, other than myself, please don't think that. :) No problemo, if you finish it, post a link in the spouse thread and I'll make sure to vote on it, that's a promise I'll be keeping.

Good good, I might make a separate thread for character creation, either this week or the next. Let me know if there's any questionmarks.

Definately, anything that's straight forward will be handled with gestures and some of the words will also have gestures to them to emphasize.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#15

Oh, I didn't think that remark as anything other than the result of idle chat and wandering conversation. :) I do personal statements sometimes too in actual sub comments, in such instances I usually add in brackets that it's a statement abt personal taste.

Anyway, no questions for now. I would say we are good to go ahead into character creation like you said.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#16

Righto!

I think we'll get started here in this thread, then once it's done, you can create a new thread for your finished char in the OOC.

You'll need a high concept, a trouble and 1-3 aspects. Plus a name and a description. Usually this is done in discussion with the GM, so if you spot me in some day, summon me to the full chat. Otherwise, we'll just do it here. Make sure to include any thoughts behind a suggestion.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#17

Okay, Goss, will think for a little and get it done within the next couple of days.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#18

This is what I came up so far through brainstorming:
Curious trouble-maker (i.e. touch an unknown plant out of curiousity and then fell asleep, so the rest of the hunting party need to lug her back to the cave). I think that could go in as a Trouble. At first, I even thought of it as a High Concept but yeah, I think it goes better as a Trouble.
Female, youngest born. Not sure whether that's counted as two Aspects or just One for General Social Standing.
I'm pondering on 1 Aspect relating to distinction based on one of the 5 senses eg. one possibility is having a distinct pitch (?) of voice eg. especially sharp/thin/melodic voice. But not sure yet whether I actually want to use voice but yeah, definitely one of the 5 senses.
So still High Concept, Name and Appearance missing.

Also, Goss, not sure what a good High Concept would be like for this cavemen scenario. The example from FAE is more like a label for character class plus birth country to me although one could also do something like "xxxx, fighting for equity/freedom" I suppose. Problem is, I don't see cavemen being so evolved as to having a life goal that they work towards besides mere survival. And then if I take the character class/status approach, then everyone would be a "Omega/Delta of xxxx Pack".

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#19

I don't feel like female should be an aspect, especially since I went through the trouble of leveling the playing fields physically. Equity is already achieved more or less, since all that separates the genders are their genitals and maybe scent or something, the female alpha isn't below the male alpha in any way, they share control as matriarch and patriarch, two bullies on top of the pile. So that's more of a description than an aspect. An aspect is something that could either help or hinder you, depending on the situation. For instance beauty or strength,
if you're good looking you've got an easier time interacting, more likely to have people back you up. Strength could also be a source of admiration apart from just helping you with physical chores, but both of them could be a source of jealousy and strength might make you require more food.

Senses could work, maybe extraordinary hearing. That could help you spot trouble early, and eavesdrop, but on the other hand it could make it harder to sleep. It needs to be something other than just a description, it needs to be something that both of us can invoke. Having a distinct pitch... I dunno, maybe it would be easier for others to identify you, but on the other hand you could never try to pass yourself off as someone else even at a distance. There are way more senses than just 5, for instance, spatial awareness, balance etc.

As for the high concept, think about what kind of game you want to be playing, and give yourself an edge. If you want to focus on interaction, then maybe you're a natural mediator, physically intimidating or just generally well liked and popular. It's encouraged to be a cut above the rest in Fate, so think more about what sets you apart from the rest of the rabble, what can you contribute with to the tribe, what makes you special. Even if you're "just" cavemen, there's still roles to be filled. Warriors, spiritual advisors, mediators, explorers, tool-makers, hunters etc.
Also, think about what matters to you, maybe it's protecting your family, maybe to prove yourself somehow or achieve and maintain a higher rank, either for yourself or for someone else. Or maybe you don't like the current regime and would want to see a different pair of alphas, maybe you like the current alphas and don't want to see them dethroned, maybe you just want to spend every day fishing or traveling and experiencing the wonders of the world. =) Even if we're not strictly talking humans now, traditionally, human brains haven't really changed all that much and neither have some of their values.
The way I see it, your tribe hasn't tamed fire yet, and any tools, weapons or clothes are very rudimentary, and so is the language. But it's still a community, where people have their roles, granted these roles aren't handed to them, it's more a case of whoever steps forward and is accepted and who has whose favor. But just like chimps, you're free to roam and pretty much do what you can get away with, but when you're with the group, things get a bit stricter. An semi-organized chaos, controlled partly by violence and strength and partly by social interaction. But nothing's set in stone yet.

