A quick post today, just wanted to share some of the artwork I've been doing for Signs in the Wilderness. Here's a drawing of a flintlock pistol with some of the process labeled:
Does this look interesting? Evocative of the setting? Good enough for publication?
Heraldic coats of arms are a fun way to distinguish powerful families, but they're best for a European setting. If you're looking for interesting symbols for a non-European setting, there are plenty of other sources you could look at, from Japanese mon to Central Asian tamgha.
For an American setting, I decided to look at cattle brands.
The giants of the Northern Lands belong to houses: kinship societies centered around a family meeting-place. Each house is named for its sign, carved on trees and painted on rocks throughout its territory.
Start with a Base sign. Here are a few of the more common
ones:
|
|
|
| Bear Sasa |
Boat Noyik |
Branch Tavti |
|
|
|
| Cloud Movta |
Fence Lavta |
Hut Shahya |
|
|
|
| Shoe Masvo |
Sled Laami |
Turkey Tuyik |
(If you're interested, the names underneath are in the language of the giants of the Inner Sea. Vowels are like in Spanish, h is pronounced even after a vowel, and doubled vowels are sustained twice as long.)
Then add at least one Modifier. A standing sign has a single leg with a foot on each side. A walking sign has a pair of feet splayed out at the bottom. If they're facing the same way, it's running:
|
|
|
|
Standing Hand Solyo Sang |
Walking Turkey Lo Vath Tuyik |
Running Hand Vindva Sang |
Flying signs have a pair of wings at the top:
|
|
| Flying Spear Saata Toxu |
Flying Shoe Saata Masvo |
A sign can have a bar across the top:
|
|
| Bar Hand Dol Sang |
Bar Turkey Dol Tuyik |
Broken signs are divided in half by a pair of parallel lines:
|
|
| Broken Hand Ontki Sang |
Broken Shoe Ontki Masvo |
Signs can be enclosed by a diamond or a circle:
|
|
|
Diamond Turkey Kusuk Tuyik |
Circle Hand Osu Sang |
Turn a sign on its side and it's lazy; upside-down makes it crazy:
|
|
| Lazy Turkey Ugu Tuyik |
Crazy Hand Saya Sang |
Signs can also be double, or you can have one by another, or one over another.
|
|
|
| Double Hand Anggaak Sang |
Hand by Turkey Sang do Tuyik |
Turkey over Shoe Tuyik so Masvo |
Modifiers can even be combined:
|
|
|
|
Bar Standing Fence Dol Solyo Lavta |
Broken Sled over Cloud Ontki Laami so Movta |
Lazy Bar Trout by Walking Hill Ugu Dol Lulut do Lo Vath Guth |
Modifiers are applied in order, starting with the one closest to the base and working your way leftwards, so Lazy Bar Turkey starts with the sign for Turkey, then adds a Bar to make Bar Turkey, then rotates it sideways to make Lazy Bar Turkey.
|
|
|
Lazy Bar Turkey Ugu Dol Tuyik |
Bar Lazy Turkey Dol Ugu Tuyik |
There's no strict upper bound to the number of modifiers you can use at once, but don't get too carried away. This house, for example, would probably be ridiculed for their overly-complex sign:
|
|
Lazy Running Standing Diamond Walking Net over Flying Running Lazy
Standing Lazy Coat Ugu Vindva Solyo Kusuk Lo Vath Tahya so Saata Vindva Ugu Solyo Ugu Lapu |
(If you're playing a giant, I suggest you try something simpler for the sign of your own house.)
In our campaign over on Reddit, the party recently encounted the houses of Dead Spear and Spider by Crow, and they've heard of the abandoned ruin of the house of Flying Hand. From the names alone, any giant would recognize their signs.
What kind of heraldry do they have in your game world?
When you're playing in a sandbox, random encounters are just the GM's way of casting Summon Plot. I just rolled one up that's going to completely derail the adventure I'm running. I have no idea how the players are going to respond, or what they're supposed to do to get past this obstacle, and that's the point.
(Spoilers ahead, if you're in the expedition on the Blind River.)