The DEFINITIVE list of nouns that can be used in sdescs

[Sanvean]

I'm using this thread to compile a list.  Post the ones you think should or shouldn't be allowed and I'll put together a doc of yeses and nos.

[Larrath]

Acceptable:
teen
teenager
boy
girl
youth
adolescent
urchin
lass
lad
breed
halfbreed
mutant/freak -> special cases

Unacceptable:
lady
maiden
maid
kid
hag
stumpy
titan
brat
child
ragamuffin

[Lizzie]

Shoulds: girl, boy, man, woman, youth, child, young adult, youthful man/woman, male, female, [each race as its own noun, eg. human], lass, lad

elf only if the PC is really an elf
human only if the PC is really a human
okay to use humanoid if race is questionable

elvish = adjective describing a PC who looks like an elf but might or might not really be one, as in "the long-haired elvish lad"

questionable: elfling, for a young elf of either gender? gargantuan (as a noun, questionable. As an adjective, no problem). behemoth (since it refers to something other than a humanoid, in real terms and because I probably spelled it wrong), creature (if it's a really wild-looking mutant okay, not okay if it isn't?)

Should nots: maiden, bastard, chick, gal, guy, dude, kid, abomination

Those are some I came up with on the fly.

[Lazloth]

Larrath, you honestly find 'urchin' acceptable, but 'ragamuffin' not?  In what context is 'stumpy' a noun?

I have little to add other than saying I find nothing bothersome about any of the waif/guttersnipe variants.

[Vesperas]

I think 'hag' ought to be acceptable.  The definition, as far as I can find is:

1 noun:   an ugly evil-looking old woman

From a perusal of OneLook Dictionary.  I think we can tell the difference between mean-looking and angelic-looking.


Suggestions for acceptable use:
giant  
brute
hag
crone
youngster
beldame/beldam




Questionable (special cases, close desc inspection, etc):
ruffian
harridan

Unacceptable:
vagabond

[-Bebop]

Wow?  Am I the only one that thinks this is really constricting?  To make an sdesc are we going to have to go over this list and choose from the ones there?

[Cegar]

Acceptable:
teen
teenager
boy
girl
youth
adolescent
urchin
lass
lad
breed
halfbreed
mutant/freak -> special cases

Unacceptable:
lady
maiden
maid
kid
hag
stumpy
titan
brat
child
ragamuffin

What in the hell? Your list makes no sense.

[Hymwen]

There are very few nouns that bother me, personally. I would much prefer something a little original to the hordes of "man", "woman", "male", "female", "insert-race-here". Much to my surprise, I had "waif" rejected today, which I personally think is rubbish, but you can safely add that to the list of no-go's.

[Vesperas]

I don't see anything wrong with it.  I don't know if the staff is going to make a "THE" list, but this will save me (and immortals) a shitload of time in getting apps approved over a problem with ONE word.  I'm sure you will be able to come up with things not on the finished list, but it'll come down to the best judgement of the imm over whether or not it gets approved.

Anything that saves me time, I like it.  Heh.

[Vesperas]

Apologies for double-post.

Acceptable:
teen
teenager
boy
girl
youth
adolescent
urchin
lass
lad
breed
halfbreed
mutant/freak -> special cases

Unacceptable:
lady
maiden
maid
kid
hag
stumpy
titan
brat
child
ragamuffin

What in the hell? Your list makes no sense.

I think that.....

Lady - refers to nobility.
Maiden - refers to virginity.
Maid - See maiden, but questionable.
kid/brat/child - slang for child.  And you can't play children.
stumpy - Armageddon slang for dwarf (I don't see a problem, personally)
titan - Some people think this means the thing from mythology
ragamuffin - Up for discussion?

[mansa]

i like fellow, chap, bloke, boy, broad, dame, lass, matron, clown, artist, hooker, blonde (when refering to a female), blond (when refering to a male), petite (when refering to a female), petit (when refering to a male), tomboy, wench, witch, serf, slave, peon, worker, cadet, junior, teenager, child, maid

and more!

[Incognito]

Dont forget my favorite : Midget!!
Thats GOTTA be in the acceptable list.

[flurry]

Good

Most of the ones I'd call "good" are pretty obvious choices others have already named (man, woman, teen, youth, lad, lass, boy, girl, adolescent, halfbreed, breed, elf, half-elf, half-giant, halfling, dwarf, human, male, female).

edit to add:  'redhead' and 'brunette' (or 'brunet', for mansa) are good too.

Iffy or just bad

person, individual, biped, mammal, organism, thing, thief, warrior, burglar, warrior, assassin, ranger, merchant, maiden, damsel, ne'er-do-well, scalawag, etc. etc.