You said you're the youngest born, so how many siblings do you have that are older than you? What have they accomplished? What ranks are they? Are they down on their luck or on top of the world, and how is your relation with them? Does your family have any common traits or views? Have you been traditionally high or low ranked, has anyone broken the mold and to what effect?

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#20

Thanks, Goss, your explanation of the high concept makes it a lot more clear to me now. In that case, I think I want to move the curiousity aspect to High Concept. How about Curious Explorer of the World (basically, just that I'm curious about the world and want to explore whatever I get my hands on. My wording sounds too sophisticated for a cavemen scenario but well, not sure how else to phrase it.)? But then can I still keep curious troublemaker as a Trouble? Is that double-counting?

In terms of the sense, I'm thinking keen eyesight now but keen hearing can also work. The thing with keen eyesight is that I would be able to spot things ahead of others but coupled with my tendency for curiousity, that could actually turn out to be a minus- there is high probability that I would wander off alone and be non-recoverable if mishap happens. So yeah, either of the two could work in terms of playability by both player and GM.

When I put down youngest of the family, I guess I'm picturing that I'm somewhat 'sheltered' in terms of having siblings that travel with me and 'look after' me in whatever way cavemen do- basically menpower on hand to rescue this curious troublemaker for small things. So I suppose my elder siblings are moderately well-to-do but not high-status either so maybe upper-Delta pushing towards Beta? Don't have to be all of them but more than 1. Total number of siblings? Make it 3. Oh, and I myself is Omega. Relations, I'm thinking with minor to moderate threats, my siblings would come and rescue me but if I rouse sth big, then being practical cavemen they would abandon me. Haven't thought about parents yet though.

Appearance description is ever my short point. I vaguely felt that I might have a smaller head/brain relative to the others given my penchant for the more 'intellectual' pursuit. Or just smaller statue/body type than all others. But that's all that I had come up with so far.
Then I'm thinking maybe 1 more physical attribute for which I'm named would do although I could just as easily already be named Small Head/Body.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#21

I don't feel like that's too sophisticated, even toddlers crawl around and put things in their mouth, thus exploring the world. :) How bout phrasing it as mischieveous then, you would still have the curious part in your high concept.

Eyesight could work, up to you.

You do realize that the omegas are the butt-monkeys of the bunch? :P You wouldn't have a whole lot of allies or privileges, even your siblings would walk all over you. And in the case of lacking food, you would be the first to starve. Just so we're clear. Oh and you would only have a mother, they have no concept of what a father is. Any thoughts as to any common traits your family shares?

Appearance doesn't play any major role other than immersion, unless it's extreme, either beauty or ugliness, anything works. Small Head. :) I like that, good thing you're not playing a guy though or it could be interpreted as an entendre. :P

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#22

I thought the Omegas and Deltas are similar, I thought you said earlier both classes just follow orders. But well, if my siblings are gonna walk all over me, then I better elevate myself to a junior Delta. :)

Common traits among family? Not sure really but maybe propensity towards the crafts or any other stuff bending towards the 'intellectuals'.

Okay, so I think I'm done now.
Name and Appearance: Small head, derived from having a smaller head relative to the others
High Concept: Curious Explorer of the World
Trouble: Mischievous trouble-maker
Aspect 1: Youngest among siblings, somewhat 'sheltered'
Aspect 2: Keen eyesight

What do you think, Goss?

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#23

Sounds good! :thumbup: The only thing is we should come up with a nicer sounding name, something that means small head but not in English. I'll give it a ponder, I''ll also try to get the game up sometime this coming week, probably the later half of the week, I might be without internet for a few days. I'll keep you posted.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#24

Right, I will sleep on the name as well. Okay, will wait to hear from you. :thumbup:

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#25

Just came to me yesterday: Small might be tisk (originally tsk- disdain for getting a small share but in terms of names did not want the negative connotation so changed to tisk), Head could be gwang (the sound of head hitting on something hard). You think that suits, Goss?

