ITT we talk about Glersee
>What is Glersee?
Its an ad-hoc language with no grammatical rules used to mark trails with symbols or runes to communicate a message without language barriers. Normally used with chalk, knife marks, or paint.
We talk about what we could use this in our adventures, ideas for new runes, or post runes you have seen before and find interesting.
I've actually seen a couple of these and knew that they were symbolic of this sort of thing, but not what they meant.
I can actually get a lot of use out of this infograph. It reminds me of thieve's cant markings.
"This is the signs the Serpent's Hand uses in the SCPverse."
My friend, tom whom I showed this chart.
You sure this is genuine hobo text? Some of these seem really weird for common hobo parlance.
I found this, its SCP but is like the "Hobo" Codes is talking about
>illusions hide the way
>this place is not real
Yes, user, I'm sure this is legit hobo runes, from the grand hobo tribes of the western hobokens.
No, I think OP's posting this from a specific thing, but I think he's trying to just start a thread about the use of symbols as a "hidden language" kind of thing.
I find "Kind woman, tell sad story" especially amusing.
Original hobo sign, for the true yegs
this one is also dope
>symbols have been compromised
Thanks for the signs, mates. Gonna use them in my campaign.
I may do the same, actually. Use them as Thieve's guild symbols, or use them to mark dungeons.
>This place is not real
>Must be lost to find the way
>They will not hurt you
This seems like something creepy and freaking cool! I figure something like a forgotten realm would use this for outside travelers.
These are pretty nice. I may wind up using these as either dungeon delver field signs or for my not-witchers
Serpents hand are pretty much the "Hippies". They want to protect and reveal anomalous objects and they are more of a bunch of cells then any actual organization.
>"do not follow the little girl" is so commonly used that it gets its own character
This is some next level comedy
>symbols have been compromised
Now I want to build an adventure around the players following these supernatural hobo signs, just for the "oh shit" moment when they find the "symbols have been compromised" one and realize that they been misled and manipulated the entire time.
So both of these come from SCP?, Has that game changed much ocer the years?
I never really played it but it suddenly looks appealing if it makes use of hobo language. I like games were you are supposed to be attentive and watch out for little details.
They pertain to the SCP universe rather then the game.
Look up SCP Foundation. Some of the stories are tight as hell.
Some of them are also crap, but the ratio is mostly good:some bad.
Three things in my life have given me nightmares
1. Exams
2. Swim Meets (Competitions)
3. That fucking endless staircase
I'm not as interested in fictional verses as I am in the games that stem from them. Glersee is very cool, but SCP has never been my cup of tea.
Agreed. At one point I was interested in writing an add-on for the Nemesis ORE system that involved playing as either a Mobile Task Force or the staff and management of one of the SCP sites, but there's such a substantial tone shift between some of the material that I'd have to do several versions.
Oh well, maybe after I'm done with assessment for this semester.
>Show players the symbols without a key
>They mark them down for future reference
>>Trust them
>>They will not hurt you
>Give them the key
>>Symbols have been compromised
God, I love it.
You can go for the short "oh shit" like the greentext, or for a more drawn out reveal with stuff like "keep true self hidden".
Also, symbols being scratched out. A scratched out "safe place to rest" is disturbing, but what do you do when you see a scratched out "stay in the light"?
TRY JUMPING
EXCELLENT CHEST AHEAD
SKELETON, BUT HOLE
>Hey user what're you carving?
>Is that the sign for poisonous air? I don't-
>*toot*
You know, an interesting idea just hit me.
What if you had a PC who was a diviner and then they asked for guidance of some sort? You could have them do some check to find runes randomly someplace that maybe only they can see and if they can dicpher it's meaning they can get an answer (vague or otherwise) from it.
Thanks OP. Been looking for ideas for things like this.
Or how about a campaign where the PC's each only know part of the code, and everyone has their own task?
Like, if PC #1 is trying to find his captain, and PC #2 is trying to defect to somebody else:
>#1: Hey I only know "help comes",what are the other signs?
>#2: It's 'stay together, help comes, safe place to rest'
>Actual signs: 'Marked for Raid, help comes, bring offering'
Or they're all honest team members, but have different translations for the symbols.
One man's "can be trusted" is another's "will betray".
You are welcome!
No both are not from SCP, the one in white is the "Wanderer Signs" people looking for the Library full of information that could be dangerous in the wrong hands. The one in blackish blue is SCP. However there is nothing in the game that uses these symbols.
>do not be taken alive
I've always wanted to run a game that made heavy usage of a pictoral language like this. Like, the players have to utilize an old gas station roadmap covered in cryptic symbols to find their way around the setting.
