TL;DR: PC knows a secret language that no one else "knows" at the table, but I dont know how to narrate a language that only she knows.
So Im DM'ing a campaign right now and we have a new player in the group. She has written an amazing backstory, which includes her knowing a secret language, that the other people at the table dont "know".
Now, this is an 10 player campaign and the new PC and I dont have an actual, real language in common with her, that no one else at the table can also speak. Im big into making the experience as immersive as possible, so I want to ask if any of you have experienced this sort of scenario and how you dealt with it?
Solutions Ive been thinking about, were me whispering to her or texting her but the latter would, I think, break the flow of the game. Im not the sort of person that can talk about one thing and type something else at the same time. Just "ignoring" the secret part and having all other players know what she hears/understands is definetly also on the table, but since the language being notoriously secret is pretty integral to her backstory I want to try to make it not that.
How important is the language to the campaign? If it is pervasive then the rest of the party is going to be a bit left out. If it is rare, then you can have pre-written notes to pass when the time comes.
In my campaigns I just ask who knows XX language and say out loud whatever it is they read or hear. Then have the player relate (or not) what the message is. Just let the group as a whole know what is going on and they should be onboard on things their PCs know only because they special language PC told them.
With so many players, it's easier and help flow to just say things in the open and remind the party that unless the players says so, they don't know what the writing is.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
This is no different than if you have one person in the party that knows Druidic or Thieves' Cant. When it comes up, which is not likely to be often unless you're turning it into a major subplot, just describe it as alien-sounding to everyone and privately or publicly translate it for the player who should know it. Pre-written stuff helps move the game along.
I guess it would depend on how important the player knowing what it says but the rest of the party NOT know that they know what is says is? It also really depends on your group. Can your group accept that sometimes players learn or recognize stuff that others don't and you can just whisper in their ear and even though they know it is happening as players, still play their characters as though they don't? If your table can handle that, just whispering or slipping notes is the easiest approach, but I have been at tables where it works and doesn't. One game I was in part of the whole campaign was that it was a mystery with all these different clues, but the clues were such that only specific members of the party could understand or recognize and given clue, so the DM would whisper to them, and everyone was cool with it. Ive also been at tables where there have been players that when that happened are then giving attitude like "Oh, ok, well obviously HE knows something is going on that we aren't getting, there is more than meets the eyes guys! and fall in to meta gaming.
In my current game it is all online, so it is easy enough for me to shoot players private messages to give them specific information that they pick up that the others don't, all the players know that it does and could happen, and it adds a fun level to the game of what they choose to share, and how they choose to share it, and the mystery is easily maintained in that sense.
With so many players, it's easier and help flow to just say things in the open and remind the party that unless the players says so, they don't know what the writing is.
I second this. With 10 players, it’s going to be hard enough keeping everyone engaged. You don’t want to start side conversations with one and leave the other 9 sitting there. Just trust your people not to metagame.
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TL;DR: PC knows a secret language that no one else "knows" at the table, but I dont know how to narrate a language that only she knows.
So Im DM'ing a campaign right now and we have a new player in the group. She has written an amazing backstory, which includes her knowing a secret language, that the other people at the table dont "know".
Now, this is an 10 player campaign and the new PC and I dont have an actual, real language in common with her, that no one else at the table can also speak. Im big into making the experience as immersive as possible, so I want to ask if any of you have experienced this sort of scenario and how you dealt with it?
Solutions Ive been thinking about, were me whispering to her or texting her but the latter would, I think, break the flow of the game. Im not the sort of person that can talk about one thing and type something else at the same time. Just "ignoring" the secret part and having all other players know what she hears/understands is definetly also on the table, but since the language being notoriously secret is pretty integral to her backstory I want to try to make it not that.
How important is the language to the campaign? If it is pervasive then the rest of the party is going to be a bit left out. If it is rare, then you can have pre-written notes to pass when the time comes.
In my campaigns I just ask who knows XX language and say out loud whatever it is they read or hear. Then have the player relate (or not) what the message is. Just let the group as a whole know what is going on and they should be onboard on things their PCs know only because they special language PC told them.
With so many players, it's easier and help flow to just say things in the open and remind the party that unless the players says so, they don't know what the writing is.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
This is no different than if you have one person in the party that knows Druidic or Thieves' Cant. When it comes up, which is not likely to be often unless you're turning it into a major subplot, just describe it as alien-sounding to everyone and privately or publicly translate it for the player who should know it. Pre-written stuff helps move the game along.
I guess it would depend on how important the player knowing what it says but the rest of the party NOT know that they know what is says is? It also really depends on your group. Can your group accept that sometimes players learn or recognize stuff that others don't and you can just whisper in their ear and even though they know it is happening as players, still play their characters as though they don't? If your table can handle that, just whispering or slipping notes is the easiest approach, but I have been at tables where it works and doesn't. One game I was in part of the whole campaign was that it was a mystery with all these different clues, but the clues were such that only specific members of the party could understand or recognize and given clue, so the DM would whisper to them, and everyone was cool with it. Ive also been at tables where there have been players that when that happened are then giving attitude like "Oh, ok, well obviously HE knows something is going on that we aren't getting, there is more than meets the eyes guys! and fall in to meta gaming.
In my current game it is all online, so it is easy enough for me to shoot players private messages to give them specific information that they pick up that the others don't, all the players know that it does and could happen, and it adds a fun level to the game of what they choose to share, and how they choose to share it, and the mystery is easily maintained in that sense.
I second this. With 10 players, it’s going to be hard enough keeping everyone engaged. You don’t want to start side conversations with one and leave the other 9 sitting there. Just trust your people not to metagame.