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#26

I ain't never heard a head go "gwang", lest it was made outta metal. :P I'd say dok, y'know when you knock on the side of the head it goes dok dok? Or maybe that's just because mine is empty, I dunno. XD Well this is supposed to be your name, so do you wanna be named Tisk Gwang or Tisk Dok or ? Dok Tsk, Gwang Tisk... Gw'doktsk. Gwansk, Gw'dok. Dok dok'Tsk. Dokk'tsk. Dokktch. Dok'Tok. Starting to sound like an inuit name... It would be nice if we can make it sound nice, but then again they aren't that advanced either so. As long as it works for you.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#27

To be honest, I'm not good with sounds, gwang was just what I imagined hard impact would be but well... I think I will go with Dokktch. One word is easier.

btw, Goss, do you also want me to start up a character thread for Dokktch and call it Prehistoric Pitch characters and transpose the info. we could settled on across so that we could have a dedicated thread for all characters? I think Muro did it that way for his games but not sure whether that's the norm.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#28

The thing is, onomatopoetic sounds vary something fierce between languages. I dunno why this is, but I do know it is so, so what sounds weird to me may not sound weird to you and vice versa. No worries there. Dokktch, got it. That was one of my favorites. :)

I'm not really sure on what to call the campaign, the pitch was just that, a pitch. But I guess it'll do for a name, or maybe something like... The Morrow of the Cave Dwellers... Hmm, TMCD. Yeah that works. The lore won't get fleshed out until after we've made some headway. So yes please, go ahead and do that. I'm gonna shoot for posting something up this weekend now that you have a name.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#29

Okay, Goss, will post up TMCD character thread now.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#30

I overestimated how much time I would have on my hands this weekend, need another few days to lay down the finishing touches. :( Shooting for Thursday.

http://strolen.com/guild/index.php/topic,6915.msg87962.html#msg87962

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#31

Okay, no worries.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#32

As promised! The first chapter begins today! :D

http://strolen.com/guild/index.php/topic,7250.msg88058.html#new

With the Dictionary/Lexicon here;

http://strolen.com/guild/index.php/topic,7251.0.html

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#33

Great :thumbup:
Goss, I would presume the cavemen share their food within the clan/tribe but do they do it in a way such that alphas always keep the food and then distribute as needed or they distribute once and for all upon the finish of the hunt? Was thinking that Dokktch would now wander over to her mother to eat (presuming that her mother keeps the food) now and then start doing other things but just want to make sure that that's okay in the cavemen world.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#34

When in doubt, just watch a nature documentary with chimps or gorillas, maybe with a little lion, wolf and baboon scattered in there. Basicly they eat what they can get their hands on, if they were out hunting the alphas gets the best parts, then the betas, then the deltas etc, eating until sated. And of course at any point a higher ranking individual may take whatever they please from a lower ranking one. However if they're in a good mood and has a good relationship with a lower ranking individual, and provided there's enough to go around, they may feel inclined to share, so begging can pay off. Younger individuals, especially children, are given a lot of leeway. Besides social standing, the older you are, the more respect you get obviously.

Just how old is Dokktch btw? A teen, young adult or adult? Life expectancy is obviously going to be shorter, so "maturity" is probably going to be lower than today, like the ancient egyptians. But I won't be keeping track of individual age, so just a ballpark estimate is enough.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#35

I haven't actually thought abt Dokktch's age but let's make her a teen so that the sheltered aspect comes through more.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#36

Right, great. Got everything you need then? The idea is that I'm not the only one to come up with all the lore and all the answers really, if you want something to go a certain way or be a certain way, as long as it's within reason, go for it. You say something and then I build on that, that's the idea. If I get stuck or if you get stuck, we'll discuss it here, but otherwise assume that it's okay. If you do create an outcome though, try and keep it open ended if at all possible. Mmm yeah, I think that's about it.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#37

Yep, pondering on my first post. I've written down the first paragraph but was half engaged on the Art quest that I'm collabing with the other Moon so delayed. Was originally aiming to finish yesterday but well... will definitely post today.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#38

Somehow Internet played up on me last night but just posted.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#39

Oops, bit of a misunderstanding I see, my bad. When I came up with most of those words, I started out by coming up with names you see. So for instance Neh'Tarab Ova'Foy, is actually a name. Even though it could be used in a sentence, it's a bit clunky, not to mention confusing since, are you talking about that person or are you talking about that act described within the name. Ma'Ndel Toofi is the full name of your brother, but I figured you'd just call him Toofi, but yes it can also be used for playful wrestling.

I included footnotes to the lexicon to note when something is a name, and to clarify each individual word.

Btw, you don't need to refer to actions/things that you observe using these words, like for instance, "She saw that Toofi had already gathered a group of teenagers around himself and they were engaged in Ma'Ndel Toofi." Here you can just say, they were wrestling, but if you're speaking to someone or otherwise trying to communicate, then we'll use these other words, okay? :) Hope that clears it up.

Re: Prehistoric Pitch

#40

Oh, I didn't realise that most of the words were names even though I did note that my siblings and mother's names were part of the dictionary.

Right, I changed the bit about wrestling in my post.