Icon language like this is a big part of the game we're playing, since there isn't a common language and most people can't read. We and the DM make use of note cards to show what icons we make or see.
My favorite one so far is "Plants ahead", a flower with a skull for a head.
>SCP
>Game
I feel a ree inside my soul growing louder with each passing moment
How would one build a setting and game up around the importance of mystical pictograms such that something like , and can evoke some real soul-crushing dread?
Investigating not-lovecraftian phenomenon. I've been bouncing around the idea to use this in Blades in the Dark where the players work for a man trying to make contact with other worldly forces.
In my experience, the key to enjoying the stories is to not read any of the comments/discussios, as that's where the bulk of the wanky fanfiction, bizarre furry bullshit, and loli garbage seems to crop up.
There was a thread earlier this week suggesting a game set in a kind of Urban Underworld. The PCs are lost in just such a place, and the pictograms left behind are spray painted on the walls by a mysterious graffiti artist that the group is forced to trust.
How do I write "Ghosts of Mars will get you, they are inside of you, they are behind you" in this language?
Bump! Don't commit suicide, potentially good thread!
...
>Ghosts of Mars
That's a stick figure without legs over 5 dots, with the first dot being noticeably bigger than the others.
I want to start doodling pictograms for the thread to assign meaning to, but my old phone is not handling drawing apps well right now.
Here. What does this mean?
Damn.
Looks like somebody winking, so what would that signify? Speak in code? Friendly conspirators ahead? Sudden bright lights?
How about
"Take the right side of the road"
Area safe for now, be cautious? (Keep one eye open)
'Keep one eye open' sounds good.
I like this interpretation. The reverse could be 'take the left', and if you arrange it vertically then it works as well. In fact, it works for any number of squares, as long as they're arranged according to the paths leading out of the crossroads.
No, wait, I changed my mind. This is better.
...
Pay respects to the dead?
If you stop to rest, make sure someone stands guard.
...
Safe (guarded) place to rest.
Post a night guard.
Keep/start moving.
Fortified building.
I hope people actually have an idea of what their symbol means before drawing. Random lines in an abstract, geometric position isn't very useful.
Sorry about that. Thought it didn't take the first time.
Maintain safe distance.
fatty ahead
horse
...
OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE
If you meet company, put them down before they grow.
The path/road widens.
Beware human decoys.
Agents/Allies compromised
I ways have some idea, but I like to leave them open to interpretation.
>Do not follow the little girl
>Get out fast
>See a little girl running towards the only exit
Wat do?
Safety in numbers / keep eyes on each other
Quickly engage the girl in philosophical debate.
Complain that I don't get paid enough
If you put a wave thinguie in the middle, it could mean
"Walk the right side of the river"
Stick together.
How about
"Gravedigger ahead"
I'm kind of interested in the origin of the "there are thieves about" marking. How did a fraction become the symbol?
...
You'll be leaving with a fraction of your stuff?
Watch your back.
Airlock/killbox structure ahead.
It's because I'm right, retard. It's a little pathetic that you hung around for a "last word" though.
Wrong thread?
1. Safe storage available
2. Supply cache here
3. Safe disposal site
>Don't use a fork
since it looks like a wall socket
I don't fully understand what you're arguing about, but I'm pretty sure linking to an archived thread to get the last word is pretty pathetic
How about
"Keep away from left wall"
(I like my creepy/possibly mystical symbols)
How about
"It takes three to cross this path"
...
> mails here!
Ha! Didn't think of that.
I was thinking of 'drop-off box' or 'dead drop'.
>Leave one, take one.
Need light to see the way / shadows obscure
Dead drop here
The locals lie
Fancy
How has no one gotten this one yet?
loss.jpg
These make for a really shitty "secret" code, since you can guess the meaning of half of them just by looking at the symbol.
Hi, user who made that one here.
It wasn't meant to be loss. Those two circle-lines are indeed people, though, as with the SCP glyphs.
No
This is loss.jpg
Maybe "intelligent folk ahead"
...
On the one hand, yeah, you want to keep your pictograms obtuse enough that they're hard for your enemies to decipher, but on the other hand you want them to be straightforward enough that your own people will be able to read them at a glance.
You could go more abstract yet distinctive I guess.
I've wanted to use some of these for a while as symbols used by spies/agents of one of the setting's religious organisations.
Planned to secretely give any player associated with the organisation a key sheet and occasionally ask them to make perception checks, then PM them with pictures of the signs as their character would see them.
Keep your ears open.