Jennifer Adcock
@jenkatwrites.bsky.social
TTRPG designer, cat servant, regency romance enjoyer, talks about movies and pro wrestling too much
my games are here https://jen-adcock15.itch.io/
my games are here https://jen-adcock15.itch.io/
buy my words etc etc they're very good words jen-adcock15.itch.io
Owl Knight Games, by Jennifer Adcock
jen-adcock15.itch.io
November 12, 2025 at 6:31 PM
buy my words etc etc they're very good words jen-adcock15.itch.io
I don't actually have answers to this, by the way. I just like to give people more things to think about. (And god knows I'm inconsistent about it. For every time I've simplified a sentence, there's an instance of me doing something like insisting on using Latin and refusing to budge on it)
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I don't actually have answers to this, by the way. I just like to give people more things to think about. (And god knows I'm inconsistent about it. For every time I've simplified a sentence, there's an instance of me doing something like insisting on using Latin and refusing to budge on it)
Like I said, I don't actually think this is a PROBLEM, especially not for Desperation. But it IS something to be aware of when thinking about the potential audience of your games. I don't think requiring reading aloud or using elevated language is a bad thing, but some people will.
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Like I said, I don't actually think this is a PROBLEM, especially not for Desperation. But it IS something to be aware of when thinking about the potential audience of your games. I don't think requiring reading aloud or using elevated language is a bad thing, but some people will.
And indeed, some of the group I was with in this particular instance really noticeably struggled, every time it was their turn, and I felt terrible! Because they asked, and I was so deep into this being a normal level of reading for me, that I did not stop to imagine someone struggling with it.
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
And indeed, some of the group I was with in this particular instance really noticeably struggled, every time it was their turn, and I felt terrible! Because they asked, and I was so deep into this being a normal level of reading for me, that I did not stop to imagine someone struggling with it.
I think it's beautiful, evocative language, and I think it does WONDERS for setting the tone of the game; when I play Desperation, I LOVE reading these cards aloud BECAUSE it is interesting, bold writing. As a fan, I wouldn't change it. ...Not everyone is going to feel the same way!
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I think it's beautiful, evocative language, and I think it does WONDERS for setting the tone of the game; when I play Desperation, I LOVE reading these cards aloud BECAUSE it is interesting, bold writing. As a fan, I wouldn't change it. ...Not everyone is going to feel the same way!
...And maybe in quantity alone, that's true! But these are what the cards are like (example cards grabbed from The Isabel set). Look at the vocabulary choices, the specific language of fishing ships in the 1800s in the Pacific, even the general shape and structure of the sentences.
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
...And maybe in quantity alone, that's true! But these are what the cards are like (example cards grabbed from The Isabel set). Look at the vocabulary choices, the specific language of fishing ships in the 1800s in the Pacific, even the general shape and structure of the sentences.
Last year I brought Desperation to a party and played it with a group of folks, some of whom I was meeting for the first time. One of them asked me "does this game need a lot of reading?" Unthinkingly, I said something like "oh no, only a card's worth at a time" and held up a couple of cards
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Last year I brought Desperation to a party and played it with a group of folks, some of whom I was meeting for the first time. One of them asked me "does this game need a lot of reading?" Unthinkingly, I said something like "oh no, only a card's worth at a time" and held up a couple of cards
Desperation is also a card-based GMless story game set in a very specific time and place, in which all of the game's text is meant to be read aloud. Desperation leans a bit harder than I might've dared to in incorporating 19th century and context-specific language.
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Desperation is also a card-based GMless story game set in a very specific time and place, in which all of the game's text is meant to be read aloud. Desperation leans a bit harder than I might've dared to in incorporating 19th century and context-specific language.
Even then, I'll admit that it's not something I particularly focus on adapting for. I probably could and should do more, but I also don't think it's wrong by any means to use a lot of context-specific terms or good evocative vocabulary words. Let's compare to another game that I LOVE - Desperation!
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Even then, I'll admit that it's not something I particularly focus on adapting for. I probably could and should do more, but I also don't think it's wrong by any means to use a lot of context-specific terms or good evocative vocabulary words. Let's compare to another game that I LOVE - Desperation!
Ultimately, I didn't look very hard for a solution that would let players avoid reading aloud altogether - I think it's important to the game. I DID simplify the language in some places, and I did reword some cards to explain the meaning of context-specific terms (like "yellow-dog contracts").
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Ultimately, I didn't look very hard for a solution that would let players avoid reading aloud altogether - I think it's important to the game. I DID simplify the language in some places, and I did reword some cards to explain the meaning of context-specific terms (like "yellow-dog contracts").