I'm generally okay with the more creative words in sdescs, as long as they aren't imposing some interpretation on the reader (e.g. nouns like beauty, knave, etc.)

I once submitted an NPC whose sdesc had the noun "amputee", but as far as I know it wasn't accepted.  Probably ended up where all sub-par NPC submissions go (you know, the Island of Misfit NPCs).

[Marauder Moe]

I dislike 'breed' and 'stumpy'.  I don't think in-game slang should be applicable for descriptions.

[Anonymous]

Any word that is subjective and forces an opinion on the reader should not be allowed.  That goes for any words that can be used as a synonym for beautiful/handsome or ugly.

I'm also not very fond of using the words tall or short in sdescs, because anything that's not an elf will not be tall to an elf, and anything that's not a dwarf won't be short to a dwarf.  It is very subjective because of the diversity of racial heights.

[flurry]

Wow?  Am I the only one that thinks this is really constricting?  To make an sdesc are we going to have to go over this list and choose from the ones there?

The other approach is for each Immortal to continue to use his or her discretion, which naturally leads to some degree of inconsistency.  Inconsistency which, though nobody's fault, can occasionally lead to frustration or disappoinment.  

(I know I had a word I was looking forward to using for months, only to be asked to replace it.  :?  I let myself be sad for a minute and then I just made the edit.  Actually, in a way it made me happy to see some word get rejected, even though I just  didn't want it to be my word.  But I digress.)

At least with nouns, it's possible to generate a consensus list of what?  No more than 50 or 75 words or something like that?   With the adjectives, forget about it.

[Hymwen]

I'll laugh the day I see "the tall, scrawny necker" or something like that.

[Tamarin]

Two. Zalanthan commoners doesn't really place much value on marriage.

Or being virgins.

[bardess]

Two. Zalanthan commoners doesn't really place much value on marriage.

Or being virgins.

Kinda seems to me why maiden would be fine.  Obviously married isn't going to be an option.

You can't see that someone is a virgin, but you can't see that they're "vivacious" either.  simply inferred or ignored.

[mansa]

Two. Zalanthan commoners doesn't really place much value on marriage.

Or being virgins.

Kinda seems to me why maiden would be fine.  Obviously married isn't going to be an option.

You can't see that someone is a virgin, but you can't see that they're "vivacious" either.  simply inferred or ignored.

the sdesc is saying that you don't have sex.  much like if you had the sdesc 'whore' saying that you -do- have sex, a lot.

it's infering a certain sexist view on the game.  we shouldn't care if you're married or if you don't have sex, that's not important.

[Vanth]

Yeah, I was the hardass who rejected both 'waif' and 'harridan' in one day.  And I stand by both of those, although I'm following this discussion with interest.

I'm a writer, so I understand the desire to use the precisely perfect word.  On the other hand, as a writer you must consider your audience, and in this case, your first audience is an immortal app approver.

As with the above examples, I tend not to like any words (adjective or noun) in any of your descs, which tell me how to interpret your appearance.  I don't want to be told your social class, your guild class, your personality, etc. etc.  I just want to see an objective physical description.

On the other hand, I look forward to having a consistent list of words that are acceptable, and if waif and harridan make that list, I'll just have to deal with it.

[Cuusardo]

Descriptions are supposed to be universal to any position your PC may be in, including unconscious.  If you use the word urchin or scamp, which apparently means mischevious or playful youngster, how is the reader supposed to know just by looking at the child that it is mischevious or playful, especially if it is unconscious?

I don't particularly care for the use of the word maiden either, seeing as you can't tell that someone is a virgin or not just by looking at them.  Using it synonymously with "young girl" or "young woman" is understandable, but I think that after a PC reaches a certain age, maiden should change to a more appropriate word.  A middle aged female on Zalanthas is hardly considered a young woman anymore.

[Malken]

I think it would greatly help if we could have a few more characters in the short description.. I'm thinking that often people will try to use the word 'maiden' or 'waif' instead of just plain young man, or young boy, or young woman just because we quickly run out of space to try and fit in our short description..

Now, with even more restriction, I think that we need to seriously reconsider how much characters we should be allowed..

[marko]

I actually like waif.  I think it's fitting for the environment.

I was contemplating another one that's sometimes used by characters talking about women - bint.

Would that be acceptable?

the small, apple-eyed bint

Literally, bint means woman / girl although it has offensive connotations to the british.

In Arabic it means daughter.

[Hymwen]

I think it would help especially new players if every other NPC didn't have a word in their sdesc that PCs aren't allowed to use.