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Slang and Lingo (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 days ago by psion1369@lemmy.world to c/rpg@ttrpg.network

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As I have been browsing RPG communities on Lemmy, Facebook, and Reddit, I have noticed some of the slang that I used to hear is not present much in these discussions. Now I know over time, slang and lingo do change, and I want to know more about your experiences in it. One of the terms I used to hear was "fish-malk", referring to players that take on a character to be goofy, silly, and "random". They were usually useless and made playing the game for the rest of the players rather difficult. So what lingo or slang terms are you using in your groups, or terms you just don't hear anymore?

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[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 4 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

I think there was an illustration in one of the Vampire books that had a malk kissing a fish.

I'd known the term, and then forgotten it, but recently was reminded of it. I was complaining about how some players just always want to be zany and wacky, instead of just playing to the premise. Like, you pitch a gritty game about hunting vampires in 1980s new york city, and they want to play a talking horse. or three kids in a trenchcoat. or a dead man's seeing eye dog. Just stuff that could kind of work, maybe, but is going to take a lot of work and take a lot of spotlight constantly. Instead of playing, I don't know... An investigative journalist who's been looking into mysterious deaths, a nurse at the hospital who's seen some shit, a business man who just can't get promoted (maybe because the owners are vampires).

Some of this is subjective, I guess, but I feel like some players are just not on my wavelength about what fits into a theme.

[–] pteryx@dice.camp 4 points 15 hours ago

This also relates to my mention elsewhere in this discussion of what used to be called "special snowflakes" (before the birdsite ruined the word "snowflake"). Some people want novelty and creativity above all in their RP, and that doesn't always come with a sense for how to balance that with intended theme or tone. And as you point out, if *no one* is playing things remotely straight, things can become farcical, or at least like an "Oops! All Foils" situation with no requisite normal.