Being asked to read a specific text - one you likely have not seen before or had a chance to rehearse in your head - out loud, in front of other people (even a very small group), is a kind of nightmare for some people, dating back to childhood and embarrassing incidents in school.
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Being asked to read a specific text - one you likely have not seen before or had a chance to rehearse in your head - out loud, in front of other people (even a very small group), is a kind of nightmare for some people, dating back to childhood and embarrassing incidents in school.
For a lot of RPGs, but ESPECIALLY for this type of card-based GMless story game, a lot of reading is just... intrinsic to the medium. But plenty of games don't really ask you to read any of it out loud, or they defer a majority of it to a GM role.
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
For a lot of RPGs, but ESPECIALLY for this type of card-based GMless story game, a lot of reading is just... intrinsic to the medium. But plenty of games don't really ask you to read any of it out loud, or they defer a majority of it to a GM role.
(For context, in an average 4-player game, each person will read around eight paragraphs of text aloud over the course of the session, between taking turns reading the rules, introducing their characters, and the introduction and story prompt cards)
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
(For context, in an average 4-player game, each person will read around eight paragraphs of text aloud over the course of the session, between taking turns reading the rules, introducing their characters, and the introduction and story prompt cards)
Anyway, balanced literacy and cueing started hitting it big in the early 2000s, with kids who are now in their early 20s, so. We'll be dealing with this for a while, an entire generation of adults who have to play catch-up with the written word. It IS bad, but it IS also something we can plan for.
November 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Anyway, balanced literacy and cueing started hitting it big in the early 2000s, with kids who are now in their early 20s, so. We'll be dealing with this for a while, an entire generation of adults who have to play catch-up with the written word. It IS bad, but it IS also something we can plan for.
(To this day, my dad maintains that I "taught myself" to read; I do not fully believe that - I have clear memories of my older brother putting a pencil in my hand and showing me how to form letters, etc. and I think just having an older sibling who liked to show me things was a big influence)
November 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
(To this day, my dad maintains that I "taught myself" to read; I do not fully believe that - I have clear memories of my older brother putting a pencil in my hand and showing me how to form letters, etc. and I think just having an older sibling who liked to show me things was a big influence)
AND EVEN THEN, I am very insistent about the fact that while my vocabulary was very good, my REAL understanding of grammar and language systems came from learning OTHER languages. Let me get on my "English Grammar for Students of [Language]" soapbox real quick oliviahill.com
Home - The Olivia & Hill Press | English Grammar For Language Students
Learn the grammar your textbook assumes you know. Trusted by millions of students, instructors, and adult learners of 10+ languages.
oliviahill.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
AND EVEN THEN, I am very insistent about the fact that while my vocabulary was very good, my REAL understanding of grammar and language systems came from learning OTHER languages. Let me get on my "English Grammar for Students of [Language]" soapbox real quick oliviahill.com
I was one of those kids who "just knew" how to read because I grew up in a family full of readers who prioritized reading in their free time and had a house full of books and frequent library trips, but we HAVE to build systems that acknowledge that MOST kids don't have that
November 12, 2025 at 4:12 PM
I was one of those kids who "just knew" how to read because I grew up in a family full of readers who prioritized reading in their free time and had a house full of books and frequent library trips, but we HAVE to build systems that acknowledge that MOST kids don't have that
I stand by "people can't fucking read, because they were never taught to read" being the answer to like.... not EVERYTHING, but certainly A LOT OF THINGS
November 12, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I stand by "people can't fucking read, because they were never taught to read" being the answer to like.... not EVERYTHING, but certainly A LOT OF THINGS
this one is so tantalizing because it's all setting and NOT a complete RPG and it's making my fingers itchy to design rules for it
November 12, 2025 at 3:25 PM
this one is so tantalizing because it's all setting and NOT a complete RPG and it's making my fingers itchy to design rules for it
Yeah, this whole album is my favorite of theirs in years tbh
November 12, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Yeah, this whole album is my favorite of theirs in years tbh
oh that RULES, love that for you
November 12, 2025 at 1:55 PM
oh that RULES, love that for you
UGH, and I feel like a really long epic of a song hits so hard in person too! when I saw Nightwish, I got so into the merely 10 minute Ghost Love Score that I had time to cry at an early verse, sort myself out, and cry AGAIN at the end, as two distinct episodes 😂
November 12, 2025 at 1:52 PM
UGH, and I feel like a really long epic of a song hits so hard in person too! when I saw Nightwish, I got so into the merely 10 minute Ghost Love Score that I had time to cry at an early verse, sort myself out, and cry AGAIN at the end, as two distinct episodes 😂